Barry's Anthony Carrigan joins Superman: Legacy as one of DC's weirdest superheroes
This might have gone without saying—on account of the previous cinematic superhero output of the guy who’s making it—but James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy is shaping up to be a pretty odd film. Take, for instance, a new bit of casting info dug up by The Hollywood Reporter today, revealing that Barry stand-out Anthony Carrigan has been cast in Gunn’s Superman reboot as… Metamorpho!
Who is Metamorpho? Surely you jest: Every superhero fan knows Metamorpho The Element Man, who was created in 1965 as part of Bob Haney’s frequently very goofy Batman team-up comic, The Brave And The Bold. (Ramona Fradon did the art for Metamorpho’s first appearance; she and Haney share creator credit for the character.) He had his own comic for several years! He was in an episode of Justice League that was probably a lot of kid’s first exposure to Tom Sizemore! Metamorpho!
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For the inexplicably ignorant, Metamorpho is actually Rex Mason, a two-fisted adventurer who got exposed to one of those radioactive meteors that superheroes were always getting exposed to back in the 1960s, giving him the ability to turn into any element or combination of elements — which is exactly as over-powered as it sounds. He also has some connection to Egyptian mythology, because why not, and one of the most garishly ugly costumes in all of superhero-dom.
All of which is to say: Pretty weird hero to add into the mix when you’re ostensibly trying to reboot an entire cinematic universe, but that’s Gunn for ya. At least he picked a great actor to tackle it (also a Gunn hallmark): Carrigan has received widespread praise for playing super-friendly gangster NoHo Hank on Barry. Carrigan described himself in a Deadline interview as “gobsmacked” by the casting, which is fun; he joins a cast that includes David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan as Clark Kent and Lois Lane. No actor has as yet been announced to play this franchise’s version of Lex Luthor, although they do have a Guy Gardner now!
Source: The A.V. Club
