Please let him be the voice of the raccoon. Please, please, please.
Normally, taking a meeting is not enough to generate a news story, but in this case, Vin Diesel took to Facebook to announce that he had been summoned by Marvel. I think this is good news no matter what, because if there is anyone working in Hollywood right now who looks like they were genetically modified to be a comic book character, it’s Vin.
It pleases me enormously that his return to the “Fast and Furious” franchise has brought Vin’s career roaring back to life. While I’m not sure I’d advocate casting him in every single film ever, when Vin is used properly, and when he’s playing to his strengths, I think he’s ridiculous amounts of fun. And from the very first time I dealt with him, at the first Butt-Numb-A-Thon in Austin all those years ago, he has revealed himself to be a genuine, no-apologies fanboy trapped in the body of a superhero. There aren’t many action heroes who would give an interview about how much they love to play D&D, but Vin has.
I’m only half-joking when I say I’d love for him to contribute the voice of Rocket Raccoon. Whoever they finally hire for that role, it’ll be make or break for the character. You’re asking an audience to make a big leap accepting that design as a hero in a universe where you also have Chris Hemsworth as Thor or a CGI Hulk. You almost have to push back against the overt cuteness of the character and use the voice to contrast against what we’re seeing.
There are plenty of roles, both good guys and bad guys, that Vin would be appropriate to play, and I’m curious what you guys see him doing. Is he going in to talk to them about playing The Vision? Could he be their choice to bring Thanos to life? If “Daredevil” ends up as a Phase Three movie, could you picture that costume on Vin’s frame? You tell me… what character in the Marvel Universe would you want to see Vin Diesel bring to life?
With “Riddick” on the way, I have a feeling we’ll be speaking with Vin soon, and I’m curious to see if he’s got anything else to share by that point.
“Riddick” arrives in theaters September 6, 2013.