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Actor Nathan Fillion is way more accustomed to playing superheroes than supervillains. However, that didn’t mean he was opposed to getting in touch with his more sinister side in movies.

Nathan Fillion felt it was too late to play this well-known Spider-Man villain

Nathan Fillion posing in a blue suit at a Disney event.
Nathan Fillion | John Nacion/FilmMagic)

Fillion has always been a fan of the comic book genre. He’s been able to transfer his passion for superheroes by starring in several superhero projects. He has a long history of voicing Green Lantern in the DC animated movies before actually becoming one in the upcoming live action Superman movie. In a 2007 interview with Games Radar, Fillion ran down a list of superheroes he would’ve liked to play. Which included the ring bearing space cop.

“I could be Green Lantern. I could be Captain America. I think it’s time for a Canadian Captain America! I would love to play Jonah Hex; not strictly a ‘superhero’ but a DC comics character, and I think that would be a great role. So, yeah, I like comic-book heroes. My mum always says to me, ‘Nathan, you’re very much a geek – your advantage is that you look mainstream.’ And she’s right,” Fillion said.

But apart from superheroes, he also had his eye on a few supervillains he would’ve liked to play as well.

“I thought I would have made a great Eddie Brock – I would have made a great Venom. But that’s already gone,” he said.

The reason Fillion might’ve figured he lost out on the role was because Topher Grace was cast as Eddie Brock for Spider-Man 3.

Nathan Fillion wanted to be a villain in Daniel Craig’s James Bond movies

Fillion wasn’t only interested in playing the villain in comic book movies. He would’ve enjoyed going up against James Bond on the big screen as well. He was especially interested in Daniel Craig’s Bond series. He even imagined how his Bond character might look like opposite of Craig’s. 007 villains were sometimes known for having unique physical features that made them stand out.

“Now, what could be my affectation? Weeping blood was fantastic, in the last one. I could go with being half burned,” Fillion said. “By acid. Half scarred, malformed by acid. I would always cover myself with something, or carry a fan the whole time. Can I get back to you when I’ve thought of a plan for world domination? Money is the root of all evil, so it would have to be to do with money in some way. Gold is too specific, though, and Goldfinger did that. It’ll have to be something to do with satellites and computers.”

Nathan Fillion played a villain for the first time in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’

Firefly creator Joss Whedon famously cast Fillion in a big role on the hit vampire series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In an interview with Comic Book, Fillion reflected on what he learned about playing a villain on the television series.

“That was my first time playing a villain. And Joss Whedon taught me a lot about playing villains,” Fillion said. “The first thing being, the villain doesn’t think he’s the villain. That was very informative to me. He’s not in the corner of wrenching his hands going, ‘I’m the bad guy and I’m going to do something nasty.’ He’s justified and he is righteous, which I think makes… I’m really scared of righteous people because once they’re righteous, they can’t be wrong anymore. Whatever they want, they feel righteous. You can’t stop them. It’s the worst. So yeah, that scares me too.”

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