I agree, Denzel did a phenomenal job. My point was that the story of The Equalizer is so well written, that it doesn’t matter what the skin color of the characters are, the story is equally as compelling with a great actor. The skin color of the character wasn’t considered when writing the story, or it wasn’t important to the story.
I also agree on Mace Windu. The fact that George Lucas let Samuel L Jackson pick the purple lightsaber color himself is a teatament to his importance to George in the story. I have a hard time seeing someone else playing the role, but its possible there is some alternate reality where that role is held by someone else.
I think any really good actor could just as well portray Robert McCall. I certainly think Ben Affleck could do it, as he did a great job in The Accountant. Perhaps not Lou Diamond Phillips, I don’t know much about his acting but I have a hard time seeing it. I could absolutely see a younger Christopher Lloyd or John Malkovich as McCall, though. Even Bob Odendirk, who was great as the main character in Nobody, could probably pull it off as well. But I still do like Denzel’s portrayal. Hes a great actor and I always think he does such a great job in whatever role he plays.