The Terminator could be coming to Marvel. If you can believe the gossip, Schwarzenegger is in talks to play Titanium Man for War Machine’s first solo film, Armor Wars. Don Cheadle recently downplayed the reports on Jimmy Kimmel Live in hilarious fashion. Still, the idea is intriguing.
Sure, Arnold is 75 years old, and maybe he’s past his action-movie, Mr. Universe prime, but that hasn’t stopped Marvel Studios from their fantasy castings. Harrison Ford was officially confirmed as taking over the role of Thunderbolt Ross for the next Captain America film, and he’s 80.
Particularly in the Disney era, Marvel Studios has been recruiting the biggest names in Hollywood for its Multiverse of increasingly average projects. Award-winning actors abound with every new MCU movie or series. While no one is accusing Arnold of being an Oscar-caliber performer, he’s still a major name in the industry with millions of fans worldwide. Plus, Sylvester Stallone has joined the MCU, and I’m sure Conan the Barbarian can’t let Rocky get a leg up on him.
All that being said, the casting makes sense from a celebrity standpoint. As for Arnold’s age, that shouldn’t be a problem for a role such as Titanium Man. Similar to Ford, any action scenes would likely involve a heaping helping of CGI. Plus, Schwarzenegger is in great shape, so he could easily pull off a motion-capture suit.
Arnold may have the most famous Austrian accent in the world, but he’s shown that he can pull off the stereotypical Russian voice. He played KGB agent Ivan Danko in 1988’s Red Heat, an overlooked Schwarzenegger shoot-’em-up classic. While maybe not the most authentic accent, it was passable enough.
Whether or not we see Arnold in the role, the odds are high that we’ll see some version of Titanium Man in Armor Wars. That has investment and speculation implications, beginning with these issues.
TALES OF SUSPENSE #69
Who is Titanium Man? Created during the Cold War, he is the evil Russian Iron Man, not to be confused with the Crimson Dynamo, who also happens to be a Soviet Iron Man. Actually, the two character’s stories are intertwined. Boris Bullski used Anton Vanko’s laboratory to commission a suit similar to that of Dynamo’s, though Bullski’s armor was much larger. Soon after creating his suit, Titanium Man would challenge Iron Man to a high-tech brawl on international television, and Bullski would promptly have his ass handed to him.
There haven’t been many copies of TOS #69 on the move as of late. In fact, the only grade to trade hands online in the past 90 days has been the 6.5, which brought $72 in September. Before that, it went for $432 in February.
INCREDIBLE HULK #163
Although Bullski would prove to be the most popular version of Titanium Man, he was far from the last. Over the decades, there have been several characters to take up the armor. Surprisingly, it was the mutant Gremlin who would be the second Titanium Man. However, the armor would bring about his death shortly thereafter.
To honor his sacrifice, let’s take a moment to remember his first appearance in Hulk #163. The 9.6 has been the highest grade sold this year, and it brought $169 in September. I can’t picture Gremlin making it into the MCU, at least not as Titanium Man, but stranger things have happened.
IRON MAN LEGACY #4
Another prominent Titanium Man, and possibly someone we could see sporting the armor in the MCU, is Gennedy Ovinnik. First appearing in 2010’s Iron Man Legacy #4, he took up the suit and joined another Russian agent, Lev, who debuted here as the newest Crimson Dynamo. The interesting part is that with Armor Wars on the horizon, both of these characters could be included in the cast. That makes this a potential sleeper pick before the marketing begins for the new film. Since no one is watching this issue, you can grab raw copies on eBay for $5 or less.
GET TO THE ARMOR!
As a lifelong Arnold fan, I would love to see him in a recurring Marvel role. Unfortunately, I would wager Titanium Man will be yet another one-and-done MCU villain. Still, the prospect of him being in a major movie is just too tantalizing to ignore.
