(CBR)
As its 2016 release date draws near, the cast list for the still untitled and Batman inclusive “Man of Steel” sequel continues to fill out. It was announced last week that a trio of actors will join Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck and the rest in DC”s first mash-up movie: Holly Hunter, Tao Okamoto and Callan Mulvey. Director Zack Snyder”s already tried to squash fan speculation about which DC Comics characters this trio of actors could be prepping to bring to life, revealing instead that they will all play characters “newly created for the film.”
Not so fast, Snyder! You don”t get to turn off the speculation machine that easily! Even if these three actors are playing all-new characters, there”s still a chance that they could fulfill familiar roles from the comics. Heck, Snyder could be trying to Trojan Horse some DC characters into the film, just like Christopher Nolan did with Joseph Gordon-Levitt”s totally-not-Robin character John Blake. With that in mind, here”s who we would like to see each actor play.
Holly Hunter
Hunter”s casting adds some real name value and Oscar power to the film. An actress of Hunter”s caliber could easily play an Amazon from Themyscira, if Gal Gadot”s Wonder Woman has a big enough part to warrant dipping into her backstory. If Hunter has to play a more down to Earth character, she could easily play the owner of the Daily Planet; yeah, let”s see Holly Hunter boss Laurence Fishburne”s Perry White around! There”s also the possibility that Hunter won”t be as heroic as her character in “The Incredibles.” She could always work for Jesse Eisenberg”s Lex Luthor.
Tao Okamoto
With this role, the Japanese model-turned-actress is now poised to become a double threat in the comic book world following her fierce portrayal of Mariko Yashida in 2013′s “The Wolverine.” Okamoto could become the latest in a long line Lex Luthor”s bad girls, following other original characters Eve Teschmacher (1978's “Superman”) and Kitty Kowalski (2006's “Superman Returns”). Okamoto proved to be quite a versatile actress in “The Wolverine,” meaning that she could pull off playing either Lex”s sassy sidekick, or possibly a fellow journalist at the Daily Planet. And if Snyder wants to sneak in another super hero, he could always make Okamoto an unnamed astronomer, thus paying homage to Dr. Light.
Callan Mulvey
We”ve already speculated about which comic book villains Callan Mulvey could play in the sequel, but Snyder”s revelation that these are original characters seems to have taken those fancasts off the table. After seeing Mulvey”s go against Captain America and his allies in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” it”d be easy to peg him as Lex Luthor”s muscle. After all, if Mulvey can throw down with Captain America, he can hold his own – at least physically – against Superman. But let”s not pigeonhole the “300: Rise of an Empire” actor just yet; Mulvey could be playing a Steve Lombard-esque character at the Daily Planet, someone that”s a foil for Clark Kent instead of Superman.