Shout out to a voice actor who I feel is heavily underappreciated, Kevin Michael Richardson. Always impressed with his performances.
Movie/TVSarevok.
What’s this from?
The first Baldur's Gate
Having never seen Invincible, all I can say is “of course he plays the Mauler Twins”, it’s kind of the voice I heard when reading the comic.
He's really a perfect choice, they're one of the best parts of the show.
The clone or the original? :p
His version of Kilowog is one of my favourites of his, if just for the the oath.
For context, in the 2011 GL animated series, saying the oath to recharge the battery is always treated as a bit of a joke. Every time Hal does it, he treats it as a corny annoyance and is always in a rush to say it as fast as possible.
Then about halfway through the series Kilowog is confronted by a Red Lantern army that he has to hold off by himself for as long as possible. KMR's rendition of the Oath is spectacular. Annoyingly i can't find a link to it.
I couldn't find that but I did find him speaking the oath in his own language.
https://youtu.be/4nYMxvrau3w?si=Fm8Xjo3ZBQqe0f_C
Beginning of this video has it. The link the other guy posted had it in it’s related vids
That's the one! Nice. Thanks a lot.
I grew up on that Joker. I know Mark Hamill is the definitive version but he's the animated Joker I always think of first (Heath Ledger takes live action).
Richardson captures the same vaudevillian showman as Hamill’s Joker, but is much more madcap and unhinged to make it stand apart.
It makes me truly appreciate that Joker. Well never see such a deviation like that again imo but goddamn it was a treat.
I remember how people talked down on The Batman at the time because it was doing things so different from the older animated series. Like, a Penguin who could throw hands with Batman despite his traditionally stout appearance. Every reinterpretation is valid whether someone personally likes it or doesn’t.
I’m guilty of this as well when Brave and the Bold ended.
It wasn’t until the musical episode that I changed my tune (pun not intended(?)) about that show. To quote Kevin Smith, it was DC comics porn. And it’s a damn shame there wasn’t at least another season of it.
I only really recognize him from American Dad. So hearing Principal Lewis while my kids watch Lilo and Stitch is always a good time.
Jolee Bindo in KOTOR, one of the most interesting Jedis in Star Wars
Definitely one of those guys whose IMDB credits are absolutely dizzying.
Don't forget another of his legendary roles (at least to me): the shredder (2012)
Tartarus! Chieftain of the Brutes!
Came here to make sure someone said it!
People do not talk about his Joker performance when discussing the great ones, and like, I get it, The Batman isn't very popular for how different it is, but also he NAILED that role.
I love kevin michael richardsons voice acting and call out that its him whenever i hear it for the first time in a role. Also I once ended up in a conversation about voices for castle crashers knights, and nominated him as my ideal voice for the pink knight.
I learnt about this dude from his work in the Halo games, a lot of respect for his insane vocal range.
He did a pretty great job as the Shredder in the 2012 TMNT animated series, too.
Huh, he’s black? Usually associated him with white, or at least green guys.
His role in American Dad really doesn't leave any room for guesswork regarding his race, lol
Martian Manhunter is Principal Lewis... What a world.
END OF DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYS BITCHES
I most often see him in roles calling for a ‘big bassy black guy voice’, funnily enough. But he has fantastic range.
He had a live action role in How I Met Your Mother, and Clerks 2
Probably because of Juggernaut and the Joker?
Huh. The Joker was the voice that made me guess he must be black.
Exactly. And Martian Manhunter doesn't exactly scream Black, either. lol
And Martian Manhunter doesn't exactly scream Black, either
errr, yes he does. Manhunter has in animation iconically been portrayed with an African accent.
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/characters/DC-Universe/Martian-Manhunter/
Also MM's "human identity" has been black since I want to say the 80s?
Hmm, the part about his human identity is a good question. I checked and he was still white in the 1998 series. And The Batman cartoon, for example. If he is black in recent comics, then it must be a follow-up to his live-action portrayals.
maybe you're right
Well, I get what you mean, but Martian Manhunter being portrayed by Black actors is actually a pretty consistent trend over the last 20 years. Except the notorious failed JLA pilot, Carl Lumbly's portrayal in Justice League was basically his first appearance outside of comics. The show still had him morph into a white guy whenever he needed to look human, but the deep, baritone voice of Lumbly fit the character so well and became a lot of people's default voice for J'onn.
