King Conan, is it actually going to happen this time?

[Ralif Redhammer]

I'm hopeful that it can happen. There's a ton of source material for older Conan. But what does an older movie-version of Conan look like? I feel like you'd need to draw more from Barbarian's interpretation rather than Destroyer. Look to Arnold's melancholic performance in Maggie rather than The Last Stand. Not to mention Robert E. Howard's feelings of being "in the sere and yellow leaf," despite only living to 30.

At the same time, you still need to balance it as an action movie. And that's the tall order of it. No matter how good shape Arnold is in, it's still been over 40 years since he last played Conan.

 

[payn]

I don't know how interested I am in watching an action movie starring a septuagenerian even if it's Arnold. For Equalizer 3, they had McCall get injured in an early scene and I'm convinced it was to provide the audience with a reason why Denzel Washington, in his late 60s at the time, moved so slowly during the rest of the movie. Arnold's going to turn 79 this year, he might be an octuagenerian by the time they start filming, and while he's in good shape, I doubt he's up to the physical demands of the part. I suppose they can use CGI but I don't think they'll strike lightning with Conan like they did in 1982.

Arnie already addressed it. They won’t be shooting this like he is 40. He will be kicking ass differently

 

[Cergorach]

Sounds cool!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Yeah, I assume it'll be a lot of Arnie waiting for people to get close as a "feeble old man" and then doing the one hand lift-and-choke. He's been open about the fact that he can't do action like he could in his 40s, as anyone who's seen any of his recent roles knows.

But (potentially) hot take: As great as the classic Marvel Conan comics were, the King Conan comics were the best. (Early Marvel Red Sonja was better than either, though.)

If they pull this off, I will definitely see it. I also won't buy any tickets just yet.

 

[Clint_L]

Conan -cool. Commando -no. Sometimes they just gotta let it go.

"and a Colonel John Matrix comeback could actually finally be on the cards as Arnie has now read a Commando sequel script. All of which is to say that Arnold Schwarzenegger will be back, and back, and back again. No complaints here"!

I'll complain. It's one thing when a talented chaacter actor ages but still has their chops. It's another thing when an action star ages, because their chops are intrisically linked to their physicality. In the right role, this can work (The Wrestler), but I don't need to see John Matrix shuffling around and dropping one-liners before ridiculously winning a fist fight against a ripped stuntman a third his age.

Okay, never mind. As soon as I wrote that sentence, I decided that maybe I do need to see that.

Edit: but that said, when we get the glimse of King Conan on his throne at the end of Barbarian, I'm not picturing him in Depends. He's more like Dark Knight Returns Bruce Wayne old, not a total geezer.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'll complain. It's one thing when a talented chaacter actor ages but still has their chops. It's another thing when an action star ages, because their chops are intrisically linked to their physicality. In the right role, this can work (The Wrestler), but I don't need to see John Matrix shuffling around and dropping one-liners before ridiculously winning a fist fight against a ripped stuntman a third his age.

I saw a quote of him elsewhere saying the Commando role is basically him as the mentor, handing the baton off to a younger action hero. (Jason Momoa would be a nice full circle moment, sorry about your Conan movie, bro.)

Arnie is more self-aware than we sometimes give him credit for being.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

On the subject of Arnold being too old I'm reminded of the fact that when they filmed the original Commando there is a scene where John Matrix is chopping trees on his land and easily carries a whole log (or something like that, I haven't seen it in forever) and evidently behind the scenes the crew just assumed Arnold could easily carry a whole tree, which he explained to them he could not (at least not in a way that looked cool on screen), and so they had to make a lighter prop log. Which is just to say that these characters he's played have always been figures of myth and legend. What an aged Conan should be able to do has nothing to do with what an aged Arnold can actually do. The only question is how credible he can make it look these days.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I don't know how interested I am in watching an action movie starring a septuagenerian even if it's Arnold.

Keanu Reeves is in his 60s. I wonder how many John Wick style movies he'll still do. That being said, I'd not only watch an action movie with a septuagenarian (which Liam Neeson is one, but I wish they'd stop those movies lol), I'd watch one with an octogenarian

 

[Sacrosanct]

Speaking of octogenarian, Vernon Wells is probably asking how they can make his character come back from Commando, but I'd rather see him show up in his Mad Max costume rather than that stupid 80s mesh tank top shirt thing, whatever it was he had in Commando.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Yeah, I assume it'll be a lot of Arnie waiting for people to get close as a "feeble old man" and then doing the one hand lift-and-choke. He's been open about the fact that he can't do action like he could in his 40s, as anyone who's seen any of his recent roles knows.

But (potentially) hot take: As great as the classic Marvel Conan comics were, the King Conan comics were the best. (Early Marvel Red Sonja was better than either, though.)

If they pull this off, I will definitely see it. I also won't buy any tickets just yet.

The Conan we see in some of the stories that chafes against the responsibilities of rulership, against death getting ever close with age, portraying that I think is the easy part. Getting the action right will be hard. Can Arnold still wield a sword believably? We shall see. Having to rely too much on a stunt double or CGI would assuredly sink the movie.

Speaking of octogenarian, Vernon Wells is probably asking how they can make his character come back from Commando, but I'd rather see him show up in his Mad Max costume rather than that stupid 80s mesh tank top shirt thing, whatever it was he had in Commando.

So that string vest is actually a real thing. I was shocked to see one in a Scottish military museum. They were apparently commonly worn by UK airborne troops.