Gallery: Incredible Posters Drop Classic Actors Into Modern Blockbusters
Peter Stults01WhatIf-FantasticFour-1
If we've learned anything in the last few years, it might be that there's no good way to make a *Fantastic Four* movie. But Stults's vision is a pretty good one. "In my post-coming-of-age, I've witnessed three *FF* films hit theaters, so why not throw one back in time?" Stults says. "The idea was to respect the comics but still have a layer of corniness. Mickey Rooney as the Mole Man? Sure."
Peter Stults02WhatIf-AvengersAgeofUltron
In *Avengers: Age of Ultron*, Robert Downey Jr. was great as always. But what if it was Clark Gable—a proro-RDJ if ever there was one—in the iron suit? "With the Marvel Cinematic Universe taking over Hollywood, it was inevitable that I would do more of these in my What If universe," Stults says.
Peter Stults03WhatIf-GuardiansoftheGalaxy
Stults went through a lot of actors—Harrison Ford, Gene Wilder—before landing on Michael Jackson for his *Guardians of the Galaxy* leading man. “I was on the Internet and something I read had referenced Disney's *Captain EO*," Stults says, "and then the version you see in the poster started playing in my head.”
Peter Stults04WhatIf-Xmen
Stults had already made a poster with a 1970s Al Pacino as Wolverine, but expanding that idea into the whole *X-Men: Days of Future Past* movie was harder. “Fleshing out the X-Men team and then doing the past and future versions for Professor X and Magneto was a bit of a challenge,” he says, “but having Terence Stamp and Laurence Olivier playing Magneto is what makes me really wish this movie actually existed.”
Peter Stults05WhatIf-IronMan
“I usually don't do commission work with these and I try to ignore ideas and suggestions, but my friend just said one afternoon ‘Paul Newman as Tony Stark’ and everything was in unison, the world was perfect for that one moment,” Stults says. “So, I dove in and made that poster happen.”
Peter Stults06WhatIf-UnderTheSkin
“In college while studying film and digital media, I had taken a couple history of experimental film classes, and watched a lot of Stan Brakhage and Kenneth Anger films,” Stults says. “When I saw *Under the Skin*, I started envisioning what kind of film this would be if it went back a few decades and then seeing how absurd this would be with Kenneth Anger directing Marilyn Monroe as the lead, and there you have it.”
Peter Stults07WhatIf-PiMovie
*Pi* is one of Stults’s favorite films, but finding the right person for the lead character Max Cohen was tough. “But one night I had done a mini-marathon of Woody Allen movies and I imagined Allen going off about numbers and religion and being an awkward nutcase about it all,” he says. “That's when I decided *Pi* would be a great 1970s Woody Allen film...once you take away the intense paranoia/thriller components.”
Peter Stults08WhatIf-TheMartian
This *Martian* poster is one of Stults’s most recent works. “I had watched *Jeremiah Johnson* and seeing Redford in that isolated hermit-like role made all the bridges come together for the Matt Damon character,” he says.
Peter Stults09WhatIf-JurassicWorld
“With *Jurassic World* I felt this time around it was OK to use Harrison Ford,” Stults says.
Peter Stults10WhatIf-Hellboy
The graphic designer knew he wanted to do one of Guillermo del Toro’s movies when he opted to do *Hellboy*. He was less sure, however, about who he wanted to replace del Toro with. “An early '80s Ridley Scott was a last decision; I had Richard Donner in mind, Stallone himself directing, and others,” Stults says. “I like to think this would lead into Scott doing *Legend* where he could then afford full devil horns (as seen on Tim Curry).”
Peter Stults11WhatIf-Interstellar
"The idea of creating an epic film but in the ‘50s or ‘60s was my initial approach, and then the works of Cecil B. DeMille were my next form of inspiration,” Stults says of this poster. “I read that after doing *The Ten Commandments* DeMille was looking at doing a film about the space race but that fell apart due to his health. I like to think *Interstellar* would had been a good filler.”
Peter Stults12WhatIf-Aliens
Like he did with this *Aliens* poster, Stults has made combining blaxploitation cinema and sci-fi a theme in this series. He did the sequel before the original, but says he knew that “when this movie came to mind, Pam Grier was the number one choice.”
Peter Stults13WhatIf-Alien
Stults made this *Alien* poster over a year after making the *Aliens* one. “I decided after switching the cast around, that Yaphet Kotto would always be Parker in *Alien*,” he says, “no matter which universe.”
Peter Stults14WhatIf-GirlwithDragonTattoo
Stults actually tried re-casting a lot of David Fincher’s movies in the What If style. “When it came to do doing *Dragon*, I had so many versions in my head: an Audrey Hepburn type, a 90s slacker version with Claire Forlani, and various other attempts. Then a friend just said ‘Louise Brooks.’”
Peter Stults15WhatIf-JupiterAscending
This *Jupiter Ascending* poster was another attempt at joining blaxploitation with sci-fi. “Doing more of the Wachowskis' films is on my list,” Stults says, “this was a good starting point.”
Peter Stults16WhatIf-FifthElement
This *Fifth Element* poster is one of of Stults’s most beloved. “James Bond movie posters are some of my favorites when it comes to looking at movie poster design, so through that bias angle, Sean Connery just found his way into this film,” he says. “Having him in a science fiction role in the ‘60s felt appropriate, and the Man With the Golden Gun himself, Christopher Lee, as Zorg just took residency while creating the layout.”
Peter Stults17WhatIf-EdgeofTomorrow
“Part of my process of casting these pieces is asking ‘Who would have been the... Tom Cruise of the ‘70s?’” Stults says of his *Edge of Tomorrow*. “Then extensive research and film comparisons are done. In this case, I just really wanted to create a Fred Williamson 1970s action film.”
Peter Stults18WhatIf-Dune
This poster for *Dune* stemmed from Stults’s research into movie history. “Arthur P. Jacobs, who produced the *Planet of the Apes* films, really wanted to get *Dune* made and had communicated with David Lean, director of *Lawrence of Arabia*, about making it,” he says. “In the end, it never got made, but I decided to try this possibility out. Lean taking on another desert setting seemed fitting.”
Peter Stults19WhatIf-Chappie
Stults says he still has plans to do a *District 9* poster, but when it comes to the films of Neill Blomkamp *Chappie* came first. “When *Chappie* hit theaters I was intrigued by a movie about a robot, and it not being the ‘80s—thank you, *Short Circuit*,” he says, “and then I also tried to envision who would be the Die Antwoord roles. Through some contemplation, a robot hanging out with Jimi Hendrix worked well for me.”
Peter Stults20WhatIf-2001
“I think of my collection, this is the ‘oldest’ film that I put through the What-If time warp, since a majority of the collection is films from within the last 10 years,” Stults says of his *2001: A Space Odyssey* poster. “When deciding who would take on the film in this other universe, Fritz Lang's silent cinema era of filmmaking immediately came to mind.”
Peter Stults21WhatIf-AntMan
“I had been wanting to use Gene Wilder for some time in his own poster but I wanted to choose wisely,” Stults says of his *Ant-Man* vision. “I’m weary of over-using certain actors, so I waited patiently. Then when seeing Paul Rudd in the first *Ant-Man* teaser, it just sort of clicked.”
Peter Stults22WhatIf-BladeRunner
After finishing his first volume of "What If" posters, Stults knew he wanted *Blade Runner* in the second round. “Bogart immediately came to mind,” he says. “Then it was a matter of getting the supporting roles together; Brando as Roy Batty was selected at the very end.”
