Brendan Fraser is ‘Open’ to Playing a Third Character in the DC Universe
Brendan Fraser has already built up a strong resume in the DC Comics universe. His return to regular acting work actually geared up with a low-key role on a cult-favorite DC show. But many fans don’t realize that the beloved actor has been working in the superhero TV and movie space for years at this point.
Sure, one of the projects that the Mummy actor joined wasn’t actually released. But the other has involved regular appearances for years. And — here’s the kicker — it doesn’t discount future roles in the DC movie and TV universe that creative lead James Gunn is building. Read on to find out how it all fits together.
Brendan Fraser has a DC project under his belt already
Fraser’s first DC role, and the one that fans can actually watch, is the HBO Max series Doom Patrol. It’s based on the long-running, wonderfully bizarre DC Comics series that has picked up on and off since 1963. Each interpretation over the years was radically different from the previous take, including the definitive, surreal run by writer Grant Morrison in the 1990s.
A more recent run, by Umbrella Academy writer (and My Chemical Romance frontman) Gerard Way, took Morrison’s intentionally obtuse and difficult work, and ran it through a more pop culture-friendly filter. This take on the oddball team laid the groundwork for the 2019 Doom Patrol TV series, which combines elements of each major interpretation.
And each interpretation has only one character in common: Robotman. That happens to be the role played by Fraser on the series — the lynchpin that grounds the team into a cohesive concept. The role helped kick off the veteran actor’s critically-acclaimed run of new performances, according to Gizmodo. The fourth and final season will wrap later this year, ending Fraser’s current DC Comics business relationship.
BrendanFraser could still appear in a new DC project as a new character
Fraser would have another DC project lined up had the Batgirl film panned out. The superhero thriller completed principal filming, with Fraser as the villain Firefly. This was possible in part because his role as Robotman never showed his face. Sadly, Warner Bros. canceled the film before effects and final editing were completed, and insist that it will never see the light of day due to a new direction for the DC-related intellectual properties.
In an interview with Variety posted to their Twitter page, the Whale star explained that while he’s disappointed by the Batgirl cancellation, he’d love to find new work in another DC project. Since Robotman was a voice-only role that he could “do in his long johns and nobody would know it,” he said he was “open” to doing more DC projects in the future.
The actor’s next big project is far from the superhero realm
Fraser’s return to acting got a lot of support from the positive reaction to his work on Doom Patrol. If he returns, he’ll receive a strong welcome from fans. But his next project is about as far from the realm of DC Comics characters as one can imagine. He is in the grim crime drama Killers of the Flower Moon by the famed director Martin Scorsese.
The film covers the real-life story of the Osage Murders that took place in the 1920s. These killings were one of the first major cases investigated by a nascent FBI. These killings, related to disputes over oil rich land, have long been a fascination of Scorsese.
Fraser plays W.S. Hamilton, a lawyer assigned to the case, IndieWire reports. The film is slated for release in May 2023 on Apple TV+.
