ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke with Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen, Part One star Chandler Riggs about the animated crossover movie. The actor discussed playing a different version of Superman and his time on The Walking Dead. The film will be released digitally and on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Blu-ray on April 25, 2023.
“Members of the Justice League are transported to the world of Remnant and find themselves turned into teenagers,” reads the movie’s synopsis. “The Remnant heroes combine forces with the Justice League to uncover why their planet has been mysteriously altered.”
Tyler Treese: This is such an interesting role because you’re playing this adult Superman that gets turned back into a teen. What did you like most about this very unique dynamic of going back to his kid self and embracing the weird scenario he finds himself in?
Chandler Riggs: I think that was probably the most challenging part about bringing this character to life, actually, is reverse engineering and figuring out, “Okay, I have to build adult Superman and figure out how he thinks, how he walks, talks, how he holds himself.” And then throwing on that layer of adolescence and awkwardness and your body not doing what do you want it to do … there’s a whole new layer that I had to throw on top of this character and figure out, and it was kind of uncharted territory. Yeah, it was challenging, but it was a lot of fun to get to explore that side of Superman and figure out what he might have been like as a teenager. [Laugh].
All the characters in this movie get RWBY designs, which is cool to see. What do you like seeing about this more hip, contemporary Superman rather than the traditional suit and cape that he usually has on?
Yeah, it was really, really cool. I didn’t get to see too much of the designs or anything until … it wasn’t really until I did ADR, which was … oh gosh, it might have been a year ago now, or at some point last year. But yeah, that was when I got to actually see the design, see the character in action, and see how the animators have taken what I gave in my, my performance and ran with it. It was just really, really cool to see him brought life in that way.
One of my favorite aspects in the movie is definitely how Superman interacts with Ruby Rose. I thought the dynamic of those two playing off each other and their camaraderie was really fun as the film develops and we see Superman giving advice as a more veteran leader. What did you like most about how those characters interacted?
It’s interesting, trying to play this character that is used to being the strongest one and being the leader and everything else, and then is thrown into this place where he’s suddenly not. He’s having to kind of lean on Ruby and figure out how to navigate that, how to still be useful and be helpful when you’re not as strong as you usually are, and have another leader there to help us navigate all that.
It was a really, really cool and inspiring way of writing this character that we don’t really see in other films or animated stuff with Superman. It’s usually that Superman is strong and powerful and all-knowing and everything, so to see him kind of stripped down … we get to see a lot of who he really is. It’s really, really cool.
The movie has a lot of great action scenes. How was it, voicing those grunts and coming up with all the action noises? You haven’t done a ton of voice work in the past, so how was getting used to that type of action scenes?
It was really cool. We went through and, going through the script, we pulled out any specific lines or anything specific that I needed to shout out, but at the end, we went through and I recorded a whole library for them of shouts or screams or efforts or grunts — anything like that in different varying levels of intensity so they can just pick and choose from their library and stuff.
It was just crazy, because they would be like, “Okay, now just scream at a full 10, as loud as you can.” And I’m like, “Okay, take four.” But it was a lot of fun. It was a really, really cool new fun experience that I hadn’t gotten to do before. I really hope I get to do something like that again.
We all grew up with Superman in our minds and he’s been such an institution. Has it sunk in that you got to voice Superman, and such a fun version of him? That has to be a thrill as an actor.
It totally was. I remember I was at my family’s house in Georgia and I was either playing video games or hanging out with my old high school friends or something. I remember I checked my phone and I saw the email and I remember seeing in just all caps, “JUSTICE LEAGUE X RWBY.” I was like, “Are you sure you sent this to the right client? This wasn’t meant for someone else?”
And yeah, the more they read through it, the more surreal it got that they want me to voice Superman. It’s just crazy. It’s just so … so surreal to even think about in the first place. It was such a cool opportunity, amazing experience, and really, really cool.
Did you have much familiarity with RWBY? Even if you didn’t, Superman and the rest of the Justice League are pulled into this very unknown world, so even if viewers aren’t familiar with that side, they get to see things through the characters’ eyes. So I thought that was interesting.
Yeah, I was a huge fan of Rooster Teeth when I was a lot younger. I have all nine seasons of Red vs. Blue on DVD — I loved Rooster Teeth. But I slowly had not kept up with them with their stuff as much when RWBY came out. So I had to go back and, and watch some episodes here and there to really get a feel of this world that I was going to be experiencing. Even though I had a little bit of familiarity with it, not knowing what was going on definitely helped as Superman, who’s confused at this new world and this new place and these new enemies and where everyone was. It was really interesting.
You mentioned video games earlier, so it sounds like you were a Halo fan. What other games do you like to play?
Yeah! [Laugh]. I love narrative, story-driven games, but I also love shooters. Apex Legends is one of my go-to games right now. Hunt: Showdown is up there. I’m playing through God of War (2018) right now on my steam deck. But yeah, video games have always been a huge part of my life and it’s great. I hope to eventually get into doing work in video games one day, but we’ll see.
You really grew up on television with The Walking Dead and now that the core series has ended, how do you reflect on that experience? I’m sure the cast had to feel like family after being together that long, and you don’t see shows hit off like that did very often.
Yeah, yeah. I remember, actually, after that first season, they called that it was a wrap and everyone was hugging and cheering and crying and everything, because we thought it was a possibility that we weren’t going to get renewed for a second season. So, it was a fun six episodes, a fun few months, but, “See you, maybe never!” [Laugh]. And then we just kept getting renewed and renewed and renewed. No one thought that it was going to be as big as it was. We all just got so lucky to be on a show like that. It was a great cast, a great crew, great family, and yeah, it was really amazing.
You even had a little cameo in the final season as a farmer. How special was it that you got to be in the background and part of that final season despite your character meeting his end a bit earlier?
It was so cool. I wanted to be there for the last day of filming. Having been there since the pilot, it felt like I needed to be there for the end. Yeah, I was just there on set and one of the producers was like, “Go get in the background! Here, take this hat!” Get in the background of the shot!” I was like, “Are you sure? I don’t have wardrobe,” and they were like, “No, you look fine.” [Laugh].
It was pretty fun, throwing me in the back there. But it was just great, being there on the last day and being there for such a monumental moment for everyone. Hearing everyone’s speeches … it was really, really cool.
Doing the voice acting for this movie was obviously a great experience. You mentioned wanting to do some video game voice acting in the future. What really stood out about voice acting and that different side of the craft that really appeals to you?
Man, it’s such a unique skill set that I admire so much. Voice actors are just so talented. It takes a really special talent to be able to change your voice in such a way that you sound like a completely different person and do it for hours or weeks or months straight while you’re working on this character.
Then you flip a coin and you do a different voice for a different character that sounds completely different. It’s so admirable and really, really cool to see and explore. I really hope I get to do more stuff like that in the future and really get to push my limits to see what I can do in that world.
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