‘iZombie’ actor Matthew MacCaull is stepping over to another DC Comics adaptation on The CW, ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ as Commander Steel. His character, Henry Heywood Sr., is the grandfather of Nick Zano‘s more contemporary character, Dr. Nate Heywood, a.k.a. Citizen Steel.
MacCaull’s Commander Steel will be a member of the Justice Society of America, along with Hourman (Patrick J. Adams), Vixen (Maisie Richardson-Sellers), and the yet-to-be-cast Obsidian, Stargirl and Dr. Mid-Nite.
MacCaull can currently be seen on the big screen in a bit part in ‘Star Trek Beyond’ (he is credited as simply Blue Shirt), and was also seen in ‘Tomorrowland’ and ‘The Marine 4: Moving Target’ as well as TV shows like ‘Bates Motel’ and ‘The Killing’.
In the comics, there have been four Steels in DC’s roster. Commander Steel (originally just called Steel) debuted in 1978 but his adventures were set in the 1940s and he was retroactively added to the World War II-set ‘All-Star Squadron’. His grandson Hank Heywood III was a member of the ill-fated 1980s ‘Justice League’ Detroit, along with Vixen and Vibe. (He was later killed off.) Nathan “Buckeye” Heywood was another grandson, a college football star who lost his leg to an illness, but later regrew it when he gained his powers after a conflict with a group of neo-Nazi super villains. Nathan chose the code name Citizen Steel when he joined the modern version of the ‘Justice Society’. More recently, a Filipino American named Hank Henshaw Jr. appeared in the ‘Earth-2’ comic book as Captain Steel.
Generally speaking, the Steels have impervious skin and metal bones, making them super strong.
Zano’s Citizen Steel will be a series regular, boarding the Waverider along with the rest of the crew. Interestingly, Zano and MacCaull are the same age, so clearly their interaction will be the result of time travel.
Are you intrigued to see both Commander and Citizen Steel on ‘Legends of Tomorrow’?
The show returns on October 13, 2016 on The CW.
Source: Entertainment Weekly, Cinema Blend
