John Mulaney Gives a Hilarious and Fitting Response to His DCU Fan-Casting

As James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe slowly fills out its roster of characters and actors, fans are eagerly filling in the gaps online. One popular fan-casting imagines comedian and actor John Mulaney as the intriguing and underappreciated hero Plastic Man. Despite his goofy name and background as a petty criminal, Patrick O’Brian is one of the most powerful heroes in the entire Justice League. While Mulaney’s dry humor would be a perfect fit for the character, the comedian has given a dour and sarcastic update about his chances of playing the hero on screen.

During an interview with GQ where Mulaney went undercover on the internet to answer fan questions, the comedian was asked about the fan-casting of himself or Pete Davidson as Plastic Man. Hilariously, and somewhat expectedly, Mulaney had no idea who the character was (to be fair, Plastic Man is far from a big player in mainstream DC Comics). When asked, “How about one of these guys (John Mulaney/ Pete Davidson) as Plastic Man?” Mulaney joked:

“I know who Pete and I are, and I don’t know what the rest of that means.”

Sounding like everyone’s grandma who asks for help “doing a Facebook,” Mulaney said, “Is Plastic Man a DC comic?” Surprisingly, the comedian didn’t rule out the opportunity, writing, “If you know the answer, call my personal phone,” in response. However, he was very clear about his (and Pete Davidson’s) motivation for wanting to play the character. He concluded:

”
It’d be a money thing.
Honestly, I can answer for Pete as well. It’d be a money thing. Apparently, these movies pay a lot, these action hero things, but that is also changing in today’s ever-evolving media landscape.”

John Mulaney Would Make a Perfect Plastic Man

It might be easy to forget that John Mulaney has already taken on one of “these action hero things” in the past, as the comedian only lent his voice to Peter Porker in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. While he’s not as popular as Batman or Superman, Plastic Man is one of DC’s oldest comic book heroes, first appearing in Police Comics #1 way back in 1941. You might be able to guess his powers, judging from the name, as Plastic Man has the ability to stretch and contort his body to extreme lengths. Add this with the usual super strength, agility, and invulnerability, Plastic Man is one of DC Comics’ most powerful heroes — he is also believed to be the inspiration for Marvel’s Reed Richards and Monkey D. Luffy in One Piece.

As well as being one of the strongest, Plastic Man is also one of DC Comics’ funniest heroes. The character hides behind his coy smile, and is endlessly cracking jokes and quips to an extent that could rival Deadpool. There currently aren’t any plans (at least, that have been announced) to bring Plastic Man to the DCU. However, given the quirky and sarcastic tone of James Gunn’s past superhero outings (Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad), he would be a perfect fit for the new DCU.