John Legend Could Actually Star In An 'Arthur' Movie

An era came to an end recently when after 25 years on the air, the series finale of beloved children’s show Arthur aired last week. The long-running cartoon has been a major part of meme culture in recent years, including the idea that John Legend bears a striking resemblance to the animated titular aardvark. Now, that situation could actually come full circle: In a new interview, Marc Brown, who created the Arthur show and wrote the books it’s based on, noted an Arthur movie “might” be the in the works, and furthermore, it seems he’d really like Legend to be involved.

Brown said:

“My son Tolon has been a producer on the show almost since it started, and he’s working with me, as Peter Hirsch is, on this new show Hop. But he had this idea several years ago about wouldn’t it be interesting to do a live-action version of Arthur. I couldn’t wrap my head around it completely, but it’s an intriguing thought. There might be a feature film in the works soon, too, about Arthur. I’m so excited [laughs]. There was one maybe 15 years ago, and the right people weren’t coming together, so I pulled the plug on it. But now, we’ve got a great idea. I think it’s going to be intriguing for kids. It’s going to be helpful to kids. The subject matter is very timely, and maybe there is even a really interesting person involved… I mean, if I could pick one person I would love to be a part of this project, it might be John Legend.”

He also referenced Legend earlier in the interview when answering a question about the series finale being for both kids today and the now-adults who grew up with Arthur, saying, “I was really happy because I mean, I see myself as Arthur a lot. Sorry, John Legend. We’re going to have to share him here [laughs]. You know, he’s a lot of me when I was in third grade. And I think if I were in third grade now and I was thinking about a career, a graphic novelist made sense. It put my loves together: telling stories, being an artist, and using pictures. So I was really happy that Peter [Hirsch, a writer on Arthur] came up with that idea. It felt right to me.”

Legend hasn’t shied away from the Arthur comparisons and has in fact embraced them, like in a 2018 Google ad when he donned a full Arthur outfit and even re-created the Arthur’s fist meme.