James as Lex Luther! (well, his voice anyway!)

[PokerKitten]

This kinda threw me when I found it in my Google alerts

Some official information about the DVD release of "Superman: Doomsday" was then given out: the release date is set to be September 18, 2007. Warner Brothers will treat this release like any big movie release, they plan to pack the DVD full of extras and games. So there will plenty more to watch beyond the 72 minute time span of the film.

At this point, fans were able to ask their own questions to the panelists as one fan asked if any voice actors from "JLU" animated series will carry over to the movies. The answer was a firm ‘No,’ but they went further by revealing some of the new voices of the "Superman: Doomsday" movie. Adam Baldwin will be the voice of Superman, Ann Heche will provide the voice for Lois Lane, and James Marsters will voice Lex Luthor. Fans may remember that Marsters voiced Brainiac in "Smallville" quite recently.

Comic Book Resources

Well, he did somewhat more than just voice Brainiac. Tsk.

[PokerKitten]

WonderCon 07: Doomsday Kills Superman on DVD
But will the Man of Steel return?
by Richard George
US, March 3, 2007 - During a panel focusing on DC Comics' efforts to adapt its legendary stories to animation, writer/producer/director Bruce Timm revealed several new details about the first production - Superman/Doomsday. Focusing on the popular '90s storyline involving the death of Superman, the film is taking a definite PG-13 stance in order to appeal to fans of all ages.

The cast for the feature cartoon is taking a bit of a different twist. Though sporting Timm's typical clean, block-style designs, the voices will be different. Gone is the talent behind Justice League Unlimited. Tim stated that he really wanted to differentiate these projects from the past serialized shows. To that end, he revealed three of the main characters in the story and the talent attached to them. Adam Baldwin will be portraying the Man of Steel himself, Clark Kent. Anne Heche will be taking on the role of Lois Lane. James Marsters, known as Spike to many, will be doing a new take on Lex Luthor. Timm specifically noted that the writing team had reconstructed and analyzed Luthor to find a suitable role for this project.

Timm stated that while characters would be faithful to the storyline, some adaptations and changes were made. He noted that new traits would be added while others would be omitted. Considering the story was so expansive, major sub-plots would be cut out. Although being coy at first regarding the actual return of Superman in the film, later footage would confirm that Superman does in fact die and he does return.

A trailer was shown from the film, showing many short sequences from the animated film. Superman was shown fighting Doomsday as well as the classic shot where he's being held by Lois. Several shots clearly showed blood and Superman even coughed up blood at one point. The end of the sequences shown featured Superman's hand bursting from his gravesite. Timm would not confirm if the alternate Supermen (Cyborg, Superboy, Eradicator and Steel) would appear.

The 72-minute Superman/Doomsday feature will be released on September 18, 2007. Stay tuned to IGN for more news as the release date approaches.


IGN

[PokerKitten]

SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY ORIGINAL ANIMATED FILM ON DVD 9/18/07

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Press Release

“Movie is The First Ever Animated Superman Project to Be Rated PG-13”


SAN FRANCISCO, CA, March 3, 2007 – Warner Home Video, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation are set to release an all-new original movie Superman Doomsday on September 18, 2007.

Utilizing the vast history and tradition of DC Comic’s classic comic book stories along with a more provocative and action-packed story line for avid comic fans as well as kids and their parents, Superman Doomsday features the voices of Adam Baldwin (“Independence Day”) as Superman, Anne Heche (“Men in Trees”) as Lois Lane and James Marsters (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) as Lex Luthor, and will be available for $19.98. Order due date is August 14, 2007.

Produced by Bruce Timm (Justice League Unlimited, Batman: The Animated Series) and written by Duane Capizzi (The Batman, The Batman vs. Dracula), Superman Doomsday is inspired by the best-selling graphic novel of all time, DC Comics’ The Death of Superman. When the intergalactic serial killer Doomsday is unearthed, Superman meets the creature head on in the battle to end all battles. Going punch for punch, Superman finally ends the threat of Doomsday as he throws one last punch and collapses forever – making the ultimate sacrifice to save Metropolis and all those he once loved.

