The holidays have begun and hot off the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike, actor David Harbour was excited to talk about his DC Studios future.
io9 caught up with Harbour at the BoxLunch Holiday Gala, where the Stranger Things star was named BoxLunch Ambassador for the fandom fashion house. Harbour presented Feeding America with BoxLunch’s $100,000 donation, and then matched that donation, making a joint contribution of $200,000 to support the charity’s hunger relief efforts.
On the red carpet, io9 got the actor to chat about his still very secretive slate of upcoming projects. With James Gunn’s DC Studios gearing up to release Creature Commandos next year, the actor discussed how the version of Frankenstein he’s playing is different from his turn as the character on Netflix’s off-kilter hidden comedic gem Frankenstein’s Monster’s Monster, Frankenstein.
Appreciative of our love for that deep cut (“that’s how I got into Juilliard!”), Harbour discussed how the two takes, though both comedic, stand apart, “Oh, yeah. No, he’s very different. I mean, it’s the mind of James Gunn so it is wacky and strange, but also full of a lot of depth and complexity,” he shared, describing why he’s drawn to Mary Shelley’s literary legend. “The most interesting thing to me about Frankenstein’s monster in general is that he was created to be this sort of erudite, intellectual, romantic, brilliant person, and he winds up being a monster. I mean, that complexity can make for some pretty ripe comedy and also pathos—that a guy who considers himself one thing, is viewed by others as something very different. That’s the broadest, most mysterious way I can put it, because all I know is the scripts are really good. What we recorded is really great. I’ve seen the art, James is a genius. I think it’s going to be really fun and really exciting, and it opens up a whole new door to the DC Universe of how these characters will occupy the world. I like the concept of a live action and cartoon back and forth.”
When asked if he’s ready to don the full Frankenstein look for live action, Harbour laughed. “I mean, I don’t know how they do it nowadays. It feels like Mark Ruffalo just puts some dots on his face for the Hulk. But I don’t know how they’ll do it.” When we suggested Gunn might opt for classic monster prosthetics, the former Hellboy said he’d be into it. “I’ve worn prosthetics in movies before, I’m definitely down for it. I just love telling great stories that people love. I’m just happy to get back to work.”
Creature Commandos will air on Max in 2024.
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