‘DC’s Stargirl’: Who Plays Brainwave on the CW Series?
DC’s Stargirl is bringing back a generation of classic villains from the Injustice Society. In the first few episodes, the CW series established Brainwave as one of Courtney Whitmore’s (Brec Bassinger) biggest foes. Here’s what we know about Christopher James Baker, the actor who plays Brainwave, and what else he’s been in.
Who is Christopher James Baker and what else has he been in?
Baker is an American actor who has been working in film and TV for over 25 years. He started his career with a small role in the 1994 Danny DeVito film, Renaissance Man. After appearing on an episode of Law & Order: SVU in 2000, the actor went on to star in films like Serendipity and Nim’s Island.
But Baker’s breakout role came in 2015 when he played Blake Churchman on the second season of HBO’s True Detective. The actor then joined the cast of Ozark as Ruth’s (Julia Garner) uncle, Boyd Langmore. He also had a recurring role on Shades of Blue as Theo Bennet and appeared on episodes of The Blacklist, Gotham, and The Rookie.
In 2019, Baker joined the cast of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, as the shape-shifting bounty hunter, Malachi. He portrayed the character all throughout Season 6 of the ABC Series.
Christopher James Baker is Brainwave on ‘DC’s Stargirl’
As introduced in the premiere episode of DC’s Stargirl, Baker plays Henry King Sr., aka Brainwave — a villain who has telekinetic powers and the ability to read minds. His character is a member of the Injustice Society, who, along with his supervillain friends, brings down Starman (Joel McHale) and the Justice Society of America.
In the series, Brainwave has a son, Henry King Jr. (Jake Austin Walker) who attends school with Courtney Whitmore, aka Stargirl. When Brainwave learns that Courtney has Starman’s cosmic staff, he reassembles the Injustice Society to bring her down and retrieve the weapon. Baker will appear as Brainwave throughout the entire season.
He loves playing this DC supervillain
In an interview with After Buzz TV, Baker talked about his role on DC’s Stargirl. The actor admitted that he loves getting into Brainwave’s suit.
“I just had an absolute ball doing this,” said Baker. “Getting into that suit, I mean that is a three-piece custom made, fitted thing of beauty. Well, once I was in that thing, I was like, ‘Bring it on.'”
The actor also noted that he has to work hard for all the stunts on set. But, in the end, he admitted all that work is well worth it to be a DC supervillain.
“It was just really fun,” he explained. “I’ve done some other sort of big things with set pieces — Lots of buses sliding across and you know doing three nights doing that sort of thing is just so fun. Hard work, sometimes all night, but to have moments of, ‘I’m a supervillain,’ that’s cool.”
