Batman, Superman and various members of the Justice League are often the headliners in Warner Bros. Animation’s DC films, but their most recent film is turned not only on the sidekicks, but Batman and Superman’s sons Jonathan Kent and Damien Wayne. Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons follows Jon and Damian as they are the only superheroes to save their parents and the world from a dangerous alien invader.
We spoke with voice actor Travis Willingham who portrays Superman in the film. Willingham has had a long career in voicing acting, providing his talents in several video games like Hal0 5: Guardians, Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void, Spider-Man and Injustice 2 while starring in the animated series of The Legend of Vox Machina, Ben 10 and Guardians of the Galaxy. Battle of the Super Sons also marks a special project for him as Willingham’s Critical Role co-star and real-life wife Laura Bailey voices Lois Lane in the film. We spoke with Willingham about voicing his favourite superhero, playing opposite his wife and Jonathan Kent’s rise in popularity. Check out our interview below…
Ricky Church: Superman is one of, if not the most, recognizable heroes in pop culture. How does it feel taking on this role?
Travis Willingham: It was an incredible thing for me. I think I said it previously, but Superman is my favourite comic book character of all time. He meant a lot to me as a kid. I read the comics for decades. I looked up to him a lot just as a character in media, which I think a lot of people might sometimes roll their eyes at. He can seem a little bit old fashioned, kind of like Steve Rogers, Captain America, in the Marvel universe, but I always feel like there’s such an important place for Superman even in the current day. So for me it really was a bit of a dream come true.
I’ve had the opportunity to play him previously in LEGO projects where there’s a little bit more of a tongue in cheek, comedic feel to the character, but being able to play a dramatic version where he’s not only doing his best to fight evil, but he’s married to Lois Lane, he’s got a son. Those sort of dynamics to the character were really interesting to me and a lot of fun to play being a new parent myself. I won’t lie, I might have had a Superman t-shirt on during the recordings, might’ve tied a red blanket around my neck just to get into character, but that’s the joy of it, getting to play pretend!
Now he’s a character who’s been around for 80 plus years. Like you said, he’s viewed by some as old fashioned and maybe not as cool anymore, but he’s still got quite a large popularity. Why do you think he had and still has this large appeal for audiences?
It’s a great question. I think it comes down to the individual but for me what has always been the most interesting aspect of Superman is that he has almost limitless ability, limitless power, right? He’s from a different world, incredible speed and invulnerability, almost nothing can hurt him, and yet he comes to this planet and after being raised in the right environment, wants nothing but to help. He wants to create good in the world. I think especially in modern day you see so many people achieve power or achieve greatness and there’s a certain sense of corruption or misuse of that power that comes along with it.
I think that’s what’s so relatable. No matter what year or decade you’re in, it is a choice what you do with great power. Whether it’s Peter Parker and saying ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ or looking at Superman and saying ‘here’s a guy that can do anything he wants to do practically at any given time, but he chooses to be a force for good’ and to help people because that’s what feels right, that’s what feels good, and that’s what makes the world go around. I think a lot of people can eyeroll at that, but you really have to come back to that and understand that it takes that to make a better world. I think that’s what people connected to in the Marvel movies so much with Steve Rogers. It’s not a jaded view on the world and I think that’s what people come back to with Superman. Despite everything that goes on in the world, his ability to see it as a whole literally from hundreds and thousands of feet in the air if wants to or from space, he can see it for what it is and still chooses to be a positive influence on the world rather than forcing it or doing something that would, for lack of a better word, disappoint his parents. He’s trying to do what is right and good. I think that’s admirable.
Awesome. As you mentioned, Superman and Lois Lane are married in this film, and your real-life wife, Laura Bailey, voices her. What was that like for you both to play one of the most famous couples in pop culture? Obviously you’ve both worked together on Critical Role and Vox Machina, but what’s it like for both of you to be Superman and Lois Lane?
It’s a blast. My real-life wife Laura Bailey, she’s one of the most talented actors I know and if there is anybody that can embody the spitfire personality of Lane Lane, it’s certainly her. I also can say that I certainly heard unique deliveries coming through from Lois to Clark as they were talking about their son. He’s developing his powers and maybe Clark isn’t as concerned or picking up on it as much as she is and there’s that inherent “you need to catch up and understand how serious this is”, you know? There were times where it did sound like Lois and then there were times where I thought I heard Laura talking to Travis! (Laughs) That’s really the fun of it for us, just to be partners and raising a son ourselves but also to play these iconic characters and to put on those shoes. Both Clark and Lois are some of the bravest characters in the DC Universe in their own respects. Being able to jump into their skins is just always a blast.
