Josh Hutcherson will voice Mister Miracle, and Mackenzie Davis will voice Big Barda in DC’s animated adaptation of Tom King’s comic-book miniseries. James Gunn announced the casting on social media, confirming the actors behind the series’ central couple.
The Mister Miracle animated series draws from King and Mitch Gerads’ 2017 comic, which places a marriage in the middle of a seemingly never-ending war against Darkseid’s forces. Across 12 issues, Scott Free and Barda try to lead an ordinary married life in what little downtime they get. Weird metaphysical material sits alongside the mundane, domestic side of superhero life. Nerdist praises the miniseries as excellent.
Hutcherson came to prominence in the Hunger Games films before starring in Hulu’s Future Man and the Five Nights at Freddy’s movies. Davis’ credits include the “San Junipero” episode of Black Mirror, a replicant role in Blade Runner 2049, and a Terminator role in Terminator: Dark Fate. Nerdist also considers the pairing a good fit for the characters’ height contrast: Scott Free, better known as Mister Miracle, is canonically very short, while Big Barda is the opposite.
Both characters originated in Jack Kirby’s Fourth World metaseries, developed after he left Marvel for DC in 1970. Scott is a New God and the son of Highfather. Under a diplomatic agreement with Apokolips, he was sent there as a child to live as Darkseid’s ward, while Darkseid’s younger son, Orion, went to live on New Genesis.
As Darkseid’s young heir, Scott meets Barda, an Apokolips native raised under Granny Goodness’ abusive control to become one of the Female Furies, the planet’s fiercest warriors. Scott and Barda fall in love, eventually marry, and defect to New Genesis. Their shared history gives the adaptation more to work with than two heroes teaming up against a villain: they’re a couple trying to maintain a home life amid the fighting.
The casting also raises a question about the DCU under Peter Safran and Gunn: could these actors eventually play their characters in live action? In theory, yes, if a live-action appearance happens. That’s a possibility, not a confirmed casting announcement for another project. So far, Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr. is the only DCU character to have made the jump from animation to live action.
Other major roles could be ahead. If Nerdist’s recent list of remaining DCU movies is accurate, the slate includes projects involving Batman, Wonder Woman, the Teen Titans, and Swamp Thing. For now, Scott and Barda have their actors.
Presumably, other New Gods, Darkseid, and additional characters will join the animated series, though none of those appearances is confirmed. There’s no announced premiere date yet, either.
