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Patrick Stewart Joins ‘Charlie’s Angels’ as Bosley Number 2

One can never have enough franchises.
By  · Published on September 18th, 2018

One can never have enough franchises. Coming off the heels of the announcement that Jean-Luc Picard will be returning to the Star Trek universe, we’ve now learned that Patrick Stewart has attached himself to the Charlie’s Angels rebootquel from director Elizabeth Banks. He’s engaged (get it, nudge, nudge, wink, wink) to portray Bosley, the go-to man in the chair that will aid Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, and Ella Balinska in their super-spy adventures.

Wait – huh? Hold on a sec.

Previous reports indicated that Banks would be filling in that role as well as directing. Yup. Still true. According to The Hollywood Reporter, this new Charlie’s Angels will have not one but two Bosleys. Actually, it could have several.

In the past, Bosley was a secondary fiddle. As originally played on the television series by David Doyle, he was an employee of the Charles Townsend detective agency, and it was Bosley who acted as an emissary between the Angels and their employer. The middleman was often the butt of the jokes, but a good chap when the heroines found themselves in a pinch.

In the 2000 movie adaptation, Bosley was portrayed by Bill Murray. He tackled the character with his usual brand of comedy and managed to put a few butts in the seats that might not otherwise be filled without his involvement. He certainly piqued my interest back in the day. With very little screentime, Murray found plenty of room to show off his skillset.

However, when it came time to return for Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle in 2003, Murray had enough. Bosley was still there, but this time he was played by Bernie Mac. How did they make that work? There was a throwaway line explaining that this is Jimmy Bosley, the adopted brother of John Bosley. Ah, ok. Whatever works.

We know from previous reports that this Charlie’s Angels is not necessarily dumping everything that came before. Kristen Stewart and the gang are just a new batch of agents following in the footsteps of Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu. If that’s the case, it is absolutely conceivable that Banks and Patrick Stewart are just a few other members of the Bosley clan. Obviously, it is a family that Charles Townsend implicitly trusts.

Could Stewart’s Bosley play father to that of Banks? Sure, why not? Although, Banks has a slightly skewed sense of humor. She could make these Bosleys more than just family. Partners? Lovers? That could get weird, and we’ve had enough of the May/September romances. So, please no.

How about treating Bosley not as a family name, but as a mantle? If it works for Captain America and Thor in the comics, it can certainly work for the Bosleys in Charlie’s Angels. Even better yet, what if Patrick Stewart plays a rogue Bosley, and Banks has to steer the Angels to a takedown?

If you look at his one-time guest host of Saturday Night Live, Patrick Stewart’s comedic style has a taste of insanity to it. I can easily imagine his “Sexy Cakes” proprietor causing a bit of a stir for the Towsend agency. Then there was his savage turn in Blunt Talk. The painfully hilarious Starz comedy dragged Stewart to profound depths of ugly humor. The show may have failed to gain mass appeal, but it revealed an actor eager to root around in the lighter shadows of perversion.

Whatever the case, it is good to see Patrick Stewart branching out into other genres beyond the X-Men and Star Trek. He’s more than the staunch leader of humanity. Stewart has an edge to him, and Banks could sharpen it even further for Charlie’s Angels.

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Brad Gullickson is a Weekly Columnist for Film School Rejects and Senior Curator for One Perfect Shot. When not rambling about movies here, he's rambling about comics as the co-host of Comic Book Couples Counseling. Hunt him down on Twitter: @MouthDork. (He/Him)