Beloved loudster Jack Black is almost officially confirmed to play Steve in the upcoming "Minecraft" film.

First rumored in January, the pseudo-announcement of the casting came via an Instagram post (via GameSpot) that begins with Black signing a paean to the double rainbow. Perhaps there is some hidden meaning there?

In any case, any pretense of subtlety goes out the window almost immediately. A sign with the word "Steve" and the "Minecraft" logo hangs on the door of the black trailer, and inside, several photos of Steve hang in the window.

"Holy crap, what does that mean?" Black sings, quoting Paul Vasquez, who became famous online in 2010 as the "Double Rainbow Guy." He's "so bright, so perfect. Then he rolls the camera, smiles a quick, surely meaningful smile, and cuts away.

Here's almost a clincher: Jack Black will play Steve, his third major video game movie, following his roles as Bowser in 2023's "Super Mario Bros. Movie" and Claptrap in "Borderlands," which opens in August.

I am a little torn about this casting. Claptrap and Bowser seem to fit the famous Jack Black blend of funny, irritating, and relentless exuberance, and could fall either way at a moment's notice. But Steve is just a man. Even the name "Steve" was meant to be a jokingly generic placeholder: an empty, default skin.

That's not to say it won't work, especially given that Black has to cite other cast members (Jason Momoa, Emma Myers, and Danielle Brooks are also in the film) when he thought Pedro Pascal would take the job might be a somewhat more intense character than I had anticipated.

There is a clip of Black talking about his advice for kids to improve their reading, which is really great, but keep in mind that this is a restrained Jack Black. the live-action film of Minecraft was first announced in early 2014 and was at one point slated for a 2019 It was scheduled to be released, but has been progressively delayed by multiple obstacles, from scheduling conflicts to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is now scheduled to be released in April 2025.