James Gunn's DCU has officially cast its Darkseid, and one key DC Studios lead is hyping up the "amazing" cast of the villain's debut project. After Zack Snyder's Justice League concluded the SnyderVerse on a cliffhanger, fans were deprived of the clash between Darkseid and the DCEU's premier superhero team that was expected to culminate that saga. Moving into James Gunn's DCU reboot, Darkseid isn't the big bad of Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters, but his introduction is imminent, as the tyrannical New God ruler of the planet Apokolips will soon be introduced in the Mister Miracle animated show.
At WonderCon, Brandon Davis spoke with Tom King, a DC Comics writer and member of DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn's select braintrust, who is also showrunning Mister Miracle and Darkseid's DCU debut. King hyped up the animated series' entire cast, which will include Darkseid, as "so amazing:"
"Wait till you see who we cast. Oh my god, it's so amazing. It's great."
King offered up a few more teases for Mister Miracle, such as calling the relationship between Scott Free and Big Barda, "The key to the whole series." The DCU lead even shocked Davis by showing him a five-second clip of Mister Miracle, which the reacting interview called a "comic come to life."
James Gunn recently offered production updates on five upcoming DCU projects, including Mister Miracle. The Man of Tomorrow director hinted that he has "watched animatics" for the HBO Max series, and promised that the scripts, all of which are written by Tom King himself, are "good."
Fans already loosely met the DCU's Darkseid in the immersive Superman Experience: Defenders Unite on Warner Bros. Studios' Hollywood lot. It offered the first look at the DCU's Lord of Apokolips as players teamed up with Kryptonian heroes to face his forces in an immersive, interactive gameplay attraction.
The studio still hasn't announced when Mister Miracle is coming to HBO Max, but its promising progress has many speculating that it will debut this year or next, with casting and release news possibly coming at Annecy Film Festival in late June, where James Gunn's DCU is expected to have a major presence.
Who Could Play the DCU's Darkseid in Mister Miracle?
Whenever the time comes for Darkseid to join the live-action DCU, it is expected to be through the same actor who plays him in Mister Miracle, as James Gunn promised that the same talent will maintain roles in both mediums.
But that isn't likely to happen anytime soon in this case, as the DC Studios boss once confirmed that the one-two-punch of Marvel's Thanos and the SnyderVerse is holding up Darkseid becoming the DCU's "big bad" for the foreseeable future.
In casting its first animated project, Creature Commandos, DC Studios wasn't shy about picking big names like Indira Varma, Alan Tudyk, David Harbour, and Frank Grillo to lead the charge. That certainly paints the picture that anybody is on the table for Mister Miracle and, most notably, the DCU's Darkseid.
If DC Studios wants an actor with experience in the voice-acting and mo-cap game, there may be no better choice than Christopher Judge, known for his roles in Stargate SG-1 and playing Kratos in the modern God of War games. The 61-year-old actor's booming voice makes him a stellar choice to command the New Gods of Apokolips, and he has even expressed interest in the past.
Another popular fan cast is the Oscar-winning Spanish actor Javier Bardem, who won Best Supporting Actor for No Country for Old Men and also starred as the legendary James Bond villain Raoul Silva in 2012's Skyfall. He has a proven track record for playing imposing, calculated villains, making him a strong match for Darkseid, although it's tough to imagine him signing on for the role.
