One Naughty Dog character artist puts James Gunn's approach to casting future DC projects on blast.Del Walker, a senior character artist for Naughty Dog, criticized Gunn for wanting the same actors to play their respective DC characters in the franchise's films, video games, TV series and animation projects. "You think you're going to get Robert Pattinson to outwork a VA actor? And for a budget that makes sense?" Walker wrote. As for the artist's previous DC game credits, he worked on Rocksteady Games' Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Set in the Batman: Arkham universe, the upcoming game is the last time fans will hear the late Kevin Conroy as the voice of Batman.
James Gunn and Peter Safran's DC Plans
On Jan. 31, Gunn discussed the casting details for his and Peter Safran's new DC Universe in addition to the production of Creature Commandos Season 1. "What we're doing with the DCU is we're having animation tied directly into live action," Gunn said. "Television, movies and games all intertwine within the same universe. We're going to cast actors that are going to be able to play the characters in this, as well as in other things, some of which we've already cast."
While several actors appeared in 2021's Suicide Squad and its spinoff series Peacemaker, many people question whether the development is financially feasible. Walker explains how video games and cartoons differ from "2 hour Pixar films" due to the sheer volume of dialogue voice actors record in the booth. The artist then lists Mark Hamill's Joker and Haley Joel Osment's Sora in Kingdom Hearts as the only film actors who could pull off such a huge commitment.
As for the timeline between DC films and video games, Gunn hopes to tell a story in continuation of a movie's plot. "Something that's still set in the world with these characters, but is its own thing. We want to give the prominence to games that they deserve," Gunn said. In terms of the announced film projects for Gunn's DC Universe, another Superman and Supergirl movie are on the horizon.
Like DC, Marvel Studio, Gunn's former employer, utilized a similar casting tactic of using live-action actors to reprise their roles in animated projects. In What If...?, Chadwick Boseman, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Hemsworth, Benedict Cumberbatch and additional other players returned to their respective characters in the animated show. However, voice actors for Captain America, Iron Man and Black Widow have previously replaced the original faces.
Source: Twitter