LSH animated series: Live, from the DC Fandome, it's Saturday Afternoon!

 On Saturday Sept 12, the DC Fandome event (part 2) finally showed (recorded, streaming on demand) a 30-minute discussion with the producer, director, and voice actors from the 2006-08 Legion animated show. (It was originally to have been at the one back in August, before that was split into two, mostly movies in part 1 and mostly TV in part 2.)

• Top row: moderator Damian Holbrook (TV Guide), director Brandon Vietti, producer James Tucker
• Middle row: Andy Milder (voice of Lightning Lad), Shawn Harrison (voice of Timber Wolf, Ronn Karr), Adam Wylie (voice of Brainiac 5, Computo, Colossal Boy)
• Bottom row: Kari Wahlgren (voice of Saturn Girl, Triplicate Girl, Shrinking Violet, White Witch, Ayla Ranzz), Yuri Lowenthal (voice of Superman)

After the introductions, here's the transcript. 

Moderator: What is the genesis of this, how did it all come about?

Tucker: It was designed as a Superman-centric project, to try to tap onto the “Superman Returns” movie. That’s what it started out as. Then it kind of evolved into its own thing.

Mod: Did Warner Bros come to you and say, “We’ve got this thing called KidsWB, we want you to do this,” or were you doing it and then finding a place to put it?

Tucker: They came to me, I was coming off of “Justice League Unlimited,” the last season of that, and originally the show was supposed to be for Cartoon Network, so we did a whole different pitch for them. And then, I guess, on a Friday they said no. And then on Monday, KidsWB, which was then around, said “Yeah, sure, we’d like a Superman show!” So that’s how we got on there. But that meant I had to completely change the pitch in a week, to suit them. So it was a little older skewing originally, then for them we had to “young it up”, which, I’m glad, it gave it its own flavor. And then second season, we went back to more of what I had originally envisioned. 

Milder: Yeah, you did!

Mod: So let’s talk about that, because there is a marked difference between the first season and the second season. I’m guessing, Brandon, you really helped with that. Like, the colors even got deeper…

Milder: Lightning Lad had facial hair…

Mod: Yeah, everyone went through a growth spurt. Is that what you brought into it, Brandon? Is it, like, beefing these kids up and getting it to a place where they were like… in the first season, they were almost like early teens, and then in this one, it felt like they were much later.

Vietti: I mean, I was following James’ lead there. I think it was a good fit for me, going into the more… I’d say the stories got a little more mature, a little more aged up I think, by second season as we were growing with the Legionnaires. And that’s definitely a kind of story I like to tell, that skews a little bit older in the lives of the young heroes. 

Tucker: That’s the show I wanted to make!

Mod: OK, so in the first season, James, what kind of themes did you want to take on then? Because you were dealing with younger

Tucker: You know, we dealt with mean girls in the Alexis Luthor, we dealt with leadership, like, you know, Bouncing Boy coming into his own as a leader. A lot of little things, but by the end, by the last two episodes, we got to really start upping the stakes of the show, and that’s what led us into season 2, where it definitely skews older, definitely has more stakes. And also the idea of it being a legion, meaning there’s a bunch of members…

Mod: It’s a different universe in the second season, I will say that… But let’s take a look, first, you’ve got this great moment in the first season where Clark Kent, he does not even realize that he’s got to become Superman yet, he meets the Legion for the first time, and you can clearly see where the youthful energy of the first season is. So let’s take a look at that. [shows clip from s01e01, when Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5, and Saturn Girl meet Clark Kent] For Kari, Saturn Girl, what did you want to, kind of, imbue her with?

Wahlgren: We were trying to find this, kind of, sweet spot as far as making her, you know, mature, like she was definitely kind of one of the more smarter members of the team, and kind of wrangling some of the guys. And you know, she’s still a kid and trying to figure out her way in this world and everything. So yeah, I kind of just remember trying to find that balance between her being a teenager and being, you know, a very strong member of that team. You know, I thought Saturn Girl was going to be mostly what I played in the show, and then they brought in Triplicate Girl, and Shrinking Violet, and some other characters, although Infectious Lass was one of my personal favorites. 

Others: Yeah, that was fantastic [all agreeing]

Wahlgren: But I was just going to say Triplicate Girl, I thought actually over the course of the two seasons had a lot more of an arc, even than Saturn Girl did, which ended up being really, really interesting. 

Mod: So Andy, Lightning Lad, you got to grow up with this kid. You know, you got to take him from first season where he was, like, he didn’t have facial hair yet, to that second season where he did, like, he had a pretty dark arc, with the brother and all that. What did you want him to be like?

