It’s no exaggeration to say that Zeno Robinson is one in every of the busiest and most prolific voice actors in the trade. In the previous 12 months alone he’s been concerned in a few of the largest initiatives of his career together with common roles in main franchises like Transformers: EarthSpark on Nickelodeon and Disney’s Big City Greens. Not to say dubbing large identify anime properties, most notably the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie for which he acquired a Crunchyroll Anime Award nomination for Best VA Performance (English). In the new Legion of Super-Heroes animated movie, Zeno provides a brand new superhero to his credit with Invisible Kid.
The Beat had the likelihood to speak with Zeno Robinson not solely about voicing Invisible Kid but additionally about his career and his significant encounter with the late/nice Dwayne McDuffie.
Taimur Dar: The Legion of Super-Heroes has appeared in animation over the years together with their very own titular collection in 2006 that ran for Kids’ WB community. As somebody who clearly grew up watching cartoons, I’m curious if that Legion of Super-Heroes cartoon was one thing you watched your self as a child?
Robinson: It’s humorous that you just led with that. I’ve been answering quite a lot of questions as somebody who grew up watching the Legion of Super-Heroes cartoon with Yuri Lowenthal as Superman. I undoubtedly have prior information of that Legion of Super-Heroes cartoon. I bear in mind waking up in the morning and getting a bowl of cereal and that was one cartoon that was on throughout Saturday mornings.
Dar: If I’m not mistaken, your first DC Comics animation function was Cyborg in Young Justice. Any actor who voices Cyborg will ceaselessly be in the shadow of Khary Payton. But because you’re the first individual to painting Invisible Kid in animation, you’re not beholden to any earlier efficiency. How does voicing a comparatively unknown character like Invisible Kid examine to greater identify characters like Cyborg?
Robinson: It’s very very similar to you stated about enjoying a personality like Invisible Kid versus enjoying Cyborg. You worded it rather well. With Cyborg he has a longtime sound [and] voice. I grew up with Khary Payton Cyborg and a few of that influence was in my efficiency. But with Invisible Kid it was a chance to place my very own stamp and spin on the character. It was cool to ascertain a voice. There was no different actor that laid the basis for me to the observe. It’s all laid by me. The cool factor about enjoying Invisible Kid was setting the tone for his persona.
Dar: The voice director for this Legion undertaking is Wes Gleason, who additionally directed the Super Sons animated movie the place you performed Jimmy Olsen. I’m curious if you happen to had labored with him earlier than these initiatives and if he approached you instantly?
Robinson: I truly don’t suppose I labored with Wes earlier than this, which was cool. I used to be actually stunned to have gotten the e mail not only for Jimmy Olsen however for Invisible Kid. I’m sort of curious what it was. I used to be type of hoping he heard me as Cyborg and thought, “This guy’s good.” I don’t suppose I labored with Wes beforehand however he’s such a cool man. I might inform he loves directing a lot and he loves working on these a lot. It was evident in the room after I was working with him. I’m very honored and grateful to him. Shoutout to Wes for even trusting me with the duty of those characters and pondering of me.
Dar: Most persons are properly conscious that the Milestone character Static is your dream function and also you put on your love for the character on your sleeve. Like most individuals, together with myself, you first encountered the character by means of the Kids’ WB Static Shock cartoon. Can you discuss your early experiences with Static as a fan and the way your love for the character has grown over the years.
Robinson: It’s attention-grabbing. Lots of people have requested me about my dream function and it’s all the time been unanimously Static. I grew up watching the present [during] Saturday morning cartoons like regular. I bear in mind watching it once more after I was 13-14. It was in all probability my third rewatch of the present. It made me conscious of my racial id. [I said], “Oh wait! He’s Black. I’m Black. Black people can be superheroes!” I by no means even put that collectively as a child. I simply watched it as a present as a child. I feel it actually influenced my complete career from there and the way I have a look at media as a result of it made conscious of how necessary illustration is. I pursued anime as a result of I didn’t see sufficient people who seemed like me voicing these characters. The means I view storytelling and champion range and good and correct illustration all stems from me watching Static as a child and seeing myself in him.
He was a nerd similar to I used to be a nerd. He was totally different from quite a lot of the Black superheroes that I had at the moment. He felt extra like me and that made him extra human to me. That actually endeared me to him. I spent quite a lot of my time ready for him to point out up. Even when the New 52 launched, I purchased his comedian the first day. And now with Nikolas Draper-Ivey’s run on Static, I’m shopping for the volumes and each subject and each variant of each subject. I’ve been ready for Milestone to return again for a really very long time. It even launched me to the wider Milestone Universe with Icon and Rocket. I purchased the old skool volumes of Icon and Static: Rebirth of the Cool. It simply made me conscious of the several types of storytelling and illustration that’s on the market and what it may be. That’s additionally why I like Young Justice quite a bit as a result of Greg [Weisman] can also be a champion of that.
Dar: I can’t carry up Static with out mentioning the late/nice Dwayne McDuffie and I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you about him because you had the privilege of assembly him while you labored on Ben 10: Alien Force, which was your first animated voiceover function. I recall you confirmed off your telephone with the Static wallpaper. I’d love to listen to any extra fond recollections or tales you wouldn’t thoughts sharing.
Robinson: I can’t consider you remembered that! I really feel like I shared that with you at Comic-Con or one thing. That is my most fond and I feel solely reminiscence I’ve of Dwayne. I bear in mind I walked into the desk learn of that episode of Ben 10: Alien Force. That was again when it was referred to as Ben 10: Hero Generation. My mother had truly seemed him up and advised me that he was the one who made Static. She knew how necessary Static was to me. I didn’t put this collectively till a few interviews in the past however I used to be 14 at the time, which was Virgil’s age in the cartoon, saying how a lot this [character] means to me. He’s my telephone background. That was again when Static was in the Teen Titans [comics] and he first obtained reintroduced into the DC Universe. From then on, [Dwayne’s widow] Charlotte [Fullerton] would Facebook message me every so often saying, “Hey Zeno! I hope you’re doing well. Dwayne would always think of you. Whenever your name came up he would say it’s like ‘Zeno’s Paradox.’” It was additionally cool to know outdoors of that one interplay we had, he nonetheless considered me.
Dwayne was fairly actually instantly and not directly answerable for like my complete career. I say it like possibly 1,000,000 instances. He made Static which was the first time I noticed myself in a personality, and was conscious of race. And additionally created Alan, my first voice over job, in Ben 10 https://t.co/h9Xbgb12mr
— zeno: Prince of Solm (@childishgamzeno) September 6, 2020
Legion of Super-Heroes is accessible now on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital
Discussion about this post