More Batman holiday mayhem is on the way, this time in the shape of young Damian Wayne taking up the Caped Crusader’s mantle in Merry Little Batman.
Prime Video’s DC Animated feature (which was thankfully saved from Zaslav shelving) stars Luke Wilson (Stargirl), now henceforth known the DC Wilson. Now while his brother Owen Wilson plays for the other superhero team with a jet ski and the TVA, Luke has the Batcave this time around as Batman.
In an interview with io9, the actor joked about the friendly brotherly competition. “There’s a little bit of a Hatfields and McCoys-type feud where, as a member of the DC Universe, I never quite have really understood what the people over at Marvel are up to. No, I don’t,” he kidded. “Yeah, I think we we both have fun on it, but he really had fun working on Loki, and he really had a good time working with Tom Hiddleston. The same with me and Geoff Johns on on Stargirl where it was something that I wasn’t used to. And Geoff Johns, you know, such an important part of the DC universe. I just love being around him and talking to him about the DC characters—he just knows every single thing about every character.”
In Merry Little Batman, Wilson got a chance to tackle Bruce Wayne in a new way: as a father figure. When you see the movie, you can really tell that influenced his take on the “Batman voice” for the film over just getting a chance to jump into the cowl. The performance really focuses on his relationship with Batman’s son, Damian Wayne. “It was really just the tone of the script. People ask me like, ‘Did you do a kind of a deep, gravelly voice, like Christian Bale and Robert Pattinson?’” Wilson explained with a chuckle. “I didn’t do anything at all like that. I was thinking about when I’ve seen my nephews or little kids, when they watch a movie or a show, they’re so locked in. They don’t blink and you can’t really get their attention. Then I thought, okay, I really want to do something where there’s a sense of fun in my voice where I can kind of keep them engaged—like you’d kind of be trying to encourage somebody to do something. ‘Hey, come on, let’s go. Let’s go outside.’ My take on it was just kind of trying to hold their interest. But yeah, I am now aware that we’ve done—that it’s not like these other Batmans, and I wasn’t trying to set myself aside. I feel lucky that they somehow kind of settled on me or came to me for the idea of playing the father, you know, and Batman, Bruce Wayne.”
Watch Merry Little Batman on Prime Video this Friday, December 8.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.