Distinctive, threatening, or even homely, voice is unfathomably important. It gives an entirely new level to the character an audience sees on screen, and is ultimately defining. The following is a tribute to some of the best voices to grace popular characters from comic book lore.
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Sometimes, voices need to be bold and alluring at the same time. That's difficult to pull off effectively. The voice can either wave or shake or become too raspy. Hemsworth trades in his Australian accent in for a British one in
Thor and
The Avengers, and it's an emboldened, silky ride for viewers.
Ron Perlman as Hellboy
Rough, gruff, but never too guttural, Perlman had the perfect voice for Hellboy, and honestly, I can't see anyone else taking over for him. He had the size, shape, and basic look for the role, but it's the voice (and the delivery of his lines) that really hit it home. Quaky, but not shaky, Perlman is a perfect fit.
Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin
I'm currently not convinced that Duncan's voice didn't invent bass. Whether you liked Duncan in
Daredevil or not, you can't get around the fact that his voice is power, plain and simple. Sometimes a bit too low in the dirt, but always understandable, MCD captured the threat of a hulking man, if he didn't quite capture the stereotyped "mafia" aspect.
Elias Koteas as Casey Jones
Koteas was the New York voice of the 90s with Casey Jones in the Ninja Turtles movies. What's so great about it is the fact that it
isn't instantly recognizable, until put into contrast with Josh Pais' "lay it on real thick" dialect in Raphael. I'll happily take some "authentic" Casey Jones over Pais' "uhbydg'd boik uhf neenja fyting" any day.
Hugo Weaving as V/Red Skull
How could Weaving
not be on this list? The man expressed a character through an entire movie through voice, with no facial reaction whatsoever. And then, of course, his Red Skull was obviously one of the highlights of
Captain America. This is all leaving out the fact that he also voices mother*ucking Megatron in the
Transformers films.
Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle
Hathaway belongs on the list not because she claimed one of the sexiest voices of all time, but because she could turn it on and off with her character. From hushed naivety to oozing sex appeal, Hathaway had many a man shifting in their seats as she closed in on Bruce Wayne's ear and whispered the sexiest threat of the year. I think it was a threat. I couldn't stop watching her tongue.
Tom Hiddleston as Loki
What makes Hiddleston's Loki so impressive is that it's so Shakespearean reminiscent and that it's so natural in the fact. Shakespearean-esque dialogue and Whedonspeak is very, very easy to over-perform. But Hiddleston doesn't ham it up. Everything feels ancient, yet collected. Articulate and exquisitely delivered, Loki definitely deserves his place on this list.
Mark Hammill as the Joker
If you're like me, then you credit Hammill with the birth of the Joker voice. I like Caesar Romero's interpretation just fine, but his material doesn't allow for the exploration Hammill's been given. Wild, freaky, and fancy-free, Hammill is a defining block for the Joker, and he does it all with voice. I've yet to hear a better Joker laugh from anyone else on the
Star Wars cast.
Neil Patrick Harris as Spider-Man/Flash/Nightwing
Another voice that is fairly ordinary, and yet so lively, energetic, and caustic that it has to be pointed out. Harris is a fantastic voice actor
despite the fact that every character he voices is the same personality. That's impressive because even though the voices are the same, the characters are strangely apart through characterization. Did that even make sense? I don't even know.
Anthony Stewart Head as Giles
I think Head has the perfect British voice. Distinguished, articulate, natural, and all his own. He doesn't push anything with the character of Giles in
Buffy, and yet he establishes himself so easily with the accent. The character could have easily sounded like David Schwimmer's Ross from
Friends, but thank God we got the intelligent, witty Brit instead.
Tom Hardy as Bane
I've never had a problem with the fact that Hardy's Bane sounds like Sean Connery recovering from choking on a peanut butter sandwich. I had issues with how the sound mixing with his voice overpowered 80% of
The Dark Knight Rises. That being said, I enjoyed what Hardy did with the voice. It was very distinguishable, very threatening, and very off-the-wall, but still strangely fitting.
Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime
Cullen's voice should be synonymous with "authority," because does anyone sound more like they could stop the universe from imploding? Cullen is easily one of the best things in the
Transformers movies, and if I can give Michael Bay kudos for anything, it's that he had the foresight to cast the original Optimus Prime.
Michael Caine as Alfred
Ooh asnt tryd tahlkn lyk Mykul Cayn? E's eesuly got one 'a tha most rekognyzabul vo--screw it. You know Caine. You love Caine. He was a welcoming addition with Nolan's Batfilms and I'm glad he got the public exposure to the younger generations he deserves.
Kevin Conroy as Batman
The voice of Batman, Conroy has been voicing the character for over twenty years, and to say that he's "gotten good" at it is one of the biggest understatements one can give. Merely through voice, Conroy has given so many layers to Bruce Wayne and Batman, and he's also responsible for the voice in my head reading Batman dialogue when I read the comics.
Heath Ledger as the Joker
Who knew where Ledger
could have gone with the Joker voice. He went everywhere with everything else. Super expressive, lanky and twisty, Ledger could have taken a much laxer voice for the character, but instead opted to play it quick, fast, and hauntingly. The late actor knew that Joker was strange by nature and he knew the physical embodiment of the character wouldn't be enough. The voice was that little extra mile that went even further when
The Dark Knight hit screens in 2008.
What do you think? Who else deserves a spot on the list? Jackie Earle Haley's Rorschach? Bale's Batman? Throw your comments to a keyboard and be a good person below.