Can't Unhear It

We all know that, thanks to movies/TV shows/cartoons/etc., there are certain voices that come to mind when we read a character's dialogue. For instance, I always hear Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy whenever I read Mister J and the Bat's dialogue. But what about characters who haven't gotten an adaptation? What voices do you hear?

For instance, I've recently finished working my way through Tom Strong. Whenever I read any of Paul Saveen's dialogue, I imagined the legendary Vincent Price. Similarly, in Savage Dragon, old Greenskin sounds like Bruce Willis to me (probably because he's a cop, and SD's always had that Working-Class Hero feel to me, just like John McClain).

Edited by Starbug on Jul 23rd 2018 at 3:21:41 PM

Susan Eisenberg is the voice I hear when I read Wonder Woman.

Christopher Daniel-Barnes' voice is who I hear when I read Spider-Man.

When I read Ultimate Captain America, I imagine the voice of Bruce Willis

To me, Spider-Man forever sounds like Dan Gilvezan, his VA from Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.

I'm not sure whether or not I remembered that he also voiced (Hank Pym) Ant-Man in Earths Mightiest Heroes, but Wally Wingert as the voice of Kotetsu in the dub of Tiger & Bunny is how I "heard" the voice of Scott Lang in Nick Spencer's Ant-Man comic. It's that unique combination of being a Deadpan Snarker while also being kind of dense.

Edited by Hodor2 on Jul 25th 2018 at 10:10:10 AM

Until the movies, I always envisioned J Jonah Jameson sounding like Mr. Spacely.

I doubt I can read Hela without hearing Cate Blanchett

I also have a tendency of assigning actors' voices to characters while reading. Usually with established characters, its the actor I'm most familiar with or from the lasted incarnation I heard.

Reading Ultimate Spider-Man feels weird, I don't find Drake Bell's voice fitting but I keep hearing it over actors. Now after playing Spider-Man on the PS 4, he sounds like Yuri Lowenthal and it sounds too old.

Two voices I am fond of are Clancy Brown as Old Hob and Kirby Morrow as Rodimus Prime.

Edited by ParaChomp on Sep 27th 2018 at 1:56:37 AM

Pretty much the entire DCAU. Seriously the casting for each show was near perfect

CD Barnes is still the voice I hear for Spider-Man. Likewise Rosco Lee Brown's voice is still the one I hear for the Kingpin.

J Johna Jameson waffles between Ed Asner and JK Simmons depending on how he's portrayed with more nuanced portrayals leaning toward the former and more ridiculous ones toward the latter.

Another one: I always pictured Deadman sounding like Moe from The Simpsons.

David Kaye as Optimus Prime, Warpath and Grimlock.

Corey Burton as Megatron, Shockwave, Brawn and Ratchet.

Judd Nelson as Rodimus Prime.

Jeff Bennett as Prowl and Ultra Magnus.

Bumper Robinson as Bumblebee.

Bill Fagerbakke as Bulkhead (whenever Bulkhead appears in a comic).

Phil LaMarr as Jazz.

Nolan North as Cliffjumper.

Keith Szarabajka as Ironhide.

Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man. But now I can also alternatively hear Yuri Lowenthal.

Mary Jane is either Kirsten Dunst or Laura Bailey.

Miles Morales is Shameik Moore.

Harry is James Franco.

Aunt May is Rosemary Harris.

Green Goblin is Willem Dafoe.

Doc Ock is Alfred Molina.

Brian Tochi is Leonardo.

Josh Pais is Raphael.

Corey Feldman is Donatello.

Robbie Rist is Michelangelo.

Kevin Clash is Splinter.

Judith Hoag is April O'Neil.

Elias Koteas is Casey Jones.

David McCharen is Shredder.

I hear Chris Evans as Captain America.

Edited by BrightLight on Apr 25th 2019 at 3:12:24 AM

When I was reading Garth Ennis' The Boys, I for some reason gave Billy Butcher the male protagonist voice #3 from Saints Row 3 (the growling Cockney one, by Robert Atkin Downes). Just seemed to fit perfectly. And The Homelander sounded like Patrick Warburton in my head.

