Summary

• Pruitt Taylor Vince joins James Gunn's Superman cast as Clark Kent's adoptive father Jonathan Kent.
• Pruitt Taylor Vince is known for his roles a wide variety of TV shows such as The X-Files, The Walking Dead, and Stranger Things.
• Vince has already played minor characters in the superhero genre: he played Father Hennessy in DC's Constantince movie and Grill in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD.

James Gunn's Superman officially casts Clark Kent's adoptive father, Jonathan Kent, within the DCU continuity. The DC Universe's Superman movie is rebooting Warner Bros.' DC franchise from scratch, allowing every DC character to start anew with a new actor. Besides David Corenswet in the titular role and the rest of the top-tier talent playing superheroes in James Gunn's Superman cast, the first live-action movie in the DCU's Gods and Monsters chapter also includes human characters such as Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, and now Jonathan "Pa" Kent.

As reported by The Wrap on April 16, 2024, Emmy-winning actor Pruitt Taylor Vince has joined the Superman cast in the role of Jonathan Kent. Vince began his career with roles in prominent films such as Mississipi Burning, Jacob's Ladder, and JFK. Vince has also build a lengthy career in television as a character actor, with small roles in TV shows such as The X-Files, Miami Vice, and The Walking Dead, and with his performance as Clifford Banks in Murder One standing out as the role that earned him a Primetime Emmy Award for Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

Pruitt Taylor Vince Is No Stranger To Superhero Media

The Actor Previously Appeared In Agents of SHIELD And The Constantine Movie

Pa Kent might be Pruitt Taylor Vince's most high-profile role, but the actor has already dipped his toes in the superhero genre before. In 2005, Vince played the eccentric priest Father Hennessy in the Keanu Reeves-led Constantine, where Hennessy is dehydrated and then drowned to death by a demon. Twelve years later, Pruitt Taylor Vince appeared in Agents of SHIELD season 5 episodes 2 through 6 as Grill, manager of SHIELD's Lighthouse bunker in the year 2091, who dies when Flint's geokinetic powers awaken.

As a character actor, Pruitt Taylor Vince is accustomed to minor roles where his characters tend to die quickly or meet an undesirable fate. For instance, Pruitt Taylor Vince's Otis is eaten by walkers in The Walking Dead season 2, and Caspar Abraham dies an unceremonious death in Heroes Reborn episode 9. One of the shows where Vince's character survives despite having the odds stacked against him is Stranger Things, where Eleven spares Ray Carroll's life despite him having worked at Hawkins National Laboratory.

Pruitt Taylor Vince's role as Jonathan Kent in James Gunn's Superman will likely be bigger, both in terms of screen time and popularity, than most of the actor's previous performances. After all, Pa Kent is a key part of Superman's lore and an essential foundation for Clark Kent's hero journey. Yet, Pa Kent is also well known for inspiring Superman in death just as he does in life. Therefore, it wouldn't be surprising if the DCU's version of Jonathan Kent doesn't reach Superman's final credits alive, either.

Source: The Wrap

Key Release Dates

• 

  The Batman Part II

  Release Date:

  2026-10-02