First Look At Willem Dafoe As Ryuk The Shinigami In Netflix’s Death Note

Netflix’s adaptation of the popular Japanese manga “Death Note” will be here in just a few months. Since everything is well on its way, director of the live-action Adam Wingard teases fans with a poster release. Here the director shows who’s to play one of the unique characters of the story, Ryuk the shinigami. And who else suits the role best than actor Willem Dafoe, who played the Green Goblin in the 2002 “Spider-Man” film.

Death Note (2017) Photo via Netflix

The Role As A Death Spirit

Dafoe is set to play as Ryuk the shinigami, with “shinigami” translating to death spirit or even a death god. It’s like the Japanese version of the grim reaper, wherein the shinigami can invite the living to their death and can even use that to extend their own.

Death spirits don’t come in the normal appearance either, so the poster Wingard shares is something you won’t expect to see in the human world. Although in black and white, the photo shows the character Ryuk with a ghastly smile in his outrageous attire. Surely enough, the Ryuk is still demonic as ever even in this adaptation.

https://twitter.com/AdamWingard/status/879703081922871296

Ryuk’s Role In Death Note

The name cannot get any more literal than it already is because “Death Note” is all about a notebook that can cause death. How it works is extremely simple. The person just has to write the name of the person they want dead while picturing that person’s face.

Nat Wolff in Death Note (2017). Photo via Netflix

So where exactly does Ryuk fit in this story line? Well, he’s the owner of the notebook. This is a death spirit’s medium in taking a person’s life. Ryuk’s notebook happens to fall into the hands of a high school student. Under the name Kira, the student, Light Turner, uses it to kill people he doesn’t see worthy to be alive.

Nat Wolff and Lakeith Stanfield in Death Note (2017). Photo via Netflix

And that’s where the story takes off, diving deeper into the logic of both life and death. Also considering the abilities of the notebook itself. The original manga series is written by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. The “Death Note” Netflix adaptation has Nat Wolff to play the lead as Light Turner (Light Yagami in the original manga). Lakeith Stanfield is to rival Wolff as “L”, the detective in the series.

Netflix’s horror-thriller “Death Note” is written by Jeremy Slater and is set to be released on the 25th of August this year. Watch the teaser for “Death Note” below: