Bruce Timm and Alan Burnett’s Superman: The Animated Series, premiered in 1996, and followed the adventures of Superman while he defended the Earth from evil. The popular animated series, which was followed by the success of Batman: The Animated Series, ran until 2000. It is also known as the first animated series in DCAU to feature multiple superhero guest stars.
Superman: The Animated Series included appearances from Batman, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and more. The audience and the critics appreciated the series, especially for its writing, voiceover performances by the actors, and the modern take on Superman. Bruce Timm discusses how they were able to cast actors whose voices sit perfectly with the characters on-screen.
Bruce Timm says the cast for Superman: The Animated Series was perfect, by chance
During his interview with CBR, in honor of celebrating Superman: The Animated Series’ 25 years of debut, Bruce Timm, who developed the series with Alan Burnett, shared that it’s with sheer luck that they managed to cast the perfect actors for the part. He said,
“You never know when you hire somebody; even if they had a great audition, they may not gel well together, but these guys were all perfect together in the room and complemented each other really well.”
Tim Daly voiced the character of Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman, Dana Delany voiced Lois Lane, and David Kaufman voiced Jimmy Olsen with Clancy Brown for Lex Luthor. Timm noted that actor Tim Daly was more like Christopher Reeve’s Superman than George Reeve’s version. The executive producer added that Daly is more like Clark Kent than Superman, which turned out to be great for the series.
He mentioned that Dana Delaney was as sharp as a tack on the part of Lois Lane. Bruce Timm especially mentioned that actor Clancy Brown, who has portrayed the character of General Wade Eiling in The Flash, had come in to audition for Superman but ended up playing Lex Luthor. Timm shared,
“We had him read for Luthor, and he went, ‘I’ve always got to play the bad guy..’ We already had somebody else that we loved as our Luthor at the top of our list, but then Clancy opened his mouth, and it was like, ‘Sh*t, that’s the guy’.”
The audience and the critics appreciated the voice performances of the actors, and Brown’s depiction of Lex Luthor remains one of the memorable villains of the DCU.
Clancy Brown looks back on his memorable portrayal of Lex Luthor in Superman: The Animated Series
The actor, in his interview with CBR, reflected on his portrayal of DCU villain Lex Luthor and shared that he thought that he had a shot at playing Superman before being cast for the role. Talking about his approach towards the character, Brown added,
“I was always thinking of the guy who played him on Super Friend, Stanley Jones; that’s who I always thought of as Luthor. Even though Gene Hackman was the live-action Luthor, I always thought of that big, bass voice as him.”
Clancy Brown went ahead and credited the casting and voice director Andrea Romano for helping him to be a voiceover actor. He said that she was the biggest blessing for him as she supported him on his journey of becoming a voiceover actor, explaining that she was not one of those who would give up a line reading.
Brown also recalled one group reading with Brad Garrett and called him an impressive figure. The Arrowverse actor noted that Garrett’s got the biggest voice, and is ‘funny as hell.’ In one of his interviews with Comic V, the actor admits that he was very happy to take up the role, adding that Lex Luthor is a lot more interesting than Superman, to him.
Superman: The Animated Series is available to stream on HBO Max.
