For the last 28 years, William Katt has been The Greatest American Hero. Ralph Hinkley was just trying to go about his business and be a good teacher, but an alien suit left to help rid the Earth of baddies turned him into a bumbling hero. Hinkley could have been cool and slick in that red suit, but that whole lack of an instruction manual made such hopes impossible.There have been murmurings before about a new feature film -- 2008 was filled with them -- but they haven't gone anywhere. And now one fan's dream makes me wish they would. In a talk with IFC, Nathan Fillion said there was one superhero film he thinks he can handle, a redo of GAH. In his mind: "With the technology we have available today for effects, I'd say it's largely the same idea, the same story, but the suit would be able to change and morph into whatever it is you needed him to do. So it could become armor, a scuba suit -- you could do that stuff." And while he isn't actively making it at this point, he's met both Katt and Robert Culp on the set of Castle, and the show's stunt coordinator is the guy who did Katt's stunts on the '80s show. So, as Fillion says, "I've got my all my fingers in the right pots."
I have to say: I love the idea. Fillion knows how to be both earnest and goofy. He's charming and likable, and could pull off a new Hinkley without being a bleak caricature or completely re-imagining the character. (And imagine what that suit would do without a manual!) If anyone is going to make this, they should give him the reigns. But one question remains: Who would play Culp's Bill Maxwell? Without the right man, a remake would be pointless.
1. Bill Maxwell+Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Posted at 8:01PM on Oct 15th 2009 by Chris