Everybody loves a dastardly hacker with a smiling face.
[dropcap size=small]W[/dropcap]e’ve known for sometime that Scarlett Johansson is set to the play the leading role in the US live-action adaptation of Masamune’s Shirow’s seminal futuristic sci-fi thriller Ghost in the Shell.
Alongside Johnasson – who will be taking on the role of Motoko Kusanagi – we also know that Pilou Asbæk (who starred with Johansson in Lucy) will be playing the main male role of Batou.
Now, with filming set to begin this month, we’re slowly but surely getting more and more cast reveals.
The Hollywood Reporter recently revealed that Boardwalk Empire star Michael Pitt will be taking on the villain role, which will rather interestingly come in the shape of The Laughing Man.
The Laughing Man was actually featured in the off-shoot series, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. He is one of the most successful and notorious hackers section 9 faces within the series, and is named after J.D. Salinger’s short story of the same name.
His avatar appears as an animated smiley face adorning a cap, with a quote from Catcher in the Rye (‘I thought what I’d do was, I’d pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes’) encircling the jovial face on the outside. Creepy isn’t it?
The prolific hacker is capable of hacking and editing his own image in cybernetically enhanced individuals eyes, as well as taking control of cyber-folks with ease; as section 9 is made up of cyber cops, you can imagine how much of a threat he poses to their task-force.
Having a key villain from the series as opposed to the film reveals that the live-action adaptation will be drawing from Shirow’s Ghost in the Shell world as a whole, and not just re-hashing the original 1995 movie.
The Laughing Man is a fantastically interesting villain. Who else is thoroughly intrigued about seeing how this character will appear in a live-action adaptation with Michael Pitt in his shoes? I know I am!
Ghost in the Shell is set for release 31 March, 2017.