Milder: I grew up with these comics. I would read the Legion when I went over to my cousin’s house, he had like the 10 and 12 cent comic books that I would read. So I grew up with this. And I was so excited because Lightning Lad was kind of always my favorite, so it was super cool to get to play Lightning Lad. Lightning Lad really does evolve, and it’s nice. I mean, it’s really nice when you get to play a character who gets to go from stupid jerk to still jerk but more thoughtful jerk. You know, he’s also insecure, and he’s also trying to find himself and his place, and it’s fun to play that.

Mod: And now Shawn, Timber Wolf in the first season, a very dark back story! Like, he’s experimented on by his own father. 

Harrison: I know, isn’t that the worst? [Laughs]

Mod: And the greatest thing is, they actually get to bring it back in the second season, but that was pretty heavy. He had really no reason to want to align with anyone at that point. 

Harrison: Well, … 

Tucker: … much like Shawn! [laughs]

Harrison: Which, you know, is funny that you say that, James, because I was sitting and I was thinking about the comparison of myself and Timber Wolf, and what I like most about the character is in season 1, how he is challenged to understand himself and understand where he fits within the group. And then you see the evolution of Timber Wolf in season 2 where he steps forward and becomes a part of the leadership portion of the squad, and I liked that a lot and watching it, because I binge watched this, it was crazy that that first episode you talked about, the introduction of Timber Wolf was so dark and how there was the callback episode in season 2 which was even darker, which is actually my favorite episode because it has that kind of noir feeling to it. There was definitely growth there, but the whole thing about the beast within, the loner, wanting to control oneself and not knowing if you can control yourselves, and live up to the expectation and the ideals you have for yourself. I definitely relate to the character. So I was able to infuse some of myself into Timber Wolf.

Mod: And that voice, I’m telling you, it was like the perfect voice for that character. It was just classic. I was like, “Oh my God, that’s exactly what Timber Wolf should sound like!”

Harrison: I’m glad you said that, I appreciate it.

Mod: So Adam, tell me about the challenges of playing this guy because, and it’s really interesting, the calibration of the performance in the first and second season because, like, first season he is, when you see him on screen, he is a boy, and then where he finds himself in the final two episodes, you’re like…

Wylie: Oh, yeah, he’s beast mode at that point. 

Mod: Did you realize? Did you know that this character was… I mean, obviously, it’s Brainiac, so… 

Wylie: Yes, I also was a huge fan of the comic book, so I knew he was going to turn evil at some point. I had a lot of friends ask me because, you know, we’re all nerds, and they were like, “Okay, when is Brainiac going to turn evil? Like, he’s not this guy, you know, he’s going to turn against Superman! And then ultimately, he’s part of the destruction!” And I’m like “Hold on, wait for season 2, just trust me, it’s all going to be resolved, you'll be all right.” I was super stoked when that started to happen, to be honest, because I love playing the bad guy. [clip of Brainiac 5 playing chess against Brainiac]

Mod: It was you and Corey Burton doing this, correct? 

Wylie: Yes, absolutely!

Mod: Did you guys get to record that together? 

Wylie: I was doing “Wicked” at the same time as season 2, so there were times when I had to, like, get that out for a half hour or have a put-in rehearsal, so it was a little… Scheduling was a little odd for me during that second season. 

Mod: As voice performers, I’ve always wanted to know, what is your thing that you make sure you always do to make sure that your voice stays at the top of its game.

Wylie: Sleep is number one. Water is number two. As long as you have those things, enough sleep and enough water, that solves a lot of problems for me personally. And coffee, for some weird reason.

Lowenthal: Let me step in and say coffee – if I have to do a session that day, I can’t drink coffee. Coffee messes with my voice. It dries me out and makes me a little stringy. And yeah, I’m always extra cranky when I … it’s not ‘cause you know, “I get to work but I’m cranky because I haven’t had any coffee.” But I can’t, yeah.

Mod: But then you have to be Superman, and Superman has saccharine.

Lowenthal: That’s true.

Mod: Though, there was a moment in the second season where Superman was kind of like, “What’s he getting into?”

Lowenthal: When I try to get people turned on to the show, I will say, “OK, watch the first two episodes of season 2, and if you’re not hooked, you can walk away.” Those are some of the best… That’s like the best two-part season opener, you know, I’ve ever seen, I always go back to it, it is unspeakably good.

Tucker: That’s where Brandon came in. 

Mod: So James, had you already… Did you already have an idea of what you wanted season 2 to be like? 

Tucker: Greenlit. [all laugh] I mean, we came this close to not coming back for season 2, so by the time we got our greenlight, we were already a month behind, so we just had to scramble. But, you know, when you don’t have a lot of time, that’s when you put your best foot forward and you just, you know, you can’t afford to make bad decisions. So we were actually asked to bring in another Superman-like character. It ended up being, the best choice was to just to create a clone of Superman. Because whoever that character had to be, had to be a reflection of Superman in a way. And then, because we brought Superman into that season as well, it was about them bouncing off. So their story had to tie together. That’s what we knew going in. 

