More BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN: Is A Villain About To Be Cast? And Are More Heroes On The Way?

With today’s blockbuster announcement of Gal Gadot being cast as Wonder Woman in Batman Vs. Superman, it might be prudent to check in with the news outlet that first linked the actress to the role–Variety–to see if they have any other scoop to add. Not surprisingly, they do.

The industry journal states that Wonder Woman is only one of a number of DC Comic book heroes that will make an appearance in the film. They say that the long-rumored Flash is a lock to appear in the film, but there may be others.

Variety also states that the search now turns to casting the villain of the film, and the top name on the list is Australian actor Callan Mulvey, known for Zero Dark Thirty and the forthcoming 300: Rise of the Empire.

Rumor had it that Lex Luthor would appear in the film, with the understanding that he would be a villain, if not THE villain of the film. Actors ranging from Bryan Cranston to Tom Hanks have been linked to the role. In other words, actors much older than Mulvey. So, is Mulvey in line for Luthor? Or is he playing some other bad guy (like, say, Doomsday?).

Of course, the little-known Gadot being cast as Wonder Woman and the little-known Mulvey being considered for the main antagonist does tell us one thing–Warner’s is going the cheap unknown route in its casting. This, added to the recent story about the studio trying to get their DC Comics properties on the screen as cheaply as possible could be cause for concern. It’s one thing to be frugal, it’s another to be cheap. If you are hiring talented unknowns to multi-film contracts at a low pay scale, that’s a good thing. If you cut corners all the way through the filming process, you’re not going to get a really good superhero movie out of that.