We've previously seen Green Lantern: TAS a few months back, as Cartoon Network gave a sneak peak to draw interest in the series. Mission accomplished! One of the things that struck me was how Keaton really seemed to have captured the 'voice' of Hal Jordan. MTV recently caught up with him to discuss his voice-over work for both Green Lantern and Spider-Man.
QUESTION: You've voiced quite a few superheroes! Do you have a favorite?
Josh Keaton: I'm gonna have to go with Spider-Man. Spidey was the one comic I read consistently throughout my childhood. As someone who grew up a nerd, scrawny, and picked on in high school, I related very strongly to Peter Parker.
QUESTION: When you're voicing someone like Spider-Man or Green Lantern, do you try to make them your own creation, or do you look to how other actors have portrayed them?
Keaton: I like to put forth my own interpretation of the character. These are characters that have been around for and been developed over decades; all of the information is in the source material. With Spidey, I already had a long-standing voice in my head of how I think Peter/Spidey sounds. With Hal Jordan, I wasn't as familiar with the character, but everything I needed to know I got from the comics.
Geek: How is voicing Green Lantern different from the other voice work you've done?
Keaton: I've played a lot of younger, more coming-of-age roles as well as roles that aren't such an imposing physical presence. Hal Jordan is not only a really buffed-out dude with a jaw and a half, he was also a confident badass way before ever becoming a Green Lantern. He's definitely older-sounding than a lot of my other work and he doesn't hem and haw. He makes the split second decision and rolls with it — whatever the outcome may be.
QUESTION: Were you into comic books before you started working in cartoons based on them?
Keaton: Oh, hell yeah. My faves were Spidey, Wolverine, and the Punisher. I'd occasionally read Batman or Superman, but Spidey was always my number one. I definitely think my prior knowledge of the source material helped me out in the audition process.
The first season of Green Lantern: TAS kicks off March 17 on Cartoon Network.