Willem Dafoe cast in Netflix's Death Note adaptation as a character who looks like Willem Dafoe

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Production on the film adaptation of popular Japanese manga Death Note has moved rather swiftly over the past few months with its cast now in place.

Willem Dafoe has been added to that assemblage - he is set to voice Ryuk the Shinigami, a Death God who bears a startling resemblance to Dafoe himself.

Mashable exclusively reported the news that Dafoe will appear in the Netflix production when he's completed filming DC superhero mashup Justice League.

Death Note is being adapted by Adam Wingard whose new film The Woods was recently revealed to be a secret Blair Witch sequel at Comic-Con 2016 last month. It will be released in September.

Led by Nat Wolff (The Fault in Our Stars), the story follows a high school student who discovers a supernatural notebook (from Dafoe's character, Ryuk) that gives him the power to kill anyone whose name or face he knows.

Such was its popularity upon its initial release in 2003 that Death Note has seen several novel adaptations, a musical and an anime series.

Wingard's film will co-star The Leftovers' Margaret Qualley, Keith Stanfield and Shea Whigham. It is expected to debut on Netflix in 2017.