One of the best mini-series I read was 1999's Flash and Green Lantern: The Brave and the Bold, which chronicled the history of the friendship between the Flash (Barry Allen) and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), and was done by the team of Mark Waid and Tom Peyer, with art by Tom Grindberg and Barry Kitson. It was a sequel of sorts to their previous work from 1998, JLA: Year One. It looks like, in terms of the direction of the New 52, that DC is going to be emphasizing Barry and Hal a lot, which annoys me but I can understand. This story I consider one of the best for the two characters, before everyone started bagging on them for being "Saint Barry" and "Hal's a jerk", respectively. It's why this particular fancast is here. The animated movie would follow the lead of Batman: Gotham Knight and Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, in that it would adapt the mini-series into six different segments, effectively making it an anthology film. The only difference is that there would be no underlying connected story, just that each would follow one another. The intro to the film would start out the way the first issue did, mentioning that Barry and Hal were the heroes before Wally West and Kyle Rayner, respectively. The art style of the film would also mimic that of the book. Without further ado, the main voice cast:
Zachary Levi as the voice of the Flash/Barry Allen
For picking Levi, I was inspired by his acting on Chuck, and I find it similar to Barry Allen's characterization--both are the qualified 'geeks' in their line of work, and despite all evidence to the contrary, manage to get the girl and want to do the right thing.
Chris Parnell as the voice of Green Lantern/Hal Jordan
I went with Parnell for two reasons: 1. I think he's got a good voice for Hal, and 2. When you read the book, you see that Hal can be a bit of a jerk, but at least he's a 'lovable' jerk, and I think Parnell (who I've seen play this type in various SNL sketches) could pull him off.
John Cho as the voice of Tom Kalmaku
Cho has lent his voice to DC animation before, playing the main "villain" in that episode of Static Shock where Virgil faces a guy who can turn into a purple, red-haired equivalent of the Hulk. Tom serves as the narrator of the story as well, but for the regular scenes, I thought Cho would have a good voice for Tom.
Jenna Fischer as the voice of Iris West Allen
Jenna I feel has a very sweet voice, and Iris I always thought was one of the sweetest of DC's ladies. Put them together...you get the rest.
Soleil Moon Frye as the voice of Carol Ferris/Star Sapphire
For her case, I thought she would do great playing Carol and her Star Sapphire persona, I remembered her previous portrayals (in her adult career, not as Punky Brewster, which I've never seen an episode of), and thought she'd be decent.
Now for the stories themselves:
#1-Those Who Worship Evil's Might
On Pan-Trans Flight #442, one of the passengers holds one of the flight crew hostage at gun point when he is hit by a invisible (to everyone on the plane) beam of energy. All his evilness is drained from his body and transferred to his shadow which becomes corporeal, grabs his host's gun and shoots him. Meanwhile Hal Jordan and Barry Allen have decided to spend some free time together to see if they can become friends in their secret identities like they seem to be as heroic colleagues. Hal waits at the airport for Barry's flight but Barry is not on it. Hal calls Barry at work where Barry has lost track of time. Hal uses his ring to bring Barry to the airport but Barry runs back, packs and returns on his own.
The two go to a party at Ferris Aircraft and while Hal mingles, Barry sits and people-watches. Dirk Boostrom is at the party and brags to Carol his "heroism" while on the aforementioned plane when his evil drains into his shadow-form and attacks him. Hal and Barry transform into their heroic personas and rescue Dirk and Carol from the shadow-creature. When Green Lantern suspects the voice of the shadow creature is actually another being talking through it, he plunges into the shadow. Flash follows and the two arrive on another planet (possibly called Dorag). As GL initiates his first contact procedures, the two are captured and transported to Saraar, the Science Minister. Saraar explains that his planet is at war with the Khunds. The Doragians are naturally peaceful and do not have the ruthlessness or aggression needed to fight off the invaders. Thus Saraag has been stealing and absorbing the evil of Earthlings via a Psi-Virus. They originally tried to steal it from the Khunds but found them too protected.
While Saraar feeds, GL and Flash work together to free themselves from the Constrictor and wreck the Doragian machinery. The two transport back to Earth via the shadow creature and GL is able to disperse it with light from his ring. Flash realizes that the psi-virus was released on the plane. While GL recharges his ring, Flash goes to the airport and gets the passenger list from the plane. They track down each passenger and destroy their respective shadows. However, they realize too late that they have also become infected and their shadows attack them. Flash and Green Lantern have both lost their aggressiveness and desire to fight back but Flash remembers a saying that inspires GL enough that he is able to destroy their shadow-selves. The two decide to get some dinner after GL informs the Guardians of his latest adventure.
