In the midst of James Gunn’s various DC announcements, one point that has not gone down well with some of those involved in the world of video games is that part of the big DC plan could see on-screen actors also voicing the same character in animated and video game projects. While there has recently been a lot of complaints raised over the casting of Chris Pratt as the voice of Mario over the character’s long-term voice actor Charles Martinet, Gunn’s plans have brought skepticism and more than a little derision from those in the industry. One of those people is Naughty Dog’s senior character artist Del Walker, who questioned the idea. He wrote:
“These writers and voice actors do 100 versions of everything. They are in the booth doing 600 lines of dialogue just to end up with 20 of the best in the game. You think you’re going to get Robert Pattinson to outwork a VA actor? And for a budget that makes sense? Good luck.”
There are certainly advantages to creating a completely connected world where the same voice is heard across games, animation and live-action, and it seems that Gunn is progressing towards that in his mind. However, the realities of the plan is almost setting it up for a fail in a way that you only have to look at Henry Cavill’s recent franchise departures to see coming.
Can a Fully Connected DCU Work as a Long Term Strategy?
Back in summer 2022, it seemed that Henry Cavill was going to be the center of two very big franchises as Superman in the DCU and Geralt in The Witcher. Three month’s later and Cavill was out of both of those franchises. In the terms of The Witcher, the decision to leave seems to have stemmed from Cavill’s annoyance over the direction of show. If James Gunn’s plan was already in place, his plan of having the same actor working across all mediums would have now ended up being already broken.
With the DCU expected to span multiple years, there is no guarantee that stars will still want to be part of the franchise, which could open the whole thing up to failing in its supposed desire to be completely connected across the usually separate world of video games.
The other issue that Gunn is facing will be accusations of further oppressing voice over artists, who are already not happy with the way their work is often seen as being less worthy than that of on screen actors. The casting of Chris Pratt as Mario instigated a number of complaints for simply putting a big star name in a major role when the character’s long term voice over actor was available to take on the part.
In the end, it will be seen in time whether Gunn’s master plan comes to fruition as expected, and whether his decision to cast actors in animated series such as Creature Commandos with the intention of having the same stars play them in live-action becomes a master stroke or another DC misstep.
