We are now a complete week into life without Breaking Bad as just about every Sunday this time of year has been filled with Walter White and his journey into darkness. But after five long years, we saw the journey wrapped up last week, leaving fans everywhere more than satisfied in what we saw.

However as we sit in wonder of how amazing Breaking Bad was, we also ponder what might have been. Obviously, Bryan Cranston will go down as Walter White, since the role has defined his career and is one of the most legendary characters an actor could have played. But what if someone else had played the role if Cranston never existed?

The question is one some fans have been kicking around for a while now and it will likely always be valid if for nothing more than food for thought. So say Bryan Cranston was never born, who else could might have been able to play Walter White?

Gary Oldman

He’s transitioned away from playing the psychopath lately but back in the day that’s all Gary Oldman played — and he played it well. From movies like True Romance to The Professional and even The Fifth Element, Oldman made a name for himself in the 90s playing the psychotic villain. But when Christopher Nolan cast him as Jim Gordon in The Dark Knight trilogy, Oldman’s legacy changed forever.

The same could have happened twice in one decade if he’d been cast as Walter White. It would have brought Oldman to the edge of his acting abilities as he could have channeled the pure goodness of Walter while spewing epic evil as Heisenberg. No one will ever top Cranston, but Oldman would have been a brilliant next-best option.

William H. Macy

The argument against Macy playing Walter White is that you can’t really see him playing the psycho that was Heisenberg. But that is the same argument that could have been made against Bryan Cranston had the roles been reversed. If Macy had played Walter White the way Cranston did, and we did this exact same list with Cranston in this spot, no one would believe the dad from Malcolm in the Middle could play an evil character.

Go back and watch some of Macy’s stuff, specifically Fargo and Boogie Nights where he plays the emasculated husband in convincing fashion. He blubbered out in Fargo and blew his brains out in Boogie Nights but somewhere in between may lie an incarnation of Heisenberg we might be watching in a parallel universe.

Robin Williams

Same argument as William H. Macy, better evidence suggesting he could pull it off. It’s been a while since Mork and Mindy was relevant and since then Williams has gone on to star in some classic comedies as well as some harrowing dramas. He picked up an Oscar for a tender role in Good Will Hunting and has played a psycho at wits end more than a few times.

Grab the nearest copy of One Hour Photo and Insomnia and you’ll see how convincingly Williams can flip off Patch Adams and turn into a truly terrifying character. That’s the embodiment of Heisenberg and having Williams in the role in of itself is enough to make the series intriguing.

Matthew Broderick

Ferris Bueller as Heisenberg? It seems like a stretch, but so does just about every actor you can name, including Bryan Cranston. Having Broderick in the role would have the same draw that Cranston initially did, as when Breaking Bad started, it was widely known as “that show where the dad from Malcolm in the Middle cooks meth”. The same thing could be said about “that show where Ferris Bueller gets cancer and cooks meth”.

Broderick has a tender side to his acting, as displayed in Election. Take that character, who pretty much broke bad in the movie, and insert him into Walter White’s shoes and you have a series that may have sustained quality the same way it did under Bryan Cranston’s watch. He also was apparently up for the role before Cranston was, which means we were closer to this possibility than we think.

William Fichtner

He’s not a well known actor the way everyone else on this list is, which places him closer to Cranston than anyone mentioned. Cranston was sort of known but wasn’t a star when he signed on to Breaking Bad, and that’s where Fichtner is. He’s known for roles in Heat and other films but he’s never been a leading man.

Fichtner looks like he could pull off the high school teacher role as well as playing a madman addicted to being a meth kingpin. It likely would change his career in the same way it did Cranston’s and all his film roles would be instead played by Fichtner — something else very believable.

Edward Norton

This one is way out of the box, even more so than some of the names mentioned here. But Norton is getting to the age where he’s old enough to play these kinds of roles and he’s always been one of the most watchable actors in Hollywood. It’s hard not to just picture his Fight Club character aged and placed into this role, but Norton has a range that likely would have suited the world of Breaking Bad.

Fans thought Breaking Bad was over too quick the way it stacked up, and with the diva Norton has proved to be, the show might have lasted even shorter. Still, he’s an actor that you can picture in almost anything and Breaking Bad might have been something he could have pulled off.

Kevin Spacey

He has House of Cards, which is on fire at the moment, but Kevin Spacey has long been one of the most talented actors working in Hollywood. Even the bad films he’s in are made marginally better and more watchable based solely on the fact that Spacey is chewing scenery in them.

He’s gone dark before, with roles in The Usual Suspects but more notably in Seven where he plays the incredibly warped John Doe. Find a spot between House of Cards and Seven and you have Heisenberg and one of the most talented actors in history to bring him to life.

Which actor could you picture playing Walter White if Bryan Cranston had never existed? Sound off in the comments section below and let us know.