KRYPTON Casts Emmett J. Scanlan as Lobo

The Main Man is finally coming to live action.

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that the Syfy series Krypton has cast Emmett J. Scanlan as DC Comics antihero Lobo.  The role will be recurring throughout the show's upcoming second season.

Lobo is described in the article as "the ruthless bounty hunter who murdered his entire species."

Scanlan, 39, is an Irish actor perhaps best known to DC Comics fans as Jim Corrigan, the Spectre, on the NBC series Constantine, as Simon on the BBC America zombie series In the Flesh, and as Brendan Brady on the British soap opera Hollyoaks.  He also appeared in the Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy as the Head Riot Guard, and on episodes of Atlantis, No Offence, Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands, and Safe.

Created in 1983 by Roger Slifer and Keith Giffen, Lobo first appeared in Omega Men (vol.1) #3 as a Velorpian whose entire race had been exterminated by the Psions.  Lobo played an important role in the Citadel War, in his capacity as a bounty hunter.  He was hired by the Citadel's human agent Harry Hokum to capture the Euphorian known as Kalista in a bid to learn the secret behind her home world's planetary shield.  Along with fellow bounty hunters Bedlam and Berserk, he raided the mothership belonging to the Omega Men, where upon he engaged in combat with Kalista.  Soon after, Harry Hokum hired Lobo once again, this time to assassinate the Omega Men's interim leader Tigorr.  Lobo never had the opportunity to complete the contract however.

In 1988's Justice League International (vol.1) #18, the character was revamped as a Czarnian whose name comes from a Khund dialect that means "one who devours your entrails and thoroughly enjoys it."  He hailed from the planet Czarnia, which was a virtual paradise that knew nothing of war and the Czarnians were almost immortal.  When Lobo was born, his evil was so frighteningly apparent, the nurse who delivered him went insane and became the planet's first mental patient in ten millennia after the infant Lobo chewed off four of her fingers.  Lobo knew he was one of a kind, but he wanted even more.  Inspired by the idea of genocide, Lobo created a swarm of lethal scorpion-like creatures and set them on his people, wiping out his entire species but himself.

After traveling across the galaxies as an intergalactic bounty hunter, Lobo made his first appearance on the planet Earth when he was hired by Manga Khan to take out the newly formed Justice League International.  However, after Big Barda teleported Lobo across the galaxy, Lobo landed on Earth in the Justice League Embassy.  After a brief altercation with Guy Gardner, Lobo hung around, pretending to be a friend, while waiting for the right moment.   Before he could act, however, Manga Khan canceled his contract.  Since then, he encountered various DC Comics superheroes, operating solo or as a member of L.E.G.I.O.N.

In the current DC continuity known as DC Rebirth, Lobo was reintroduced in the limited series Justice League vs. Suicide Squad as one of the villains freed by Maxwell Lord who was a member of Amanda Waller's first Suicide Squad.  Batman eventually implanted a bomb into Lobo's brain and detonated it, blowing up Lobo's head.  After Lobo regenerated it, he discovered Batman did so to free him from Lord's control, and later accepted Batman's offer to join a new incarnation of the Justice League of America to repay the favor.

Scanlan will be the first actor to portray Lobo in live action, although the character has appeared in various animated projects, including Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League (voiced by Brad Garrett), Young Justice (voiced by David Sobolov), and Justice League Action (voiced by John DiMaggio).

Krypton is expected to return to Syfy for Season 2 sometime in 2019.