‘The Iron Claw’ casts its Ric Flair

When Maxwell Jacob Friedman was cast as Lance Von Erich in The Iron Claw, we figured the big casting announcements for writer/director Sean Durkin and powerhouse independent studio A24’s upcoming movie about the first family of World Class Championship Wrestling were mostly done.

It’s already a solid line-up of talent that mixes a well-known lead in Zac Efron with solid veterans like Holt McCallany & Maura Tierney and buzzy names like Lily James, Jeremy Allen White & Harris Dickinson. Plus, the AEW World champ. What more do you need for a tragic family drama from the end of the territories era?

But then we heard Ric Flair’s mid-1980s NWA Heavyweight title feud with Kerry Von Erich would be covered in the flick, so someone had to be cast opposite White’s portrayal of the man who become the WWF’s Texas Tornado.

Deadline brings us the identity of The Iron Claw’s Nature Boy... Aaron Dean Eisenberg of HBO’s The Deuce, the upcoming Amazon Prime series Dead Ringers, a gender-swapped version of the 1988 David Cronenburg thriller, and more.

Photo by James Devaney/Getty Images

Eisenberg’s portrayal of an actor with AIDS in 1980s New York on David Simon’s The Deuce proved he has the chops to do more than just deliver chops and “WOO!”. And he’s a good looking dude. Put him in a platinum blonde wig and I can see it.

Let us know what you think, and if this makes you more excited for The Iron Claw, in the comments below.