Batman's rogues gallery is iconic. The caped crusader has fought everyone from shapeshifting monsters to killer crocodiles and clowns, so it's always a treat to see him struggle against fighting regular, old-school crime bosses. While many Batman fans will point to Carmine Falcone as a key villain, another is responsible for creating some truly monstrous figures in Batman's life.
Fans of Batman: The Animated Series may remember Rupert Thorne, one of Gotham's most powerful crime bosses, making life tough for the Dark Knight. It's fitting that Batman's debut in DC Studios' new cinematic universe also features a throwback to Thorne.
Benjamin Byron Davis is the fourth actor to play Thorne in history, debuting in the penultimate episode of Creature Commandos. Thorne is responsible for creating one of the show's leading Commandos, Alex Sartoriu/Dr. Phosphorus (played by Alan Tudyk), after brutally torturing the scientist.
Spoilers: It does not end well for Thorne. Moments after Dr. Phosphorus exacts revenge on Thorne, we're treated to the first appearance of Batman in the DCU. Davis only had a few scenes to work with the character, but he plays an integral part in setting the tone for Gotham City and its villains in the DCU.
GLHF had the opportunity to speak with Davis about his small role in the episode and ambitions for continuing the legacy of more DC villains in the future. The actor is well-known for portraying popular characters like Dutch van der Linde in Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption, and recently brought Borderlands' Marcus Kincaid to life in Eli Roth's 2024 film.
GLHF: Ruper Thorne is a relatively recent character in the grand scheme of comic book history, especially compared to when Batman was created. And even though he's had a few portrayals in animation, we've never seen him properly in live-action. Did you study those previous actors and how they performed the character?
Benjamin Byron Davis: I did not. I mean, I couldn't I couldn't help but be familiar with them. The first place I started was with James and I just went to him and said, "Was there a run of books that were important for me to be aware of?" He said that there wasn't. And the moment that he said that I felt it's like we get to put fresh tracks on a blank page. And at that point, you become aware of the history. You want to be respectful and cognizant of the history of it to be sure, but I just treated it as I would any other role. In my experience, if it's not in the script, it isn't important. So I just did my best to serve the scenes as written and react as honestly as I could to my scene partner. And when your scene partner is one of the great actors of any generation, as Alan Tudyk really is, I don't know if he gets the credit he deserves, but he certainly is an extraordinary actor and it was easy to work on my end of the coin.
Did you perform it Alan in the same booth or were you guys completely separate?
Since COVID protocols, we were not in the same room. I think we might even have been on the same physical plant, but Alan had a booth. I had a booth. James was there with Zoom, as was Dean, so you can feel that dynamism, but voice acting is a different thing. All of these tools that you think of are a part of your toolbox - your physicality, size, your height, none of these things really are of great use. So what becomes far more essential to the work is your imagination. James and everybody at DC Studios took such pains to make this as creatively fertile of an environment as they could. So we were not together in the room, but we were together recording at the same time.
Did you already know about the character's fate before the episode aired?
Yes, I already knew. I was just bound by the NDA, so I couldn't disclose anything. But I'm glad we get a chance to talk about it now.
It was lovely hearing your voice again in the show! However, I was a little sad. I was expecting the role to be longer, and by the end, I was like, "Wait, what? He's dead? That's it?" I mean, come on—I need to see more of you in the DC universe!
Well, I certainly hope that that's true. I knew his fate in the episode, but I've been a long-time reader of comic books, and in comics, death isn't always the end. Rupert Thorne has met his demise more than once. I remember working on the first Red Dead Redemption. I think spoilers for a 2010 game are probably not a big deal, but you know, I died and I knew that if there was any chance for me to get more work out of that, there was going to have to be a prequel. Who knows what the future holds? I certainly don't, but that's kind of par for the course as an actor in one's career.
Did you watch the episode yourself?
Yeah, I saw it and I loved it. I knew when we were recording it. I obviously knew how beautiful Alan Tudyk's work was—it was just extraordinary, really. I expected it to be harrowing, but I wasn't ready for how... I mean, it's quite a disturbing story. It's a real monster movie kind of story. I think James, Dean [Lorey], and everybody did such an extraordinary job.
What James does so well with these kinds of characters is that he takes people who, at first, you feel pity for or even hate. Then, as the story unfolds, you come to understand them. Suddenly, you find yourself thinking, "Oh, never mind. Maybe I can root for this guy—even if he's killing other people."
Well, we hope there's a limit to that, right? But I think James got it just right. One element of his genius is the ability to find beauty in the darkest corners and to uncover humanity in even the most misshapen of creatures.
So, I know you can't tell me much about this, but you must have thought to yourself: if they want to bring back Rupert Thorne in a movie or show, you'd be game for it, right?
I'd be absolutely game for it. It would be an honor, to be sure. Also, Rupert Thorne—well, I can't say I knew much about him before I was hired, but once I was, I did some digging. I think I've got the issue of his first appearance somewhere on my desk. May 1977, I believe. I can't find it right now, but it's around here somewhere. Steve Englehart and Walter Simonson created him at the same time they created Dr. Phosphorus. Most recently, Cedric Yarbrough played him beautifully in Batman: Caped Crusader. But I knew him in popular culture through the prodigious work of the great John Vernon, who voiced him in Batman: The Animated Series. Being able to carry the baton for this storied character, even if all I get is this beautiful little story, is such a privilege. I'm not greedy; I'm delighted. But the idea that I could be the first guy who gets to put him on camera? That's really interesting to me
Did you ask James to keep Rupert alive?
