Michael Cera is voicing Robin in the ‘Lego Batman’ movie
Michael Cera voicing Robin in the Lego Batman movie? Sounds great to me. Hot off of his doppelganger Jesse Eisenburger saying Comic-Con was like “genocide”, it’s nice to see the other shoe-gazing kiddo embracing the community. (This is probably a completely unfair assessment. I don’t fucking care.)
The Lego Movie is a project that consists entirely of inspired ideas, but casting the gravelly-voiced Will Arnett as Batman is probably in the top five. With the character’s spin-off in the works, the inspired casting continues! It seems that the soft-spoken Michael Cera is set voice Robin in Lego Batman.
The Hollywood Reporter has the story and it couldn’t be more perfect. Cera, best known for playing awkward, diminutive characters, would be an ideal foil for Arnett’s brash, egotistical Dark Knight. It feels right before you remember that Arnett and Cera co-starred together in four seasons of Arrested Development, where they showcased great chemistry as GOB Bluth and George Michael Bluth, respectively. So not only is the funniest character in The Lego Movie getting a spin-off, he’s getting a spin-off that will double as a cast reunion for one of the greatest sitcoms ever made.
The Lego Movie still feels like lightning in a bottle, an idea that had no right to work but somehow pulled it off. Any sequel or spin-off feels like it would be pushing its luck. This is a world that could very easily fall into crass commercialism without the right amount of care. Hopefully, director Chris McKay, who was animation supervisor on The Lego Movie, will maintain that balance of humor and heart that original directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord brought to the table (the duo are still on board as producers). The casting of Cera is step one in everyone proving that they’ve got this.