Why Great Wide Wonder From The Boys Presents: Diabolical Sounds So Familiar
Contains spoilers for "The Boys Presents: Diabolical," Episode 3, "I'm Your Pusher."
While some top-tier names are lending their voices to "The Boys: Diabolical" animated anthology series, there are a few that are applied so discreetly you'll be scratching your head when their name appears in the credits. One prime example of this is in the third "Diabolical" episode, "I'm Your Pusher," written by "The Boys" comics creator Garth Ennis. The debut episode sees Billy Butcher (Jason Isaacs), and hero-hater Hughie (Simon Pegg) come knocking at the door of a drug-dealer-to-the-supers named O.D. (Kieran Culkin). Billy blackmails O.D., listing off all the heroes he enables with his suspect services so that he can pressure the dealer to deliver a particularly potent drug to a high-flying super named The Great Wide Wonder.
The episode's final act takes place as a Hall of Fame induction ceremony for The Great Wide Wonder, overseen by Homelander (Antony Starr) and Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott). As the inductee zooms in from the sky, Billy, Hughie, and O.D. watch him fly around at alarmingly fast speeds. It's then that Billy reveals the drug he had O.D. sell to The Great Wide Wonder, the one responsible for causing a scene at the ceremony, is a lethal brew concocted by The Boys team member Frenchie. In the episode's climactic scene, the crowd watches as the hotshot superhero's life is cut shockingly short in a grand spectacle befitting the world in which it occurs.
So, just who is it that voices this giggling moron hopped up on of Frenchie's mad concoctions? Well, while he might not be superhero material here, he's undoubtedly been one in the past in another iconic comic book adaptation.
Michael Cera was a teen about town in Superbad
After steadily rising to fame through the beloved cult hit sitcom "Arrested Development," Michael Cera became known worldwide when he decided to entrust his friend to buy alcohol a fake ID in Greg Mottola's classic comedy "Superbad." Well, technically, it was his character, but still.
Written by future "The Boys" producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, Cera is the co-lead of "Superbad" opposite Jonah Hill, who also broke out thanks to his performance in this raunchy teen comedy. Cera plays Evan, the timid and supremely socially awkward friend to Hill's overly confident Seth. The 2007 film follows the friends as they roam the suburbs in search of a wild night — their last chance to do so before they part ways for college. Clashing brilliantly with Hill's F-bomb-dropping Seth, Cera creates comedy gold as a guy uncomfortable in his own skin — and one that can gamely sing "These Eyes" on request.
He played a normcore hero who got a life in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
After cementing himself as the ideal "guy who's a socially awkward but very sweet" in "Arrested Development," "Superbad," and "Juno," Cera mixed things up a little when he took the lead role in Edgar Wright's electrically-charged adaptation of "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World." The 2010 film was the actor's first significant effort in a comic-book-related space. Cera plays the titular Scott Pilgrim, a slacker guitarist with major relationship issues who is forced to become a hero after he meets the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). However, they can only live happily ever after once he's beaten her seven evil exes. No pressure.
A success for fans and critics alike (via Rotten Tomatoes), Cera is a great fit as Scott, surrounded by a cast that was bursting with would-be heroes. Besides Winstead, who would go on to appear in "Birds of Prey" as Huntress, "Scott Pilgrim" also stars Brie Larson and Chris Evans, both of whom earned the rank of captain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Captain Marvel and Captain America, respectively.
Cera voiced a hotdog in Sausage Party
In what might be one of the most bizarre casting credits in Michael Cera's career (along with everyone else who starred in it), 2016 saw him take on the complex character of a misshapen grocery store sausage named Barry in the adult animated comedy "Sausage Party." Starring Seth Rogen as the voice of Frank, a sausage who undergoes an existential awakening about his life, "Sausage Party" follows this meaty man and his friends as they try to change their fate so that they can have true agency over their lives instead of leaving the store only to be consumed by humans.
Cera's character is an integral part of the story, which reveals itself to be part "Saving Private Ryan," part "Supermarket Sweep" over the course of its 89-minute runtime. Barry is one of the few food items who encounters a human in the film and discovers what horrors await him and his wiener companions as he watches other food being murdered for consumption. He makes a harrowing escape but manages to reunite with Frank and his friends, overthrowing the order of the grocery store in the process. "Sausage Party" earned a surprisingly good amount of praise from critics (per Rotten Tomatoes), even though this film includes images of mustard jars resigning themselves to a terrible fate by flinging themselves off shelves and cute-looking food items who are massacred.
He voiced this iconic Batman sidekick in The Lego Batman Movie
Expanding his comic book movie capabilities, Michael Cera gives one of the most out-there interpretations of the Boy Wonder in "The Lego Batman Movie," the brick-lliant spin-off of "The Lego Movie." Opposite Will Arnett's gruff-voiced Caped Crusader, who seemingly always wants to be alone, Cera was almost as unrecognizable as the constantly chipper Richard Grayson (although everyone at the orphanage calls him Dick). In the charming animated flick, Dick Grayson sneaks into the Batcave, and the rest is history as he starts his journey of fighting crime alongside Batman.
Even with an incredible voice cast, which includes folks like Rosario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes, and Zach Galifianakis, Cera still stands as the film's top scene-stealer. Through his performance, he adds even more silliness to the story, with his obsession for snug shorts and a sparkly cape tripping up the Dark Knight time after time. No matter who may have donned the red and yellow over the years, it's safe to say Cera's Robin might have worn it best.