Reel Interesting: Daniel Day-Lewis as Professor Moriaty?

The usually reliable folks over at superherohype.com are reporting on SHERLOCK HOLMES director Guy Ritchie’s desire to cast Daniel Day-Lewis as the villainous Professor Moriaty in his HOLMES sequel.

It should be made clear that this blurb barely qualifies as news, as it merely states Ritchie’s wishes for casting (if wishes were horses, we’d all be eating steak). In fact, it barely registers as a rumor, as there are no confirmed reports of DDL being offered a read-thru, let alone offered a job. However, the prospect of DDL playing one of the most famed (albeit somewhat forgotten) villains in literature is arousing enough to fuel some speculation.

The source material has the Professor as an equal to Holmes; intelligent and calculating. In the movies, villains who operate under intelligence are usually more of a threat than the ones who operate via madness. DDL has recently put together a strong resume of characters who fit a description of brains and wickedness (William Cutting and Daniel Plainview, for example). The presence of a strong villain would certainly improve upon Ritchie’s new HOLMES universe, and everyone knows DDL could act circles around Robert Downey Jr. On paper, DDL is the perfect fit.

In reality however, DDL is usually very picky about his projects, which explains why we only see him once every two or three years. The script for HOLMES 2 (which is still being written, by the way), would have to be strong and worthwhile to bring him out of his exiles. Reality also suggests that DDL wouldn’t touch a movie like this with a ten-foot pole. He has never jumped into the toilet bowl of big-budget Hollywood films that push spectacle over story and character, and this HOLMES universe is right in the center of the blue water. While Ritchie’s HOLMES had moments of intelligence, it couldn’t help but to push over-the-top spectacle with lots of booms and bangs, along with slapstick buffoonery action sequences that demeaned the characters and offered window dressing on a floater. Such films are exactly why DDL seems to loathe the business.

Lewis just may shock the world and go for the role, and his presence alone would demand a more serious HOLMES film. That would be a good thing. Chances are however, Ritchie’s comments in the press were just a way of getting DDL’s attention because he doesn’t have his phone number; A number that is usually only given out to upper-echelon directors.

What say you?