But is Sandra Oh tall enough to play She-Hulk?

I want to do a superhero movie and what would be better than Wonder Woman? And it would be a very bold choice. A black Wonder Woman would be a powerful thing. It's time for that, right?

Beyoncé Knowles, in a Los Angeles Times interview

In the course of recent travels on the internet, I stumbled across an article announcing that Beyoncé Knowles had expressed her interest in playing the part of Wonder Woman in a movie. As I mentioned in a previous post, the election of Barack Obama provides a strong impetus for evaluating the role that race plays, and casting comic book characters provides an interesting proving ground.

That's because comic book fans, serious fans, can be a little bit insane about things. Adapting a comic book to another medium, such as movies or television, is like entering a dragon's den: the possible rewards for success are great (Spiderman, X-Men), but the punishment for failure is severe (Daredevil, Elektra). Comic book fans make Talmudic scholars look like dilettantes in the great search for truth and understanding through continuous examination of the sacred texts, and as such can make or break the movie adaptation of a comic book in the first moment of evaluation. Lord help the script writer who gets some minor detail wrong, like Peter Parker's middle name* - at that point, for the hard core it's all over, regardless of the quality of the rest of the material. And, with that sort of outlook on minutiae, the impact of the casting choice for a character can easily be imagined.

With that in mind, what does comic book canon require - or allow - for Wonder Woman's racial makeup?

Although in broad historical terms the Amazons are generally associated with Greece, Herodotus places the home of the Amazons on the border of Scythia, near the Caucasus Mountains. The comic book origins of Wonder Woman are somewhat different, and have changed a bit over time. Originally Wonder Woman lived on Paradise Island, presumably somewhere in the Mediterranean region, but an 80's reboot established the name as Themyscira, and subsequent events destroyed the original, then created a new Themyscira in the Bermuda Triangle. (Coincidentally, the latitude and longitude specified in the TV version of Wonder Woman placed Paradise Island near that area as well.) Does relocating Wonder Woman's home to the Caribbean allow comic book fans to accept a Wonder Woman of colour, or would they demand adherence to the character's Hellenic roots?

Regardless, there should be other factors in play here. Asian-American actor Tzi Ma has commented on racially generic casting by pointing out that a character does not have to be racially tagged as Asian in order to be played by an Asian actor. "The only thing we can do," says Ma "is to try and make them realize: 'This role does not have to be written Asian. The mere fact that you put me in that role makes the character Asian.' " Is there anything in the character of Wonder Woman that precludes a black actor playing the role - and thereby making it a black character, as per Tzi Ma? I would think not. In fact, I would think that it would add some resonance to the backstory of slavery symbolized by the bracelets worn by all Amazons.

So, Beyoncé as Wonder Woman. Ignoring the extensive preface above, my initial reaction is: why not? In addition to a long lineup of black heroes such as the Black Panther, Luke Cage, Steel, Storm and so forth, it wouldn't be the first time a long-standing comic book character has been racially re-imagined. There's been a black Green Lantern** since the 70's, and Nick Fury, who heads up SHIELD, became a black man at some point when I wasn't paying attention.

However, I think that there's a very basic element of this question that needs to be stated. I think it would be reprehensible if Beyoncé didn't get the role of Wonder Woman because she was black. It's equally wrong for her to get the role because she's black, though. In the ideal situation, everyone should be judged on their merits and abilities, not their colour. Personally, I'd rather see Angela Bassett get it, I think that she would bring a degree of depth to the character that Beyoncé might not.

And then, obviously, there's only one place for the idea to take us next.

- Sid

* Benjamin, from his Uncle Ben - what, did everyone not know that?

** It's an odd combination, that - the phrase "black Green" seems to be somehow contradictory, doesn't it.

A successful ten bucks on Robbie Williams would nicely take care of Christmas presents.

David Tennant, who has been playing the role of the Doctor on Doctor Who for the last three years, has announced that he will be stepping down from the helm of the Tardis at the end of 2009. Sad news, but I can certainly understand why someone would want to get out before it completely took over their life, as has happened with more than a few cast members from Star Trek and its various permutations.

Of course, the immediate question that arises is: who will replace the talented Mr. Tennant? (One has to give full points to series script editor Gerry Davis and producer Innes Lloyd, who were jointly responsible for introducing in 1966 the idea of the Doctor's regeneration as a tool for continuing the series in spite of old age, boredom, and unsuitability on the part of lead actors. Hopefully raises were involved.)

I was surprised to learn that it's possible to gamble on the identity of the new Doctor, and that there is a substantial odds list available:

ODDS ON NEW DOCTOR FROM PADDY POWER (3rd Nov 2008)

• 2/1 David Morrisey
• 6/1 Paterson Joseph
• 8/1 James Nesbitt, Chiwetel Ejiofor
• 10/1 Russell Tovey, John Simm
• 12/1 Anthony Head
• 14/1 Robert Carlyle, David Walliams
• 16/1 Richard E Grant
• 18/1 Richard Coyle, Aidan Gillen, Alan Davies, Sean Pertwee
• 20/1 Jason Statham, Harry Lloyd, Nigel Harman, Marc Warren, Jack Davenport
• 25/1 Julian Walsh, Adrian Lester, Alexander Armstrong
• 33/1 Julian Rhind-Tutt, Rupert Penry-Jones, James McAvoy
• 40/1 Bill Nighy, Stephen Fry, Ben Wishaw
• 50/1 John Barrowman, Ben Miles, David Suchet, Hugh Laurie
• 66/1 Gary Oldman, Matt Smith, Paul Bettany, Joel Beckett, Christopher Eccleston
• 80/1 Alex Kingston, Dean Lennox Kelly, Christopher Villiers
• 100/1 Ricky Gervais
• 150/1 Hugh Grant, Russell Brand, Vinnie Jones
• 200/1 Robbie Williams

Personally, I'd like to see Sean Pertwee get in: as the son of Jon Pertwee, the third Doctor, there's a certain geeky appeal to having him step into the role, and he has some background in the genre. (Apparently he also put fifty quid on himself, according to an interview in The Sun.)

A few of the candidates are black, and one can imagine that there's a tempting synergy involved in following the election of Barack Obama with a Doctor of colour - but wait, why is there only one woman on the list? I'm aware that Joanna Lumley was under consideration a few years back, and David Tennant jokingly suggested that Billie Piper could step into his place quite easily, although for me that would involve one hell of a script. British comedian Jennifer Saunders has been mentioned in connection with the part, although apparently just for a one-off appearance.

For myself, I think that Claudia Black would make a fabulous Doctor*. She has an impressive resumé in the genre, would come with an established fan base, and she's drop dead good looking, something for which Doctor Who has not always been noted. Her transition from Aeryn Sun on Farscape to Vala Mal Doran on Stargate SG-1 demonstrates an ability to move from serious to comedic roles, something that would suit the Doctor's character.

Circumstantial evidence (and smart bettors) would seem to be leaning toward David Morrissey, whose picture appears at the top of this posting beside Ms. Black's. I'm a bit sceptical about Mr. Morrissey, to be honest. Successful Doctors have always had a slight spark of craziness in their personalities - nothing personal, but the man looks as exciting as dry toast. Oh well, let's not give up yet: there's always that 100 to 1 shot that Ricky Gervais will get it.

- Sid

* November 21 - And then the Doctor would be a woman, and Black - I'm sorry, I waited a week but I finally couldn't hold out any more.