With the recent announcement that the lead actors in DC Studios’ new Mister Miracle animated series have been cast, James Gunn is not only introducing a brand-new superhero into his nascent cinematic universe but opening the door to one of the most fascinating and epic corners of DC Comics canon: The 4th World.
Mister Miracle is a superhero, but he is also a god, a New God more specifically. What is a New God you ask? Well, to understand that, we must travel back to 1970, when legendary Marvel Comics creator Jack Kirby jumped to the distinguished competition of DC Comics. Kirby would waste no time in crafting his own grand mythology within the already well-established roster of DC characters. Kirby would create his own stable of mythological heroes and villains to stand alongside those from Greek and Norse storytelling.
One of the most prominent of those heroes was Scott Free, a.k.a. Mister Miracle. Scott is the son of Highfather, ruler of the planet New Genesis, who, in a diplomatic solution to war with rival planet Apokolips, swaps sons with that planet’s leader, the dastardly Darkseid. Tired of the totalitarian viciousness of Darkseid, Scott makes a daring escape to Earth, where he dubs himself Mister Miracle, the world’s Greatest Escape Artist. Over the course of 18 issues, Kirby demonstrated Mister Miracle’s unstoppable will and seemingly limitless toolbox of gadgets to escape from death traps, supervillains and his own dark past.
Though Mister Miracle and the rest of the New Gods pantheon (especially Darkseid) had remained part of the DC Universe for decades, a solo comic series would only occasionally crop up for the daring escape artist. However, in 2017, superstar creator Tom King, along with frequent artistic collaborator Mitch Gerads would bring Scott and his bizarre extended family back into the spotlight with a major new series.
Mister Miracle (2017) was not a reboot but instead a modernization. King kept the character’s biography and continuity from the original Kirby comics but bored deep into the trauma that Scott’s past had inflicted on him. The book tragically opens with Scott attempting to kill himself, certainly signaling to readers that this was a darker and more emotionally intense take on the character. Despite the way the story kicks off, though, King’s story is not about death but rather the opposite. The book is about finding something to live for. This brings us to the other major character of Mister Miracle: Big Barda.
Big Barda was also raised in the dark and violent world of Apokalips. Trained from childhood to be a Female Fury, one of Darkseid’s cadre of women soldiers. Barda meets Scott Free, and the pair fall in love; she eventually joins him in his escape to Earth. The couple are bonded not only by their love for one another but also by a shared traumatic upbringing. Barda is the only character who can truly relate to the pain inside Mister Miracle. This relationship is at the center of King’s story, and the family they build together becomes Scott’s reason to keep on going.
King and Gerad’s Mister Miracle became one of DC’s top-selling and most acclaimed comics in recent memory. The book has received multiple printings, including a beautiful deluxe edition hardcover. The comic also took home the much-coveted Eisner Award in 2019 for Best Limited Series, with King and Gerards winning Best Writer and Best Penciller/Inker, respectively. It was only a matter of time before Warner Brothers would be greenlighting an adaptation.
One of the most exciting aspects of the television adaptation is that Tom King will also be writing and executive producing the series himself. A move that is starting to become common in Hollywood as comics creators are becoming more recognized for their contributions to these characters. Studio heads like James Gunn are bringing creators into the mix of adapting their comics for the big and small screen. King was also the co-creator of the massively successful HBO series Lanterns, which certainly shows he has a knack for translating complex superhero continuity into mainstream audience-approachable drama.
Josh Hutcherson has now been cast as Scott Free/Mister Miracle and Mackenzie Davis as Big Barda. Gunn has indicated that though they are starting out as voices for an animated series, we can most likely expect to see the actors suiting up as the character in live action in the future. Not too hard to imagine with those two.
Fan anticipation for the new series is very high, and with the pedigree of the creators and cast, it's more than likely to be worth the wait. James Gunn continues to expand his DC cinematic universe into new and fascinating avenues that push the bounds of what defines a superhero story. Given the history of the character, Mister Miracle will give longtime fans and newcomers a lot to discuss when it premieres in 2028.
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