[casting] At least this new version of the myth won't have man-on-troll action?

[whyareyoulikethis]

Consider us kind of dubious about the new take on the King Arthur myth from the producers of Henry VIII Fucks A Lot of Women And There's Pretty Costumes. Camelot, a modern AU contemporary take on the legend, is set to air on the Starz network in early 2011. It was always going to have a lot to prove to folks who imprinted on Merlin, the BBC's more innocent, earnest, and totally gay version. And lo and behold, casting information on the new show has recently hit the interwebs and it's already giving us pause.

The female leads seem to be top notch if conventional choices- Eva Green, so cool and sly in Casino Royale, will be playing Morgana. Tamsin Egerton, who you might remember from her adorable and funny turn in St. Trinian's, aka that movie with the schoolgirls and the heisting and where Rupert Everett is in drag and has a total romantic subplot with Colin Firth where "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing" literally swells in the background when they look at each other, no really, I'm serious, has been cast as Guinevere. (No word yet on whether Tamsin is secretly a hussy.)

But then we get to Merlin and Arthur.

It looks like Jamie Campbell Bower will be the latest actor to take on the mantle of King Arthur. Where's he from? You musical fans might remember Jamie as Anthony in Sweeney Todd; any ohnotheydidnt followers might know him as being engaged to Ginny Weasley in RL; and let's not forget his sparkly role in the latest Twilight movie some of you might be embarrassed to admit you saw.


Pros: Younger than Sean Connery. Cons: Strangely Biblical hair, kind of reedy looking, not likely to film himself being lost at a train station.

But in the biggest change up from the Beeb's tweenage version, Joseph Fiennes, most recently of the late, almost-but-not-quite-great Flashforward, is going to be Merlin. Yeah.


Pros: Has the potential to look decent with his shirt off. Cons: No big ears. Looks actually competent. Plus, I doubt any unicorn worth its horn would go near him.

I'm sure Jamie and Joseph could be good in these roles, but that's beside the point. The POINT is what are the Merlin/Arthur fans going to do with this? Don't you know that once fangirls have seen something with our slash goggles on it's impossible for us to unsee it? Why would you do this? Do you WANT me shipping Caius Volturi the vampire with William Motherfucking Shakespeare? Because I already am and I feel really unclean about it.



I'm going to go look at pictures of Bradley and Colin being adorable to make myself feel better.

That aside, what do you guys think of how this show is shaping up? Anyone planning on watching?