Wolverine and the Terrible Accents

[BentonGrey]

So, I recently started watching through Wolverine and the X-Men on Netflix, determined to give it a bit more of a chance than I did the first time around.  I've eventually decided that it is decent, way better than the other X shows that followed The Animated Series, but that isn't saying much.  I like the underlying story quite a bit, and the central conceits are pretty cool.  However, I've realized something, and now that I have noticed it, I can't unnotice it.  The voice-acting for this show is, on the whole, thoroughly mediocre.  Wolverine is overly gruff, Xavier's overly proper, and only Magneto seems to be really spot-on in delivery.  For the most part, it seems like it's got more in common with amateurs attempting to create these characters as a labor of love.  What really kills me though, is that they apparently couldn't get anyone even remotely good or authentic to do the accents.  Gambit is apparently Jamaican rather than Cajun, and I think Rogue is about as Southern as I am a Yankee.    Has anyone else noticed this?  I swear, Gambit sounds like Hermes from Futurama.  Anyway, has anyone else gone back and watched this recently?

[Talavar]

I haven't watched recently, but I was never a huge fan of the voice acting.  Gambit is a perennial problem character for me across almost every cartoon and video game, largely because his voice acting is almost always terrible.  Is a Cajun accent that hard to do?

[BentonGrey]

Yeah, I've never heard him voiced well after the original cartoon.  My guess is, like all Southern accents, this difficulty stems from the fact that Hollywood has absolutely no freaking clue what the South or Southerners are like.

[Talavar]

Was Gambit voiced well in the original cartoon?  It's been a long time since I've seen it.  That would be at least one success for Marvel voice casting.  I've always praised the Bruce Timm DC cartoons for their character interpretations and storytelling, but just how much better the voice casting on them was versus every other superhero cartoon was not something I realized at the time.

[Jimaras8]

I haven't really watched Wolverine and the x-men for a very long time but most of the problems you have noticed Benton do exist. However, i strongly disagree with Wolverine's voice. Steve Blum is for me by far the best Wolverine voice actor out there with his grim and heavy voice playing to my head whenever i read a wolverine story. In which episode are you?

[BWPS]

Was Gambit voiced well in the original cartoon?  It's been a long time since I've seen it.  That would be at least one success for Marvel voice casting.  I've always praised the Bruce Timm DC cartoons for their character interpretations and storytelling, but just how much better the voice casting on them was versus every other superhero cartoon was not something I realized at the time.

Yeah he was awesome, that show was perfect.

[BentonGrey]

Tal, yeah, he was actually really cool.  All of the major characters had really distinct, and usually quite fitting, voice acting.  Here's a compliation of Rogue and Gambit which is quite telling when compared to the later shows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0f3vp5FZPU

Gambit sounds like a Cajun; Rogue sounds like a Southerner.  They aren't stereotypically, over the type versions of those accents.  Instead, they actually sound like people I have known living on the Gulf Coast all my life.  What a remarkable feat, eh?  The funny thing is, basically everyone involved with the show was Canadian!

Yeah!  The Timmverse shows were amazing, not only because of the quality of the writing, but also because they never just got the usual 'good-enough-for-stupid-kids' brand of voice actors.  They really employed an amazing amount of talent on those shows.

Jim, Wolverine's voice acting just feels so ridiculously over the top.  There's none of the soulfulness or range of the fellow from TAS.  Blum seems to be the guy they've gotten to do Wolverine for every piece of media post TAS, though, and that is, in my opinion, a crying shame.  I'd love to have the original actor's voice have shown up in the Marvel games and the like.

I've just finished the penultimate episode.  I'm about to watch the finale.  I also have to say:

Spoiler

I find it SUPER lame that they try to make Emma "the freaking White Queen" Frost a sympathetic hero.  I suppose that reflects the nonsense going on in the X-Titles, but I'm pretty sure that woman crossed the Moral Event Horizon long, long ago.

[Jimaras8]

I liked the voice actor of the TAS too. And yes Wolvie's voice is over the top maybe a little too much. But he is an over the top character by definition. He is tormented angry, bearing scars his entire life. I want to fear him when i hear his voice and Blum does exactly that. Definite Wolverine voice in my opinion. But it's all a matter of perspective i suppose.

[President Raygun]

At least Wolverine didn't sound like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPZ5FpCHc80 I won't mention the obvious irony. Also is it me or does Cyclops sound like he's about seventy?

[BWPS]

At least Wolverine didn't sound like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPZ5FpCHc80 I won't mention the obvious irony. Also is it me or does Cyclops sound like he's about seventy?

Oh that's awesome.

