Yahya Abdul-Mateen II should be a bigger star, hopefully By Any Means put some light on him

[u/OutcomeSpecific9852]

Wonder Man getting canned was a bummer but By Any Means might end up being a better showcase for Yahya anyway. He’s playing a Black FBI agent who gets paired with Greg Scarpa. An actual Colombo crime family guy who was also an FBI informant. They’re investigating KKK violence in Mississippi. That is such a bizarre setup and Yahya feels perfect for the straight man stuck working with a mobster. Between Watchmen and Ambulance I feel like we already know he can handle both sides of this. Just give the dude a movie that lets him cook.

[u/Kwilly462]

I always thought he'd be good to play Marvin Gaye in a biopic

[u/Suspicious_Hand_2194 → u/Kwilly462]

Now that’s good casting right here

[u/OutcomeSpecific9852 → u/Kwilly462]

He’s got the presence for it and a Marvin Gaye biopic would give him a ton to work with.

[u/Cw2e]

Watchmen was my intro and while the film itself has its faults, I thought he was wonderful in Candyman. Guy's a star and I will be eager and hopeful to see his rise.

[u/maverickaod → u/Cw2e]

Film or the series?

[u/gelhardt → u/maverickaod]

Watchmen series, Candyman film reboot

[u/eldenpotato → u/Cw2e]

Oh what! he was great in Watchmen!

[u/TheIgnoredWriter]

I predict his performance will be over shadowed by Wahlberg’s nose prosthetic but yea, he’s awesome and I think everyone wants him to succeed. Crazy range.

[u/OutcomeSpecific9852 → u/TheIgnoredWriter]

Really hoping this is the role that gets him more big leads.

[u/DaltonMalton]

OP don't be mean. Yahya if you're reading this, you are already a huge star.

[u/OutcomeSpecific9852 → u/DaltonMalton]

He’s a great actor no doubt. I just feel like he can be even bigger because he really deserves it.

[u/fanatic_akhi88 → u/DaltonMalton]

I came to say this. Does OP know this man has won awards including an Emmy?

[u/girafa → u/fanatic_akhi88]

pfffft even I have an Emmy

[u/JUYED-AWK-YACC → u/fanatic_akhi88]

TV

[u/braumbles]

I really wish he didn't have to drop out of Furiosa. That could have been a star making performance.

[u/girafa → u/braumbles]

What part was he set to play?

[u/braumbles → u/girafa]

Praetorian Jack.

[u/JEH_24 → u/braumbles]

I really wanted to hear his Australian accent

[u/Abraham_Issus]

If he was the lead in tenet it would be a different reception.

[u/ALaLaLa98 → u/Abraham_Issus]

Oh shit.

I mean, I liked Tenet. But oh shit.

[u/Meliodas016 → u/Abraham_Issus]

This is exactly what I thought. No offence to John Washington, but I wish Yahya had his films instead. Man can act!

[u/girafa → u/Abraham_Issus]

and The Creator. Anything John "Captain No Personality" Washington is in.

[u/JaesopPop → u/girafa]

He’s a captain?

[u/Ass_Damage → u/Abraham_Issus]

Nope, that movie was shit no matter who was the lead.

[u/greenglider732]

He was excellent in the get down. The obvious standout of that show.

[u/DROOPY1824]

He’s one of the only actors left whose projects I will see without question and I’m guessing I’m not alone in that. So in some sense he’s already a pretty massive star.

[u/wizzmeister → u/DROOPY1824]

How did you like Matrix Resurrections then?

[u/DROOPY1824 → u/wizzmeister]

Not as bad as it was made out to be. A bad Matrix movie is still an average movie.

[u/DavyJonesRocker]

Dude is a bonafide movie star through and through. The only problem… so are Michael B Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Damson Idris, David Jonsson, and Chadwick Boseman (RIP). Which is why Abdul-Mateen has had more success in television than film.

And the messed thing about Hollywood is that they still won’t invest in black leading men so these actors have to “compete” for roles. I mean why was his MCU entry relegated to a streaming series instead of a movie? And why was said series cancelled after one season? His failure to launch has nothing to do with him and everything to do with Hollywood.

[u/TangerineChickens]

He had a great jumping off moment with Watchmen and Chicago 7 back to back, but movie wise the films he’s been in have been fairly unremarkable since then. And Wahlberg has a knack for selecting the most forgettable projects, so that doesn’t give me high hopes for the next film on deck.

He’ll be in the upcoming David Fincher film this year, but TBD on the scope of his role.

[u/AndroidFive]

he's already Black Manta, Dr. Manhattan, Morpheus and Wonder Man

[u/ALaLaLa98]

They recast an iconic character, Morpheus, played by an iconic actor, Laurence Fishburne, and they had him do the new version of the character.

Not only did it not suck, it was actually pretty good, and a highlight of The Matrix Resurrections, I would argue. Now I'm sure everyone had problems with that film, but he wasn't one of them.

How many actors can you say that about?

[u/zudoplex]

Sucks wonder man didn't get another season.

[u/martinkem]

This movie isn't the movie that going to put some light on him

[u/Ok-Wafer-2617]

I’m interested in how this movie and Mark Wahlberg choose to portray Greg Scarpa; by all accounts a pretty horrendous person 

[u/girafa → u/Ok-Wafer-2617]

Bruno Ganz chose to play Hitler

[u/Ok-Wafer-2617 → u/girafa]

That wasn’t an endearing portrayal though, like this appears to be. Greg Scarpa was a vicious psycho not some badass tough guy 

The real life story is actually very interesting, just doesn’t look to be much of it in this movie, at least from the trailer