Idris Elba signs Marvel Deal for Unknown Film Property

Seems that Idris Elba has decided to rent a room in the Marvel hotel for a while, and has stated that playing Hemidall in Thor would not be his last Marvel film.

But who else are they signing him up to play?

Collider says

When quizzed about who he would like to play, given the choice of the Marvel catalog, he mentioned Blade with a smirk that was echoed with laughter from his manager.

“’But erm, there’s a couple of things there that they have… Luke Cage is… very interesting.”

I don’t have an issue with actors being re-used in similar genres. How many times has Bruce Willis played a cop?

But when its in the same house, with franchises that are ongoing, this can cause an issue. However, the role that Elba is playing in Thor may well be the only time that character is seen. And how MUCH of Elba we will see in that character is also in question.

If Elba’s Heimdall looks completely different than how Blade or Cage could appear, I could disassociate myself with the characters. Hemidall in the comics was a heavily armoured warrior whose face is mostly covered by an elaborate helmet. Having him then play Cage or Blade woudln’t be an issue.

And of course the actor your Luke Cage could smell like, Isaiah Mustafa (the Old Spice commercial guy) has already offered himself up should they make a Luke Cage movie.

I would love to see Elba take on either Luke Cage or Blade, but not both.

He is still my first pick for T’Challa, The Black Panther, and recently Favreau confirmed that a map in the background of Iron Man 2 made reference to Wakanda, the African nation ruled by Black Panther. Maybe name dropping other black Marvel heroes was to throw us off the trail?