Superman Doomsday will be available exclusively on DVD with collectable packaging as well as over 70 minutes of incredible DVD extras including:

• “The Clash of the Juggernauts” – A retrospective look at the craze which caught the world by storm. What happens when millions of fans are suddenly subjected to

-more-

the death of their favorite character? Total mayhem! Going on record about the “Death of Superman” will be Paul Levitz and other DC staff as well as comic book artists throughout the industry. News clippings, reports and first-hand archival testimony from fans will be pieced together in a retrospective way. The featurette will also include a closer look at the dark Superman appearing in “The Return of Superman” graphic novel. • The Artists Playground…From Art to Sound Design in Superman Doomsday – Producer Bruce Timm and his creative team of writers, animators and designers will take us on an exciting journey of character evolution. This documentary will focus on early character concept drawings, final character art, various stages of modeling, storyboards, animatics, layering of colors, voice talent and ultimately final animation. • Justice League: The New Frontier - Sneak peak of the next DC Universe Original Movie • Defeat Doomsday: Battle Challenge - Battle as Superman to defeat Doomsday in this fast-action, dexterity challenge which lets the users relive the epic battle with unique gameplay inter-cut with footage from the movie. • Widescreen (1.78:1) • 5.1 Dolby Digital

“We are thrilled to be releasing the first of the DC Universe movies that feature extraordinary talent including Adam Baldwin and Anne Heche, as well as the lauded producer/writer team of Bruce Timm and Duane Capizzi,” said Dorinda Marticorena, WHV Vice President, Kids and Sports Marketing. “With an authentic animation look and feel and a more emotional as well as action-packed storyline, Superman Doomsday will certainly appeal to adult comic book fans and older kids.”

Superman Doomsday Marketing Support Superman Doomsday will be supported by a massive media campaign delivering millions of impressions. Marketing support will also include strong promotion support as well as explosive online promotion stunts. Finally, the DVD release of Superman Doomsday will be supported by a network television premiere.

Newsarama

[PokerKitten]

Superman Doomsday, available exclusively on DVD, will be released September 18,
2007 featuring James as the voice of ‘Lex Luthor’.

Also, the world premiere of Superman Doomsday will take place on July 26, 2007
at Comic-Con in San Diego at 8:30 PM in the main theatre (4,000 seats) of the
San Diego Convention Center. There will be a panel discussion with the
filmmakers and a few of the cast members. James is not confirmed at this time.


From JMLive.

[PokerKitten]

TZ @ SDCC: World Premiere of "Superman: Doomsday"
By Alex Weitzman
07-27-2007, 7:27 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Thursday, July 26th, DC Comics unveiled the first in their line of direct-to-video animated features, being launched under the auspices of Warner Premiere Productions. The film in question, shown to an audience of fans almost two months in advance of its street date - September 18th - was none other than the adaptation of DC's incredibly famous storyline "The Death and Return of Superman", titled Superman: Doomsday. The rest of this report, by the way, is entirely spoiler-free.

Paul Levitz, president of DC Comics, introduced the film; afterwards, Gregory Novak, the Senior VP of Creative Affairs at DC, headed a panel where the three directors Bruce Timm, Lauren Montgomery, and Brandon Vietti, the screenwriter Duane Capizzi, and the voice director Andrea Romano took the stage to answer questions. Additionally, Adam Baldwin (Superman) and James Marsters (Lex Luthor) filmed short hellos to the Comic-Con audience. Marsters jokingly commented that he would have been there in person if he'd been cast as the hero, instead of being the villain again.

ToonZone

[PokerKitten]

Whedonopolopolopolis (that's just my pet name for them has interviews with voice director Andrea Romano, screenwriter Duane Capizzi, and director Brandon Vietti. Nice James-related bits (but you can read the whole thing HERE @ Whedonopolis

In Superman: Doomsday you have both Adam Baldwin (voice of Superman) and James Marsters (voice of Lex Luthor).

Andrea Romano: Yes, and they’re both wonderful. Dreamy, too! (laughs)

<snip>

They all know who the characters are! So, even for this kind of thing, which is more adult and a more intense version of these characters than we’ve ever done before at Warner Bros, it is the kind of stuff that their kids can watch more than some of their feature films or other work, that might be a bit more intense for their children. So, they’re more willing to come and play. So, aside from Adam Baldwin and James Marsters, who are both great and who never recorded in the room at the same time—whenever I have an ensemble, I try to record all the actors at the same time, playing off each other. Half of acting is reacting, and when I don’t have that, I have to act the other part myself so they can have something to play off of. James Marsters was probably the last person to record of the entire project, and yet when you watch the piece, it certainly sounds like they’d been talking to each other, so I think that worked well. Everybody’s asked to come to an emotional height that I don’t think any actor has come to before.

<snip>

How did you choose James Marsters to be Lex Luthor, when he’d just been on Smallville playing Brainiac?

AR: I know, isn’t that great? (laughs) Isn’t that wild? I love Smallville, all of it, and I’ve worked with Michael Rosenbaum who plays Lex Luthor on that for years! He voices The Flash in The Justice League, and I’d worked recently with Alison Mack, who did an episode or two of Batman, so I kinda have that. And John Glover I know very well too, as he played The Riddler for me years ago. I had approached James Marsters probably for six or seven years for various projects, I’d always wanted him on and he was never available; he was always busy, but he wanted to do it. And this time, all the stars aligned! Lex Luthor is such a great character, he’s such a great bad guy! He’s not overt, he’s not a scream-y character; he’s kinda quiet and oily and wealthy and… he was great!

