Nathan Fillion Wants to be The Greatest American Hero

Actors say a lot of things, and they talk about a lot of roles they'd love to tackle. But when Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Castle) said recently to the folks at IFC that he'd love a shot at playing Ralph Hinkley in a remake of The Greatest American Hero. The original show ran three seasons on ABC in the early '80s, when I was very young. And yet, so much of it has stayed with me through the years.

That iconic costume, the flailing arms and legs whenever Ralph was flying and his complete failure to grasp how to properly use the alien, super-powered suit he picked up in the desert. It was a wonderful blend of humor and drama and superheroics ... at least to this young mind.

That concept is definitely strong enough to support a revival, and I think Fillion is a great choice for the role of Hinkley. He's not overly muscular, he's about the right age and he already has plenty of genre credentials, which means a built-in audience.

The suit could be modernized with new capabilities, even perhaps the ability to "become armour" or a "scuba suit" as Fillion suggested. I think taking a page from the remake of Get Smart recently for the big-screen would show how this premise could be updated for modern audiences while still appealing to fans of the original.