Rumored for some time, Tao Okamoto’s role in Zack Snyder’s upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has today been confirmed. Although the original announcement from Warner Bros. Pictures claimed that Okamoto would be playing a character created specifically for the film, this week’s episode of DC Comics’ behind-the-scenes news series DC All Access says that Okamoto will be playing Mercy Graves.
Graves, whose appearance in the film has been long rumored, is traditionally Lex Luthor’s bodyguard and personal assistant. Originally voiced by Lisa Edelstein, Mercy made her debut on “Superman: The Animated Series” in 1996. She was later brought into the DC Comics continuity and was a heavy influence on Cassidy Freeman’s “Smallville” character, Tess Mercer (which combined Mercy with the Superman: The Movie character, Valerie Perrine’s Eve Tessmacher).
Okamoto is well known to comic book movie aficionados for playing Mariko in James Mangold’s The Wolverine. She has also been appearing on the currently-airing third season of “Hannibal.”
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice stars Henry Cavill in the role of Clark Kent/Superman, and Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman. The film also stars Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, with Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane returning from Man of Steel, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, and Holly Hunter in a role newly created for the film. Jason Momoa will also be making an appearance as Aquaman.
Directed by Zack Snyder, written by Chris Terrio, from a screenplay by David S. Goyer, the film is produced by Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder with Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Wesley Coller, David S. Goyer and Geoff Johns serving as executive producers.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is set to open worldwide on March 25, 2016