Martin Jarvis as the voice of Saraar
I'll get to the reason why later in this fancast.
Additional voices include Patrick Warburton as Dirk Boostrom and Carlos Alazraqui as the gunman on the plane.
#2-Lightspeed
Hal Jordan, Eve Doremus, Iris West-Allen and Wally West are having dinner in a fancy restaurant. Barry Allen is, of course, late but arrives in time to pay the check. He whispers to Hal that, on the way to the restaurant, he spotted something requiring superhero attention. The guys drop Iris and Eve off and the three assume their superhero personas and go to the bank Barry had spotted. It has a clean circular hole burrowed into the wall and the hole has a residual glow not unlike a Green Lantern power ring's energy. The heroes are immediately attacked by Black Hand and Mirror Master who admit that the bank robbery was just a ruse to draw out the Flash so Black Hand could steal his speed. Kid Flash runs interference and his speed is stolen instead and, in the confusion, the villains slip away. With Kid Flash powerless, Green Lantern allows Wally to tap into his power ring and his costume changes colors creating...Kid Lantern.
The villains discuss GL's unwanted presence and formulate new plans. They need to destroy the heroes first so Black Hand bestows some of Kid Flash's super-speed to a police car. After the heroes solve that problem, Mirror Master takes down two helicopters but the heroes rescue those as well. They hear a police report of the villains at Central City Arena and the heroes take off. Flash grows less and less enthused about Hal and Wally's "partnership." Meanwhile Eve "entertains" Iris who is growing restless about the guys' absence.
Flash confronts Green Lantern about Hal's usurping of Wally as his own sidekick accusing him of taking some of Flash's life stability for his own. They get to the arena where all the hockey players have had super-speed powers imbued on them. Kid Lantern takes off to confront the villains leaving Flash and GL to help the hockey players. The two continue to bicker until Flash gets hit in the head with a super-fast hockey puck. Kid Lantern spies on the villains who watch the other bickering heroes. Mirror Master sends a flying/expanding mirror pyramid to encase the two heroes. Kid Lantern confronts the villains but Black Hand points out that GL's energy is trapped within the mirror device and can't reach him any longer. But when Black Hand points his power-stealing device at Kid Lantern meaning to speed up his heart to bursting speed, it vanishes only to appear in Kid Lantern's hand. Without the energy, Kid Flash's costume returns to normal and he uses his super-speed to demolish the mirror prison. Flash and GL subdue the villains while Kid Flash explains that when he snuck up on the villains, he used the ring to swipe the power-stealing device and substitute a fake one. Once in possession of the device, Kid Flash turned it on himself to restore his speed powers. Flash and GL apologize to each other and reflect on Kid Flash's positive future in heroics. Later, the three pick up Eve and Iris and head to a diner so Barry can get some dinner.
Christina Applegate as the voice of Eve Doremus
Eve here is the 'comedy relief' for this segment, and I thought Applegate had the right acting ability and voice to play someone this obnoxious (but not ditzy!).
Devon Werkheiser as the voice of Kid Flash/Wally West
I watched him on Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, and when his voice changed in the second season, I knew he'd be great as a young Wally West (and even Bart Allen in some form or another).
Christian Slater as the voice of Mirror Master/Sam Scudder
Slater has I think the best voice for the original Mirror Master (yes, that's right, to all the people who've fancasted Mirror Master, there was someone before Evan McCulloch), and at the same time it would contrast nicely with both John Larroquette's take (in The Batman) and Alexis Denisof's take (in Justice League Unlimited).
Hank Azaria as the voice of Black Hand
Hank, without a doubt, is a really good voice actor--the many roles he does on the Simpsons is proof of that. But I was also inspired by what I consider one of the best takes on Venom in animation--his take in the 90's Spider-Man cartoon. But this is Black Hand before he got all creepy and necro-obsessed under Geoff Johns' pen, so I was inspired by Azaria's take on Venom's host, Eddie Brock.
