Prime Video's Merry Little Batman is now streaming and, ahead of its release, we were able to sit down with its always awesome leading man Luke Wilson (Old School; DC's Stargirl) to talk about stepping into the iconic shoes of Bruce Wayne and what went into bringing his vocal performance to life.
He tells me about whether his recent portrayal of Pat Dugan on DC's Stargirl informed this new fatherly take on Bruce Wayne, how he found his right Batman voice, and what Christmas movies he was happy to see homaged in this new animated DC feature.
We also get into a fun hypothetical as he touches on what a possible Wes Anderson superhero movie starring him and brother Owen Wilson could look like...
Watch our full interview with Luke Wilson below and/or keep scrolling to read the full transcript! Plus, please remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more exclusive content!
ROHAN: Having recently played a superhero father on Stargirl, did that, at all, inform your approach to playing Batman?
LUKE: Um, I mean, not really. I mean, I always kind of looked at that DC Stargirl though as kind of more, kind of, family-oriented or kind of aimed towards teenagers or young adults and families, where, Merry Little Batman, my feeling was that it was, you know, while being for families also, is kind of for obviously younger kids, but definitely, I feel like playing Pat Dugan in Stargirl and working with Geoff Johns and the DC Universe definitely helped me kind of be ready to portray Bruce Wayne.
ROHAN: Did you experiment much with trying out different Batman voices? Or did you want to keep it pretty seasoned?
LUKE: I mean, my take on that was I just was kind of thinking about, like, you know, I obviously didn't do the kind of dark, gravelly, dystopian take on it that Christian Bale and Robert Pattinson did. Those were so kind of cool and interesting. I mean, my take on it was just more I was thinking like, okay, I want to try and create a sense of fun and keep kids that are watching, interested in it. So, if anything, I was kind of just trying to have a more like energetic kind of voice filled with like a sense of mischief and fun. That was kind of my take on it.
ROHAN: There are some quick references to Christmas classics like Home Alone, The Grinch, and others - did you have a Christmas favorite growing up with your brothers or is there something more modern that you enjoy?
LUKE: I mean, nothing that - I love It's A Wonderful Life, although I'd never seen it until a couple of years ago. So, that was pretty incredible to see what a great movie, you know, Christmas or otherwise, that is and then, always loved that Chevy Chase, Christmas, you know, the National Lampoon Vacation movie was really funny. But yeah, like you said, they do a good job of kind of referencing those classics, like you mentioned, like The Grinch and Home Alone.
ROHAN: I was doing a little research and found some fan art of someone imagining what a Wes Anderson Batman would look like and they cast you as Batman - what do you think about that? What would a Wes Anderson movie look like with you and Owen playing roles?
LUKE: I mean, I know Owen’s, you know, my brother Owen’s done Loki from the Marvel universe, like the first and the second season, which he really loved doing that and really enjoyed working with Tom Hiddleston. But Wes Anderson has such a kind of specific world and a sense of style, but yeah, it would be really funny and cool to see, you know, the costumes and the production design of a Wes Anderson superhero movie, although I feel like he'd have to - it wouldn't be an existing superhero, it would have to be something that Wes Anderson would come up with.
This Christmas, Damian Wayne wants to be a superhero like his dad—the one and only Batman. When Damian is left home alone while Batman takes on Gotham's worst supervillains on Christmas Eve, he stumbles upon a villainous plot to steal Christmas and leaps at the chance to save the day.
Merry Little Batman is now streaming on Prime Video!