John Carter of Mars, that is. Devin recently questioned if Thomas Haden Church would be playing Tars Tarkas, John Carter’s violent best friend, but today it’s been revealed that Willem Dafoe will be filling the character’s four arms and silly name.
According to Wikipedia (hey, I haven’t read A Princess of Mars, the original novel) the character is a member of a warlike race called Tharks, although he displays “compassion and empathy uncharacteristic of his race.” Something Dafoe’s been pulling off for years.
Andrew Stanton, Pixar’s famous writer/director of Finding Nemo and Wall-e, is handling both duties again here. It will be interesting to see how they put Dafoe in the role- will he be an entirely digital creation?
The film’s set to start rolling early next year. For more info about the book series check out the official site.