Superman: Legacy Adds Barry Scene-Stealer Anthony Carrigan As DC Superhero Metamorpho
James Gunn's DC Universe is starting to take shape. Although we're still two years away from Gunn's "Superman: Legacy," the casting news for the DC Comics movie is hitting like a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive. Just yesterday, we learned that the film will include a Green Lantern as well as Mr. Terrific and Hawkgirl, and today, we got another hero announcement for the film. No, it is not Lex Luthor or even Brainiac but rather a deeper cut, which is not surprising coming from James "I made a trilogy out of a talking raccoon and put Weasel in a DC movie" Gunn.
The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop on none other than Metamorpho making his live-action, big screen debut in "Superman: Legacy," and he will be played by NoHo Hank himself, "Barry" co-star Anthony Carrigan. This is a brilliant piece of casting and a rather big hint as to Gunn's plans for this brave new DC world.
Originally created by Bob Haney and Ramona Fradon in 1965, Metamorpho was a bit of a parody of the colorful comic book characters of the 1960s, a man who can transmutate his body into almost any element and take those properties as his powers — plus in one of his portrayals, he suffers great physical pain because of his powers. In other words, he's rather ridiculous as a hero and prime to either die comically after a few minutes, or stick around and get a cathartic arc, making him the perfect character for James Gunn to play with. Metamorpho is commonly associated as a founding member of Batman's The Outsider. More curiously, he was part of the European branch of Justice League International, which has our gears turning.
NoHo Superhero
Justice League International is one of the things we most want to see in the new DC Universe, a highly comedic and chaotic version of the iconic superhero team that also includes the recently announced Guy Gardner version of Green Lantern. Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis created this new take on the Justice League with very strong personalities who constantly clash with one another, a bit of an embarrassment compared to the big seven, but they're a team of underdogs who quickly become lovable. In other words, Gunn's bread and butter.
As for Carrigan, he is not only a fan favorite actor due to his excellent work as NoHo Hank in "Barry," but the actor is no stranger to the superhero world, having played Victor Zsasz in the criminally underrated and rather brilliant "Gotham." Carrigan's Zsasz was pretty much a proto-NoHo Hank, a ruthless assassin who was also very goofy and gentle, a best friend to everyone he met, even those he murdered.
Now, the announcement also has a very interesting hint to Gunn's take on the DC world. THR's report mentions that this version of the DC universe is "already filled with a slew of super-powered heroes before Superman's arrival," which explains why there are so many known DC heroes being announced already. This runs contrary to virtually every other portrayal of the character as the first superhero in the world, and could lead to fascinating dynamics as Superman already has people to look up to as a hero, rather than being alone. Granted, he is still way more powerful than everyone else.
How Metamorpho will play into the story, and how Superman fits into this new DC world, we'll have to wait until July 11, 2025 to find out.