Since the launch of their direct to video DVD/BluRay line with Superman/Doomsday in 2007, here's the rundown over who has voiced the Man Of Steel:Adam Baldwin (Superman/Doomsday), Kyle MacLachlan (Justice League: New Frontier), Tim Daly (Superman/Batman: Public Enemies), Mark Harmon (Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths), and back to Daly (Superman/Batman: Apocalypse).
Batman, meanwhile, has been played by Jeremy Sisto (New Frontier), Kevin Conroy (Batman: Gotham Knight and Public Enemies), William Baldwin (Crisis), Bruce Greenwood (Batman: Under The Red Hood), and Conroy again (Apocalypse).
No casting has been announced yet for the forthcoming All-Star Superman or Batman: Year One. There must be other Baldwin brothers out there...
We've also had several different Hal Jordans and Wonder Women, as well.
I'll confess up front--I'm a fan of Conroy and Daly from the work on the animated TV series, and I think they're the best.
But I'm open to change, and giving new people a chance. But why the constant yo-yoing around? Why not pick someone and stick with them?? They don't change Harry Potters every movie, and Christopher Nolan is sticking with Christian Bale. Why does the DC animated division feel compelled to keep their biggest roles a revolving door?
I know these are stand-alone releases, but still, shouldn't there be some continuity of character, some overlap between the video releases? Especially when you consider that, at least for me, the audience spends the first 30 minutes of the hour and a quarter video trying to shake off the cognitive dissonance of "that's not Batman's voice!" ringing through my head.
Not that I'm saying that any of the various voice actors is bad (although the less said about Mark Harmon, the better). But why are we approaching the casting of these roles like the Joel Schumacher Batman movies? I really can't see that most of this constant rotation brings anything new or interesting to the table, except as an excuse for Andrea Romano to say "X really brings something to role" each and every time on the making of documentary. It's like she's playing Mad Libs...
So, all I'm saying is, why can't we pick actors and stick with them??
PS I should mention that some of other the stunt casting gets in the way of the movie, because Barney Stinson as Nightwing and Bender as the Joker kept taking me out of the moment every time they spoke. I'm just sayin'.
3 comments:
For whatever it's worth, Adam Baldwin is unrelated to the other known Hollywood Baldwins.
Just felt it almost worth pointing out.
I agree that there should be way more consistency. However, there may also be the issue of actor availability. Ex: Tim Daly is on the show "Private Practice" and doesn't have time for every voiceover.
Also, FYI, the "Baldwin Brothers" are Alec, William (Billy), Stephen, and Daniel.
As long as they keep Gilbert Gottfried the hell away from the Superman or Batman scripts, I'm fine with using different voice actors...especially with the art style shifting from project to project. While Conroy's Batman is iconic on a certain level, the hit-and-run realities of the modern animation biz make incredibly long-running series like the 1990's Batman cartoon almost impossible, meaning the end of long-term voice acting gigs like Conroy's. The animated DVD market being as shaky as it is, I'm sure animation studios are hesitant to offer long term, multiple-project contracts to "name" actors...since it's hard to know if even the Superman and Batman DVD's will continue to sell in sufficient numbers to justify their costs.
In other words, say bye-bye to "voice of a generation" style voice actors for specific characters. The financial realities of the biz will probably trump that kind of thing for the foreseeable future.
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