Forget about Team Edward. If "X-Men: The Last Stand" director Brett Ratner has his way, "Twilight" star Robert Pattinson will be joining Team "Youngblood."
"Definitely [Robert Pattinson] from 'Twilight,' " Ratner told MTV News when asked if he had any actors in mind for his upcoming film based on a comic book series about a government-sanctioned team of superheroes. "He just feels like he belongs in that world."
"I don't only see him as a vampire," explained Ratner. "He's a really good actor."
Based on writer/artist Rob Liefeld's Image Comics series, one of the most popular titles of the 1990s comics boom, "Youngblood" follows a group of superheroes who live in the public eye and deal with superhero-level doses of drama when they're not battling with bad guys. The team is led by a former FBI agent and expert marksman who goes by the codename "Shaft," and that seems the most likely role for Pattinson in Ratner's adaptation.
"[Pattinson] could do anything," said Ratner. "He just has that look. ... I picture him on Youngblood, for sure."
In May, when Liefeld gave MTV News the first look inside Ratner's plans for "Youngblood," he explained that the film would focus on Shaft and his teammate Chapel — a gun-toting former soldier whose mask is actually a bright, white skull painted on his face.
"They don't like each other," Liefeld said. "Shaft is the new kid on the block in the movie, and he and Chapel have to put aside their differences to save the Youngblood program."
Ratner promised that the big-screen version of "Youngblood" would also retain some of the mature themes of its source material, which often served as a commentary on current social and political trends, as well as the nature of celebrity.
"My vision for it is, we're going to make a very edgy, cool film," Ratner said. "We're not soft-pedaling it at all."