James knows where to find me. I don't get greedy, and I'm not really good about asking for things. I just do my best when the phone call comes in to be of service and, hopefully, the phone will ring again. You know, that's been pretty much how I conduct myself. James has certainly tapped me on the shoulder more than my share of times. I feel really blessed to be somebody he relies on and it's given me the gift of travel to South America when we did The Belko Experiment. It's given me the gift of the three or four days I worked on the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3.
If James has something for me to do, I will do it in a heartbeat but I'm certainly not going to put my thumb on the scale of where you make sure that Rupert comes back to life. If Rupert needs to stay gone and there's no further use for him, James isn't the kind of storyteller who will bring him back as a favor to me. He will serve the story. So if there's something essential for poor old Rupert to do down the road, I do not doubt that James will make the perfect use of him and I hope then that he'll want me to keep carrying the baton.
Technically we didn't see him die on screen, so you never know.
You know, that did not escape my notice either. We did not see what happened to him.
Even if he is head, we've got multiple actors bringing different characters to life in this universe. Sean Gunn is playing Weasel and GI robot and he's also playing Maxwell Lord in Superman.
He also played Calendar Man in The Suicide Squad. Sean is doing all right. He's got his bases covered. But I'll tell you if there's an actor that can pull off that many characters, yeah, few can compare to Sean Gunn.
Is there any dream comic book role you'd love to play in a bigger capacity?
I suppose a dream role would probably be somebody who is ubiquitous, right? Just because that would yield the most work. I certainly envy Vincent D'Onofrio getting Kingpin in the Marvel universe. In the DC universe, I think it would be Solomon Grundy. When I was a kid, whenever he'd show up on Superfriends, I was very excited. And I don't really get ahead of myself. So when the role comes in, that's when I start to dig in. I'm not the guy who skips head on the story to see how it turns out. I like to take things as they come.
It must be cool to star in the same episode where Batman makes his first appearance in the DC universe.
I was talking to a buddy of mine from high school since I've been allowed to talk about this and we would go to comic book shops and try to outclass each other with who finding deeper cuts [characters] in the books. So we were talking through this role and the fact that I may not have had a scene with Batman, but I have played a character who knows Batman personally and dislikes him. That is kind of amazing. The thought that I might be a trivia question at some kid's sleepover 20, or 30 years from now, is about the greatest thing I can imagine.
Was Rupert's design finalized before you were cast? Was it completely ready or did your casting have any influence on his design?
When I went in initially there was no character design that I had seen. I went back in September of last year to do some small pickups, and that was the first time that I saw the character design. And I walked away thinking, this looks a lot like me. My excitement has been somewhat reduced as I have really sort of thought it through and realized that I kind of look like Rupert Thorne anyway. So I don't know if they made it look like me or if it's just a coincidence that I kind of look like the guy to begin with, but I'm going to choose, they made it look like me. The eyebrows certainly seemed quite familiar to me.
What movies are you looking forward to this year?
In this industry, we've had a rough go. The pandemic was a big challenge, but we've also had some union complications. What I'm really looking forward to this year is for production to return in a robust way. Hopefully, all of these disputes and other forces of nature are to one side and we're going full bore on telling stories again. I'm very excited about everything that's coming from Marvel. I'm eager to see Harrison Ford pick up where William Hurt left off [in Captain America: Brave New World]. I'm eager to see what happens over there and Superman and what DCU has to offer, I just cannot wait.
When that trailer dropped, my dog Abigail saw a Krypto on the TV set, she found a new friend. James's dog apparently is not as happy with Krypto, as all dogs are. I'm really excited to see what is coming. These sorts of films weren't possible when I was in high school because every film had one star. We wouldn't even talk about it in our imagination. You could never do Captain America and the Hulk. We're in such a different environment and there's no better steward of these stories than James. And DC is such a weird and wild and wonderful canvas.
DC Studio is also working on video games as a part of this universe. You've worked in this space for so long, have you given any thought to that?
I would be delighted. It's a hell of a thing when you get to be working on material that you're a fan of, to begin with, and for a lot of your career, you take what you get, right? You book a guest star here and all of a sudden you find out which one of your friends watches which shows, but it's not really like you're attached to any of those things. Being as lucky as I've been to work with the amazing folks at Marvel and now to be a small part of the birth of this new universe that Peter Safran and James Gunn are cooking up for all of us.
Are you looking forward to GTA 6?
It will be something, you know. I miss working with them. I'm still in touch with folks over there, but they can't tell me anything. The last time I stepped foot on their capture stages was in 2018. So to see where they are, where the tech is, what lessons they learn from the work we all did on Red Dead that are brought to bear on GTA 6...I am so curious and so excited. It's going to be a big year for video games.
Have you thought about working with Hideo Kojima, seeing as he collaborates with many actors in Death Stranding and its upcoming sequel?
Hideo Kojima is a genius. What he does narratively, what he does from a design point of view, and not to mention his artistic independence and his courage. All of those things are extraordinary. Yes, I would be honored and astonished to have the opportunity to work with him.
DC Studios' Creature Commandos, which was released to highly positive reviews, is streaming now on Max.
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