By Russ Fischer/Sept. 14, 2011 11:00 am EST
So who (or what) is The Spectre? He’s a second-stringer (or, more graciously, supporting character and occasional leading man) that has been part of the DC universe since the ’40s, when he was created by Jerry Siegel.
In life he was a cop, Jim Corrigan, but after being murdered he’s stuck in a post-death limbo, from which he seeks vengeance against his own killers (see where R.I.P.D. got its ideas?) and eventually against other evil men.
Over the decades the character has been a supernatural crusader; a member of the Justice Society of America (the first superhero team); a massively-powered, nearly omnipotent force; an excessively aggressive righter of wrongs; and an embodiment of God’s anger towards human evil. The ghostly aspect of the Spectre even became tied to Green Lantern Hal Jordan at one point.
So what version will the show focus on? Likely something close to the original ’40s version — a tough, vindictive murdered cop who becomes a supernatural crusader. But there’s room here for a lot of different material, if the show takes off.
YouTube has this non-embeddable clip from the DC Showcase short featuring The Spectre, in which Gary Cole voiced the character. Might give you a bit of an idea of what to expect.
