Posted in: Max, Movies, TV | Tagged: creature commandos, dc studios, dcu
Benjamin Byron Davis spoke with us about his latest role as Rupert Thorne in Max and DC Studios’ hit animated series Creature Commandos.
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Benjamin Byron Davis is one of the hardest-working actors in Hollywood, both in the live-action and animated worlds. Some of his most recent work includes Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption franchise, multiple roles on the MCU, The Belko Experiment. and TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles. His latest is probably one of the biggest in his career, playing crime boss Rupert Thorne in the Max DC animated series Creature Commandos. Created by Steve Englehart and Walt Simonson in Detective Comics #469, Thorne helped provide a more grounded element in the DC’s Batman that’s already filled with supervillains alike. The character made his animated debut in Batman: The Animated Series and was voiced by the late John Vernon across several episodes and side projects. Davis spoke to Bleeding Cool about his comic background, remaining faithful to the comics, taking every opportunity to work with Gunn again and his castmates, and sharing a Thorne-related trivia in regards to the Tim Burton-original Batman (1989).
Creature Commandos Star Benjamin Byron Davis on Honoring Legacy of Rupert Thorne and Embracing its Challenges.
Bleeding Cool: What went through your mind when you were contacted to be the new Rupert Thorne for ‘Creature Commandos’ and James Gunn’s DC Universe?
My initial thought was, “Yes, Please!” The pages arrived, and it didn’t say in any of the stuff from my reps anything beyond “Thorne.” It was spelled without the “E,” but I’ve been a comic book reader since I was a little boy and knew right away I hoped it was who I thought it was. When it turned out to be who I suspected it was, it’s been nothing but fun from then on. Any opportunity to work with James is a delight, but my initial response was, “Yes, please!”
Since you worked with James on his final ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ film, I wondered what it was like to collaborate with him creatively.
Spectacular working with James creatively, and it remained for as long as I’ve known him, which was quite some time. He is an extraordinary collaborator and singular wit in terms of his writing. The other thing that’s great about it is he’s had so much success. The guy’s so busy, and the amount of output he’s done in the last couple of years, I can’t fathom it. When I get hired, I get an opportunity to see my friend, which is a nice job perk as well.
Before taking on this role for ‘Creature Commandos,’ did you study any of your predecessors like John Vernon, Victor Brandt, or Cedric Yarbrough and what they did with the character, or did you create your own?
That’s an excellent question. I was familiar most of all with John Vernon and the work he’d done on ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ but the work on ‘The Caped Crusader,’ more recently, is also phenomenal, but I stayed away from it. The only thing I did was I reached out to James, and I asked him if there was any run of books I ought to pay attention to.
James told me there wasn’t, and the goal was that this guy was a mob boss, which is sort of where we started. But I think, you know, there’s much more to him on the page, and there’s, I’m certain, much more to him in James’s imagination. I was quite aware of the work that had come before me and the responsibility I had as a steward of this DC character, who debuted in May of 77 in ‘Detective Comics.’ That’s a long history, and this guy has been through a lot in the comics.
This was after I stopped reading, but I learned this leading up to the work that he was so connected to Two-Face and the retconning of Gotham lore. So, a chance to work for James, I’ll be glad to do anything, but the chance to step into such a storied character. And then the big surprise when James announced it at New York Comic-Con [about my casting], I didn’t think that was going to happen. And that was quite a thrill.
When TAS came around, they blended some elements of Carmine Falcone and Sal Maroni. There’s an interchangeability with organized crime in that lore. How do you distinguish Rupert Thorne from the other crime bosses, and how did he stand the test of time?
I can only hope to get a chance to answer that question over time. I don’t know if I will, but it would be a real blessing if I were in a position to do that. The character… the thing I had not known I read, and this was Internet research. I’m not sure that it’s 100% true, but apparently, in Sam Hamm’s script for ‘Batman 89,’ Carl Grissom, the character Jack Palance played, was originally also going to be Rupert Thorne. I’m not sure if that’s true.
I’m not sure what the change was, but the one thing for me is the understanding of where Thorne came from and sort of the timeline of the Batman character in this idea that Batman was facing characters, not just the sort of rogues’ gallery that had become so popular through Adam West and the ’60 show, but that Gotham also had villainy that was much closer to what we see in our world. That’s the opportunity there, but it’s important to remember when you’re playing a “bad guy,” the bad guy doesn’t think they’re THE bad guy. He and Rupert, I’ve got a good sense so far of what I think is motivating that guy.
Creature Commandos, which also stars Indira Varma, Frank Grillo, Sean Gunn, Alan Tudyk, Maria Bakalava, Zoë Chao, and David Harbour, airs on Thursdays on Max.
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