7 Casting Choices (That Were Secret In-Jokes)

7

LEGO Batman Cast Billy Dee Williams As Two-Face After He Was Screwed Out Of The Part 20 Years Earlier

The LEGO Batman Movie is the latest story of the Dark Knight's never-ending attempt to avenge the murder of his parents in Crime Alley.

Distracting you from the fact that you're plunking down money to watch people play with toys is the film's terrific voice cast, many of whom got their parts as a way to tell ridiculous in-jokes. From Eddie Izzard playing Voldemort (despite the fact that Ralph Fiennes was already on the payroll playing Alfred) ...

Not our Voldemort.

... to Doug Benson playing Bane (as a reference to his podcast) ...

Not the red, stoned eyes.

... to Flight Of The Conchords' Jemaine Clement playing Sauron (because he's one of the two people from New Zealand you've ever heard of) ...

The other one is the other Flight Of The Concord.

... But the icing on the dry, blocky LEGO cake is the casting of Billy Dee Williams as LEGO Two-Face. The character was even designed to look like Billy Dee Williams.

If Billy Dee Williams was a Terminator designed by Prince.

Which is hugely significant if you think back to a previous era of Batman movies, where Batman was 5'10" and casually set people on fire. In the 1989 version of Batman, Billy Dee Williams played the role of Harvey Dent, who every Batman fan knows will eventually become the villainous Two-Face.

Shown here as the tolerable One-Face.

But even though Williams took the part with "the hopes" of one day playing Two-Face, the part was recast when the series changed directors. Which meant that until the LEGO movie, the most interesting part of Harvey Dent's character arc had been robbed from Williams, making it the worst deal he'd been involved in since a little incident in Cloud City.

6

Kingsman: The Secret Service -- Mark Hamill Plays A Kidnapped Scientist... But In The Comics It Was A Kidnapped Mark Hamill

We're used to seeing Mark Hamill in the role of Luke Skywalker, or as the voice of The Joker, or, of course, as Man Who Gets Turned into Revolting Cockroach Monster -- but recently he showed up rather unexpectedly in Kingsman: The Secret Service as a kidnapped scientist.

So that's where Luke was hiding.

So why cast the guy who blew up two Death Stars in such an inconsequential role? It turns out that Hamill's casting is actually a reference to the movie's source material. In the comic The Secret Service a similar scene plays out where the hostage was not a renowned scientist, but rather Mark Hamill, the actor -- who naturally gets shit about the prequels from his captors.

"Yeah, I had nothing to do with those. Live long and prosper, geniuses."

Mr. Hamill is soon rescued by a suave, and pretty violent secret agent--

Holy shit, that dude was just bringing coffee.

Who stages a daring, snowmobile-aided, BASE-jumping escape...

"Just like back in your Bond days right, Mr. Hamill?"

... then in a satisfying moment for anyone who's ever scoffed at the idea of someone surviving such elaborate stunts, both the agent and star of Corvette Summer are horribly killed.

5

Sean Connery Was Cast As Indiana Jones' Dad To Make A Personal Point About James Bond

It's hard to imagine anyone other than Sean Connery playing Indiana Jones' dad. He was pretty much perfect for the role, other than the fact that he's only 12 years older than Harrison Ford, setting up a hilarious, lover-sharing misunderstanding.

And also potentially setting up a less hilarious prequel about the famed adventurer's parentage.

But even more than that, the casting of Connery in The Last Crusade was also a brilliantly meta personal message from Steven Spielberg. The key to understanding what's going on here is to know that Spielberg always wanted to make a Bond movie, but was rejected by the producers. Twice. A bitterness he still carries with him, judging by a comment he made a few years ago when he explained how he couldn't get a job with the Bond franchise and "now, sadly, they can't afford me."

It would seem that the entirety of Indiana Jones was borne out of that frustration of not being able to get the Bond gig. On one of his -- presumably many -- beachside chats with George Lucas, Spielberg was complaining about his unrequited Bond love when Lucas pitched him the idea for Raiders Of The Lost Ark as "just like James Bond but even better."

4

Scott Baio Was On Arrested Development As A Reference To The Behind The Scenes Machinations Of Happy Days

To say that Arrested Development had elaborate, metatextual humor is like pointing out that the Gilmore Girls were quippy, or that Game Of Thrones is kinda violent, or that The Cosby Show will never again be watched by human eyes. Even the show's casting changes couldn't escape the meta joke machine, in particular the casting decisions made when Henry Winkler left the show. There had already been several Happy Days-related jokes surrounding Winkler's character, lawyer Barry Zuckerkorn -- watch here as he literally jumps over a shark after schilling for Burger King.

3

An SNL Alumnus Shows Up In Ant-Man For A Very Good Reason

Marvel movies are just chockfull of in-jokes; from Captain America's shield being stashed away in Tony Stark's filthy basement, to every Avengers movie being a giant green middle-finger to Edward Norton. And the film about the tiniest superhero in the Marvel arsenal is no exception. You might recall a scene where Ant-Man falls onto the roof of a car, momentarily confusing the driver:

2

Paul Reubens Was A Vampire Version Of His Mugshot In Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Buffy The Vampire Slayer was a mediocre movie that somehow spawned a TV show that even the guy who made the goddamn Wire thinks is "the best show in years." The show imported a lot of elements from the movie, but one character who didn't make the cut was ... uh, this guy:

1

Hot Fuzz -- One Of The Casting Choices Tips Off The Twist Ending

Edgar Wright is known for cramming intricate jokes into minute details, like in Shaun Of The Dead, where the opening scene finds the characters in a pub drunkenly laying out the plot of the entire movie.

Which is also how we're guessing every Michael Bay screenplay gets written.

Similarly, Wright's follow-up, Hot Fuzz, provides a tip-off about where the plot is headed through one key casting choice. The movie finds Simon Pegg as a police officer reassigned to a small English town where he has to unravel the secret behind a series of murders. That secret? Most of the town are secretly members of a creepy cult that have been orchestrating the murders.

Holy shit, spoilers, guys, we should have said spoilers, sorry, sorry.

Now hold onto your tight-fitting argyle socks, because one of those English villagers is played by Edward Woodward who's perhaps best known for his role in the original The Wicker Man where he played a policeman who uncovers a murderous cult in a small English town.

The restrained version where the hero doesn't put on a bear costume and punch women in the face.

Not surprisingly, it turns out that The Wicker Man was one of the first movies Pegg and Wright turned to for inspiration. Of course, instead of ending with people getting burned alive in a giant sculpture made of Pier 1 furniture, Hot Fuzz instead opted for a shootout straight out of Bad Boys, so it's not exactly the same.

But still pretty good for something that was again likely written on a series of bar napkins.

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Also check out 4 Movie Theories That Explain Bizarre Casting Choices and 7 Characters Clearly Designed For (Different) Famous Actors.

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