Mod: How do you run up the flagpole, the pitch of “we want to do two Supermen in our show.”

Tucker: Like I said, in this instance, the network came to us and said “OK, if you want your greenlight, here’s what we want.” No, they wanted, they asked for that. And in fact, it’s rare that a network will push your show to go darker. Usually it’s the opposite, but by that point, KidsWB had pretty much said “OK, we gotta do something.” So literally, they pretty much, you know, the person who was in charge at that time was open to, really, just good storytelling, and she didn’t care if we went dark. And a lot of things we did in that season were suggestions she gave. She also was a huge Superman fan. And so, we ended up calling him Kell-El. But this is the best network note I ever got, all right? Because her original note was like, “can we call him Kill-El?” She’s like “can we get ‘blood’ or something in this?”

Mod: Yuri, when they talked about this, were you already like “well I need to voice both of them”, or was there like a possibility that someone else…

Lowenthal: Well here’s the thing. You know I said earlier that I had something to say about that, and I think I’ve said it to James at least before. But just so that it goes on the record, this is usually the part where they get somebody else to play that guy. And I will never be able to thank you guys enough for trusting me to do both, because that doesn’t happen. 

Mod: And the cool thing is like, Kell-El, he wasn’t bad, he wasn’t even really a jerk. He just came from a  period where he had seen some things. He had gone through some stuff. And I really liked the fact that “Yeah, if stuff was going down, I’d want this guy in the battle.” How did you differentiate them?

Lowenthal: Well, I thought of basically that. Where did they come from? Superman was still Superboy, essentially, you know. He hadn’t become Superman until the second season. He had a little more life experience. But they had seen different things, they had different backgrounds, that was mostly what it took. [clip of Superman and Kell-El talking about Brainiac 5] I’m trying to think, I don’t remember during the sessions if we, I don’t remember, did I go back and forth? Or did we do all one, and then all the other one? You guys remember? 

Harrison: You did them both at the same time. And I don’t know if you remember this, Yuri, but you had a stance for each Superman.

All: Oh, I remember! That’s right!

Harrison: You did one Superman like this [classic pose with arms bent and hands on the hips in hero pose], and one was just a little more relaxed. 

Lowenthal: Oh my goodness! [everyone laughing] See, I blacked out. 

Harrison: You remember that Kari?

Wahlgren: Yes! [laughing]

Mod: You guys got to play with some really fun voice actors. You had Wil Wheaton as Cosmic Boy, Phil Morris doing Imperiex, Taylor Negron [Starfinger], Harry Lennix [Dr Mar Londo], then you had Khary Payton [Hunter, Tyr] and Tara Strong [Esper, season 2 Emerald Empress], and James Arnold Taylor [Lightning Lord, Porcupine Pete, Jo Nah, Color Kid, Mekt Ranzz]… Anyone that stood out?

Milder: Taylor Negron. I mean, to this day, on camera or on voice, I can’t remember ever laughing as hard and as painfully like… it’s church, right? When you’re in a room with all these people and they’re recording, you can’t make a noise or you’re gonna go over them. So, you know, you’re [snickering] and you’re doing everything you can not to laugh, and every little thing…

Tucker: Unruly, that’s the only word I can remember that… he was…

Milder: All of us agreed, or at least I can anyway, that Taylor was the standout. But it should be noted that he was a standout amongst a group of…  I mean, Wil Wheaton, amazing to work with. So I mean Taylor, it was on fire. But everyone. I really don’t remember, and I can’t say this about all the shows I worked on, but I can’t remember anyone who came in where I was like [groans]. Like, I really remember the bar being really high. 

Lowenthal: I remember Dan Castellaneta [Boris in the haunted house episode] coming in, you know, Homer Simpson…

Wahlgren: YES!!!

Lowenthal: He wasn’t, I don’t know, he was just so amazing. 

Walhgren: He was another one who stuck out to me too, as far as just his range. You don’t truly appreciate how good he is until you’re actually in a room working with him. That was my other moment where I remember sitting in there and just going like, “This is real good! This is like, good stuff.” I’ve got to say, Harry Lennix, who played Shawn’s dad, that I remember just sitting and watching you guys do one of those scenes, and I’m just like “Oh my God, there’s some real acting happening here!” There’s like “Oh! Oh!” 

Wylie: Yeah, I remember that moment, you said that out loud, Kari.

Wahlgren: Oh no!

Mod: So, Adam, are you wearing a Legion ring? 

Wylie: Yes I am!