How is he different from Clancy Brown? Because the voices are…

AR: Completely different! And they’re depicted visually differently. Clancy Brown’s Lex Luthor is a much stockier, stronger, broad-shouldered character, so that deep voice coming out of him made total sense. This new Lex Luthor you’ll see is slimmer, slighter, no-less-evil character, so the not-so-deep voice works just fine, and it was all about the acting anyway, it was about this bitter, angry, “I want Superman!” guy and James is such a terrific actor.

How long did it take for the whole project to come together?

AR: As far as recording? That’s a great question. My guess is, from start to finish, two months. Two months to get everybody in, cos, you know, you have Anne Heche who is Vancouver shooting Men In Trees, and Adam Baldwin is always busy, and James

<snip>

W: Please tell us what’s it like working with Adam Baldwin and James Marsters in the studio.

BV: Those guys are great! Obviously, we’ve had Superman vocalized many times in the past, but I think both James and Adam brought something new to the table with their particular takes on the characters. They’re a little more… mature, maybe? Not that any of the previous actors were overly cartoony; our voice director, Andrea Romano, does a great job giving it the picture quality she does, but I think they really brought a level of maturity to it, and I think it helps you—when you see this movie, it’s a little bit different of what you’ve seen in shows before; I think it separates it. It’s definitely not just for kids, it’s not just for adults.

W: Andrea was telling us that you had to adapt the drawing for James’ Lex from the one you used to do for Clancy Brown’s Lex, since James doesn’t have the same deep voice Clancy does. What is it about James’ interpretation that made Lex sneakier or shiftier that caused the change in drawing?

BV: My favorite part of his performance was… he sounds dangerous and smart, and that’s a deadly combination, and he was able to bring that out of the character. Definitely it’s a Lex Luthor you’ve never seen before! Clancy’s Lex has a bigger, more booming voice and it’s a stronger, physical character, and with James Marsters’ performance, you don’t look at this character and think of it as a physical guy, but the moment he opens his mouth, with each word, you think, “This guy is dangerous, this guy is smart, and he’ll get you if you’re not paying attention.” He brings that quality to it, so definitely a dangerous voice.

[Teebee]

Whedonopolopolopolis

Roflmao ;D ;D Thanks PK wonders what Lex looks like if they had to adapt the drawings

[PokerKitten]

All lean and mean and eye-glinty, I hope.

[Teebee]

admin said:

All lean and mean and eye-glinty, I hope.

lol sounds good, but it's only a cartoon character albeit with a damn sexy voice ;D

[PokerKitten]

If I can get hot for puppets (ooh Captain Black!) I can summon up some enthusiasm for a cartoon drawing I'm sure.

[Teebee]

How true and we all have our little idiosyncrasies ;D

[PokerKitten]

And maybe not so little ones

[Teebee]

admin said:

And maybe not so little ones

Lol, you're incorrigible ;D

[DeeDee]

Lex has cheek bones ;D ;D

[Ditto]

and with James Marsters’ performance, you don’t look at this character and think of it as a physical guy, but the moment he opens his mouth, with each word, you think, “This guy is dangerous, this guy is smart, and he’ll get you if you’re not paying attention.” He brings that quality to it, so definitely a dangerous voice.

I feel very moist all of a sudden...

[PokerKitten]

Vid clip of James talking about the role, at Amazon.

"... a little more mature, a little darker, a little edgier." Mmmm.

[DeeDee]

thanks for the link PK ;D ;D

yay another sexy lexy ;D ;D

[Cyrus]

oooh I'm so glad I carry headphones with me to work! ;D mmmmm...

[PokerKitten]

The voice cast of Superman - Doomsday is a mixed bag to me. Joss Whedon has commented that he often recruits actors that are great at comedy first and foremost. Why? Comedy is hard, drama is easy. With that, Whedon-veterans Adam Baldwin and James Marsters are a delight to listen to in their respective roles. Clancy Brown loyalists, I dare you to not love Marsters’ rendition!

Animation Insider - a full review and some stills too.

[PokerKitten]

I thought that SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY is well-written and entertaining. I found myself caring about the people you are supposed to care for -- namely Superman (Adam Baldwin) and Lois Lane (Anne Heche) -- and hating whom you are supposed to hate -- one Lex Luthor (James Marsters). If you love to hate Lex, you are REALLY going to enjoy how he is portrayed in this movie because he’s one cold and despicable SOB. By far, this is the darkest I’ve ever seen Lex portrayed in either comics, film, or animation.

Full review at BoF