Hello, Readers! Clevenger here!

Welcome to another one of our vanity posts… our Vanity Fair if you will… and what would Manticore’s Shadow look like on screen? This was a SUPER fun experiment, and I had to obey a lot of restrictions, just like Graham spoke about in his post.

Besides looking up new young stars that would fit the bill now, wedging them into the visions I had when Manticore first started, I also had to make sure that I had my cast formed BEFORE I saw Graham’s post. With my procrastination, this was more difficult than anticipated.

However, I did it.

Seeing Graham’s cast let me know how similar our thought processes were in casting direction, but we ended up on some VERY different people. Overall, I’m very pleased that it was a success on both sides.

I’m going to go in the same order as Graham up until the end… but it will be easier to follow this way. So, let’s dig in.

Our biggest baddie. Grendel. Now, we’re going to need some digital work on this one. Think what they did for Josh Brolin in Avengers as Thanos. Give this star some additional size, but keep that expressive face and the voice. When I think of a menacing villain with, as Graham said, Mulan’s Shan Yu’s inspiration, my mind went immediately to Ken Watanabe. A velvet voice that carries the weight of steel in every word. Shivers. I’ll admit Batista is a SOLID pull on this one… a lot less digital enhancment, and I know he’s got the menace to pull it off.

For the voice of Argyle, a creature under Grendel’s control who is hardened but still has roots of sympathy, I wanted a voice that blended with menace and pain. One of my favorite arcs is Darth Maul’s storyline between Star Wars: Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels. Sam Witwer gave that character such life and sympathy that I couldn’t help but think of him for Argyle. I’m a huge fan of Graham’s choice of Travis Willingham and am pretty sad I didn’t see that right away.

Rhon, the assassin. Oooh boy. This is a doozy of a difference. I love where Graham went, and it makes perfect sense. I was also thinking primarily of the kinetic energy that Rhon needs to have. But I was looking for more of an “alien” or “unnatural” movement. Movements that would scare you with their angles and complexity. What came to mind was Bill Skarsgard when he was Pennywise in IT. With edits and effects, his movement style would bring suspense and shock to Rhon’s lightning strikes from living shadow.

Olivar Devros. The haughty, arrogant, and vile Alva. I picture all sorts of villains from 80s and 90s movies. The High School bully that just grew up. But Olivar has another layer. A psychotic side that is disassociates him from understanding the world. Cameron Monaghan has been wonderful in a lot of things. He’s played cold, he’s played social, and he has the ability to switch those two faces as needed.

Then I went to Xerian. Our other personal antagonist, that just was built to be hated. Again, we’re going to need some digital help here to get the height (not to mention four arms) but I wanted a face that oozes some toxic masculinity that a viewer will just loathe within seconds. An AMAZING actor that brought that hatred with a role recently was Dacre Montgomery as Billy Hargrove in Stranger Things. Seeing him as Xerian would be a wonderful sight to behold.

On a softer note, we move to Lara. Lara the well-to-do daughter of a merchant and the love interest of Symon. I wanted a young woman with a noble bearing. Intelligent, fierce, regal, and beautiful. I could think of no better than Sophie Turner. Her stint as Sansa Stark on Game of Thrones was an absolute masterpiece, and I would love to see her on screen with something like this. I loved that Graham went a different route on this. It may spark some ideas for her in the book… where will she finally land?

Now we are going to start deviating from Graham’s order, but I’m going to link it up with my thought process. So I’m going to talk about Daysleeper. Mistress Daysleeper was a character who surprised me with how our Beta Readers reacted to. They loved her. They wanted more of her. So with that in mind, I know we would want an actress on the screen that elicits that same reaction. Our beautiful and kind-hearted trans mistress needs a trans actress that brings her to life. Graham and I were in total agreement here. Laverne Cox is the one to do it! She’s charismatic, beautiful, and has a comedic grace that Daysleeper needs to survive the underworld in which she thrives.

Now, with our first Ennedi cast, I wanted to expand on this casting. Too many times, we see that “white-washing” of cultures and there are no thoughts to keep consistency. I think that the Wheel of Time series on Amazon did an amazing job of showcasing culture by committing to blocks of casting. and showing beautifully different ethnicities linked by the areas of their fantasy world. So, I thought that with Kyrn being a powerful father, and having an amazingly beautiful black actress as our Ennedi Mistress, that another strong black actor would be appropriate. Cress Williams jumped to the forefront of my mind after his work on Black Lightning. His tone and wisdom would be perfect for the center of the Cylkas family.

Our last mentor is Zenesul. The Old Wizard. He was in his prime years during the War of Night 40+ years before our story is set. So I see him as about 70-80 years old in the books. He’s still spry, he’s wise, he’s confident, and he’s just a little arrogant and dry. While I loved Graham’s pull on this one, I’ve always pictured the icon Morgan Freeman in this role. Take it as you will. Morgan is a legend. Zenesul is a legend. They belong together.

Who could fill the shoes of our wise-cracking, foul-mouthed, dangerous, and charming little Thorn? We need an actress who will get a lot of little digital love, plus some creative camera work, ala Lord of the Rings, but she needs that spark of life that makes you love her. Chloe Grace Moretz brought that energy in Kick-Ass, and she’s been an amazing actress since then. I am not familiar with Graham’s choice for a comparison, but that show was on my “short-watch” list. Guess I gotta get to it.

The final two. Our Main Characters. Who do I have? Well, let’s start with Jesse. Like Graham, I was thinking of youth, size, charm, wit, and a dazzling little smile that would pierce the night. Someone you would believe could fly, but can dash and dance through the crowds. Asher Dov Angel, Billy Batson from Shazam! is the pick that just jumped out at me. Like Graham I think there are dozens of young actors that could breakthrough with a role like this, and would love to see the end result of a professional casting call. But this is a “Dream Cast” and Asher is who I know would nail it.

Now, my boy. Symon. So much of Symon is based on things that I have experienced, so it’s sometimes hard to not see him as myself. But he’s not me. He’s a blacksmith, a near-noble, popular, and charismatic. All the traits I wished I was back when I was 20. So, to break his identity out from me, I wanted to lean a different direction. With Cress Williams as a father, I wanted a young man that had that same peaceful calm. A smooth voice that made you stop and think about what was being said. While I haven’t seen the movie Moonlight, I have seen numerous clips and interviews surrounding it, and Jharrel Jerome jumped off the screen. His passion, and believability would give Symon that vulnerable spark that this MC needs.

Well, that’s the cast.

Graham and I did see the world a bit differently. We did have the main cast identified the same (although I will admit I forgot Rhon, originally) so it was an easy list to compare. I’ll be adding a “side-by-side” soon so that you all can look at the cast and decide which you prefer!

Be Kind

-Clevenger