John Carter cast!

Just this morning I wondered when we’d hear some casting news on JOHN CARTER OF MARS. Just a few hours later, Disney has announced the two leads for the film.

Director Andrew Stanton must’ve been a big fan of X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE (the only one?) because he’s reuniting stars Taylor Kitsch (Gambit) and Lynn Collins (Silverfox) to star as John Carter and Dejah Thoris respectively. I’ll be honest and say the casting surprises me, mostly because I would’ve thought they’d go for a bigger name and an older actor for the role of Carter (though in fairness to Kitsch, he’s only two years shy of the 30-year-old character). Now that I look at Collins though, she does have a certain exotic beauty that would fit Dejan. And though her acting in WOLVERINE was nothing short of awkward, she has done fine work elsewhere, notably against Al Pacino in THE MERCHANT OF VENICE.

The casting neither blows me away nor disappoints me. But what do you guys think? At this point I suppose I’m just willing to trust Stanton and his producers that they’ve found the right people (WALL-E at least gives him that much credit).