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Most actors are lucky enough when they score a role in one comic book movie or TV show, but David Dastmalchian has been around the block with this genre. His first film role was in 2008’s The Dark Knight, and in the years since, not only has he played Kurt in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Ant-Man movies, but also appeared in multiple other DC Comics projects, most recently voicing Calendar Man in the Batman: The Long Halloween animated movies and playing Polka-Dot Man in The Suicide Squad. But even with such an extensive DC resume, there are still some notable villains from that corner of the superhero realm he’s eager to play.
During my interview with David Dastmalchian about his experience on Batman: The Long Halloween - Part One, I inquired about if there were any DC characters he was interested in playing down the road, be it in live-action or animation. The actor responded:
There are so many. I can’t be greedy, I’ve been so blessed and so fortunate that I’ve gotten to be a part of so many comic book adaptations, but the reality is that yes, there are many more characters I’d love to see I could do with. Dr. Crane I’d be fascinated [with], if I had the chance to explore Mad Hatter, I would kill to get to do something with Solomon Grundy at some point.
Let’s go over David Dastmalchian’s DC Comics bonafides quickly. In The Dark Knight, he played Thomas Schiff, a paranoid schizophrenic who worked for The Joker and shared a memorable scene with Christian Bale and Aaron Eckhardt. Fast-forward nine years, Dastmalchian jumped into the DC TV realm to play Dwight (the man who resurrected Jerome Valeska) in two episodes of Gotham and Abra Kadabra on The Flash, a role he reprised back in March. Now we’re getting to see/hear him perform Polk-Dot Man and Calendar Man in the span of months, and additionally, Batman: The Long Halloween - Part Two provided Dastmalchian the opportunity for Dastmalchian to voice Oswald Cobblepot, a.k.a. The Penguin.
So that’s six DC characters, both original and established, in the span of 13 years, which is most impressive. And while David Dastmalchian is obviously thankful he was selected to perform these roles, he’s nonetheless eager to leave his mark on Scarecrow (a.k.a. Jonathan Crane), Mad Hatter (a.k.a. Jervis Tetch) and Solomon Grundy, three illustrious members of Batman’s rogues gallery. While it’s easy enough to imagine Dastmalchian voicing any of these roles in animation, given that Matt Reeves’ The Batman is set outside of the DCEU, I can also see him playing either Scarecrow or Mad Hatter in one of that movie’s sequels or HBO Max’s GCPD series.
For now though, you can hear David Dastmalchian’s first outing as Calendar Man in Batman: The Long Halloween - Part One. Then you can listen to Dastmalchian’s Penguin alongside another round of Julian Day in Batman: The Long Halloween - Part Two, which releases on digital download July 27, followed by the Blu-ray and DVD copies on August 10. Finally, on August 6, Dastmalchian’s Polka-Dot Man will debut in The Suicide Squad, which will play in both theaters and on HBO Max.
You can also see David Dastmalchian playing Peter de Vries in Dune, which has been pushed back to October 22. Keep track of the other movies arriving in the latter half of the year with our 2021 release schedule.
