The list of upcoming DC superhero movies is centered on a variety of different comic book faves, from Milly Alcock’s impending arrival as Supergirl to the Boy Wonder pair heading up Dynamic Duo and beyond. We know that John Cena’s Peacemaker will fit into it somewhere, but while it seemed like he and his crew would be the only DCEU characters reconfigured for James Gunn’s DCU era, another potential contender has emerged: Pierce Brosnan.
The former James Bond star made his golden-helmeted debut as comic book hero Doctor Fate in 2022’s Black Adam, the rare movie to bring in over $400 million and still fail. Despite the character’s own fate being sealed by the end, Brosnan shared early on that he was keen on returning to the role, and has once again put that idea out into the world, this time in connection with Gunn’s upcoming blockbuster sequel Man of Tomorrow. What the what?
Speaking with GQ, Brosnan was asked if his experience with the widely maligned Black Adam feature had him banging on Marvel's doors to get an MCU role. The Thursday Night Murder Club star waved that idea aside and implied he may not be done with Doctor Fate just yet, saying:
No, I’m not. I’ve never banged down anyone’s door. I mean, they know where to find me. I’ve heard that Dr Fate was going to have his own show, or his own movie. I’ve heard that he’s going to be in the next Superman.
Here's the point where we have to decide just how much stock to put in Brosnan's words, without knowing who relayed the ideas to him that Doctor Fate could feasibly head up his own TV series or film, or that he could factor into a new Superman feature. Surely, we'd all love to give him the benefit of the doubt here, and I am all for his take on Dr. Kent Nelson to be the one we see in upcoming DCU movies.
But the more paranoid side of my brain is sub-worried that Brosnan is only referring to past comments, conversations and rumors that he was privy to three years ago when The Rock was still extremely bullish about being a cornerstone for the DC Extended Universe, before James Gunn and Peter Safran took over the studio. (He has since descended from that lofty headspace.)
I have zero issues with believing that former squad of WB execs pumped Brosnan's ear full of rose-colored wishes for the future. But considering James Gunn hasn't really said much about Pierce Brosnan or Doctor Fate, it's hard to tell how viable such hopes for his return are. One thing doesn't need to be questioned however, and that's the actor's interest in playing Doctor Fate again. As he put it:
I enjoyed that, the philosophy of that character, very much, and I would definitely be open to it.
I guess he'd need to be more than just open to it if a Doctor Fate movie really was in the works. The helmeted hero doesn't really seem marquee-ready just yet, so until James Gunn says otherwise, I'm just going to hope he pops up in Man of Tomorrow, Clayface, Swamp Thing, Lanterns, and/or any other DCU projects on the way.
In the meantime, Pierce Brosnan wrapped filming on the highly anticipated upcoming action movie Cliffhanger, a remake of the Sylvester Stallone flick, with Lily James as the lead. He'll also Rowan Athale's boxing biopic Giant, which centers on the story of esteemed UK brawler Prince Naseem Hamed.
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