by Brendan Bettinger Posted:January 9th, 2012 at 7:39 pm

The new Superman movie Man of Steel has been shooting since August, so you know any casting news that surfaces tonight is for a small role. However, Variety‘s report that Richard Schiff has joined the cast as “Dr. Hamilton” may be noteworthy to fans of the comic. He is described as Superman’s “scientific advisor,” building various machinery to aid our hero’s fight against crime. The character history suggests the role has the potential to grow larger, perhaps supported by the fact that director Zack Snyder secured Emmy winner and West Wing all star Schiff for what could amount to a bit part in the reboot.

Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Antje Traue, Harry Lennix, Ayelet Zurer, Christopher Meloni, and Russell Crowe. Man of Steel opens June 14, 2013. Hit the jump for the Hamilton’s character bio.

Via the DC Comics Database:

A former employee of S.T.A.R. Labs and the US Government, it transpired he had been driven insane when all his research was bought up by Lex Luthor, who took credit for the inventions. He was placed in a mental health facility and responded well to treatment. On his release, he set up a laboratory in Suicide Slum and quickly became Superman’s “scientific adviser”, eking out a general living as a technical consultant. He was responsible for creating many devices that aided Superman, including the Phantom Zone Projector and early Superman Robots, as well as helping Superman during such problems as the ‘Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite’, when Red Kryptonite created by Mister Mxyzptlk shut down Superman’s powers; until Superman’s powers were restored, Hamilton provided him with various machinery such as a force field belt and an armored suit to allow him to continue as a hero.

In more recent comics, Hamilton has assumed a villain role, and I guess they could start there. I prefer the idea of Hamilton on the side of the good guys as Superman’s Q, though, at least in the first movie. The Playlist speculates the inclusion of Hamilton may support a rumor that Bradley Cooper has quietly joined the film as Lex Luthor, given Hamilton’s intricate relationship with Luthor in the comics. We’ll see.

This is the synopsis we have on hand for Man of Steel:

He has also theorized about how Superman’s Kryptonian biology works, and deduced the best way to defeat villains based on analysis of their powers. He lost an arm during the Fall of Metropolis, but replaced it with a self-designed cybernetic prosthesis.
In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time. Clark Kent/Kal-El (Cavill) is a young twentysomething journalist who feels alienated by powers beyond anyone’s imagination. Transported to Earth years ago from Krypton, an advanced alien planet, Clark struggles with the ultimate question – Why am I here? Shaped by the values of his adoptive parents Martha (Lane) and Jonathan Kent (Costner), Clark soon discovers that having super abilities means making very difficult decisions. But when the world needs stability the most, it comes under attack. Will his abilities be used to maintain peace or ultimately used to divide and conquer? Clark must become the hero known as “Superman,” not only to shine as the world’s last beacon of hope but to protect the ones he loves.