Constantine is promising to be more or less the entire dark, magical side of the DC Universe in one show, as recent trailers have proven. And they just filled in a major piece of that by casting Jim Corrigan, better known as the Spectre.
For those not up on their DC lore, the Spectre is the Left Hand of God. Need all the first-born of Egypt killed? Need to kill somebody in a horribly ironic and “just” way? The Spectre is the spook you call, and he’s enjoyed popularity since the mid-’90s thanks to a truly spectacular run of comics by former seminarian John Ostrander and master horror artist Tom Mandrake. Seriously. You should buy it. Have a link!
As for who’s playing him, it’s Emmett Scanlan, according to IGN, and never has this GIF been more appropriate:
“Who?”
Because you probably know him best as the head prison guard in Guardians of the Galaxy. He’s also done a lot of British TV and bit parts in movies, and Gillian Anderson fans know him as that moustached guy from The Fall, but this is the first major US gig he’s gotten, and we’ll be curious to see what he brings to the part. A well-written Jim Corrigan is simultaneously an angry man happy to turn drug dealers into charcoal briquettes but tortured by the awful things he does in the name of the Lord, and done right it could really add an interesting dimension to the show.
Or he could just constantly be threatening to turn Constantine into a greasy smear. Either way, we’re happy.