One my favourite bits of the movie that I found hilarious was Jon being like “Oh, my parents are boring reporters” but once he discovers the truth it’s a complete 180 to “you guys are so cool!” Jon is a relatively new character to the Superman mythology and yet he’s become quite a popular character himself. Why do you think he’s so beloved by fans in such a short amount of time?
You know, it’s another great question. I admit while I am an uber Superman nerd and I saw every single episode of Smallville while it was on, which is quite a few, and I’ve only seen a few episodes of the new Superman & Lois on The CW, and I want to jump into that more just to see what they’re doing with the characters, but for me when there was The Death of Superman, The Return of Superman and Superboy was one of those characters, he was like Superman but not. He didn’t have all of his abilities. He had different things that he brought to the table, didn’t know where he really fit in once Superman returned. I always found that relationship between those two characters to be very interesting.
I think it’s just a reintroduction to what I call the best part of the film. Not Super Sons in particular, but really those original Richard Donner Superman movies, which is watching Clark on the farm realizing what those abilities are and then being a part of his process of figuring out what is his place in the world now. You can run alongside a train, you can jump over a farm grain silo, the heat vision shooting out of your eyes, or in the more recent Man of Steel movies you go to school and you can see through the bodies with your X-ray vision of your fellow students and you can hear everything all at once. How are you going to adapt to all of that? I think having Jon Kent be not the established version of Superman, where Clark Kent has figured it out and he’s just trying to keep the world in one piece, you have a sort of a renewed look at what does it mean when you’re discovering something new about yourself? Not just about yourself but something new that might also change the world. It all depends on what you decide to do with the gifts you’ve been given. I think that’s always a very compelling story to see unfold.
For sure. Now Superman and Batman are friends, but they occasionally still have some tension between them due to their different personalities. In this movie, both of them are fathers. How does being a father change Batman and his friendship with Superman or change each one’s perspective of the other?
(Laughs) Yeah, there’s a great, great moment in the film where Superman looks over at Bruce and he’s like “It’s gotta be difficult for him being raised by Talia and Ra’s al Ghul. I hope he’s fitting in well here” and Bruce just flatly goes “Thanks.” (Laughs) You never hear Batman say thanks for anything, right? I love the moment at the end as well where Jon and Superman are embracing and there’s this big family moment and then Batman walks over and just tries to pull Damian close into like a side shoulder. You can tell Damian feels it’s awkward, but it also feels good. It’s nice seeing the Wayne family trying to soften their edges and receive some compassion and feel the love of what could be a good relationship between the two of them. But I think despite their differences, I would like to envision in my head cannon at least that Superman and Batman get together, have a secret Batphone line, and they just talk shop about the latest horrors that their sons have kicked up in the past weeks or months.
Superman being a father, obviously with Jonathan being recently introduced, is also a recent development in the comics. How do you think being a father changes Superman or the way he’s perceived by fans? What did it do for your performance?
Well, it’s an interesting thing. Non-parents out there, which is such a weird thing to say, it is an entirely different thing when you and your partner bring a life into this world. I don’t know who said it first, but I think one of the best ways to describe being a parent is like someone walking up to you, pulling your heart out of your chest, giving it legs and arms and putting it on the ground, and you just watch it walk around and bump into things while you stand by and try and keep it intact, right? It’s a terrifying thing, but it’s also one of the most rewarding moments. I think for me, it puts the world back into a new perspective for Clark, for Superman. Obviously he has to soften what I think he has learned over the past couple of decades in his own journey of becoming Superman and then having to almost put himself back in those shoes again for Jon Kent and say “Hey, take things one step at a time, one day at a time, we’ll do this together as as we go.”
It also brings it back to I think one of the best quotes from the early Richard Donner films. The great Marlon Brando has a line and voiceover where he says “the son becomes the father and the father becomes the son.” I remember watching that at the time and going “What does that mean? That’s just some purple prose dialogue that doesn’t make any sense!” Being a father now, I totally get it. There’s a cycle that happens. For the character, it’s really cool to see Superman try and split his world focus where he can hear in the movie a tsunami approaching Japan, but also has to be conscious of Jon Kent’s baseball game on Thursday afternoon. That’s a weird pull for his focus and hopefully one that the Man of Steel is up for.
Thank you to Travis Willingham for speaking with us!
Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons is now available on 4K UHD and Blu-ray.
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
