FIRST LOOK

First Look: Thomas Jane as Gun-Slinging Anti-Hero Jonah Hex

by Alex Billington
June 18, 2008
Source: Film School Rejects

This just came out of nowhere! A few days ago I was confusing Jonah Hex with Cowboys & Aliens, but now we already have the first photo?! Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the crazy duo behind Crank, have been developing this project to both write and direct, which marks the third big feature film within a few years, including the yet-unreleased movies Game and Crank 2: High Voltage. Our good friends at Film School Rejects received a juicy scoop this morning - the first test photo of Thomas Jane as the character Jonah Hex. Oddly, no casting has been officially announced on this as of yet, so if this turns out being real, it's both a casting announcement and exciting first look all rolled into one!

Neil of FSR assures us that this photo came "from an extremely reliable source inside studio lines." However, if it ends up being a fake photo, we'll be sure to update this right away. Honestly, this was just too good to pass up. I think it shows how unique this adaptation could end up becoming. And I might say the face looks a bit like our friend Two-Face from The Dark Knight.

Jonah Hex, known for having the right side of his face disfigured and wearing a Confederate army uniform, was a rough-and-tumble gunslinger and part-time bounty hunter whose adventures always ended in blood. The character first appeared in the early 1970s in issues of DC Comics' All-Star Western before getting his own series in 1977 that ran for about 10 years. Neveldine and Taylor are not making a straight-ahead Western, but plan to develop the character with supernatural overtones in the hopes of creating a franchise.

I recently heard that Serenity's Nathan Fillion was hoping to get this role, but if this news turns out being true, unfortunately it won't be Fillion's gig. I would have much rather preferred Fillion over Jane, but either one will do the character justice. What's much more important with this project is Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the wild filmmaking duo that has created some of the most unique films in recent years (Crank and Pathology so far). They're always breaking the rules and pushing the limits of filmmaking and I'm expecting they'll go even further with Jonah Hex than ever before.

What is your initial reaction to this first test photo of Thomas Jane as Jonah Hex?

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Related categories: Casting, First Look, Hype, Rumors