By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
After playing catch-up to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for over a decade, James Gunn’s relaunch with Creature Commandos, Superman, and Peacemaker Season 2 has briefly altered the hierarchy of power among the Big Two comic publishers. The largest share of the credit goes to Gunn, but hiding in the background of the DC Universe has been a prolific sci-fi star who has been part of massive fan-favorite franchises for over 20 years.
A long-time friend of Gunn’s, Alan Tudyk, who first became a nerd icon on Firefly, has been a part of two out of three of Gunn’s projects. He’s even directly responsible for the best part of Peacemaker.
Alan Tudyk’s Unseen Roles In James Gunn’s Work
Alan Tudyk voiced Doctor Phosphorous and Will Magnus in Creature Commandos, provided the motion capture, voice, and named Superman’s robot friend Gary. The latter was a small role in Gunn’s relaunch of Superman, but Tudyk shines when he’s able to turn a side character in one of the most beloved parts of a film.
He did it in Dodgeball as Steve the Pirate, Mulan as Heihei, again in Superman. There’s are also other DC roles that have flown under the radar while racking up the views on social media.
If you’ve seen the animated Harley Quinn series, then you know that the show’s version of the Joker is one of the best, and of course, he’s voiced by Alan Tudyk. The viral rant about Lois Lane and Superman’s toxic relationship? Yelling, “Where’s my god damn electric car, Bruce?” to a captured Batman? That’s all, Tudyk. He also turns in scene-stealing performances as the voice of Clayface.
Alan Tudyk’s Influence On Peacemaker’s Peaceful Hips
Which means that you’re wondering who he is in Peacemaker. Alan Tudyk doesn’t appear on screen in either season of the show, but his wife, Charissa Barton, is an award-winning dancer and choreographer. That’s right, she created the amazing dance numbers that kick off each episode of the John Cena series.
If her husband hadn’t happened to be long-time friends with the new Head of the DCU, we might not have been blessed with the greatest opening credits sequence of the decade.
DC Has Been Full Tudyk Since 2010
Outside of James Gunn’s new DCU, Alan Tudyk has been a part of DC’s animated and live-action adaptations since 2010, when he voiced Green Arrow on Young Justice. He went on to star in the short-lived workplace sitcom Powerless as Van Wayne, Bruce’s cousin. Most impressively, he played Mr. Nobody in Doom Patrol.
When it comes to range, few stars can compete with Tudyk’s ability to play a billionaire archer, an insane reality-bending villain, every other robot in modern sci-fi, and a chicken.
James Gunn’s History With Alan Tudyk
James Gunn and Alan Tudyk worked together long before Creature Commandos, long before Guardians of the Galaxy, on a web series charmingly called James Gunn’s PG Porn, a series for Spike TV’s website back in 2008. Brought together by their mutual best friend forever, Nathan Fillion, it’s hard to argue who’s benefited more from their ongoing partnership.
The long-derided Marvel style of humor that undercuts sincere moments with jokes is a style that, ironically, new DCU mainstay Alan Tudyk has perfected. During his time on Resident Alien, he turned “Harry’s” amped emotions into heartfelt moments of profound sadness and examples of perfect comedic timing, often during the same scene.
Given his long list of Disney voice acting roles, including as King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph and Alistair Krei in the forgotten Marvel movie Big Hero 6, it’s a shame that he never got a chance to show what he could do in the MCU. He would have been the perfect Carnage (not MCU technically, but you have to admit that would have been amazing), or killed it as Machine Man.
We’re going to see Alan Tudyk again in the DCU; it’s inevitable, we just don’t know where. Unlike Marvel, which locks actors into only one role, James Gunn appears to be more flexible with his stars, so for all we know, we could get a Tudyk cameo in every animated DCU series going forward. No matter the size of the role, hero or villain, Tudyk gives it his all and you don’t know it yet, but he will be the best part of the next DCU project.
