Horus Heresy - the series: who would play each Primarch?

[SuperDann]

So, whilst watching Game of Thrones, I thought how cool it was that a long-loved and highly popular fantasy series got through to a much larger and mainstream audience via the medium of a TV drama series. And then I thought, why can't the same be done for the Horus Heresy? I mean some of its books have topped the Sci-Fi charts on both sides of the Atlantic and have even cropped up on the New York Times bestsellers lists.

But, that point aside, I think the more interesting question is if it were to be made then who would play who? I'm thinking specifically the Primarchs here, as supplementary characters are too many and diverse. Here's my thoughts on a few, and remember this is theoretical (as Guilliman would say) and so I'm including movie actors who would likely not star in a TV series as well as some late actors who clearly wouldn't be able to.

Horus - [URL="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0425005/?ref_=nv_sr_1"]Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson[/URL]
He's got the physique, for one, but more importantly the charisma. One of the things that I really liked about the opening trilogy of the Horus Heresy was that Horus was not fated to turn evil from day one and it wasn't all "Oh my goodness, how could we not have seen this coming? It was so obvious!" He was popular and his appointment as Warmaster was upheld by the majority. I think The Rock has the necessary likeability for such a role.

Vulcan - [URL="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003817/?ref_=nv_sr_1"]Michael Clarke Duncan[/URL]
Between his John Coffey (The Green Mile) and Kingpin (Daredevil) I think he could portray both the humane and furious side of the Primarch.

Roboute Guilliman - [URL="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0262635/?ref_=nv_sr_1"]Chris Evans[/URL]
He's got that good-guy-ness as displayed in Captain America, but I can see him having the slightly darker side hinted at in Unremembered Empire

Angron - [URL="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1176985/?ref_=nv_sr_1"]Dave Bautista[/URL]
Too obvious?

Sanguinius - [URL="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1165110/?ref_=nv_sr_3"]Chris Hemsworth[/URL]
Good looks (a must for this role) and dynamism.


So there's just a few I thought of. Who would you suggest? Who would you change?

[YorkNecromancer]

The Rock is too good a face to waste him on Horus. He needs to be one of the 'good guys'... such as they are.

My choices would be:

• Horus: James Purefor. The man is raw, dangerous charismatic masculinity, not to mention he does regal incredibly well.
• Gulliman: Kevin McKidd. Watch 'Rome' and see why.
• Ferrus Manus: Ray Stevenson. The man has great intensity, and does cold-eyed killer like no-one else.
• Fulgrim: Natalie Dormer. Her turn as SPOILER:Moriarty in 'Elementary' is one of the greatest interpretations of the character I've seen.
• Rogal Dorn: Idris Elba. His whole 'unyielding badass' shtick is awesome.
• Angron: Jason Statham. Because Statham can actually act (he just often chooses not to), and Angron is actually a well-developed character who requires nuance, not simple rage, because he's not a daemon prince yet.
• Lorgar: Iain Glen. Watch him in 'City of Vice': the man is ****ing terrifying.
• Sanguinius: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Does the whole 'Handsome, charismatic, and wearied by his burdens' impeccably well.
• Malcador the Sigilite: Polly Walker. Just for her delivery of the final line of 'Rome': after having successfully defeated her every enemy, a new challenger appears, and gets shut down with the phrase - "You are swearing now that some day you will destroy me. Remember: far better women than you have sworn to do the same. Go look for them now."

[SuperDann]

• Gulliman: Kevin McKidd. Watch 'Rome' and see why.
• Ferrus Manus: Ray Stevenson. The man has great intensity, and does cold-eyed killer like no-one else.

These two suggestions I like. A lot, actually.

[Myreknight]

Khan - Mickey Rourke

[Angelofblades]

Ken Watanabe as Khan

[The Traitor]

Ckuck Norris :The Emperor
Arnold Schwartzenegger :The Terminator- i need your bolter,power armour and battle barge

[Psychosplodge]

Christopher Lee :The Emperor

ftfy

[Dlatrex]

The Rock is too good a face to waste him on Horus. He needs to be one of the 'good guys'... such as they are.

My choices would be:

• Horus: James Purefor. The man is raw, dangerous charismatic masculinity, not to mention he does regal incredibly well.
• Gulliman: Kevin McKidd. Watch 'Rome' and see why.
• Ferrus Manus: Ray Stevenson. The man has great intensity, and does cold-eyed killer like no-one else.
• Fulgrim: Natalie Dormer. Her turn as SPOILER:Moriarty in 'Elementary' is one of the greatest interpretations of the character I've seen.
• Rogal Dorn: Idris Elba. His whole 'unyielding badass' shtick is awesome.
• Angron: Jason Statham. Because Statham can actually act (he just often chooses not to), and Angron is actually a well-developed character who requires nuance, not simple rage, because he's not a daemon prince yet.
• Lorgar: Iain Glen. Watch him in 'City of Vice': the man is ****ing terrifying.
• Sanguinius: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Does the whole 'Handsome, charismatic, and wearied by his burdens' impeccably well.
• Malcador the Sigilite: Polly Walker. Just for her delivery of the final line of 'Rome': after having successfully defeated her every enemy, a new challenger appears, and gets shut down with the phrase - "You are swearing now that some day you will destroy me. Remember: far better women than you have sworn to do the same. Go look for them now."

GREAT choices. I just mentioned in the other thread how much I'd insist on casting Idris (and while he can capture any role, he'd probably need to stop tanning to play Rogal ;-) )

I might also prefer Nikolaj for Fulgrim, but your choice is good as well.

A few I could see:

• Ferrus Manus: Gerard Butler. I think he could pull of the bipolar attitudes just fine.
• Magnus the Red:Hugh Bonneville. Should be great for the tragic components.
• Corax:Colin O'Donoghue. I'd like to see how he could do the 'haunted' look.
• Night Haunter:Hugh Laurie. Speaking of haunted looks. He could do the descent into madness wonderfully.
• Perturabo:Mark Strong. I don't imagine Perturabo needs to speak above a low growl most of the time.
• Horus:Michael Fassbender. He could pull off both halves pretty convincingly I think.
• Alpharius /Omegon:Martin Freeman. I know he usually does comedy, but I think if given the chance to show his sinister side, he could pull of the Primarch that you forget to fear until it's too late.

Bonus: Jeremy Irons as Malcador, mostly because I'd love the delivery of his lines.

[Tom Visser]

I think I would choose actors for vocal talent, because I just can't see the series being live action. I think the budget would be too high. If they were to do a series, it would likely be animated or cgi. Without enough time to think, I would definitely have.Clancy Brown be Horus.

[Crimthaan]

I instantly think of Stephen Lang as Dorn. Uncompromising and dedicated to his cause.