2022 has been a busy year for Zac Efron, starting with him starring in Gold, then leading the Firestarter remake with Ryan Kiera Armstrong, and then appearing opposite Russell Crowe in The Greatest Beer Run Ever, which Apple TV+ subscribers can check out. And while audiences won’t see him in anymore cinematic entertainment this year, Efron isn’t done working in these remaining months, as he’s currently working on The Iron Claw. While no official stills from the A24 production have been released yet, set photos have leaked showing Efron’s look in the upcoming movie, and it’s prompted fans to draw comparisons to Shrek’s Lord Farquaad.
The Iron Claw delves into the Von Erich Family, the multi-generational dynasty of athletes that left a huge impact on professional wrestling, but also dealt with many personal tragedies. Zac Efron stars as Kevin Von Erich, who complimented the actor for his swole physique. As you’ll see in the photos that are circulating on Twitter, Efron is also rocking a hairstyle that looks like it was ripped straight from Shrek villain Lord Farquaad, who was voiced by John Lithgow. As @bloubiird put it:
not zac efron becoming lord farquaad’s lost brother
It’s been more than 20 years since Shrek was released, and it just goes to show how much staying power the animated movie still has that people are immediately thinking of Lord Farquaad when seeing Zac Efron’s hairstyle for The Iron Claw. Amusingly, @userbits took it a step further by conjuring to mind a Farquaad with a specific job in a specific time period:
Zac Efron looks like if Lord Farquaad was an ’80s fitness coach.
While many are understandably baffled by the hair choice, not everyone is against Zac Efron’s look for The Iron Claw, as evidenced by @manicpandaa’s post:
Kinda loving Zac Efron’s Lord Farquad cut
Hey, in a world where Disney is regularly churning out live-action remakes of its classic animated movies, let’s take things a step further and give Shrek the same treatment. Who else agrees with @daedaeonfire that Efron would make for a good live-action Farquaad?
didn’t know i needed live action shrek with zac efron as lord farquad but here we are
Hell, who says this needs to be a straight adaptation of Shrek? As @isaac_mikhail99 suggested, maybe we could instead have Efron star in a movie covering Farquaad’s younger years, long before he met that green ogre.
Dreamworks has officially announced a prequel to the beloved #Shrek focusing on the backstory of Lord Farquad starring @ZacEfron
Alright, before I fall too far down the Shrek well, here’s a bonus. Along with the Farquaad comparisons, plenty of Twitter users, including @BlindWanda, also noted how Zac Efron looks similar to He-Man, a.k.a. the superpowered alter-ego of Prince Adam, who will be played by Kyle Allen in Netflix’s Masters of the Universe reboot.
Not Zac Efron looking like 1983’s He-Man
Back to The Iron Claw, Zac Efron is joined by Jeremy Allen White as Kerry Von Erich, Harris Dickinson as David Von Erich, Maura Tierney as Doris Von Erich, Holt McCallany as Fritz Von Erich and Kily James in an undisclosed role. The Nest’s Sean Durkin is directing and wrote the script. It’s unclear when The Iron Claw will wrap principal photography, but it’s expected to come out sometime in 2023.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates on how The Iron Claw is coming along, and find out what movies are officially dated by looking through out 2023 film release schedule.