COULD JCVD RISE TO THE TOP AGAIN??

The Expendables 2 brought back a legend in style

JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT

JCVD

The Expendables 2 released recently in theaters everywhere and to everyone's amazement Jean Claude Van Damme's performance as the Villain, named Jean Vilian, not so ironically named, was certainly one of the highlights of the film. JCVD stole every scene he was in as he was simply menacing, villainous, incredibly threatening and every bit evil.

However, what was so surprising about his performance in a film that celebrates violence in the absolute absurdness of the 80's action style shoot 'em up genre, is that Van Damme was never over the top.

JCVD gave the best performance out of the entire star-studded cast, he was memorable, he was intimidating, and yet you wanted to see more of him. The irony of this is that in his prime, he was probably the worst actor out of all is action co-stars in Expendables.

Now this is not the first time Jean is showing his acting ability, as he first proved his worth in the film JCVD, in which many fans as well as critics believed that Jean should have been awarded a Oscar nomination, for his efforts.

RETURN TO THE BIG SCREEN

What most people might not know is that Jean's return to the big screen wasn't with the Expendables 2 but rather with Kung-Fu Panda 2! Jean lent his voice to the film, as Master Croc, brining his voice back to the big screen, and now his face with Expendables 2.

Now we have confirmation that Van Damme will be on the big screen at least one more time, as he will be returning for Expendables 3!! Yes he will be returning as the twin brother of Jean (the villain he played) named Claude Vilian. Yes it is a play on his film, Double Impact, which means we get to see JCVD up on the big screen at least one more time, for now.

Dolph Lundgren, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jean-Claude Van Damme

WHY JEAN DESERVES A SECOND CHANCE 

But here's the thing, could Jean crawl his way back into Hollywood? I think so. And here's why:

Baron Zemo

Jean has become incredibly humble since his earlier days in Hollywood. His no longer the arrogant, drug addict and alcoholic "super star" that he once was. His much easier to work with now, and a pleasure for the studio and everyone involved with the film.

Jean can act now!! Unlike in the late 80's and early 90's when Jean was just getting off on his fighting ability, his splits kick, and action phenomena, Jean actually has the ability to be believable in a role, which means his no longer limited to a certain type of role as well as genre.

And did i mention that Jean is no longer a drug addicted, alcoholic maniac??

Now take his humbleness, his newly found acting ability, his soberness, as well as his action star status, he could once again become a feature in a plethora of mainstream films. But will he take this chance to revive his career? Will we be seeing JCVD on the bigscreen once again, instead of straight to DVD films he has ben churning out these last couple of years? Maybe, you can never be sure.

But hopefully he does return back to the big screen in other films and hopefully he takes on a variety of different roles then just stick to action.

THE COMIC BOOK ROLE WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE HIM IN 

One role that I would love to see Jean in is Marvel comic book villain, Baron Zemo. Baron Zemo is one of Captain America's nemesis, and it could be that this character might be used for the upcoming Captain America: The Winter Soldier film which will be releases in 2014.

Dr. Heinrich Zemo, the 12th Baron

There are two versions of the character, the first one: Dr. Heinrich Zemo, the 12th Baron Zemo, who was one of the top scientists in the Nazi Party. Zemo fought both Captain America and his allies the Howling Commandos during World War II. A brilliant and sadistic scientific genius, Zemo created many weapons of mass destruction for Hitler's army. Heinrich Zemo's intelligence was only matched by his sadism, as he routinely tested his deadly weapons on innocent people, both prisoner and civilian inside the Third Reich.

Helmut J. Zemo, the 13th Baron

The second version of the character is actually the son of the original Zemo, Helmut J. Zemo, the 13th Baron Zemo, who was born in Leipzig, Germany. His father taught him the idea that the Master Race should rule the world. Helmut was originally an engineer until he became enraged when reading a report about the return of Captain America. Helmut would ultimately follow in his father's footsteps as a super-villain using his family's money and his own scientific know-how to recreate his father's work.

I’m thinking that Helmut, the second Zemo’s storyline might actually sneak its way into the next Captain America film, with Cap taking on Zemo in the modern day. With that we think that Jean could be the perfect person to play the role.

He has shown tin Expendables that he can be a all out villainous, straight evil, almost devilish type character, yet maintain a cool aurora and demeanor about himself. He also has the cool accent, it might not be German but the Belgian accent could easily be explained its not a train smash.

Jean Claude Van Damme as Baron Zemo

He also shows that he still has his athletic ability, which is very important factor to the role of Zemo. Zemo should be able to match Cap in a fight, however the contrast between JCVD as Zemo and Chris Evans as Cap could really be an intriguing factor, and a major selling point if you ask me.

Essentially Zemo should be a famous proven engineer, who up until this point never part took in any villainous escapade. But when he finds out about Cap's return, he soon leaves his successful career to follow what he believes is his destiny, to kill Captain America.

A LEAD WORTHY TO HEADLINE THE THUNDERBOLTS

The Thunderbolts/Masters of Evil

In the comics we see Zemo organise a new villainous team, called Thunderbolts, where the members took on new identities and instead of going into crime; they became heroes to gain the trust of the world, before they would attempt to take over it. But what he didn't expect is that the public took to the Thunderbolts very quickly, making some members like the feeling of being Heroes.

 If we ever get to see the Thunderbolts in the big screen, you will need a big personality to be the leader and JCVD as Zemo could be just that leader!

Another franchise that Jean is capable of entering is the Metal Gear Solid franchise, and I aint talking about the games. There has been a recent announcement that the Metal Gear Solid games will finally make its way to the big screen.

WHY JEAN IS A SOLID CHOICE TO PLAY SNAKE

Now the thing about this is that we still not 100% positive that this thing will get made, seeing as there as been a talk of getting this series to the big screen for just over the past 5 years.

Well we not going to discuss the possibilities of the, if’s and if not’s, what we will discuss is the idea of having JCVD play the titular character Solid Snake.

We see the film going one of two-ways; they can do an origin story, and have the story primarily focused on a young Snake, which rules out JCVD all together.

Or they could probably follow the recent history of the games where the stories revolve around a much older Snake (His only 42 but looks like a old man … Its Complicated), which will allow Jean the opportunity to actually play the part.

Jean Claude Van-Damme as Solid Snake

Now before you jump down my throat for this piece of casting bear in mind that is not my idea! Not only I have seen a few JCVD fans, and maybe a small hand full of MGS fans both state in the past that they would love to see JCVD in the role, but Snake’s physique in the original Metal Gear Solid playstation game was based on Jean Claude-Van Damme.

Fan Made JCVD as Snake

Now if you think about it and let it dwell, penetrate, take hold in your brain, you might just see that this could be an entertaining prospect. Like I said before, JCVD is a much better actor than he has ever been, and if the studios are determined to finally make a good game-to-film adaption, it will probably call for the most intense acting experience of JCVD’s career. 

He would have to bring the right emotion, never overplaying it, while prepping himself for the physical side of it.

While most fans won't want JCVD to play there beloved Snake, I'm certainly all for it, as essentially a role like this could definitely put Jean back on the map.

Hopefully this becomes a reality, if not, we real interested to see what route JCVD's career will go. All we hope is that JCVD makes it back on to more Big Screen features, and that after Expendables 3 he doesn't fade into the abyss of the Straight-to-DVD market.

Let us know what you think and comment below!!

PS. For you who haven't seen the Expendables 2 (Which you should be ashamed of really) as yet here is a Awesome clip from the film proving that Jean still has what takes to be a awesome addition to any film.