When Warner Bros. announced their Smash-like Multiversus in fall 2021, I was deeply skeptical. I love Super Smash Bros., but there is such a huge ideological and production-related chasm between, say, Steven Universe and Arya Stark (never mind between the usual Arya Stark and a CG Arya Stark) that I found myself struggling to make it make sense—that is, until the game’s first cinematic trailer came out. By the end of the trailer, I was in, because the entire bizarre experience was grounded in the voice casting.
The exact time that the new trailer clicks for you might be dependent on your particular flavor of fandom. With any kind of IP-combining game, people are going to have their different favorites. For me, in the context of Multiversus, I’m going to err towards Adventure Time and Steven Universe, because to say I “adore” them would be a vast understatement. So, the exact moment when the cinematic trailer clicked for me was the moment Jake the Dog spoke—and it was the Jake the Dog I know and love. Uncanny occurrences were happening one after the other: Bugs Bunny and Arya Stark were riding a missile, Batman watched agog as Shaggy ascended into some kind of god-form. But when Jake spoke, my spiraling brain hit solid ground. After that moment, I was in.
As the trailer ended, the importance of having not just a voice cast, but the original voice cast, really struck me. The Smash-like voice acting conundrum had a moment in the media last year, thanks to Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl. However, NASB brought the phenomenon to the forefront of gamers’ minds for the opposite reason: The game has no voice acting at all, except for a random announcer and when fighters enter the battle. You can punch the everliving crap out of Patrick Star and knock him out of the arena, and he doesn’t make a sound. The opportunity to make him scream “Finland!” was right there, but we were left with a silent chasm.
The absence of voice acting from NASB makes the game feel uncanny—in a very bad way. NASB should, theoretically, be much easier to “sell” as a coherent experience than MultiVersus. Even though they’re tonally completely different, the aesthetic through-line between Ren & Stimpy and The Loud House is less of a stretch than between Game of Thrones and Scooby-Doo. And yet, NASB doesn’t sell, because you feel like you’re playing as lifeless dolls instead of your favorite characters—and the game’s animation is great. The only reason you have this weird, soulless sensation is because of the absence of any kind of voice acting. Even an “Oof!” would help.
Like Super Smash Bros. before it, the new MultiVersus trailer makes a convincing argument that as long as a character both looks and sounds like you expect them to, you can basically plop them into any situation and make their presence believable. Yes, turning Arya Stark into a CG cartoon is a huge stretch. But holy sh*t, that’s actually Maisie Williams speaking! And Arya’s mannerisms are there, so I’m like … fine. Let’s try it out. You got me, MultiVersus.
Who are the original voice actors?
The voice actors of MultiVersus aren’t entirely the original voice actors. Some are sound-alikes, but even that’s better than nothing, and a lot of them are the OG voices for their characters. To appreciate the scope of the developer’s feat, here’s a list of all the MultiVersus characters who share their original voice actors—or, at least, actors previously associated with one major iteration of the character.
Maisie Williams as Arya Stark
Kevin Conroy as Batman (Batman: The Animated Series)
George Newbern as Superman (Justice League cartoon series)
John DiMaggio as Jake the Dog
Jeremy Shada as Finn the Human
Estelle as Garnet
Matthew Lillard as Shaggy (the live-action Scooby-Doo movies from the 2000s)
Tara Strong as Harley Quinn (every DC video game since Batman: Arkham City)
Eric Bauza as Bugs Bunny (Loony Tunes Cartoons since 2020)
For those of you keeping tabs, the only characters not on that list are Steven Universe, Wonder Woman, and Tom and Jerry. The voice actors for Velma, Taz, and the Iron Giant have yet to be announced. But the Iron Giant clip from the trailer had me quite convinced. An OG voice actor in that case would be truly hilarious, because the original 1999 Iron Giant is voiced by Vin freaking Diesel, which I just learned today. Sometimes, the world is fun.
(featured image: Player First Games)
Published: May 16, 2022 02:34 pm