Batman will never not sound like Christian Bale, and the Caitlin Snow incarnation of Killer Frost will never not sound like Danielle Panabaker.

You know, that might sound random as hell, but the one character whose voice immediately made itself obvious to me was Kevin from The Exterminators. I always imagine him sounding like Stephen Root's more pathetic characters.

I know it's not a particularly memorable comic, and he's not a memorable character in it, but it's one of those things that sticks out in my mind.

On the current run of Superior Spider-Man, I read Doc Ock as Grover Gardner, who narrates the audiobooks of The Vorkosigan Saga, as well as other things, often hard-boiled detective books with a First-Person Smartass narrator.

Gardner has this sort of Standard '50s Father voice (can't really describe it but you'll know it if you hear it) but with a real Deadpan Snarker edge.

Which really fits with the series' take on Ock, who in a lot of ways looks and feels like the kind of smug Science Hero that you'd find in classic science fiction, except that he's a semi-recovered supervillain and is often put in his place.

And which also fits with the character of Miles Vorkosigan, who is similarly hypercompetent, but who exasperates his friends and family and is often Too Clever by Half.

Right now, I'm reading Blackest Night and picturing Doug Bradley as the voice of Nekron.

Justin Roiland as Whirl.

Might as well take a stab at this.

When I read the Sonic comic from IDW, I hear:

• Ashly Burch with her Molly McGee voice as Tangle
• Ashley Johnson as Jewel
• Kira Buckland as Whisper (which is easier said than done because 99.9% of her lines are whispered, so try picturing a whispering 2B?)
• Kyle McCarley as Dr. Starline using his Red Son voice

I've also thought about Brad Dourif or Matt Frewer for Black Hand.

X-Men TAS actors for those characters.

Apart from Patrick Stewart as Charles, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, Stefan Kapičić as Colossus

I hear Spider-Man's voice as either Rino Romano or some unplaceable voice that doesn't fit any particular actor.

Thor with a beard speaking more modern English sounds like Chris Hemsworth, but clean-shaven, winghead "Yea, verily!" Thor has more of a goofy, booming voice.

Batman is Conroy, natch.

Ultron's voice isn't a particular actor, but I've always read it as a high-pitched metallic shriek. Almost like Skeletor, but more metallic. I always hear him grandiosely screaming his lines.

Martian Manhunter and Vision have the same voice in my head, and it's the voice that Martian Manhunter had in the DCAU.

When I read the 2015 Darth Vader series, I got halfway through the first issue before I realized I was hearing Vader's lines in Kylo Ren's voice. I had to consciously think of Jones' beautiful timbre to make it work.

Doc Ock as written by Slott has a high-pitched voice similar to the one he had in Spectacular Spider-Man. Doc Ock in 616 before that has a German accent, as he did in the 90s cartoon and the PS 1 game. Ultimate Doc Ock has a pretty standard American accent and speaks in a baritone.

Norman Osborn is sometimes Willem Dafoe, sometimes a deeper, less gravelly Willem Dafoe mixed with someone else.

Edited by RedM on Aug 24th 2022 at 2:11:25 AM

Thought I'd give my take on a bunch of characters:

