Very little information has surfaced regarding Marvel's latest animated series,
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Since the announcement of the series in October 2008, all we've learned is that its release continues to be pushed back. The show is currently recording its second season while the first hasn't even aired.
Newsarama recently spoke with actor Phil Lamarr, who has previously voiced such comic characters as Green Lantern John Stewart, Maximillion Zeus and Gambit, about his role in the series. Here are a few excerpts from the interview:
I have to ask you about The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The cast isn't listed anywhere and the only reason I know anyone who is in the cast is because I interviewed Dawn Olivieri from Heroes who is playing Pepper Potts and Rick Wasserman from Planet Hulk who told me he's playing Thor and Absorbing Man; and you're playing Jarvis.
"Yes. And Fred Tatasciore is playing the Hulk. I'm playing Jarvis. The Favreau Iron Man Jarvis, not the classic comic book Jarvis. This is the J.A.R.V.I.S....I don't know what it stands for, but he's the artificial intelligence, disembodied voice. [laughs]"
Are you doing any other characters? You usually do a ton for each project.
"I'm also doing Wonder Man, with the Masters of Evil."
What other characters are we going to see?
"We're going to see all of them. They're basically telling the Avengers story [starting] from Avengers #1. And it's not set in that time, put it follows the same plot points as the original."
So it starts off with the Loki plot? Does it ever diverge? I know you guys are doing Season 2 now.
"Yeah, there's Loki, there's Hulk, there's Cap and Masters of Evil...it's following those fundamental original story lines. They're taking what is best from the story lines. But the characterizations are shifted a lot. Honestly, some of the characters in the original comic books...the characterizations weren't very strong, where they've shifted over the years. Like Ant-Man."
We're all curious about the cast, because very little information is actually out there. Who's playing Loki?
"I don't know. I wasn't in those episodes. There is a whole set of Norse god characters...I just saw a reference in the script...in the script I just read, I saw, 'Thor walking with Odin,' but Odin doesn't speak, so he wasn't there. [laughs] It's like, [in a gravelly voice] 'Hmmm'. So I don't know who's playing Odin. I'm trying to think if I ever saw Loki. I know Nolan North is playing Baldur."
What is the tone of the series? How dark is it? A lot of comic book movies are pretty dark, as are many of the comics themselves. But it depends which version you read...who is this particular series aimed at?
"I would say that the tone on Avengers is mature but not dark. It's not a kiddy show. I mean, there is peril. There is a lot of action, but I don't think there is any effort or desire to make it gritty. These are heroes. I would say the thing that is most unique about it is, it's more character-driven than most superhero action series. The relationships between the characters [are the focus]. You're seeing more of that than you have, I think, in other series. I think that makes it skew a little older...but there is as much action as anybody of any age could want."
What [comics] are you reading now?
[Lamarr reaches into his bag and pulls out a giant stack of new comic books and trades.]
" I've been reading Executive Assistant which looks like porn, but isn't [laughs]. I'm so far behind. The books that I'm reading now that I'm loving...Iron Man with the Stark Disassembled storyline, everything Fables. Jack, Cinderella, all of it. The Boys, even though I'm embarrassed. I have to look around and see who's around before I start reading it. But that's true of any Garth Ennis. All Buffy. I've been a Buffy fan since episode one. I would get mocked. I would come into Mad TV rehearsals the day after Buffy aired and I would tell people, 'Oh you have to watch!' And no one would care. They were like, 'What? Buffy? The Vampire Slayer?' They would just look at me like I was insane. But it was so good. Let's see...of course, Kevin Smith's Batman: The Widening Gyre...you have to buy anything with a Bill Sienkiewicz cover. You have to. Oh! Ed Brubaker stuff. Criminal. And everything by Robert Kirkman...well, that's not true...I'm not reading everything by Robert Kirkman, but I read Walking Dead religiously. And Invincible. Oh! And of course, Mark Waid's Irredeemable. It's really good. Waid is just so amazing. What he's doing. Because he knows the archetypes of comic books so well. They're just in him. He can turn them on their ear and come at them from a new angle."
Make sure to follow the link to Newsarama.com to read the full interview.