That's EXACTLY what I feared the most. Why, God, why? He should be presented a truckload of great opportunities now, all the great directors should be after him, and he chooses a goddamn comic book movie. I could appreciate the third Batman film, but this is a shame. Col. Hans Landa as a villain to Seth Rogen. Fuck it.

Just for the record, totally called this on imdb.com and believe he is a much better choice for the role then Nic Cage. With Gondry, Rogen and now Hans in the film, I'm actually excited for The Green Hornet.
P.S As for that question, I could be wrong but I heard Sam Rockwell won the role for Iron Man 2 after the director saw Moon at Sundance. Yes Rockwell isn't exactly an up and comer but its still a big breakthrough for a guy known for his work in indies.

@Nick: Remember its a Michel Gondry's action comedy, its not like he is being cast as Nazi #2 in another Michael Bay WW2 film, this is the guy who Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind! Once again I'm excited and I think he can get away with a role like this again before the fear of typecasting.

@John Debono: I perfectly understand what you mean, but I'm just afraid for the career that was not only revived, it was basically reborn. I have respect for Gondry and I'll see TGH, but Waltz just deserves much, much better than that. For me it's like if Daniel Day-Lewis was set to play a villain in a Fantastic Four reboot or something. Waltz has tremendous talent, and he has to play meaty and complex dramatic characters near or on the level of Landa. I may be too pessimistic, but I feel that this role is pretty much a waste of great talent.

Sam Worthington is another rising star.

Perhaps Tom Hardy, like you mentioned yesterday I think, with roles in Bronson and Inception.

I have never heard of Waltz before I saw Tarantino's film, but I am a huge fan now and definitely am looking forward to this movie. He had a very unique style of playing Hans Landa (in part due to the character), but he created a mix of humor and terror that is rarely matched or even attempted. Ledger's Joker was very funny in parts but it wasn't so much as "laugh out loud" funny as Waltz's performance.

I think that Jesse Eisenberg deserves some good scripts, I've really liked him in The Emperor's Club and Adventureland. Shia LaBeouf is obviously on the rise, he is also in Wall Street 2 with Mulligan, but he is pretty established in the industry. Hopefully Evan Rachel Wood gets a script in perhaps a leading role, I would love a movie that would show her acting chops in more doses than what The Wrestler offered.