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Krypton TV Show Casts Game of Thrones Alum as a Villain
Superman prequel series Krypton has cast the villainous Jax-Ur in the form of Game of Thrones alumni Hannah Waddingham.
Taking us back to the early days of Kal-El’s home planet, SyFy’s Krypton will focus on Seg-El – the grandfather of Superman. Given a warning from the time traveling Adam Strange, it is up to Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe) to try and change the course of history. However, with only two decades until the inevitable destruction of Krypton, the shamed and ostracized House of El has an uphill battle to save its doomed homeworld. While we’ve already met Brainiac and those will be helping Seg-el, Waddingham joins an impressive roster of characters as the sinister Jax-Ur.
According to Deadline, the 43-year-old has been cast as the infamous Superman foe who was first introduced in 1961. For those unfamiliar with Jax-Ur, he was one of Krypton’s forefront scientists before deciding to go rogue. Banished to the Phantom Zone, Jax-Ur has escaped many times over the years to cause trouble for Superman and his friends, but Krypton describes its version as little differently:
“Formerly one of Krypton’s greatest scientists with deep ties to Krypton’s past, Jax-Ur is now determined to bring radical change to Krypton as leader of the underground terrorist organization, Black Zero.”
However, comic book fans might notice a twist to the tale with Waddingham’s casting. She is making DC history by becoming the first time that Jax-Ur has been played by a woman. Remembering back to 2013’s Man of Steel, Jax-Ur appeared as one of Zod’s scientists and was portrayed by Mackenzie Gray. So with Man of Steel writer David S. Goyer returning for Krypton, it will be interesting to see where he takes the character this time. Krypton also notably marks the first time the character has made into a TV series, although Smallville season 7 did introduce the all-too-similar Dax-Ur.
With her impressive stature at 5’11”, Waddingham certainly has the might to take on the rest of Krypton. No stranger to SyFy, Waddingham played a part as Magdalena in 12 Monkeys, but is mostly recognized for playing Septa Unella on season 5 and 6 of Game of Thrones. As one of those responsible for giving Cersei Lannister her shame walk through King’s Landing, it looks like Waddingham will continue her evil streak when playing Jax-Ur.
Goyer is reportedly planning a 7-8 year arc for Krypton, so who knows whether Jax-Ur will remain the big bad of the series or whether Waddingham’s stint is just a premiere season gig. Either way, she won’t be alone, also joining Ian McElhinney as another familiar Game of Thrones face to land a role in SyFy’s series. With the MCU’s world of TV continuing to expand, DC is hot on its heels thanks to the likes of the Arrowverse, Gotham, Black Lightning, and now Krypton. The show will premiere on SyFy on March 21, 2018.
