Of all the new people on the Dexter: New Blood cast, I think the one I am most pleasantly surprised to see is Clancy Brown as truck stop owner Kurt Caldwell. While watching the limited series continuation of one of the best shows on Showtime, you might be wondering where you may have seen the actor’s face before or even where you might have heard his voice for that matter. Well, we shall begin our list of recommendations for Clancy Brown movies and TV shows to watch on streaming with, perhaps, the most iconic answer to the latter question.
SpongeBob Squarepants (Paramount+, Amazon Prime)
The adventures of a young, slightly naive, square, yellow sponge (fellow legendary voice actor Tom Kenny) and his friends in the undersea city of Bikini Bottom.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Clancy Brown: Out of his many roles as one of the most prolific voice actors of his time, one of Clancy Brown’s more famous and lasting characters is Eugene Krabs on Nickelodeon’s long-running animated series SpongeBob Squarepants - the extremely cheap owner and proprietor of The Krusty Krab burger joint and employer of the title character.
Stream SpongeBob Squarepants on Paramount+.
Stream SpongeBob Squarepants on Amazon Prime.
Buy SpongeBob Squarepants on Amazon.
Superman: The Animated Series (HBO Max)
The adventures of an extremely powerful extraterrestrial (voiced by Tim Daly) raised on Earth by human parents, who juggles his life as a journalist with using his abilities to protect the city of Metropolis.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Clancy Brown: Another one of Clancy Brown’s best known roles as a voice actor is supervillain Lex Luthor, whom he has played in many DC animated movies and TV shows - the first being the Emmy-winning Superman: The Animated Series from 1996 to 2000.
Stream Superman: The Animated Series on HBO Max.
Buy Superman: The Animated Series on Amazon.
Thor: Ragnarok (Disney+)
The God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth) must enlist the help of his old “friend from work” (Mark Ruffalo), his scheming brother (Tom Hiddleston), and a fellow Asgardian (Tessa Thompson) to escape from a barbaric planet and save Asgard from his estranged sister (Cate Blanchett).
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Clancy Brown: Clancy Brown is also a member of the MCU since lending his voice to Thor: Ragnarok as Surtur - a powerful Fire Demon the actor reprised on Disney+ What If…? whom I would also love to see reappear in any upcoming Marvel movies in the future.
Stream Thor: Ragnarok on Disney+.
Rent/Buy Thor: Ragnarok on Amazon.
Highlander (Amazon Prime, Tubi, Peacock)
A Scottish man with the gift of eternal life (Christopher Lambert), trained to wield the sword by his mentor (Sean Connery) centuries earlier, must face off against a brutal, fellow immortal (Clancy Brown) in modern day New York City.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Clancy Brown: Let’s take a step back in time to one of Clancy Brown’s earliest blockbuster fantasy epics, the first and (arguably) best of the Highlander movies - the thrilling, time-spanning 1986 cult classic in which the actor plays the main antagonist known as The Kurgan.
Stream Highlander on Amazon Prime.
Stream Highlander on Tubi.
Stream Highlander on Peacock.
Rent/Buy Highlander on Amazon.
Flubber (Disney+)
An eccentric inventor (Robin Williams) accidentally creates a revolutionary, rubbery substance that can bounce higher and faster than anything on earth and also appears to have a mind of its own.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Clancy Brown: Another time that Clancy Brown played a bad guy (but to more comedic effect) was in the Disney comedy Flubber - a fun, inventive 1997 remake of 1961’s The Absent Minded Professor in which the actor plays a henchman to a corrupt businessman who wants to steal the titular, living formula for himself.
Stream Flubber on Disney+.
Rent/Buy Flubber on Amazon.
The Shawshank Redemption (HBO Max)
A banker (Academy Award winner Tim Robbins), convicted of murdering his wife, befriends a veteran inmate (Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman) and becomes a hero of sorts to other prisoners and an enemy to the establishment while serving his time at a dismal Maine penitentiary.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Clancy Brown: Perhaps the most famous live-action bad guy Clancy Brown has ever played is the sadistic prison guard Captain Hadley in 1994’s The Shawshank Redemption, writer and director Frank Darabont’s inspirational adaptation of Stephen King’s riveting novella.
