Cast This: Disney's Live-Action Hercules
Thursday, April 30, 2020 at 4:00PM 
by Nathaniel R
Disney still has lots of animated features to get through before they've made animated or live-action remakes or spinoffs of each of 'em. Word is they're now developing Hercules (1997) but then they're developing lots of these things to follow Mulan (2020) and Cruella (2021) into movie theaters.
Hopefully Hercules Redux gets some new songs because there aren't a lot as we recall and there's only so much of a score you can build from "Go the Distance". This will live or die based on how funny it is so we hope they lean heavily into its more camp aspects: bodybuilder lead, five muses, flamboyant villain.
How would you cast this thing? More after the jump...
Hercules (young, buff, ginger handsome jock type)
Megara (young, sarcastic, brunette screwball heroine type)
Hades (older fast-talking god of the underworld)
The 5 Muses Callipe, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Thalia, and Clio (great singing voices, comic timing, at least one full figured, the others statuesque)
DISNEY'S ANIMATED FEATURES. WHICH WILL BE REMADE?
Key:
RED: Tough to imagine a remake/spinoff
GREEN: Already remade/spunoff
BLUE: Rumored or actually in some stage of development
BLACK: Who knows. Depends on if the box office returns begin to wane
1930s
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
1940s
Pinocchio (1940)
Fantasia (1940)
Dumbo (1941)
Bambi (1942)
Saludos Amigos (1943)
The Three Caballeros (1945)
Make Mine Music (1946)
Fun and Fancy Free (1947)
Melody Time (1948)
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad (1949)
1950s
Cinderella (1950)
Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Peter Pan (1953)
Lady and the Tramp (1955)
Sleeping Beauty (1959)
1960s
One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
The Sword in the Stone (1963)
The Jungle Book (1967)
1970s
The Aristocats (1970)
Robin Hood (1973)
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
The Rescuers (1977)
1980s
The Fox and the Hound (1981)
The Black Cauldron (1985)
The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
Oliver & Company (1988)
The Little Mermaid (1989)
1990s
The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
Beauty and the Beast(1991)
Aladdin (1992)
The Lion King (1994)
Pocahontas (1995)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
Hercules (1997)
Mulan (1998)
Tarzan (1999)
2000s
Fantasia 2000 (2000)
Dinosaur (2000)
The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
Lilo & Stitch (2002)
Treasure Planet (2002)
Brother Bear (2003)
Home on the Range (2004)
Chicken Little (2005)
Meet the Robinsons (2007)
Bolt (2008)
The Princess and the Frog (2009)
2010s
Tangled (2010)
Winnie the Pooh (2011)
Wreck it Ralph (2012)
Frozen (2013)
Big Hero 6 (2014)
Zootopia (2016)
Moana (2016)
Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)
Frozen 2 (2019)
Cast This!, Disney, Hercules, animated films, casting, musicals, remakes
Reader Comments (27)
Hercules - Jeremy Jordan
Megara - Barrett Wilbert Weed
Hades - Willem Dafoe
The Muses - Britney Coleman, Janelle Monae, Amber Riley, MJ Rodriguez, Shanice Williams
This could be so flamboyant and campy and yet, they'll make it into the most straight bland film, like they do with all their adaptations.
Something tells me this is going to be a really BAD idea. I doubt they can get anyone to play Hercules as I don't see Jeremy Jordan as Hercules as he's too wimpy and he's not a good singer. God forbid they cast that other guy from the Twilight movies as he can't act for shit.
Stop with the shitshow remakes
You list "Beauty and the Beast" in red, when it should be in green, yes? Also, no mention at all of "Song of the South," obvs a red, lol.
Hercules: Jordan Fisher can sing and he can pull off the character's goofiness/naiveté, but he'd also have to bulk up a bit. So would Tom Holland, but can he sing? I dunno, this is definitely the hardest role to cast, maybe go for an unknown or a Broadway star?
Megara: the internet has apparently decided that this is Ariana Grande's role? But I'd consider Zendaya. Anna Kendrick fits the description of the character perfectly and she can pass as younger than she is if age is an issue.
