The leader of the Inhumans, Black Bolt, has just been cast. Actor Anson Mount will play the hero on Marvel’s upcoming TV show Inhumans, which premieres in IMAX this September before moving to America’s ABC.
“Black Bolt is a character whose deep complexity must be conveyed without uttering a single word, and I’m very excited to have Anson on board to bring him to life,” said showrunner Scott Buck in a press release.
Mount is best known for his role on AMC’s Hell on Wheels, but also appeared on Lost, Dollhouse and Sex and the City, among others. With Inhumans though, he’s going to have a new challenge: Not speaking.
Black Bolt is the leader of the Inhuman Royal Family, the ruling family of a race of mutates in the Marvel universe born out of advanced experimentation by the Kree thousands of years ago. Black Bolt — or, to give him his hilarious full name, Blackagar Boltagon — has a very special power, though: Aside from flight and super strength, he has a hypersonic voice, meaning that even whispering a single word has the capability to unleash waves of destructive force at his foes. To avoid murdering everyone every time he asks a question, he usually stays silent, communicating telepathically with his wife Medusa to relay his will.
It was the role Vin Diesel had long been rumoured for, back when Marvel Studios was considering an Inhumans movie.
“Anson loves the challenge of playing a character who will only communicate silently,” said the head of Marvel Television, Jeph Loeb, in a press release. “His enthusiasm mixed with his imposing almost regal persona made it easy to see why he is our Black Bolt.”
He’s the second actor cast, behind his rival and brother Maximus, played by Game of Thrones star Iwan Rheon.
[Marvel]