Robin may not be making an appearance in BATMAN V. SUPERMAN, but the Boy Wonder will indeed be backing up the Dark Knight onscreen, at least in LEGO form.
Will Arnett’s ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT nephew Michael Cera will be voicing his loyal sidekick in LEGO BATMAN. Word is he passed on either Ezra Miler or Dan Fogler’s role in FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM to reteam with the man who, on television, has both applied him with “Forget-Me-Nows” (read: roofies) and stole (and eventually married) his underage girlfriend.
Cera’s also got a voice in Seth Rogen’s SAUSAGE PARTY.
Cera’s post-SUPERBAD career has been way rockier than his co-star Jonah Hill’s: sure, he had JUNO, but he followed that up with stuff like YEAR ONE, YOUTH IN REVOLT, and SCOTT PILGRIM (which, despite your feelings on it, was most certainly a bomb). He also had a major hand in shaping the fourth season of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, which many people (not including myself) thought was a pretty major failure. He’s had more luck popping up in smaller, weirder stuff like CRYSTAL FAIRY, and played wonderfully against type in THIS IS THE END, but he hasn’t really had a prominent role in a major film since PILGRIM.
They’re obviously going with Cera as much for his relationship with Arnett as they are for his star power, which is great; Arnett was phenomenal in his supporting role in THE LEGO MOVIE, but without the rest of that film’s cast, he’s gonna need some backup to give his film the same level of legitimacy. They had a very speciic chemistry on AD that capitalized on Arnett's deep-voiced naughtiness and Cera's natural, boyish innocence/naivete. It could be pretty funny if they simply imported the G.O.B./George-Michael relationship over to Batman, albeit with maybe an added tinge of actual loyalty and mutual respect. Can’t you already imagine Arnett telling Cera to, “Cut it out with the ‘holy’ stuff, ’kay kid?” and the like?
I like that Robin’s going to be a major part of this film, playing straight man (or at least slightly more reasonable man) to the haughty, clueless LEGO BATMAN. Cera would be a good call if Bats weren’t played by his former sniveling onscreen uncle, but repairing Arnett and Cera seems natural, smart, and potentially hilarious.
LEGO BATMAN plays more of his music for us on February 10th, 2017.
