DC Universe Characters Will Be Played by Same Actor in Animation, Live-Action, and Video Games (original) (raw)
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At the super-secret press event on Monday, DC Studios' co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran provided an exciting update on the extensive slate of content coming to the rebooted universe. When discussing the interconnecting aspects of the new universe across different mediums like film, TV, animation, etc., Safran told those in attendance that the plan is to make sure that the actors who portray a character—whether in animation or in live-action—remain that character across every appearance that the character makes.
Safran referenced John Cena and his role as Peacemaker in both The Suicide Squad and the character's spin-off series, Peacemaker, saying that it is an important part of this entire process. In referencing the actors, he explained, "[T]hey will also have to go back and forth between film and television because there’s no demarcation for us. If you’re John Cena playing Peacemaker in the movie, you’re playing him in the TV series as well. So that’s a very important part of what we’re doing."
Safran continued by saying the team wants to make sure there is no audience confusion when it comes to having multiple people playing a singular role, saying, "So there’s no audience confusion, there are multiple people playing the same role. This is the story." Collider's own Steve Weintraub followed up by asking if this also included keeping the live-action actors for animated projects, to which Safran said, "In animation, we’re actually trying to cast the voices of the actors we want to play them in real life." This likely goes the other way as well as they have confirmed that Jason Momoa won't be playing two characters in the new DCU, as some fans have speculated in order to stick with this "no audience confusion" mantra. This isn't necessarily a new revelation, as the duo previously made a statement that the DCU would be connected across TV, animation, and films.
Image via DC Studios
Gunn and Safran also confirmed that the story being told in the new DCU is one that is very focused on being told across every type of medium at the team's disposal. This was explained further when they were discussing the upcoming Green Lantern series, where they once again pointed to Peacemaker as an example of how everything is set to play out. "The story is going to weave back and forth between the films and the television shows. Peacemaker is a good example of how that works. That's what we're going to do with this big overarching story that we're telling,” said Safran.