Mod: Who else here has a Legion ring? [Tucker and Lowenthal show theirs] There’s James!

Harrison: So unfair, so unfair! 

Mod: eBay!

Wylie: It’s called a flight ring. 

Lowenthal: You know, my son is just old enough for me to start forcing him to watch the show [all laugh], and he fell in love with it. And of course, the first episode, he’s like “Dad, I’m Superman!” I’m like “that’s right you are!” And then later on in the episode he’s like, “no, I’m Lightning Lad!”

Milder: Yeah!

Lowenthal: And then he got to the second episode, and he’s like “Timber Wolf for life”. And he’s been Timber Wolf for six months! So for his birthday, I went online and bought him a Legion flight ring, which is too huge for him, he can’t possibly wear it, but I’m like “maybe I should just get one of those for me while I’m at it!” So I did, yeah.

Mod: OK, fan questions. For James, Brandon, or Adam, this is from Archie in the United States, “In the animated show, was it intended to seem like Brainiac 5 had a crush on Clark? Or were there plans to have LGBTQ+ characters in the show?”

Tucker: Those are two questions. [all laugh] But yes to the first one, and we hadn’t quite decided on the second one. 

Mod: So something was there. 

Tucker: Well, yeah. But I thought having subtext… that’s the thing, when sometimes the network doesn’t want you to have any subtext in anything you do, so that a person who can watch it can bring their own thing to it. So it was there, but it wasn’t something we wanted to hit over the head or make a hard, fast, you know, statement about. But if someone saw it, it’s valid. 

Wylie: What I loved about that was that Brainiac 5 clearly not only admired Superman but there was something even more there. And it was really a “fond”, actually, to like a more not “obsession” but just the “love” that this robot who didn’t have emotion developed for a human was pretty awesome, actually. 

Mod: And it kind of foreshadows as far as the entanglement that those characters had throughout the history of these characters. 

Wylie: Yeah, absolutely.

Mod: OK, this comes from Michael Lederhoss of the United States. He wants to know where would season 3 have taken the show if it had continued?

Harrison: I want to know that!

Lowenthal: It would have been amazing!

Wylie: I was devastated there wasn’t a season 3. 

Harrison: Me too.

Mod: Let me tell you, when Brainiac 5 walks out with his super-cool round luggage, I was like “they’re not coming back, they’re leaving us hanging! And Triplicate Girl just got reunited!” I’m like “Hey, we got stuff to do!” So what did you have planned?

Tucker: Well, you know, I was a novice producer, so I thought, “if you leave it on a cliffhanger, they have to…” [all laugh] That’s how little I knew. I was like “well, they can’t NOT let us come back!” But yeah, we knew we wanted to start with Brainiac’s… He’s human at the end of it, you know, he’s somehow miraculously “magic boy become human”. And it was like, “Well what does that mean? What is that?” And he has to redeem himself because he’s basically, he destroyed half the galaxy. And so it was kind of an arc for that. We really didn’t get too much further into it other than, we knew that. 

Mod: And from Tee in the United Kingdom, “Can we expect a revival of this series? Was in love with Legion of Superheroes!” Brandon, being so plugged in with the animated universe over there, maybe a movie? 

Vietti: I would love to come back to a movie, I mean, I love science fiction, I love superheroes, this show is the best combination of them both. With all the high stakes and all the drama we got to play out in season 2, it still had heart. So it just had everything about it. And you’re right, I miss it as well, I really wish we had more to do. I mean, every artist that worked on it wished they could have worked on it longer. I know everybody talked about like how fun it was to draw the designs. And that’s a huge credit to James who really led the design work on that. 

Tucker: You know, we wanted to just get a real face lift, the whole show, and to make it a little more mature. And the script just kind of followed suit. We knew where we wanted to go with the story. I don’t think that story would have worked with our season 1 designs which were very innocent looking, very light and colorful. 

Mod: And for the actors, what did you think when you came back for season 2 and you saw how different your characters looked?

Harrison: I was blown away. 

Milder: How do you not enjoy seeing growth in a character? Especially when it’s done in a … [all agreeing]

Wahlgren: Yeah, it was always so interesting. For me, like, I remember each week so excited to see where they were taking the story and how the characters were gonna grow, and then you get some more back story about some of them, and ... Yeah, you just kind of felt, especially in that season 2, that it was just opening up all sorts of possibilities of where these characters could go. 

Mod: You guys, thank you so much for being here, this was awesome. I’m so excited to talk to you guys. I’m so excited that [holds up case] Legion of Superheroes, available on Blu-Ray, go to your favorite online retailer 

Harrison: You guys, go buy it!

Mod: You guys, thank you so much and have a great day!

[video clip: Long Live the Legion!]