With shooting set going on since August, it has been a while since we’ve had any new bits of information about Zack Snyder’s Superman movie Man of Steel. Now Variety reports that Richard Schiff has been cast in a small role.
The source states that he has been cast as “Dr. Hamilton”, probably in reference to Dr. Emil Hamilton, a character who first appeared back in 1987’s The Adventures of Superman #424, and has had several hundred appearances since, acting as an ally and later as the villain Ruin. He is known to work with S.T.A.R. Labs, which acts as an all-purpose super-science community in the DC Comics Universe. He acts as Superman’s quartermaster in many respects, and had a long-running association with Lex Luthor, perhaps indicating his presence in the film.
For comic book fans, this is pleasing news as it is indicative that there is some interest in preserving some of the colourful characters that make up the DCU, even in this very deliberately explosive reboot. Hamilton has appeared in Lois and Clarke: The New Adventures of Superman, the Superman: Animated Series and later Justice League Unlimited and most notably in the final seasons of Smallville, where he was portrayed by Alessandro Juliani.
Actor Schiff has most notably appeared in the long-running West Wing. He will play alongside the recently cast Ayelet Zurer, Russell Crowe as Jor-El, Superman’s father on Krypton. Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane and Michael Shannon have also been announced as cast members, along with Henry Cavill as the man with the big red ‘S’.
Man of Steel is released on 13 June 2013 in Australia from Roadshow.
