Barry Allen gets some competition as the Fastest Man Alive in the upcoming DC Original Animated Movie Justice Society: World War II, with the Golden Age Flash Jay Garrick being a prominent member of the original DC superhero team. Voiced by Armen Taylor, the superhero is a vital part of the Allied war effort against the Axis Powers across Europe as they are suddenly joined by the time-displaced Barry as the global conflict rages on.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Taylor talks about focusing on the humanity behind the Golden Age Fastest Man Alive, bringing the Justice Society to a new generation of viewers and working as a key part of the all-star ensemble for the epic wartime animated movie.
Armen, how did the opportunity to become the original Flash come about?
Armen Taylor: The casting director and voice director Wes Gleason is fantastic and he's done all the DC stuff in the past few years. Him and I got a chance to meet at some event and he brought me in to play a character in a thing that I can't talk about. [Laughs] But we got to work together in a small project, and then about a month later, I got the call that he wanted to bring me in for this, just based on us chatting and the project I had done before.
He was like "We want to bring you in to play Jay Garrick, the Flash!" and your brain doesn't quite register it as if it were some small thing that would be great to be a part of anyways and then you're like "...wait, what was the name that you said? Yeah, I can do that!" [Laughs]
There's a certain patois that people had in the 1940s. How did you find Jay's voice?
Taylor: The biggest thing was the writing; it is such a great script and they really did their research and honed in on how these characters work. When there's great writing and a great director in the room, and the great [producer] Butch Lukic was there, really all you've got to do is get out of the way. [Laughs] Just give it your all and don't mess it up. It was just all there in the script: It was very clear who he was and how he spoke and how everyone else spoke and how they interacted.
Was there a specific line in the script or piece of direction from Wes or Butch that helped you find your way to approach your performance?
Taylor: Yeah, they were like "You guys are five years into this war taking on the worst of the worst and every time you guys get up to do a little recon, Wonder Woman has [you] and Hourman go in to cause a distraction and draw their fire." So you see it in the film: Jay and Hourman are like "Well, I guess we're bullet magnets today which is every day." This little bit of gallows humor of another day, another chance to risk [his] life helps shape his sense of humor. Instead of going "Oh my god, I could die" he's like "Well, I might [die] but I can run really fast" and that kind of lightness on his feet that he has naturally carries over to his personality.
Like you were saying, Wes has been working with DC animated projects for a long time, since at least Batman: The Animated Series. In speaking with the rest of the cast, they mention he's specific but lets them play with their performance in the recording booth. What was your collaborative process with Wes like?
Taylor: Wes is one the best, any chance to work with him is just a gift. I think part of that is, yes, he is very specific. He's done all the research and really knows the characters and the script. He has a vision for it and yet he knows you're the other half of the equation for it and so he sort of pitches you, in beginning, what he has in mind and then gets out of the way and lets you do your thing. There was one line where I just said it on accident in a different order and he said "I think there's something a little more raw to that! I like that, we're going with that one!" He gives you the space to create but you know you'll never be led astray, he'll always bring you back in case you go down the wrong rabbit hole over something.
While the writing and direction are great, this is the first time Jay Garrick has appeared in a DC Animated Movie. What did you want to bring yourself to voice this iconic role?
Taylor: A really big thing was his humanity. All of these characters are so beautifully written; they are all gods among men but they're still people. The audience isn't going to get it unless there's some humanity to them, so bringing that element of a young guy whose trying to do the right thing but he also knows a lot about the thing he does and he gets to work with exceptional people and he's always just trying to keep up his end of the share working with them. He gets to work with an Amazonian demigoddess and an ancient being in Hawkman so I've got to do my part, get up and do my part and be the best at it; bringing that to it was my goal.
As a quick aside, and as an anime fan myself, The Seven Deadly Sins is one of the most popular anime series streaming on Netflix. How has it been being on that show?
Taylor: That was really cool! I tend to play a lot of villains but when Wes wanted me to come in and play a superhero, I was like "You mean supervillain? I usually play bad guys!" Cusack is this sort of over-the-top, dramatic villain, very sort of Shakespearean, and that's a really fun role to play. The director is such a perfectionist in the best way possible and he's so specific, it's fun to get in there and play with that.
Now that you've seen the finished film and your performance, what are you most proud of in being part of this ensemble film and introducing Jay Garrick to a new generation?
Taylor: It's incredible to bring the original superhero squad to a modern audience. It was a big responsibility and you couldn't have done it with a better group of people or better company to do that and execute that vision. Giving people the chance to see that now, and with everything going on in the world, some of the messages of this movie are ringing a little louder and clearer than they may have a decade or so ago and I hope selfishly they bring the Justice Society back for more because it would be very cool to see what the next step is for them.
Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, DC and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Justice Society: World War II stars Stana Katic as Wonder Woman, Matt Bomer as The Flash, Elysia Rotaru as Black Canary, Chris Diamantopoulos as Steve Trevor, Omid Abtahi as Hawkman, Matthew Mercer as Hourman, Armen Taylor as Jay Garrick, Liam McIntyre as Aquaman, Ashleigh LaThrop as Iris West, Geoffrey Arend as Charles Halstead/Advisor, Keith Ferguson as Dr. Fate and Darin De Paul as Roosevelt. The film will be released digitally on April 27 and on 4K UHD and Blu-ray on May 11.