Johnny Depp’s Favorite Superhero Was Namor Long Before the Marvel Character’s Onscreen Debut
Johnny Depp has played a number of interesting and challenging characters in his long career. But for all of his roles, comic book films have always seemed to elude him. It’s somewhat surprising considering the actor’s long love of comic book characters. In fact, Johnny Depp once revealed Namor was his favorite superhero.
Johnny Depp loved Namor, just like another screen legend
The comic book character Namor recently debuted in the Marvel film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. But way before Tenoch Huerta played the anti-hero, Depp expressed his appreciation for the character — he’d been a fan of the Sub-Mariner since his youth.
“I was a rock ‘n’ roll kid, mainly, but prior to age 12, when the rock ‘n’ roll sort of took hold, I was a comic-book head,” Depp once told Hero Complex (via MTV News). “Namor is great. There was this strange double edge to the guy. And there was also something about living underwater that I liked a lot.”
He also expressed a bit of shock that one of his idols, Clint Eastwood, was also interested in playing Namor. Eastwood revealed his interest in the character in an old MTV News interview.
“The Sub-Mariner, that’s the one I always liked,” Eastwood said. “I had all of those comics when I was a kid.”
Johnny Depp was almost Batman in ‘Batman Forever’
Although Depp hasn’t been in any major comic book adaptations so far, he was once unofficially tied to a Batman project. Back in the early 2000s, Depp was rumored to be playing the Riddler in a potential Dark Knight sequel. Depp was quick to deny the rumors back then. And as fascinated as he would’ve been to play the supervillain, he was a bit intimidated to follow up Heath Ledger’s Joker.
“I would certainly not turn it down right away, but I’m not sure I could do it justice. Especially after how well Heath did as The Joker, I think my playing Riddler would be a step back for the films. But hey, never say never,” he once said, according to ComicBookMovie.
Depp also revealed that he was once in the running to play Batman himself in Batman Forever. Batman Returns director Tim Burton vouched for Depp to do the project.
“What happened was Tim was producing it and he was trying to talk Joel Schumacher [the director] and the movie bosses to give me a shot at the role but it just never really worked out,” Depp said.
Was Johnny Depp ever considered for Dr. Strange?
It’s hard to imagine Johnny Depp as Namor now. But there was a time when some believed Depp would play a Marvel superhero. Before Benedict Cumberbatch was cast as Dr. Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there was much speculation about who’d end up in the role. Depp was one of a few actors whose names were being tossed around for the project. But in a 2014 interview with IGN, producer Kevin Feige responded to the rumors directly.
“No, no. When you have a project that’s been around as long as Doctor Strange, there is sometimes, ‘Oh, I’ve met with Stan about this! Or I did that!’ So Strange is one of those projects that predates me by a long shot. Obviously, the character does, but even in its cinematic brewing. So there’s a lot of things that have happened before me, and I’ve been here 14 years. So that’s a long time ago. I don’t know if that happened then,” Feige said.
He also clarified that a star of Depp’s caliber at the time wasn’t needed for the Marvel superhero movie.
“I think if you’re looking to track our decision-making and how we’ve done things, we have a pretty wide track record now where you can sort of see. So, no, a movie star is not required, but that doesn’t mean a movie star wouldn’t be great. It just depends,” he said.