• Generally speaking, most characters use their voices from the adaptations I grew up with; the DCAU, Teen Titans 2003, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Spectacular Spider-Man, Wolverine and the X-Men, Batman: Arkham, Injustice, Marvel vs Capcom, Young Justice, etc.
• Batman, of course, is usually Kevin Conroy, but goofier Silver-Age style stories typically have me imagining Adam West or Deidrich Bader.
• Superman is typically George Newbern in the modern age, while Gold and Silver Age stuff usually has me use Travis Willingham's take from the LEGO Batman games.
• Wonder Woman is usually Susan Eisenberg, but ever since Multi Versus came out I've started hearing Abby Trott on occasion.
• Spider-Man flip-flops between Josh Keaton and Yuri Lowenthal. It typically depends on Peter's age in the story I'm reading.
• I've been rereading The Immortal Hulk lately, and I've noticed that, while I've always had Hulk sounding like Fred Tatasciore, it's only recently that Banner's dialogue goes automatically to Mark Ruffalo's voice without me even trying.
• Iron Man is Eric Loomis from EMH. Though occasionally when I feel like a laugh, using Linkara's "drunk Tony" voice is always fun.
• Captain America is always Chris Evans. Same with Steve Blum as Wolverine, Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Tom Kane as Magneto, Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor, Jennifer Hale as Carol Danvers, Alan Tudyk as Green Arrow, Khary Payton as Cyborg, and of course J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson. These are all the ones that never change for me.
• When it comes to The Flash, Wally is usually Michael Rosenbaum as an adult and his Young Justice voice as Kid Flash. Barry is typically his voice from Injustice 2 (I forget who it is at the moment. I think Troy Baker?).
• Whether Deadpool is Nolan North or Ryan Reynolds depends on what mood I'm in.
• Before the movie came out, I usually imagined Rocket Raccoon with Greg Ellis's Cockney take from Marvel vs Capcom 3, but after the movie Bradley Cooper very quickly took over. Star-Lord is similar; in EMH he was voiced by Steve Downes (yes, Master Chief himself!), but Chris Pratt has taken over somewhat.
• Doctor Strange's current level of snarkiness is a big influence on whether I hear Benedict Cumberbatch or not. If he's less snarky at the moment, then Liam O'Brien's take from recent video games is usually the default.
• Dick Grayson has three voices I tend to use: Silver Age Robin is Burt Ward, more modern takes on his Robin days it's Scott Menville, and as Nightwing he is almost always Jesse MacCartney.
• I know I list Teen Titans 2003 as the default for most of the characters who appeared there, but Deathstroke is an exception, he is never Ron Perlman for me. His Injustice 1 voice is the default instead.
• Norman Osborn I actually give his voice from the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon as himself, but the Goblin flops between Steve Blum and Willem Dafoe.
• Ultimate/Nick Fury Jr. obviously gets the voice of Samuel L. Jackson, but the original Fury I tend to imagine with the voice of Sully from Uncharted.
• I may hate the Avengers Assemble cartoon, but I'll admit that Travis Willingham and Laura Bailey are pretty good voices for Thor and Black Widow.
• For some reason, I tend to read Supergirl with the voice of Cherami Leigh. No, she's never voiced her before to my knowledge, so I have no idea where this came from.
• Dee Bradley Baker voiced Mr Fantastic in LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, and ever since he's been my default Reed voice. Sue and Johnny don't really have a set voice, and Ben... well, I don't actually think I need to ascribe an actor to this one. I think fans have a fairly universal "Thing voice" that everybody collectively agrees is correct. Doom is typically Maurice LaMarche (yes, another casting from the non-EMH Disney XD shows I actually like!)
• The Joker is always Mark Hamill, of course, but with an occasional dash of Richard Epcar. As for Harley... no disrespect to Arleen Sorkin, but I actually do prefer Tara Strong.
• Iman Vellani has ensured that she is now forever Kamala Kahn in my brain.
• One of the only things I really liked about the Venom movie was Tom Hardy's voice for the symbiote... in the first one. The sequel had him change it to be much goofier and I hated it. Eddie doesn't really have a voice himself beyond "gruff angry man", but it's definitely not Hardy's drunken, ambiguously Brooklyn-sounding stammers. Carnage I typically imagine sounding like a growly version of Starscream.
• It's probably because I've been playing God of War 2018 lately in preparation for the sequel, but lately I've started imagining the voice of Christopher Judge for Frank Castle.

Edited by lbssb on Sep 3rd 2022 at 4:12:48 AM

Susan Eisenberg for WW even though I find I don't like most of the stuff she's voiced WW in.

I usually associate the show Spectacular Spider-Man with its characters. Not all of it matches especially since the voices in that show suit the stylized character designs. At times I get this really awkward feeling reading these characters.

Steve Blum as Starscream. He's really good at the role and his voice isn't over the top. It suits the more competent and grounded incarnations in Transformers comics.