What Zack Snyder's Doomsday Looks Like In Real Life
In Zack Snyder's "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," Doomsday (Robin Atkins Downes) is the reanimated corpse of General Zod (Michael Shannon). It's kind of like how the DCU is the reanimated corpse of the DCEU, except Snyder did it first. Attentive readers will note that, despite Doomsday technically being General Zod, two separate actors portray the two separate roles. In February 2016, just before the film's release, Downes confirmed his attachment to "Dawn of Justice" on X (formerly Twitter) by tweeting, "Very proud to release that I helped bring Doomsday to life."
His wording feels more accurate than that chosen by other sources, who framed his involvement as including voice-over and motion capture work. While technically accurate, Doomsday doesn't get around to much talking in "Dawn of Justice," does he? Grunting and growling, sure, but little talking. Nonetheless, Doomsday is the character he is in the DCEU because of Downes' work. The creature even looks something like Downes, although that might not appear to be the kindest sentence at first pass. It just means that Doomsday's head shape seems to be vaguely reminiscent of Downes, although it would be pretty cool if Downes somehow managed to grow crystalline eyebrows.
DC fans have heard Robin Atkins Downes's voice many, many times
Robin Atkins Downes is a veteran voice actor. More relevantly, he's a veteran DC voice actor. His name is attached to more DC cartoons and video games than there are live-action projects in the entire DCEU. Granted, the first two decades of his career are littered with Marvel projects (and if we're being honest, so is the third decade and the beginning of the fourth), mostly related to the "X-Men" and "Spider-Man." His name began to appear in conjunction with DC media in 2006 when he worked on "Justice League: Unlimited."
From there, Downes appeared in "All-Star Superman," "Batman: Year One," "Green Lantern: The Animated Series," and just about everything else DC ever created for the small screen. As of this writing, Downes' most recent entry into the broader DC canon is "Justice League: Warworld," which was released in 2023. And it's not like he's playing the same role in all of these disparate stories, either. Need an Alfred Pennyworth? Downes has played the character at least three times. Deadshot, Deathstroke, the Riddler, Heatwave, Captain Cold, Harvey Dent, and even Oliver Queen, Downes has lent them all his voice.
It's kind of funny, actually, because "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" only shows off the barest fraction of what Downes provides for DC, and yet more fans have probably heard him as Doomsday than as any other DC character.