List of Recurring The Simpsons Characters - Rainier Wolfcastle

Rainier Wolfcastle

Rainier Luftwaffe Wolfcastle (voiced by Harry Shearer) is an action hero star and a close parody of actor/bodybuilder/politician Arnold Schwarzenegger. This basis has been drawn out over the series. Wolfcastle's wife is named Maria, just like the real Schwarzenegger's now separated wife Maria Shriver. Like Schwarzenegger, Wolfcastle is an active member of the Republican Party and owns a Hummer. In the episode "The Boy Who Knew Too Much", Bart Simpson tells Wolfcastle that his "last movie really sucked" (Along with Chief Wiggum's line of "'Magic Ticket' my ass, McBain!"), alluding to Schwarzenegger's film Last Action Hero, which was panned by critics. Wolfcastle owns a restaurant named Planet Springfield, a parody of Planet Hollywood, which Schwarzenegger co-owned with other celebrities. Wolfcastle has starred in many action movies, most notably the McBain series (a parody of action movies) and the movie of Radioactive Man. Rainier’s more recent movies have gained less renown, and he is even forced to do comedies and even standup comedy. Wolfcastle has made cameo appearances as an Academy Award presenter, a celebrity spokesperson, and a celebrity judge. In a recall election of Mayor Quimby, Wolfcastle ran for his seat. He has a daughter named Greta who had a crush on Bart in the episode "The Bart Wants What It Wants".

The writers invented Wolfcastle as the action hero McBain for the episode "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?". Because they liked the scene involving the character from that episode, they used him again in "The Way We Was", which was recorded and aired before "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" The McBain films satirize clichés of action films. The character was originally named McBain, until an actual film called McBain was released in 1991. That film's producers refused to allow the show to use the name, so "Rainier Wolfcastle" became the name of the actor playing the McBain role. Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson, doubles as Wolfcastle when Harry Shearer is absent from table reads.