It has long been suspected. Now it has been confirmed. Harry Lennix will officially appear as Martian Manhunter in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. What started as an internet meme and then became an online campaign has now grown into one of the most epic TV miniseries ever made. The Snyder Cut will be released to HBO Max later this year as a four-part television show that will feature nearly 80% never-before-seen footage that was not included in Joss Whedon’s theatrical release. And that includes scenes with Martian Manhunter.
In a new interview with Collider, Harry Lennix the news itself confirmed that his character was actually disguised in the DCEU the whole time and was always secretly DC Comics favorite J’onn J’onzz. This news shouldn’t come as a surprise. It has long been suggested and rumored that Harry Lennix would transform into Martian Manhunter, with Zack Snyder dropping a lot of clues over the past couple of years, along with a number of storyboards that pretty much gave it away.
A Snyder Cut poster competition also assured the winner that they would be invited to a reshoot set visit that included the presence of J’onn J’onzz aka The Martian Manhunter, although little was said about the winner’s time on set. It appears that Harry Lennix has returned for the re-admissions. And it sounds like DC fans will see his green transformation at some point during the four-hour HBO Max Marathon, the limited DC series.
According to this new report, Harry Lennix managed to re-shoot all the scenes needed that bring Martina Manhunter to her knees. The alien was completely absent from Joss Whedon’s editing. In the new interview, Lennix claims he had no idea he was playing Martina Manhunter and did not become aware of his character’s secret identity as J’onn J’onzz while filming his scenes as General Swanwick man of Steel.
Harry Lennix believed that man of Steel was his first and last film in what was then DCEU. When he came back for his extended cameo Batman V Superman: Dawn of JusticeZack Snyder continued to keep the actor clueless about his character’s true identity. Not until he signed up for Justice League that he found out he was playing the legendary Martian Manhunter. He says that to Collider.
“I never saw the script. I didn’t get a chance to read the script because … they’re still developing and keeping it all under wraps.”
Harry Lennix shot The black list at the same time with Justice Leagueand hadn’t finished his Martian Manhunter scenes before Joss Whedon took over the operation, with the new team dropping the J’onn J’onzz sequence in the DC Comics adventure.
Martian Manhunter is a telepathic shapeshifter created by writer Joseph Samachson and artist Joe Certa in the 1950s. The character was previously brought to life on Smallville, played by Phil Morris and later by David Harewood in The CW’s ArrowVerse, which was first featured on Super girl. This is the first time Martian Manhunter has appeared in a motion picture. Although technically now it is being cut into a TV show. About Martin Manhunter in Zack Snyder’s completed vision for Justice LeagueHarry Lennix said that.
“It’ll be great to be up there with Batman and Superman and my friends. Yeah, I’m like a kid in a candy store again.”
Zack Snyder has yet to reveal an official picture of Harry Lennix, completely transformed into Martian Manhunter. You can find the full interview of the actor on Collider.