Hades: Jeff Goldblum? Sam Jackson? Richard E. Grant? I feel like this is where they can get the most creative. Maybe a gender flip? Whoopi Goldberg!
The Muses: Audra McDonald, Amber Riley, Cynthia Erivo, Kelly Rowland, Renée Elise Goldsberry. But also: Janelle Monae, Jill Scott, Patina Miller, Jennifer Hudson. Maybe an older actress like Jenifer Lewis, Loretta Devine, or Sheryl Lee Ralph?
I actually think Hercules has a pretty underrated score! The Gospel Truth, Go the Distance, Zero to Hero and especially I Won't Say I'm in Love are pretty great. Danny Devito can't really sing, but One Last Hope is catchy too. They just need maybe one or two more songs, likely one for the Hades character as that always seemed like a missed opportunity and a duet bw Hercules and Meg would make sense.
Glenn Howerton as Hades
I've seen some people mention Ewan McGregor as Hades and that would be really fun too!
Additional names for the Muses: Anika Noni Rose and Chloe Bailey (her sister is already playing Ariel).
I loved the Fox and the Hound as a very small kid, but in my teens I saw the live action movie The Ballad of the Belstone Fox that the story is derived from and that is incredibly dark (themes of mental illness and extreme animal cruelty).
Not sure whether Disney would want to go that way.
There have also been several live action versions of The Wind in the Willows, Peter Pan, Tarzan and The Sword in the Stone (admittedly less focused on young Arthur) so am not sure what could be gained by those. Although I also have no idea why anyone thinks a live action Robin Hood with animals would make any sense so what do I know.
Audra McDonald for head muse!
Just a quick comment: Audra McDonald would be wonderful as the curvy Muse, but has anyone thought of whether she would DO the role?
My casting would be:
HERCULES... Billy Magnussen
MEGARA... Ariana Grande
HADES... Jeff Goldblum
CALLIOPE... Audra McDonald
MELPOMENE... Ariana DeBose
TERPSICHORE... Tamyra Gray
THALIA... Da'Vine Joy Randolph
CLIO... MJ Rodriguez
Hercules gospel inspired score is one of Disney's best. Don't tack on any unnecessary songs that don't fit.
Andrew -- Billy Magnussen. I LOVE IT.
Billy Magnussen is the best suggestion I've heard yet.
Alex Newell would be great as one of the muses.
I was gonna try, but there's no way I'm topping Andrew's suggestions..
What? HERCULES has got a great soundtrack!
And it goes without saying, this remake is dumb. There have already been live-action versions of this story. It's like them doing TARZAN over.
Billy Magnussen would make a great Herc!
muses: jinkx monsoon, ben delacreme, latrice royale, shangela, peppermint
The Muses: Beyonce', Kelly, Michelle, LaToya and LaTavia.
After reading Billy Magnussen's name, there's nothing really left to say.
There's a plethora of good casting choice for the Muses, but I think it's all about Hercules, Megara and to an extent Hades.
For me, I would trend younger for the first two and I submit...
HERCULES: KJ Apa
MEGARA: Hailee Steinfeld
As for HADES... he can literally be any body with a big personality. Love the choices above of Ewan McGregor and Jeff Goldblum (and also Whoopi!). I humbly submit Tom Hiddleston.
Can Tiffany Haddish sing? If so, she’s Calliope.
+ Keke Palmer, Janelle Monae, Tisha Campbell.
And obviously it goes without saying Lizzo as Thalia.
If Tiffany can’t do it, move up Janelle and give the fifth part to an unknown ingenue through an open call.
Alex Newell is campaigning hard to be one of the muses. He has the range, the style is in his wheelhouse, and he has experience performing in musicals on camera. This feels like a no-brainer to me.
Hercules - Ben Platt, Meg - Sarah Hyland, Phil - Simon Pegg, Hades - Glenn Howerton
They need a remake of Song of the South and Beauty and the Beast was remade.
Hercules - Charlie Heaton
Megara - Camila Mendes
Hades- John Mulaney
The Muses - Jennifer Hudson, Audra McDonald, Cynthia Erivo, Tracie Ellis Ross, and Billy Porter