Earlier today, news sites got wind of the casting of Spider-Man villain Willem Dafoe in Justice League Part One.
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The initial report indicated that Dafoe, who has played his share of villains and sleazeballs in his time, will in fact be a good guy in Justice League — and somebody who will appear in both halves of the two-part epic superhero team-up.
What good guy? And is it someone who already exists? Nobody knows. Certainly with actors like Scoot McNairy and Holly Hunter playing characters invented for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, there’s no guarantee that Dafoe will eventually have a name familiar to DC Comics fans. But if he were to be a DC Comics character, who could he be?
Well, we’ve rounded up a few candidates that meet the criteria.
DIRECTOR BONES
With The DEO (Department of Extranormal Operations) playing such a big role on CBS’s Supergirl, and two consecutive DC Extended Universe movies dealing with the ramifications of alien invasions on Earth, it doesnt’ seem unreasonable to expect a DC Comics intelligence group that focuses on metahuman and alien activity might play a role here.
To that end, Director Bones — a smart-mouthed skeleton and reformed supervillain who has long served as the head of the DEO in the comics — could be a cool addition to the film’s cast.
And between “smart-mouthed” and “reformed supervillain,” you could see how it would fit Dafoe like the gloves Director Bones has to wear to keep from killing those around him.
TED KORD
In the comics right now, longtime Blue Beetle Ted Kord — the second person to wield the Scarab and use that name — is being reintroduced as a mentor figure to Jaime Reyes, the third Blue Beetle.
It could be interesting to see Dafoe as a version of Kord introduced in that context. Perhaps an early Batman copycat, Ted could have been operational years ago. It would give him an opportunity to work with Alfred as the Justice League’s “tech guys,” and introduce Ted before the rumored Booster Gold movie, which is said to feature Blue Beetle — but probably Jaime, not Ted, even though Booster’s been friends with Ted for years in the comics.
KING FARADAY
A government agent who’s had a lot of experience working with metahumans over the decades, King Faraday has a lot of the same cache that somebody like Director Bones would have…but would allow Dafoe to show his famous face and wouldn’t require nearly as much in the way of practical effects.
He’s also clearly on DC’s radar. After years of having a fairly negligible role in DC’s publications, Faraday has appeared in The New Frontier, Smallville, Young Justice, and event comics like The New 52: Futures End in recent years.
He’d also be a great counterpoint to Bruce Wayne because he’s often right, often a giant jerk, and isn’t the kind of person who’s likely to back down in an argument.
J’ONN J’ONZZ
The Martian Manhunter was a founding member of the Justice League and the only person to have been a member the entire time, from its founding until the events of Infinite Crisis.
And then when the New 52 relaunch happened, he was replaced with Cyborg and shunted off to work for Stormwatch, no longer a Leaguer at all. That’s rubbed a lot of fans the wrong way, and many have wondered whether the shape-shifting Martian might end up in the movies somehow.
This one seems like a long shot; he’s already appearing in a major role on Supergirl and Warner Bros. seems reluctant to allow two versions of most characters to coexist on TV and film. It would also mean an action role for Dafoe, who’s older than most of the other Leaguers by a fairly wide margin.
(That part could be overcome, of course, since J’Onn is a shapeshifter.)
From a practical perspective, it might be hard to cast Dafoe as J’Onn for the same reason it would be hard to use Ted Kord as the primary Blue Beetle: once you have successfully introduced racial diversity to a character’s history, taking it back can be a prickly proposition. Since the last two live-action Martian Manhunters (on Smallville and Supergirl have been played by people of color, handing it off to Dafoe might alienate some of the audience.
HIGHFATHER
With so many hints that Darkseid and the armies of Apokolips are coming, some fans have speculated that Dafoe could play Highfather, the leader of New Genesis and the New Gods.
Highfather is typically depicted as older than Dafoe, but the trouble of finding a significantly older actor who’s comfortable doing at least a few action scenes could have pushed them toward just getting an actor with gravitas and using effects to make him look more like the character.
GENERAL SAM LANE
Ever since the military took Superman into custody in Man of Steel, fans have been waiting for General Sam Lane to show up.
The father of Lois and Lucy Lane, he’s got a mean-on for Superman (and superheroes in general), but he’s a fundamentally decent guy at heart.
It feels like he’s unlikely to be used, if only because he’s not a necessary element of the Justice League’s mythology and there’s already a version of him on TV right now with Supergirl…but anything’s possible and that reddish hair Dafoe has? He could pass that along to Amy Adams’s Lois…!
JIM CORRIGAN
James Corrigan is the host of The Spectre — and he’s one of a handful of massively powerful DC characters who tends to show up during times of great crisis (or Crisis).
He’s also as-yet-uncast, at least as far as we know. He appeared briefly on Constantine (not as The Spectre) but hasn’t actually made a live-action appearance onscreen in spite of rumors at one point that he was going to get his own show.
DOC MAGNUS
Another property that’s supposedly been in and out of development for the screen for years is the Metal Men.
Could we see Doc Magnus make his first appearance in the Justice League films — perhaps giving a hand and providing some mechanical assistance to the superheroes who are facing a never-ending supply of Parademons? — before his finest creations eventually become a film of their own?
Never say never…!
