Saying that anyone is bound to be an awesome Dracula is a bold statement since the iconic bloodsucker has been taken on by many, many individuals from Bela Lugosi onward have taken the role of the character that was created in the 19th century and have done wonders with it or have flubbed it entirely. Being fair here it’s enough to say that some movies haven’t had a lot of high expectations while some were outright comedies that were meant to be goofy and over the top with a level of ridiculousness that was intended to be taken lightly. But when you look at greats like Lugosi and Christopher Lee and even Gary Oldman and then the flubs that have occurred such as Gerard Butler and a few others, you get the sense that it takes a certain type of person to play the character that will bring a great deal of realism to the role along with the dark fantasy that Dracula is so well known for. As Sandy Schaefer of Screenrant writes about, the fact that Sebastian Stan is from Romania could be one reason that he’d be perfect for the role, as he doesn’t have to go too far to really dig into the culture. But if there’s one other thing that he might have that others don’t it’s a definite brooding, dark quality that can tinge his character in a way that might be what’s really bound to set him apart from others.
Realistically, Luke Evans wasn’t that bad in Dracula: Untold, but the level of emotion he brought to the screen was a little tough to take at times largely because the vampire legends have varied so much in the past that fans have a very different idea of how they should act. Some believe that they should be more like the razor-toothed killing machines in 30 Days of Night, while some believe that something between the hypnotic charm of Bela Lugosi, combined with the refined air of Christopher Lee would be best. If the movie that Blumhouse is thinking of putting out when the lock down is over is bound to attract an audience and still be a period piece however it’s bound to need a few updates here and there that won’t be entirely noticeable hopefully, but will be enough to keep the interest of the people. A modern-day vampire movie though is a risk since there are many factors that go into such a movie and a lot of them have to be on point or fans are going to look into ripping it to pieces in order to analyze why it won’t work and what it could have done better.
To be sure, Sebastian might be able to pull off the role of Dracula, especially if he was given the origin of Vlad the Impaler as he was in Dracula: Untold and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Gruesome as such a story is it still manages to draw a lot of attention and seeks to understand the master vampire a little better since it hearkens back to a time when witchcraft and demonic possession was still a very big fear among the populace. In fact Dracula: Untold actually goes into detail about stating how a monk fell under the possession of a demon and had to consume the blood of living beings to survive, could not withstand the sunlight, and had control over the creatures of the night. In essence, Dracula was not the first vampire in that movie, as he had to be turned just like anyone else. There have been so many vampire movies throughout the years that the very meaning of the idea has been taken and redesigned in a great many ways, leaving one to wonder just which vampire movies are best to follow and which ones are fanciful ideas that are for the most part just half-baked imaginings that were put on camera to make a few bucks. Given that Blumhouse did manage to create something interesting with The Invisible Man though, it’s likely that they might be able to do something equally intriguing with Dracula.
It’s also kind of a wonder if Sebastian could break free of his Winter Soldier persona long enough to really go dark in such a movie since he’s been playing the part of Bucky for a little while now, and has wowed people with his other roles that are different enough, but are still fairly energetic as opposed to what the role of Dracula might demand from him, meaning he’d have to go dark, break out the charisma, and possibly be a little arrogant in order to pull it off. There’s still plenty of belief that he could do it, but until we see it on the screen it’s going to be more of a question mark than an exclamation point. Jeremy Dick of MovieWeb has more to say on the matter.
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