[BentonGrey]

Haha!  I haven't seen that one, but it's no worse than the other inexplicable accent Wolverine sported:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNRr16UAG_k
In the (thankfully) ill-fated pilot, "Pryde of the X-Men," he's also got an Australian accent.  Of course, there's a lot of weirdness with that pilot, including Duke from G.I. JOE voicing Cyclops!  That was definitely an 80s show. 

[Silver Shocker]

Gambit is apparently Jamaican rather than Cajun, and I think Rogue is about as Southern as I am a Yankee.    Has anyone else noticed this?  I swear, Gambit sounds like Hermes from Futurama.  Anyway, has anyone else gone back and watched this recently?

Funny thing about that, in that show Gambit was voiced by Phil LaMarr, who WAS the voice of Hermes! (among many, many other classic roles). I think he's a really good voice actor but I'll admit his Gambit wasn't one of his better roles.

As for Wolverine, I think Steve Blum's Wolverine is great, one of his best roles for sure, though yes, I'll admit, there's not a lot of nuance to it, but well, those cartoon's and games don't have especially deep plot or character development for Wolverine. As for Australians and Australian accents, what did you think of Scott McNeil's Wolverine from X-Men: Evolution? You want to hear a bad Wolverine, though? Milo Ventimiglia in the English Dub of the Wolverine anime. Man that was bad and forced.

I totally agree that DC's cartoons are way better cast, often in large part due to their ability to get genre actors from tv and movies in inspired roles. While Marvel's gotten a little into that lately, they haven't been nearly as good. Case in point: Seth Green in Hulk: Agent of Smash. I can't stand his character in that show purely because the writing is so obnoxious.

[Talavar]

So there are two separate examples of Wolverine talking with an Australian accent?  What's that about?  Did the casting people think he was Australian, or did they think Canadians sound like Australians?  I'm confused.

[Tomato]

http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/voice-compare/X-Men/Wolverine/ -easy way to compare Wolverine voices, if one doesn't remember them all.

Really, WatX isn't one of the better examples of Steve Blum's work as Wolverine... he's actually my favorite VA to play the role (Cal Dodd of the original animated series was a bit better when he was on form, but he was very uneven at times), but I also don't feel like WatX was the best example of his work as Wolverine.

[Talavar]

I do actually think Steve Blum, of Wolverine & the X-men, does a decent job.  Definitely not the worst part of that show's voice casting.

[Podmark]

I'm a big fan of Blum as Wolverine. I won't say he's the best actor around but he has the right sound for Wolverine. He's always the voice I hear when I read my comics.

[BentonGrey]

I do actually think Steve Blum, of Wolverine & the X-men, does a decent job.  Definitely not the worst part of that show's voice casting.

No, no, no, definitely not.  In a show that included the Jamaican Gambit, Blum's work is certainly not the worst of it.  He was solidly middle of the road for me.  He sounded more or less like Wolverine, but he just wasn't what I would call good.

'Mato, that may be true.  I haven't really heard him in too many other places.

Kom, listening to the samples, those two do sound pretty good. 

[oldmanwinters]

In the (thankfully) ill-fated pilot, "Pryde of the X-Men," he's also got an Australian accent.  Of course, there's a lot of weirdness with that pilot, including Duke from G.I. JOE voicing Cyclops!  That was definitely an 80s show. 

I've long wondered if they went with Australian Wolverine in the voice direction on account of the fact that he refers to Pyro as "dingo" at one point in the script.  They probably didn't get the fact that was a reference to Pyro's country of origin rather than Wolverine's normal speech pattern.

[thalaw2]

I thought the Australian accent in Pryde of the X-Men was good.  I know Wolvie is Canadian, but that doesn't mean the voice work wasn't good.  I haven't liked any of the actors don't Gambit's voice work. 

Anyway, I've recently found it interesting that I can't think of many occasions where Wolvie used period slang.  The guy is over 100 years old and talks like he was born 20 years ago.

[BentonGrey]

Well, his memory (in the only incarnations I've read) only extends back a few years.

[Talavar]

I thought the Australian accent in Pryde of the X-Men was good.  I know Wolvie is Canadian, but that doesn't mean the voice work wasn't good.  I haven't liked any of the actors don't Gambit's voice work. 

Anyway, I've recently found it interesting that I can't think of many occasions where Wolvie used period slang.  The guy is over 100 years old and talks like he was born 20 years ago.

To be fair, for most of his history, Wolverine didn't have any memory of his distant past, so using slang from earlier periods would have been weird.  Now that he remembers his history, you could expect some - though the same could also be said of Captain America.

[thalaw2]

People with amnesia don't suddenly forget slang or a way of speaking. 

[BentonGrey]

How familiar are you with people who have psychic blocks and programing, etc?  Haha, Wolverine doesn't just have amnesia, he's got a head full of crazy.