I’ll admit that I never really got into death Note, but I’m still really interested to see how Netflix handles the adaptation of such a well regarded manga. I’m wondering if the movie will be allowed to stand on its own merits or if it will get slapped down because it is a completely westernized version of the story.

Seriously though, even if you wanted to raise a ruckus about all the white people, you can’t argue with the casting of Willem Dafoe as the voice of “Death God” Ryuk. Hell, he could probably already play the character as completely live action… with very little make up.

Based on the famous Japanese manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, Death Note follows a high school student who comes across a supernatural notebook, realizing it holds within it a great power; if the owner inscribes someone’s name into it while picturing their face, he or she will die. Intoxicated with his new godlike abilities, the young man begins to kill those he deems unworthy of life.