Live-Action Nightwing Casting Dream Revealed By DC Voice Actor

As James Gunn’s DC Universe is on the horizon, a DC actor wants to land the Nightwing role in the new franchise. Multiple DC Universe Chapter 1: “Gods and Monsters” movies and TV shows are in the works at DC Studios, marking a new era for Warner Bros. Discovery with their DC IPs. On the small screen, Creature Commandos will kick off the DC Universe in December, while the Superman movie arrives in theaters next year as the first proper film from Gunn’s continuity.

Screen Rant recently chatted with Christopher Sean at New York Comic Con for Netflix’s Ultraman: Rising, who was asked if the superhero genre would be something he would want to explore further. Sean, who is no stranger to the DC brand as he voiced Nightwing in the Gotham Knights video game, shared that he would love to take part in Gunn’s DC Universe as Dick Grayson, sharing the following:

No, yeah, I’ve done two. I played Nightwing in DC’s Gotham Knights, which is really awesome because I’m the first Asian American to portray Nightwing. And I also played Toyman in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League – engineer, savant, genius. Genius boy. And it’s nice because I think he’s the only Japanese American mixed character, which is really nice. But jumping into live action? I would absolutely love that. I’ve trained my whole life in martial arts, again, many of these people… they were my role models growing up. The way I trained, the martial arts I learned, so that I could portray them live action. So if there’s ever that opportunity, I’m ready… James Gunn, pull the trigger.

What Christopher Sean’s Nightwing Casting Would Mean For DC

Gunn has stated that actors who voice characters in animated DC Universe movies or TV shows will play their live-action counterparts if brought into that format. If Sean were to get cast as Nightwing in Gunn’s DC Universe, it wouldn’t be the first time that actors from non-connected DC animation and/or video games have tried or succeeded in playing their character in live-action. Arrowverse star Matt Ryan went back and forth in playing John Constantine across DC TV shows and various DC animated films set in other continuities.

In fact, the DC Universe was close to having a DC animated actor join Gunn’s franchise very recently, as Meg Donnelly confirmed that she had auditioned for Supergirl earlier this year in an interview with Screen Rant. She had initially played Kara Zor-El in the short-lived DC animated franchise, the Tomorrowverse, meaning she would have been one of a handful of actors to get to play the same role, but in a different medium. Whether or not Sean will get to audition for Nightwing in Gunn’s DC Universe remains to be seen for the time being.

Our Take On Nightwing’s Live-Action Casting

Given that The Brave and The Bold movie will follow a version of Bruce Wayne with an established Bat-Family, it likely means that Dick Grayson is already Nightwing at this point in the continuity. Depending on the age range that DC Studios will go for Nightwing, Sean could be a great fit for the iconic DC hero. But for now, time will tell when Nightwing will actually show up in Gunn’s DC Universe franchise.

DC Universe

The DC Universe is one of the biggest comic book franchises and often competes with Marvel. DC Comics started as National Allied Publications, founded by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson in 1935. Since then, the franchise has exploded with thousands of comic books, movies, TV shows, and video games. 2013 marked the beginning of the most recent iteration of the superheroes, with Zack Snyder introducing Henry Cavill as Superman. After several movies with mixed reviews, DC underwent a soft reboot under the helm of James Gunn and Peter Safran.

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