Comics
Willem Dafoe Joins DC’s ‘Justice League Part One’
According to Heat Vision, actor Willem Dafoe has been cast in Zack Snyder’s Justice League Part One. Currently in production, the follow-up to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is expected to arrive in theaters on November 17, 2017. There’s no word at this time on who exactly Dafoe is playing, but word is that it will not be a villainous role. This marks the second actor from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy to score a part in DC’s Justice League, following J.K. Simmons’ casting as Gotham City’s police commissioner, James Gordon.
The film will follow on from the events of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel (2013) and Batman v Superman (2016), David Ayer’s Suicide Squad (2016), and Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman (2017). It will also be our first formal introduction to characters that will eventually feature in Seth Grahame-Smith’s The Flash (2018) and James Wan’s Aquaman (2018). A team-up follow-up, Justice League Part Two, is already planned to arrive in 2019, with Snyder on board to direct. Further films already planned in the DC lineup include Shazam (2019), Cyborg (2020), Green Lantern Corps. (2020), Suicide Squad 2, The Batman, Metal Men, Lobo, and Justice League Dark.
Justice League Part One is the fifth installment in the DC Cinematic Universe. It is directed by Zack Snyder and carries a script penned by Chris Terrio (Argo). It will star Ben Affleck as ‘Batman’, Henry Cavill as ‘Superman’, Gal Gadot as ‘Wonder Woman’, Jason Momoa as ‘Aquaman’, Amber Heard as ‘Mera’, Ezra Miller as ‘The Flash’, Ray Fisher as ‘Cyborg’, Amy Adams as ‘Lois Lane’, J.K. Simmons as ‘Commissioner Gordon’, and Willem Dafoe.
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
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