Since then, although not exclusively played by Black actors in animation since JL/JLU, that became the trend: Lumbly in a bunch of role reprisals, KMR in Young Justice, Dorian Harewood in The Batman, Jonathan Adams in Crisis on Two Earths, Nyambi Nyambi in the DCAMU, Ike Amadi in the Tomorrowverse, etc. In live action, again except for the 1990s pilot with David Ogden Stiers, he has ONLY been played by Black actors: Phil Morris in Smallville, David Harewood (no relation to Dorian!) in Supergirl, and Harry Lennix in Zack Snyder's Justice League.
The voice actors pretty much universally do a good job, but Lumbly's "Martian accent" is just so perfectly done.
Yes! Wikipedia says it was based on a South African accent, which I never would have guessed. J'onn's most recent voice actor in the movies, Ike Amandi was born in Nigeria.
I firmly believe he was the inspiration behind Javik from Mass Effect's voice casting as well. It feels like a nice change of pace from the old cliche of british aliens.
Well shit. TIL. Thanks for all the knowledge!
Exactly. And Martian Manhunter doesn't exactly scream Black, either. lol
Characters with green skin like Martian Manhunter or Piccolo are often considered black-coded, actually. I think all of Martian Manhunter's voice actors (and live-action performers) have been black.
It has some faults, but the Supergirl CW show actually brought back two of J'onn's voice actors to play other Martians. Carl Lumbly plays M'yrnn J'onzz (his father) while Phil LaMarr plays Malefic J'onzz (his brother). That's some cute casting.
He voices Donny the obnoxious grass ogre in Adventure Time.
He always does a great job
How is he heavily underappreciated?
All voice actors are underappreciated
He was great as the Joker.
One thing I really like about KMR is that in addition to his roles with super deep voices, he also has a pretty good range in higher pitches. Like he played Kamek (the wizard dude) in the Mario movie last year, and you'd never have any idea he was played by someone with such a deep voice. Most male voice actors have fairly average speaking voices and have to put on deeper voices to play some roles, but KMR is the opposite. I just think that's neat.
Didn’t know he did the Joker in “The Batman” that’s awesome! His Juggernaut is from what series?
His voice is so recognisable yet rarely gives anything less then 8/10 each time he’s great
No one has mentioned it yet, so I will: My favorite role that made me love his work is Bulkhead from Transformers: Prime, what a great character.
Dang, never would've guessed all those guys shared a VA with TB Joker - always enjoyed how serious/sinister things would get when that version of Joker adopted a deeper voice
Never knew that’s what he looked like 😂😂 always pictured a mf built like shredder 😂😂
I first knew him as Sarevok in Baldur's Gate 1. Dude killed it
I think the main thing that’s under-appreciated with this legend is his range, especially with higher pitched voices. While it’s awesome that a man with a bass as deep and thundering as James Earl Jones can hit high notes with little to no difficulty, it’s really disappointing that he doesn’t get enough credit for how amazing his vocal range is and more often than not gets deemed as someone “having no or somewhat lacking in range,” something that’s completely false if you really know the credits he has to his name.
I loved his version of joker
Im sorry in advance, but Michael Richardson IS NOT UNDERAPPRCIATED. He is THE GUY they get when they need BIG BOOM VOICE. Quite frankly I am sick of hearing his voice.
Also Mauler twins casting was a lazy garbage casting. lt should have been Clancy Brown and I will die on this hill, wasted him on a no nothing character like Damien DarkBlood. I finished the books like 10 years ago, don't get at me.
He gets plenty of work.
Not under-appreciated by the industry, under-recognized by audiences.
Average audience is completely oblivious of VA's unless its like Hamil or something.
Anyone who even is remotely aware knows my man's here.
He's the jugganaught, bitch.
It’s the same voice for every character
Tell me that this Joker voice sounds the same as the Mauler twins, or that either of those sound the same as Martian Hanhunter or The Juggernaut.
Yes, he has a deep and commanding voice, but goddamn is the man's range of ability to embody such wildly different tones and characters impressive. I only realized he was the Joker last night, and I watch a ton of The Batman (2004) back in the day.
For real, dude is in every cartoon and relatively famous property I can think of. Truly, he is a legend among voice actors
"You're perceptive for an old man. You know why I'm here. Hand over your ward and no one will be hurt. If you resist, it shall be a waste of your life."
And I've been a fan ever since.