Fans weigh in on Lucas Till as new MacGyver
“X-Men: Apocalypse” star Lucas Till has gone from being a mutant to playing the role of a television icon in the 80s and 90s. Last week, CBS named the 25-year-old actor as the new “MacGyver” for the series reboot.
The ingenious character, made famous by Richard Dean Anderson, created a loyal following among those who were impressed with his ever-resourceful ways. The series told the adventures of Angus MacGyver, a secret agent working for the Department of External Services in the US. Fans of the series, which ran from 1985 to 1992, looked forward to MacGyver’s unconventional ways of tackling various challenges, and how he turns ordinary objects into useful tools. MacGyver was also identified with a Swiss Army knife, which he brings along everywhere.
Reports of a “MacGyver” reboot by CBS surfaced in October 2015. Till emerged as the new recruit to play the title role after the network’s exhaustive search. He recently finished shooting for “X-Men: Apocalypse,” where he plays a mutant named Havok.
The news was welcomed with mixed reactions from Twitter users. Some are excited Till’s take on the iconic character, while some are not agreeable with CBS’ choice.
Congrats to @lucastill for being the new Macgyver! Really looking forward to it! :D
— Downlock1 (@Downlock1) March 26, 2016
Congrats @lucastill to a challenging role-CBS couldn’t have chosen a more able actor to form MacG’s new character #MacGyver #LucasTill
— WD (@WDMUC) March 22, 2016
New #MacGyver? Nope, not interested, even remotely ;) #tv
— Jan ♍ (@s0li_dude) March 24, 2016
CBS really missed out by not casting Mary Elizabeth Winstead as the new MacGyver. Just sayin'.
— Rebecca Pahle (@RebeccaPahle) March 22, 2016
Some Twitter users, on the other hand, joked about how the new MacGyver would live in a world filled with today’s advanced technology.
Will every episode of the new MacGyver include a scene where he Googles how to do something on his phone?
— neontaster (@neontaster) March 21, 2016
New MacGyver's episodes will end in like 5 minutes now that he has the new Apple Watch and Amazon Echo.
— Juan Cifrian (@10kJuan) March 23, 2016
The original MacGyver seems to share sentiments about new technologies which may challenge the series reboot. “Part of the reason I’m not interested in starting it up again is that there is so much technology today that every human being on the face of this side of the planet anyway has got a cell phone,” Anderson said in an interview with Inquistr. Adding that this is not a “MacGyver-friendly world” anymore, he said that if would be “kind of iffy” if the new MacGyver does not carry a cell phone.
The Hollywood Reporter said that the new “MacGyver” will follow the life of the lead star as he gets hired by a secret organisation to help prevent catastrophes. “Fan Girl” actor Joshua Boone will play the role of Gunner, MacGyver’s high school buddy. The pilot episode will be directed by David Von Ancken, who will also be the executive producer along with the original “ MacGyver” creator Lee Zlotoff.