#3-A World of Hurt
Hal waits for Barry for over an hour outside of the Tiny Mart. They, and their JSA predecessors, are going on a camping trip and they are due to pick-up supplies. Hal did pick them up but did not have the money to pay for them. AS GL and Flash they fly to the roof of the WXYZ building where Alan and Jay are waiting. They switch to their heroic counterparts and Hal leads them into space to a planet he's selected for their trip. On the trip, the four recap their origins for each others' benefits. Unfortunately Hal's ring fails him and they appear to be lost. Alan uses his ring to transport them all to a new planet. While Alan rigs up a tent, Hal and the Flashes gather firewood until a yellow cloud quickly appears bringing yellow rain and choking fumes. The heroes notice that the planet seems designed to counteract their powers but dismiss it. Hal and Barry work together to disperse the cloud. They return to find Alan having constructed an elaborate tent and they prepare to grill. While looking for matches, Barry finds dolls and catalogues and Hal admits he's a doll salesman to everyone's delight. After some good-natured ribbing, the heroes head off to sleep. Alan mentions that he noticed earlier the ground generates a "restful aroma" that should help them sleep which it does until the ground (which is yellow) begins pulling everyone inside like quicksand. Barry wakes everyone, except Alan who is still unconcious. Again Barry and Hal use teamwork to get out of the situation. The group then relocate the camp to the woods.
During breakfast, Hal flies off and the group are soon attacked bya swarm of insects. Alan's ring seems unable to affect them and Hal returns apparently having the same problem. Barry catches one and discovers they are wooden. Again the discuss that the planet seems tailored towards their weaknesses and they wonder if a super-villan has followed them here. The insects regroup and form one large insect which grabs Alan who disables it. Alan notices the insect has a residual energy and accuses Hal of creating the wooden insects. Hal admits to it claiming it was retaliation for Alan creating the yellow cloud and the quicksand trap. He further accuses Alan of jamming Hal's ring during their initial flight and transporting them all to this planet which Alan had picked out in advance. Alan confesses to it all saying he wanted to put Hal Jordan through a series of struggles to help him be a better person. He sees Hal's endless series of job changes as an inability to succeed at any one job due to lack of persistence, a problem Hal does not have with being GL. Hal points out that the fact that he keeps trying new jobs when the previous one fails IS persistence. Alan admits that it is and they all decide to have some fun.
Dan Akroyd as the Flash/Jay Garrick
I went with Dan here because when he's not voicing some over-the-top caricature (like some of his SNL characters) or a cartoon character (like Yogi Bear), he has a voice that's stern and firm, but still funny (think Ray Stanz in Ghostbusters or his character in Spies Like Us). I thought his voice would be decent for the Golden Age Flash.
Chevy Chase as Green Lantern/Alan Scott
Before you all start throwing tomatoes at me for including Chevy Chase, I had a very good reason for doing so--that being he's got a good voice for Scott's stern elder statesman portrayal, and I'm sure Chase can break type...I mean he can't be funny ALL the time, right?
#4-How Many Times Can a Man Turn His Head?
In a story taking place during the Green Lantern/Green Arrow years, Deuteronomy Phist, Central City's new Mayor, is doing a good job against crime... a little too good, according to Green Arrow. He intends to take back the streets, with or without The Flash's say-so!
Neal McDonough as the voice of Green Arrow/Oliver Queen
I really though McDonough did a great job as Green Arrow in the DC Showcase short (I also like his Bruce Banner portrayal as well). In this one, McDonough would be able to portray Arrow's big-leftist side, which he didn't do much of in the short.
Chris Hardwick as the voice of Captain Cold
I was inspired by Hardwick's take on Green Arrow for The Batman, now just switch sides and you get a decent Captain Cold.
Donal Gibson as the voice of Captain Boomerang
Gibson did great as Captain Boomerang on Justice League Unlimited, so I just decided on having him reprise the role. It's not like he's going to do it again and again after this anyway...
Additional voices include Daran Norris as Phist, Lex Lang as Heatwave, and Megan Hollingshead as Black Canary.
#5-The Man Without Fearlessness
The universe is threatened by a mysterious and deadly force that can destroy even Green Lanterns, so the Guardians of the Universe call on... Barry Allen?
Martin Jarvis as the Guardians of the Universe
Jarvis here has one of those regal, commanding voices (he's a Shakespearean actor as well, to boot), and I thought he'd do wonders for these little blue men. It's also why I chose him for Saraar.
John Larroquette as the voice of Sinestro
Larroquette also has a great commanding voice, and he's got experience with DC animation (he voiced Mirror Master in The Batman and Tomar-Re in Green Lantern: First Flight), and I was also inspired by that one episode of "White Collar" where he was the main villain.
Additional voices include Lex Lang as Green Lantern Ebikar Hrui.
#6-Running on Empty
Iris Allen is dead. Hal Jordan tires to get Barry to snap out of the terrible depression he's fallen into, but they're interrupted by Star Sapphire and... Star Sapphire?
Wendie Malick as the voice of the Golden Age Star Sapphire
Malick has a some DC animation experience, having voiced roles on Batman Beyond and Static Shock. As I was reading this part of the story, particulary the GA Star Sapphire's lines, I couldn't help but picture Malick's voice.
That's it, folks. Comment away!