After taking a break from playing unhinged maniacs for the upcoming Justice League movie (in which he improbably plays a “good guy”), Willem Dafoe is returning to the type of role that made him a star for Blair Witch director Adam Wingard’s Death Note movie. The film is based on the popular Japanese manga and anime series of the same name, and it centers around a young dude who gets his hands on a magic notebook (the Death Note) that kills anyone whose name is written into it. He also befriends a death god named Ryuk with a big, creepy smile and bulging yellow eyes who floats around and entertains himself by observing the awful stuff the kid does with the Death Note. Naturally, that’s the guy Willem Dafoe is playing.
That comes from Mashable, which says Dafoe has “closed a deal” to provide the voice of Ryuk in the film, so hopefully that means he’ll be able to bring his delightfully cartoonish Green Goblin voice out of retirement. The casting hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, but once it is, he’ll be joining Nat Wolff, Margaret Qualley, Keith Stanfield, Paul Nakauchi, and Shea Whigham in the film. After some studio reshuffling behind the scenes, Death Note is now a Netflix exclusive, and it’ll premiere at some point next year.