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“We had already planned the story and this particular issue was written when the conflict with Ukraine blew up,” Aquaman and the Others writer Dan Jurgens explained to us last month when the issue was on the stands. “It all kind of verified my instincts, especially as the thirst for Russian nationalism emerged.”
Why’s that relevant to Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice? Well, the same film that yesterday had a dressing room marked for Kahina, presumably the precognitive member of The Others, apparently has one marked “Knyazev” as well.
That’s according to Filming in Chicago, the Twitter account that’s been taking, or aggregating and retweeting, dozens of images from the set of the superhero blockbuster for the last couple of days.
Of course, while Anatoli Knyazev — codename: KGBeast — most recently duked it out with Aquaman and company in the comics, his character may be better known outside of comics as a member of the Suicide Squad in the well-received animated feature film Batman: Assault on Arkham or even as Oliver’s Russian confidant on Arrow.
That the latter features the Suicide Squad so heavily might call into question whether the immediate assumption that Kahina and KGBeast are in any way connected. There is, after all, a feature film being cast around the Suicide Squad and, reportedly, Batman V Superman‘s Jesse Eisenberg will play a role as Lex Luthor.
With more than one, previously unannounced, DC Comics character being “revealed” via wardrobe rooms, though, one has to wonder whether this is in fact something else entirely. Could Warner Bros. be attempting to misdirect fans and the press — either just to add to and water down the ever-growing pile of rumors surrounding the nascent DC Cinematic universe, or for a more specific goal like hiding the true identities of an actor if s/he were seen coming and going from one of those rooms. At least one story has already made its way online speculating whether Jena Malone might be Kahina, rather than Robin, so without judging whether it’s likely, you can see that such a strategy could be effective.
We’ll see on (or around) March 25, 2016, when Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice makes its way into theaters.
