What movie franchise lead(s) do YOU think can easily be gender-swapped?
Number24
NorwayPosts: 21,811MI6 Agent
Please not the YOU in the title. This is not the thread to speculate what screen hero you think people who disagree with you wants to gender-swap. I'm asking if you can think of any movie franchise where the lead or leads can relatively easily and unproblematicly switch gender.
My suggestion is Mission Impossible. At least the TV-series was group-centric, and I belive with both male and female members. (I've only seen a few episodes). I suspect many people can't even name the main hero. When Tom Cruise some day can't handle the stunts someone else will headline the movies and I can't think of a reason why the group leader can't be female. The challenge for MI will be to find someone with the star power and willingness and ability to do crazy stunts. It's that easy and hard.
Comments
In terms of franchises where the lead can be a different character, as in the example of Mission Impossible or Jurassic Park or Star Wars or Transformers or whatever, I'd say pretty much all of them could have a gender-swapped lead, couldn't they? It's basically only stuff like Batman or Bond or Indy which you couldn't really change as they'd be different characters, and there's not much point in that. You could do Die Hard with Joan McClane I guess, but there's as much point in that as rebooting Die Hard with a different male actor anyway.
I guess they've tried Alien and Terminator with male leads; wasn't great.
twofour says:
My suggestion is Mission Impossible. At least the TV-series was group-centric, and I believe with both male and female members. (I've only seen a few episodes).
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yes very good example, since the original concept is about an ensemble team. The team is even supposed to change every mission (requiring specialised skills), but that didnt happen much in the series as they liked to maintain the core cast.
the female spy in the first three seasons was Cinnamon Carter, played by Barbara Bain (costar Martin Landau's wife in real life). She won the Emmy for her part, and in at least one first season she is the one who listens to the prerecorded message offering the Mission. Not sure how the character ever managed to go undercover, since her day job was as a well known fashion model, yet every week she did and went unrecognised.
I'd say the Cruise films have completely lost the original concept of the show, and fans may be confused as to why the big star has suddenly been replaced by somebody else.
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emtiem says:
It's basically only stuff like Batman or Bond or Indy which you couldn't really change as they'd be different characters
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it could happen with Batman or any other comic book superhero, as thats been a concept/gimmick in the source material for many years: something happens to Bruce Wayne (he broke his back in the 90s for example) and another character puts on the costume and takes his place. This happens in the comics usually because fans are losing interest in the series, and the publisher needs a new angle for a sales bump.
specifically, Thor became a woman in the comics a decade ago, as whoever is worthy to pick up the hammer becomes Thor, and Jane Foster turned out to be worthy. This was adapted in the last Thor film.
I guess with Batman the problem is the name. There is already a Batwoman and a couple different Batgirls, but because they have distinct codenames cannot be marketed as the same character.
still: secret identities have greater possibility than if the brandname is a gendre specific birth name like James.
my answer would be a character who already has done it: Doctor Who
I dont remember any evidence that TimeLords reproduce sexually (for one thing, they all seem ancient even when played by young actors), and we already know their internal biology is different from humans (two hearts). aside from how they dress (usually quite silly) how do we really know whats between their legs? how do we know theyre not hatched in petri dishes, therefor what purpose would sex have? the male or female appearance could be just that, superficial appearance.
the gendre-swapping trick would definitely work better for an alien character with ambiguous biology, especially one who "regenerates" every couple of years
I'd say the Cruise films have completely lost the original concept of the show, and fans may be confused as to why the big star has suddenly been replaced by somebody else.
I don't think that's really true at all to be honest, but I guess for another thread.
There were plans to have Margot Robbie take over the Pirates of the Caribbean after Jonny Depp. Now that Depp has won the court case with Amber Heard this may have ended the plans.
There were also plans for her to star in a movie where Robin Hood has died and it's up to Maid Marian (Margot) to lead the merry men and continue the fight. This movie is no longer in her IMDB listing. I think both projects sound interesting. First of all Margot Robbie has the fame and talent to carry those movies. Second they don't change the gender of Jack Sparrow or Robin Hood. The plan was just to stay in the same world, but shift the focus from one character to another. Could've worked.
Can anyone think of a female lead character who could easily be re-cast as a male? Pippi Longstockings? Katniss Everdeen?
Atomic Blonde
twofour said:
Can anyone think of a female lead character who could easily be re-cast as a male? Pippi Longstockings?
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already done!
John Candy as Pepi LongSocks
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