Maine Justice, The American Way: Beck Bennett Joins 'Superman' As Steve Lombard
Maine Justice, The American Way: Beck Bennett Joins 'Superman' As Steve Lombard
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane! No, it’s crashing! Just when it looked like Superman casting news was over with, here comes Saturday Night Live alum and Nimona star Beck Bennett joining the cast led by David Corenswet as the big blue Boy Scout.
Rumors started brewing Tuesday, when images surfaced of a mustachioed and present Bennett in a group picture with writer, director, and DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn, and at the very least Isabela Merced, Skyler Gisondo, Anthony Carrigan and Nathan Fillion, who play Hawkgirl, Jimmy Olsen, Metamorpho, and Green Lantern Guy Gardner. That rang some bells, and quickly the comics-privy were in a tizzy. Immediately, people were surmising that it was Steve Lombard, which wasn’t confirmed by the trades, whose sources told them he would play “one of the notable reporters at the Daily Planet”. It would actually be Gunn who confirmed it on Instagram posting “Welcome to the DCU, Steve Lombard!” with a screenshot of The Hollywood Reporter’s coverage.
But who exactly is Steve Lombard? Well, he was created by Cary Bates and Curt Swan, debuting in 1973's Superman #264. Pre-Crisis, he starts out as a successful quarterback for Metropolis’s fictional NFL team, the Metropolis Meteors. He exacerbates existing knee injuries in an act of heroism just before the Super Bowl, leading to an experimental radiation treatment that heals his knees, but also manifests an energy being resembling him in-uniform that responds to his thoughts. The energy being plays in his place (very well as a matter of fact) while he takes the credit. Eventually he has to admit everything after the being goes on a rampage. He retires disgraced but that’s a non-issue for Morgan Edge, who hires him as a sportscaster for Galaxy Broadcasting, working alongside Clark, who serves as anchor. He’s described as a brash and arrogant prankster, especially on Clark, who he underestimates because of the persona presentation. He certainly harmed the wrong people. Post-Crisis, he didn’t make the jump so immediately. By 2008, he settled into a second stint as Daily Planet sports reporter, his place in life that serves as the foundation of the DC Universe iteration of the character, after working at WGBS. He still has his football career, though at the professional level isn’t described as glowingly as pre-Crisis. While his sports trivia knowledge is far more pronounced, so is an alpha male personality in his arrogance with a flavor of misogyny to it, absolutely flabbergasted that Lois Lane won’t throw himself at him.
In the DC Universe’s Daily Planet, Lois is played by Rachel Brosnahan, alongside Corenswet’s Clark and Gisondo’s Jimmy, while Wendell Pierce is their boss Perry White. Characters he’s less likely to interact with include Neva Howell and Pruitt Taylor Vince as Ma and Pa Martha and Jonathan Kent, María Gabriela De Faría as Angela Spica, The Engineer, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Terence Rosemore as Otis, and Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher. Admittedly I couldn’t recognize everyone in the photos Bennett is in. While this is not the character’s first adaptation, he’s not given much attention despite how popular he apparently is from the comics. This includes a non-speaking appearance on DC Super Hero Girls, and as a member of the paper’s "Scoop Troop" on My Adventures with Superman. He’s appeared in two episodes so far, voiced by Vincent Tong. In the previous film universe’s Man of Steel, House of Cards and Jack Ryan actor Michael Kelly plays him pretty faithfully to his comics characterization.
Bennett starred on Saturday Night Live from 2013 to 2021, known for his impressions of former vice president Mike Pence, noted turtle Sen. Mitch McConnell, and Vladimir Putin. In his later seasons he was given a lot of dad roles, often paired with Heidi Gardner. In addition to the Academy Award nominee, where he played Sir Thoddeus Sureblade, Bennett’s film roles include Bill & Ted Face the Music and the recently-released Unfrosted on Netflix. His other voice roles The Angry Birds Movie 2, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, and the upcoming Fixed. On TV, he hasn’t had any live-action series regular roles during or since SNL, but voiced Launchpad McQuack in the beloved DuckTales reboot and is still with Disney, voicing Hamster on Hamster & Gretel, created by Dan Povenmire. Bennett has also been the voice of the Buffalo Wild Wings buffalo in its recent advertising campaigns. In response to Gunn, he posted to his Instagram stories “Thanks James Gunn!!! It’s been so fun. I love Lombard”.
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, ComicBookMovie.com