Here’s a story we missed in all the excitement: Gabriel Macht has been cast as THE SPIRIT in Frank Miller’s upcoming film. Macht has already earned his comic book movie stripes with a role in WHITEOUT. (He also appearaed on BUFFY, a nerd cred requisite.) Samuel L. Jackson has been cast as the Octopus.

For “The Spirit,” [Miller] insisted that actors who wanted the starring role audition, and Macht won the job in the room.

“We think Gabriel has a devilishly charming quality, and the dry wit that embodies the Spirit, and we wanted to do this with someone who can embody this character for the next few years, because we anticipate we’ll be making more than one Spirit movie,” said Lionsgate prexy of film production Mike Paseornek.