As always, there were some grumblings over who won and who lost at this weekend’s Academy Awards ceremony, with Angela Bassett failing to land Best Supporting Actress for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever perhaps the biggest shock of the night (even Jamie Lee Curtis fans agree she won for the wrong movie). However, another superhero star from across the comic book divide did walk away with their own statuette, as Brendan Fraser won a well-deserved Best Actor gong for The Whale.
The Mummy alum’s Oscars success has only increased the desire from DC fans, then, to see Fraser return to the DCU under James Gunn‘s jurisdiction. While the actor has had an incredible past 12 months, it’s been tough on his DC career, as not only was HBO Max’s Doom Patrol (in which he plays Robotman) announced to be ending, but the streamer’s Batgirl film was likewise canned by merciless Warner Bros. execs. Fraser was due to portray the villain, Firefly.
Seeing as he remains open to partnering up with Marvel’s main rivals again in the future, though, folks have been theorizing the perfect role for Fraser in Gunn’s shiny new franchise on the r/DC_Cinematic subreddit.
Kilowog in the Lanterns TV show is a good pick, although Metamorpho — a relatively obscure shapeshifting hero who’s just the sort of character Gunn likely loves — is a “very inspired choice.”
Shout out to the notion of Fraser sparring with Robert Pattinson’s Dark Knight in The Batman movies as Solomon Grundy.
Although, for those impatient to see him back in DC ASAP, there may be a place for him in Superman: Legacy. Maybe as The Daily Planet Editor-in-Chief Perry White.
Or, even better, what about as Jonathan “Pa” Kent? The casting would even be somewhat meta, considering Fraser’s brush with Superman stardom himself back in the day.
Although perhaps we don’t need to overthink it and Gunn should just bring him back as Robotman in some kind of Doom Patrol reboot.
James Gunn, we leave it up to you.