It’s been a few months since Justice League made its big-screen debut, but fans and critics alike are still wondering how it will effect the future of the DC Extended Universe. But could one of the film’s scenes have a larger tie into Justice League Dark?
Partway through the film, Commissioner Jim Gordon (JK Simmons) takes a meeting at the Gotham City Police Headquarters. The character he meets with? Detective Crispus Allen (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith), a character who is only given a name in the film’s credits.
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While Crispus Allen is no stranger to the world of Batman (and has recently appeared on the big screen in both Gotham and The Dark Knight Rises), we can’t help but wonder if his Justice League cameo has a deeper meaning. Namely — could Crispus Allen embody his role as the Spectre?
Crispus first became the Spectre during one of his appearances in Gotham Central, after he was killed by a corrupt policeman. (Coincidentally named Jim Corrigan, the same moniker as a previous Spectre host. Comics are weird.) The Spectre continued to possess Crispus throughout quite a few comic storylines, including “Blackest Night” and “Brightest Day”.
While Crispus might not be the most prominent character to take on the Spectre role, there’s totally an argument to be made for him embodying it within the DCEU. A version of the Spectre has been tied to Justice League Dark almost since the project’s inception, with the character among the roster in Guillermo del Toro’s original pitch. Since then, the project has gained and lost several directors and writers, meaning that any number of characters could appear.
If Spectre were to be among that list, it would be a pretty interesting twist to have his live-action host be Crispus Allen, instead of Jim Corrigan. For one thing, a version of Corrigan’s time as the Spectre already appeared in live-action on Constantine, even though some fans of the character would insist that the storyline didn’t really get a chance to come to fruition.
On one hand, characters can certainly coexist between the DCEU and the various television universes (as is currently happening with both versions of The Flash), and having the Spectre be Jim Corrigan would give audiences a chance to see his storyline properly brought into live action. But having Crispus Allen be the Spectre would add something more.
And sure, an argument can be made to have the Jim Corrigan iteration of the character instead, and recast with someone more well-known in the role. (But also, the DCEU has a bit of a precedent for bringing up-and-coming actors on board.) But having Holdbrook-Smith reprise his role would not only provide a subtle tie to Justice League and the Gotham City side of the DCEU, but diversify the film’s cast of characters.
Fans will be able to watch the theatrical version of Justice League when it hits digital HD on February 13th.
