In today’s segment of which celebrity joins Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer next, we’ve learned that the film has tapped Vikings star Gustaf Skarsgard as one of the nuclear physicists who worked on the Manhattan Project.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Skarsgard, who portrayed the charismatic and not-quite-right-in-the-head Floki in Vikings from 2013 to 2020, is taking on his next cinematic project by bringing German-American scientist Hans Bethe to life on the big screen. Bethe made a number of significant contributions to quantum physics in his career and headed the theoretical division during the creation of the first atomic bombs at the clandestine Los Alamos lab.
Now it’ll be up to the Swedish star of shows such as HBO’s Westworld and Netflix’s Cursed to immortalize Bethe in pop culture through one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of recent memory.
Having already brought the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Rami Malek, Florence Pugh, Kenneth Branagh, Jack Quaid, and Alden Ehrenreich onboard, Oppenheimer is boasting a star-studded cast that number in the dozens. And it feels as though every day will bring a new addition to this already epic and mind-boggling ensemble.
Starring The Dark Knight alum Cillian Murphy as the titular J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, Nolan’s next flick is taking him on another historic journey much in the same way as Dunkirk. Only this time, instead of going directly into the frontlines of the raging European war theater, the filmmaker is trying his hand at the nuanced dramatization of the story behind the creation of the first atomic bomb.
Personally, we can’t wait to hear Murphy’s take on the iconic and gut-wrenching “I am become death” speech when the movie comes out on July 21, 2023.