Will Friedle goes a long way back with DC Comics media, from his early days voicing Terry McGinnis in Batman Beyond to being the first actor to play the Jaime Reyes version of Blue Beetle thanks to Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Among his more recent DC credits is voicing Aquaman and Lex Luthor in DC Super Hero Girls, both of whom also appear in Teen Titans Go! & DC Super Hero Girls: Mayhem In The Multiverse. As far as Friedle’s Aquaman performance goes, the best way I can describe it is Atlantean Matthew McConaughey, and the actor explained to CinemaBlend how his take on the DC character ended up sounding this way.
Most adults listening to Will Friedle’s Aquaman will instantly notice how much the character sounds like Matthew McConaughey, to the point you may be waiting for the longtime Justice Leaguer to say “Alright, alright, alright.” It certainly fits with the comedic vibe DC Super Hero Girls has boasted since premiering in 2019, but while talking about his work on Teen Titans Go! & DC Super Hero Girls: Mayhem In The Multiverse, Friedle informed me that originally the producers had a different kind of voice in mind for their Aquaman. As he recalled:
They were going more beach bum with it. The thing that’s very funny is that, on Teen Titans Go! or on DC Super Hero Girls, when the older members of the Justice League show up, they’re kind of caricatures of themselves. So Batman always mumbles and Superman is very much the boy scout. So when we were talking about the voice for this, they said beach bum, and for some reason a bad Matthew McConaughey impression came out, and it seemed to work. So they were like, ‘That’s it! Perfect. Let’s stick with that.’ And at first, I didn’t know if it was going to work. I was kind of like, ‘I don’t know if they’re gonna want, again, my very bad Matthew McConaughey impression.’ But it did, it just kind of worked for the character, so I was really happy that it stayed.
Teen Titans Go! & DC Super Hero Girls: Mayhem In The Multiverse is Will Friedle’s second time voicing Aquaman, having previously done so in the DC Super Hero Girls episode #TheAquamanCometh, and initially he wasn’t sure if the producers would be ok with him pulling out his “bad” Matthews McConaughey impression. But evidently they liked it enough to toss out the original beach bum concept, as it functioned effectively as a different kind of Aquaman caricature alongside the other older Justice League members. Sure it’s a far cry from the Aquaman Jason Momoa plays in the DC Extended Universe, but pulling from the Interstellar actor is what makes it stand out. Frankly, Friedle’s McConaughey-inspired Aquaman stands in good company with the Aquaman John DiMaggio voice in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, who would frequently exclaim “Outrageous!”
While Aquaman doesn’t have as much screen time as Will Friedle’s Lex Luthor in Teen Titans Go! & DC Super Hero Girls: Mayhem In The Multiverse, he’s still given a fair amount to do in this team-up story, which is the first time these two superhero teams are crossing paths within a cinematic setting rather than on TV. Mayhem in the Multiverse’s ensemble cast also includes Scott Menville, Hynden Walch, Tara Strong, Khary Payton, Greg Cipes, Kimberly Brooks, Nicole Sullivan, Grey Griffin, Myrna Velasco and Kari Wahlgren all reprising their respective Teen Titans Go! and DC Super Hero Girls roles, as well as Missi Pyle voicing Cynthonna, the lead antagonist. Matt Peters and Katie Price directed the feature, Jase Ricci wrote the script, and James Tucker, overseer of the DC Animated Movie Universe, served as the supervising producer.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s Teen Titans Go! & DC Super Hero Girls: Mayhem In The Multiverse will be available to buy on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD starting tomorrow, May 24. It will then premiere on Cartoon Network on May 28, and HBO Max subscribers will be able to stream it when June 28 rolls around. As always, CinemaBlend will continue to share the latest and greatest news on upcoming DC movies, both live-action and animated.