Stream The Shawshank Redemption on HBO Max.
Rent/Buy The Shawshank Redemption on Amazon.
Promising Young Woman (HBO Max)
A coffee shop waitress approaching her 30s (Carey Mulligan) seeks to avenge a tragic event that left her traumatized years earlier.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Clancy Brown: In yet another widely acclaimed Oscar darling, Clancy Brown plays Stanley, the father of our heroine, in Promising Young Woman - writer and director Emerald Fennell’s stunning and thought-provoking revenge story that earned her an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2021.
Stream Promising Young Woman on HBO Max.
Buy Promising Young Woman on Amazon.
The Express (Amazon Rental)
A gifted, Black football player (Rob Brown) endures prejudice and becomes a figure of social change after joining the Syracuse University team as the Civil Rights Movement begins to emerge.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Clancy Brown: In yet another inspirational period piece, Clancy Brown plays Syracuse University football team assistant coach Roy Simmons in 2008’s The Express, which recounts the story of Ernie Davis’ rellationship with head coach Ben Schwartzwalder (Dennis Quaid) before he became the first Black athlete to be awarded the Heisman Trophy.
Rent/Buy The Express on Amazon.
Carnivàle (HBO Max)
A drifter taking refuge with a traveling sideshow (Sin City cast member Michael Stahl-David) and a sternly devout minister (Clancy Brown) learn they are blessed (or cursed) with unusual abilities that make them important pawns in a battle against good and evil during the Great Depression.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Clancy Brown: While he is certainly well-meaning in his approach, there is an ominousness to Clancy Brown’s character - a preacher named Justin Crowe - on creator Daniel Knauf’s Carnivàle, which made a lasting impression on viewers during its two-season run on HBO.
Stream Carnivàle on HBO Max.
Buy Carnivàle on Amazon.
Starship Troopers (Starz)
In order to officially become citizens of a fascist, futuristic United States, a group of high school students enlist in the military, which forces them into conflict with a race of giant, extra-terrestrial insects.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Clancy Brown: In another tale of otherworldly conflict (but of a much different breed), Clancy Brown channels his best R. Lee Ermey to play drill sergeant Zim in Starship Troopers - director Paul Verhoeven’s action-packed, satire that was greatly misunderstood when it was first released in 1997.
Stream Starship Troopers on Starz.
Rent/Buy Starship Troopers on Amazon.
John Dies At The End (Tubi)
An aimless college dropout (Chase Williamson) and his more childish slacker friend (Rob Mayes in the title role) unfortunately become humanity’s last hope when they come across a drug that promises the user an inter-dimensional experience, but with grotesquely transformative or fatal results for most.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Clancy Brown: In another tale of otherworldly conflict of a similar (but much more bizarre) breed, Clancy Brown dons an Italian accent to play former priest turned world-famous paranormal investigator Dr. Albert Marconi in John Dies at the End - writer and director Don Coscarelli’s surreal, endlessly fascinating adaptation of David Wong’s (real name Jason Pargin) novel that is still grossly underrated since in came out in 2012.
Stream John Dies At The End on Tubi.
Rent/Buy John Dies At The End on Amazon.
The Mortuary Collection (Shudder)
A young woman (Caitlin Custer, neé Fisher) visits a funeral home, at which the eccentric owner (Clancy Brown) recounts the strange and grisly tales behind some of his most infamous clients.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Clancy Brown: Clancy Brown actually has a following as one of the more underrated horror movie actors of his time and one of his more recent and best contributions to the genre is playing the lead of The Mortuary Collection - writer and director Ryan Spindell’s inventive anthology horror movie released exclusively to Shudder in 2020.
Stream The Mortuary Collection on Shudder.
Rent/Buy The Mortuary Collection on Amazon.
Following his stint on Showtime’s Dexter: New Blood, Clancy Brown will next appear alongside Keanu Reeves in John Wick: Chapter 4, which is currently set for a theatrical release in May 2022 (see the full 2022 movie release date schedule). The latest (and potentially final) installment of the hit action movie franchise is an exciting new title to add to the actor’s illustrious and impressively versatile resume. However, even now, whenever I see Brown appear in something new, I still cannot help but instinctively refer to him as “Mr. Krabs.”
