Chris Evans (no, not the former Top Gear presenter) is reportedly set to star in the lead role in Lionsgate’s upcoming cinematic adaptation of Jekyll. You might be asking where this comes into significance to Doctor Who; that link is, of course, Steven Moffat, who created and wrote all six episodes of the 2007 drama.
Evans is best known for playing Captain America in the brilliant Marvel Cinematic Universe, his latest film, Captain America: Civil War proving to be a huge success this summer. If reports are correct, Chris will play Doctor Tom Jackman – a role originally played by James Nesbitt (Murphy’s Law; The Missing) – a descendent of Dr. Jekyll who seems to be developing a similar split personality. While Nesbitt was nominated for a Golden Globe, and it was critically-acclaimed, the series based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novel unfortunately didn’t take off in the same way as Moffat’s other adaptation, Sherlock most definitely has.
The 2007 series also starred Fenella Woolgar (The Unicorn and the Wasp), Michelle Ryan (Planet of the Dead), Meera Syal (The Hungry Earth/ Cold Blood), Paterson Joseph (Bad Wolf/ The Parting of the Ways), and, in one episode, Mark Gatiss (The Lazarus Experiment; Cold War).
The movie is to be written by Anthony Bagarozzi (The Nice Guys) and Charles Mondry (Death Note), but no director has been announced. It’d be nice to hear that Moffat’s had some input in the script; he has, after all, worked on the Tintin movie, so has a history with film.
Presumably, Evans will have to shoot Jekyll in between instalments of The Avengers, as a fourth Captain America is yet to be slotted in Marvel’s schedule.