DC’s HBO series Lanterns did it first, but the studio has another story of two superheroes who share the same name and job description in the works. Of course, it’s going to be quite a different telling of that tale. Dynamic Duo, which will pair two of Batman’s sidekick Robins, is a feature film, not a TV show—and it’s not live action, but cutting-edge puppetry. While we ponder just what that’s going to be like, we can add another voice to the mix: Mason Thames has come aboard to play Dick Grayson.
According to a Collider interview with Peter Safran, who runs DC Studios with James Gunn, the Black Phone and How to Train Your Dragon actor was very excited to join Dynamic Duo. Like, fanboy excited.
“We always talk about wanting volunteers and not recruits to be part of the DCU, to be part of DC Studios, and Mason always wanted to be Dick Grayson. He just did,” Safran said, calling Thames’ audition “awesome.”
“He’s a wonderful young actor, but boy, did he want this. He was just obsessed. When he came over to the DC offices … we’ve got tons of great archives and stuff in there, and [he] wanted to take a picture of everything and with everything. He’s a fan.”
Safran also praised Swaybox Studios, calling its animation technology “as original today as Pixar was when it did Toy Story.”
He shared that “even though it’s puppets with an overlay of CGI, the fact that it’s shot with real cameras brings a visceral nature to the action in a way that I don’t think animation itself ever can really capture.”
Dynamic Duo is being directed by Swaybox co-founder Arthur Mintz, with Gunn and Matt Reeves (The Batman) among its producers. Opposite Thames as Dick Grayson, Logan Kim (Ghostbusters: Afterlife, The Walking Dead: Dead City) will voice Jason Todd, with Lee Pace and Steve Buscemi also part of the cast. It’s set to release September 22, 2028.
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