Can This Man Defeat the Fantastic Four?

If it's an acting competition, there's no contest -- Andre Braugher can act rings around almost anybody.

In what will certainly be seen by some as a crazy waste of his talents, he's rumored to be in the second Fantastic Four movie -- turning down a recurring part on ER to do it. Frankly, I think a nice villain part could be just the sort of thing to remind people how good he is.

But while the film is subtitled "Rise of the Silver Surfer," I doubt he's playing ol' shinytrunks. I think the blog at Newsarama has it right -- he'll be playing Alicia Masters' dad, the nefarious Puppet Master.

And even though in every comic I've ever read the Puppet Master comes off like a chump, if anyone can instill the guy with menace, Braugher can.

Besides, it's a chance to see two of TV's greatest cops share a screen. How cool is that?

UPDATE: Sadly, it looks like Braugher will be playing a military general instead. Which is too bad -- it's hard to find a superhero movie where a general doesn't come off like a chump.

Rob