AARON ECKHART first gained recognition in 2000’s Erin Brockovich and then became a household name playing Gotham district attorney Harvey Dent – aka Two-Face – in last year’s Batman blockbuster The Dark Knight.

He’s also been mentioned in connection with the role of Marvel comic book hero Captain America – and so he is the 14th candidate in my casting call series. But would he be a good fit for the part?

After the success of The Dark Knight, he seemed keen to step into a superhero lead role himself, telling If Magazine: “I want my piece”, as I also reported.

At that time, he said there hadn’t been any talks for him to play Captain America and, at 41, is unsure how many superheroes are still in his age bracket, saying: “I don’t know, I’m getting older – I don’t know if there are any old superheroes.”

However, he did say he would happily appear in another superhero adaptation. “They’re fun to do,” says Eckhart. “I had fun doing this movie. I like action in general. I like to run around and be on cool motorcycles. I always get a tinge of jealousy when I see it and I’m not in it. I don’t know what’s left. It would have to be a good script and a good director.

“These movies work are as good as these directors and I think [The Dark Knight director ] Chris [Nolan] is a special guy, a special director. I think when all is said and done, he’ll be one of the greats. To work on so many levels on action, comic and dramatically and thematically and I don’t know if anyone could have done what he did.”

He added that he had been a great fan of Green Lantern during his childhood.

Online, he seems to have the backing of fans to play Captain America. A Facebook group is campaigning for Eckhart to be cast as the patriotic supersoldier.

In addition, Matt Holmes at Obsessed with Film said: “My choice [for Captain America], after seeing the true value of Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight and how he was the true heart of that epic movie would be Aaron Eckhart.

“He has the square jaw, the blue eyes, the leadership quality, the stature, the age requirement, the physicality, the look of a All American WWII solider and the undoubted acting chops!

“And who cares if he has played Dent, I think it could work. Sure, I’ve said many a time you shouldn’t cast two actors in two different comic book roles (like they did with James Marsden in X-Men and Superman) but when a casting choice is this perfect, how could you not? I believe in Aaron Eckhart.”

A commenter on the site added: “Aaron Eckhart would be perfect, and the cool thing is… he has already gone on record saying that he would gladly play the good Captain, plus you just know that guy wouldn’t have a problem doing the Avengers. He’s perfect.” However, another commenter feels Eckhart is too old.

So, on to The Geek Files rating:

Suitability: 6
Probability: 6

Source: The Geek Files