James Gunn Teases Debut Of Beloved Supernatural Hero Into The DCU
Social media is the ’80s marketers’ wet dream, as it often provides a free marketing space that, given a large enough following, guarantees that someone will see their message. So, it’s not really surprising that every famous person responsible for even a remotely interesting project leverages social media to build up the hype surrounding whatever it is that they’re doing. For example, James Gunn just teased the cinematic debut of a beloved supernatural hero into the DCU, the Deadman.
Deadman
The teaser came in the form of a comic book cover featuring this lesser-known character from the DC Comics Universe, which James Gunn shared on his Instagram The renowned filmmaker’s actions sparked rumors and theories among many fans about the character’s potential appearance in future DCU releases, and the IG post is buzzing about the possibility of actor Aaron Paul portraying the iconic Deadman. For now, Gunn hasn’t said anything, but given his past social media teases, there’s a chance of something happening here.
The Dead Acrobat Detective
For those who aren’t familiar with the character whose debut James Gunn might’ve teased, Deadman was created by writer Arnold Drake and artist Carmine Infantino for 1967’s Strange Adventures #205. Deadman, aka Boston Brand, was originally a circus trapeze artist who used the name Deadman as his stage persona. However, he was murdered during one of his high-flying performances, and instead of moving on to the afterlife, he decided to stick around and use his powers of possession to possess living beings.
Justice League Dark
He initially sought to deal with his unfinished business—resolve his own murder—but instead of passing on after doing so, he continued to linger as a spirit and use his powers to help people, either as a solo player or as a member of Justice League Dark. The Justice League Dark is a team focused on the strange and supernatural in the DC cosmos and was hilariously, at one point, based out of the basement of the Justice League’s Halls of Justice. It was supposed to have its own adaptation, J.J. Abrams was even attached at one point. Unfortunately, the project never came to fruition, and hopefully, James Gunn’s introduction of Deadman might change that.
The Justice League Dark Deserves The Spotlight
There’s so much opportunity to make up for the wasted potential, especially since Justice League Dark also features characters like Constantine, Zatanna, Swamp Thing, and even Deadman himself. Apart from Constantine, who made several appearances in live-action movies and series, all other characters’ appearances, including Deadman’s, have been animated. There were plans for a Deadman TV series at one point, but those obviously didn’t pan out either. So, if James Gunn is truly teasing Deadman, this will be the character’s first live-action appearance.
Rumors And Innuendo
The details surrounding Deadman’s possible debut are basically non-existent at this point. Assuming that James Gunn is truly teasing Deadman’s debut, we still don’t know whether the character will get his own feature film or if he will appear as a side character in one of the upcoming movies from the Gods and Monsters lineup. As things currently are, this is just a speculation based on James Gunn’s social media posting, but if any truth comes of it, we’ll let you know.
