I think the Fillion train passed when the film first started gathering interest ten years ago. I love Nathan Fillion, he would have played the character well, but he’s old now. Younger Fillion would have worked in the role, but he never would have been a safe enough choice for a studio not known for making great films. I’m not saying they’re right, just how they see things. Bringing Tom Holland in is a play to bring in an audience bigger than just the games, especially considering video game films are still almost universally bad. I think there are plenty worse choices to play Nate (like Wahlberg, who has found his way back into the cast??), just in the same way that there have been better, and worse, directors attached to the project. I personally was excited for either Shawn Levy or Travis Knight, but it wasn’t to be for them. All I can hope for is that the people involved, whether they be cast, or crew, or directors, or whatever, are big enough fans of the game that they’ll push back against corporate studio involvement where they can. Holland seems like he’s a fan of the games, these new images seem promising, so I’ll give it a shot. I’ve been waiting for this film for a long time, so to finally have things moving forward and to have at least a few things they’ve gotten right is enough for me. I mean, we could have been looking at David O. Russel’s heist movie with Wahlberg and De Niro.
Of course, this director made the slop that is Venom, so I’m still really worried.