Netflix tapped critically acclaimed actor Willem Dafoe to lend his voice to death god Ryuk in the upcoming animated film based on popular Japanese manga and anime "Death Note."
Mashable revealed that Dafoe managed to close a deal with the streaming service provider to join the cast of the upcoming adaptation of the famous manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata that will be directed by Adam Wingard.
In the Japanese manga and anime, Ryuk is the cunning, controlling death god who gave high school student Light Turner the powerful notebook called Death Note. In turn, Light uses the notebook to write the names of criminals whom he wants to be killed in order to get rid of the bad people in society.
Dafoe lent his voice for several animated films, such as Disney's "Finding Nemo" and "Finding Dory" as the Tank Gang leader Gill, as well as Wes Anderson's 2009 animated movie titled "Fantastic Mr. Fox" as Rat.
The other cast members of Netflix's "Death Note" include "Paper Towns" star Nat Wolff as the film's main protagonist named Light Turner, Margaret Qualley as Light's avid supporter Mia Sutton, Keith Stanfield as the international private detective named L, Paul Nakauchi as L's assistant Watari and Shea Whigham as Light's father named James Turner.
The popularity of "Death Note" also inspired a lot of live-action adaptations since its first release in 2006. A Japanese live-action film was also released in 2006, and a spin-off movie dubbed "L Change the World" was released in 2008. There was also a live-action TV series that came out in 2015.
The "Death Note" movie was initially meant to be released by Warner Bros., but it was later announced that the feature film will be released by Netflix instead.
"Death Note" is expected to premiere on the online streaming service provider sometime in 2017.
