Acclaimed actor Harry Lennix (The Matrix, Man of Steel) may have been born in Chicago, but soon the 56-year-old star, star of television’s hit series Blacklist will be from Mars – as Martian Manhunter in HBO Max’s upcoming Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
The veteran stage and screen actor confirmed that his appearance will reveal that the character he played in the first two Snyder Superman films was secretly comic book favorite J’onn J’onzz, one of the last of the green Martians, this whole time!
Snyder dropped many hints online, including revealing some storyboards featuring how the Manhunter would have appeared in his original version and it’s confirmed that not only is Martian Manhunter in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, but that Lennix has now shot the necessary footage to complete the character’s appearance.
As Lennix explains, he had no idea about his character’s secret identity when he was cast in Man of Steel as General Swanwick, believing it to be a “one and done” situation initially. And when he was brought back for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, he was still given no clues about the character’s real identity.
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That changed with Justice League, but even then “I never saw the script. I didn’t get a chance to read the script, because… they were still being developed, and they keep all of that under lock and key,” he said. Unfortunately, due to his rigorous shooting schedule on The Blacklist, he was never able to film the footage necessary for that appearance before Snyder left the film.
The shapeshifting, telepathic Martian Manhunter was originally created by the 1950s by writer Joseph Samachson and artist Joe Certa, and was previously played on screen by Phil Morris on Smallville and by David Harewood in the Arrow-verse series (primarily Supergirl).
While Lennix had not known much about the character before signing onto the DCEU, as a huge fan of Superman and comic book characters he appears thrilled to be officially playing a founding member of the Justice League. “It’s going to be great to be up there with Batman and Superman and my pals,” he said. “Yeah, I’m once again like a kid at a candy store.”
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Zack Snyder’s Justice League should be available to stream on HBO Max in March of 2021
Source: Collider
