Following his debut as Ares in 2017's Wonder Woman, David Thewlis returned as a younger version of his villainous character in the flashback battle sequence of Zack Snyder's Justice League, fighting alongside his father Zeus. While the God of War played only a brief part in the film, he held a critical role in the fight between the defenders of Earth and Darkseid's army as he landed the battle-ending blow to the Lord of Apokolips.
Curiously, Thewlis' body wasn't actually the one shown in the scene.
Stunt performer Nick McKinless served as the body while the British actor's face was edited on in post-production. After joking about this just a few days ago, Thewlis has hilariously backtracked his comments in a recent post while explaining the story behind the production alongside a behind-the-scenes image from the film.
DAVID THEWLIS BACKTRACKS JUSTICE LEAGUE CAMEO JOKES
After recently joking that he has “no recollection of [the scene] ever happening” and questioning why his “left arm is so tiny,” Ares actor David Thewlis has once again taken to Instagram to set the record straight on his Zack Snyder's Justice League cameo.
Following many fans' confusion around the post, Thewlis has jokingly declared that there will be “no jokes from now on” and “everything on [his] account will be factual, logical and verifiable.”
Alongside his comedic caption, the British actor has included an image of himself as he prepared to shoot his scenes for the DC superhero team-up, which he used to explain the production of the scene.
The Wonder Woman villain actor pointed out that his “left arm is not tiny,” he was “wearing a motion capture suit,” and “that is a bald cap” on his head while the “beard is glued on.”
As was previously revealed by stunt performer Nick McKinless, Thewlis went on to explain that they “stuck [his] head on the body of a gentleman with a gym membership” in post-production to create Ares' impressive physique.
The actor jokingly noted that the body in question was “not [Christopher Eccleston]” after the Thor: The Dark World actor had previously stated his “arm [would’ve been] perfectly sized” for the role.
Despite the fact it was only his face involved with the scene, it seems he still got to get involved in the actor as Thewlis says he “put on a horned helmet” and “struck a sandbag with an axe several times.”
But potentially the most interesting of revelations to come out of the recent Instagram post comes in Thewlis' confirmation that he enjoyed a “scotch egg for lunch” after filming was concluded.
While many Americans will be unfamiliar with this English delicacy, a scotch egg is a boiled egg, coated in sausage meat and breadcrumbs, commonly enjoyed for lunch, or for a quick snack. Unfortunately, Thewlis' scotch egg was unable for photography.
David Thewlis' full caption can be read below:
“Just for the record. No jokes from now on. Everything on this account will be factual, logical and verifiable. Here you see, my left arm is not tiny, I know it isn’t. I am wearing a motion capture suit, about to shoot scenes for Justice League. That is a bald cap. That beard is glued on. They stuck my head on the body of a gentleman with a gym membership (not Christopher Eccleston). I understood very well that would be the case, that’s why I’m wearing the suit. I put on a horned helmet and struck a sandbag with an axe several times. Then I had a Scotch egg for lunch. Sorry folks. I won’t joke about anything ever again. It just confuses people. I would like to thank my legal team for the wording of this post.”
DAVID THEWLIS CONTINUES TO REMINISCE ABOUT HIS DC DAYS
All of David Thewlis' time behind the camera with DC seems to be long behind him as both Wonder Woman and his Justice League cameo were filmed in 2016 for a 2017 release. Naturally, fans are talking about the superhero team-up a lot more recently since Zack Snyder's cut of the film debuted on HBO Max, going on to lead to plenty of new revelations surrounding the production and even larger plans for the film.
Based on the fact both Wonder Woman and Justice League were filmed so close together, it's extremely likely that Ares' brief flashback cameo was filmed on the set of the solo film instead of him returning to a new set altogether.
The approach taken to filming this scene is certainly an interesting one, especially given Ares and his father Zeus are only shown on screen in both cuts of the film for a few seconds before the God of War lands a critical hit on the lead invader. The decision to have Thewlis perform the scene anyway was likely made to ensure the facial expressions were as realistic as possible, even though none of his body movements were actually involved in the shot.
It's interesting to see the British actor talking about his DCEU days once again, especially as they are so long behind him now, but Thewlis's time in comic book properties is far from over. The actor will be taking on a villainous role in a DC Comics property once again in the near future as he plays John Dee in Netflix's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman.
Zack Snyder's Justice League is streaming now, exclusively on HBO Max in the U.S.
