

On Wednesday, the Walt Disney Company hosted an event in Hollywood to preview their upcoming film slate and possibly the two most noteworthy announcements were that indie-actor turned film-franchise-fixture Johnny Depp will be playing the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's upcoming 3D version of Alice in Wonderland and that Depp will also very probably be playing Tonto in a Lone Ranger movie. (Apparently, during the event, after a marching band played a chorus of the Lone Ranger theme, Depp appeared behind Disney Chairman Dick Cook on stage in full Jack Sparrow costume wearing a Lone Ranger mask.) No word on whether Depp will also be playing Alice and Silver, but you can bet that Disney wouldn't have said no if Johnny really wanted the parts. (That's what happens when your effete pirate character makes the studio a billion dollars.)
So how do we feel about Depp playing such icons of pop culture? In a word - good. Granted, we weren't that thrilled with the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels (no one was), but that had nothing to do with Depp. The guy has consistently been one of the most risk-taking, exciting-to-watch actors of the past two decades - he's like a fun Daniel Day Lewis - and having his name attached to a movie project will never, ever be a negative. You might complain that Depp doesn't really look like Tonto or the Mad Hatter, but the man is such a talented actor that he could probably play friggin' Jane Eyre and make it work. In fact, now that it seems like Disney is intent on having Depp play ever major icon of modern culture, here are ten other iconic characters that, if they ever make it to the big screen, should definitely be played by Johnny Depp.
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