‘I didn’t even have to ask’: A Disney legend is reprising their role as an iconic Batman villain in the last place we expected

The incoming slate of DC offerings could make or break the era of the superhero that’s dominated the box office for a decade and a half.

Historically, DC simply hasn’t matched up to its red-branded rival, and many superhero fans have started to lose faith in the property as a whole. With the franchise’s rebirth and James Gunn at its head, however, we may see the beleaguered heroes of DC comics finally surpass their Marvel counterparts. That’ll be helped along massively by the inclusion of the utterly iconic Alan Tudyk, a Disney favorite and incoming DC powerhouse.

Tudyk was already nearly as heavily embroiled in the new wave of DC content as he is with the House of Mouse. He’s been lending his vocal talents to animated projects for decades now — his first Disney flick was 2012’s Wreck it Ralph, but his first animated release came several years earlier in Batman: The Brave and the Bold. He’s set to return to the world of the Dark Knight in just a few weeks, with his role as Doctor Phosphorus in Creature Commandos.

Its an exciting role, to be sure, and Tudyk will no doubt knock it out of the park, but that’s not the unexpected news. The unexpected news is that Tudyk is set to reprise — or perhaps fully reimagine — another classic DC character right alongside Phosphorus.

That’s right, Tudyk is set to play not one, but two separate characters in Creature Commandos, and what’s more, one of them is already linked to the 53-year-old star. On top of Phosphorus, Tudyk is also set to play Clayface, a character he already dazzled fans with via his portrayal in 2019’s Harley Quinn. His previous delivery of Clayface was widely celebrated by viewers, and the revelation of his reprisal is stirring fans into a frenzy.

Tudyk told Rotten Tomatoes correspondent Perri Nemiroff that he “didn’t have to ask” for the role, it was always assumed he would take it on. Apparently his first portrayal of the character stuck with Gunn as much as it stuck with the rest of us, and he was dead-set on Tudyk’s return before the star even inquired after the character.

Emphasizing the massive difference between how Clayface is delivered in Harley Quinn vs Creature Commandos, Tudyk gushed over the opportunity to bring two different interpretations of the same character to life.

“So it’s the same character, that’s what’s really cool about DC. I get to play the same character two completely different ways, and I like them both,” he said. “It’s really nice that James let me play Clayface. I was so happy. I didn’t even have to ask — I was going to ask. When I saw it in there, he let me know that I got to do it.”

Don’t expect to see that goofy, low-IQ Clayface clomping around in Creature Commandos. It sounds like we’re in for a much harsher and more sinister interpretation of the character this time around, and there’s no one more suited to the challenge than Tudyk.