Any kid who grew up in the ’90s will surely remember Seth Green most for his role as the rebellious son of Mike Myers’ Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers movies or as Daniel “Oz” Osbourne on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” But before he debuted as Willow Rosenberg’s (Alyson Hannigan) boyfriend on the cult WB series, he appeared in a Warner Bros. animation classic that many fans may have missed.
Back in 1992, Green voiced a character named Wizard in “I Am the Night,” an episode from the first season of “Batman: The Animated Series.” Though it’s not necessarily an essential “Batman: TAS” installment, the episode is a prime example of how the series never shied away from more mature storylines, despite the fact it was ostensibly a kids cartoon. “I Am the Night” begins with a troubled Batman questioning the efficacy of his one-man assault on crime. “A weary body can be dealt with,” he tells Alfred. “But a weary spirit … that’s something else.” Next, Commissioner Gordon is gunned down by gangster James “Jimmy” Peake, aka Jazzman, one of many original characters introduced to the canon by “Batman: TAS.” This unfortunate event causes Batman/Bruce Wayne to suffer a bout of depression, especially as he was supposed to arrive earlier to help apprehend Jazzman. Unfortunately, while visiting the alleyway where his parents were killed, the Dark Knight was held up.
In that same alleyway, two thugs menace Wizard, a young con man who had moved to Gotham with the hope of becoming rich but was forced to resort to petty crime in order to stay afloat. Today, most should instantly recognize the character’s voice as that of Green, but back then, he was just getting started and actually kicked off his voice acting career with “B:TAS.”
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Seth Green appeared in a great Batman: The Animated Series episode
Wizard walks down a dark alleyway in Batman the Animated Series – Warner Bros.
Once Batman saves Wizard from fellow criminals Willie and Monk, who evidently want money from the misguided kid, he remains unimpressed, telling Batman that he doesn’t need help from some “jerk in long underwear.” Soon after, Batman is overcome by his apparent inability to affect any real change and his guilt over allowing Commissioner Gordon to get hurt. He then loses his cool in one of the saddest moments from “Batman: The Animated Series.” Later, however, after Gordon pulls through, Batman returns to visit Wizard as he waits for a bus. The vigilante is surprised to hear that Wizard actually learned something from their previous encounter and has decided to head home. The kid then thanks his hero before leaving, restoring Batman’s belief in his mission.
“I Am the Night” is arguably close to being one of the best episodes of “Batman: TAS.” Reaffirming Batman’s belief in his mission makes for a simple but effective plot that keeps things focused on the main character while providing plenty of opportunity to inject some depth into the episode — something “TAS” was known for. It’s also an early voice acting role for Seth Green that hinted at what was to come for the actor.
“I Am the Night” debuted November 9, 1992, a year after Green had appeared in what was his first small-screen lead role on ABC’s “Good & Evil.” He’d also played roles in several movies throughout the ’80s, so some audiences may have been familiar with him by the time he voiced Wizard on “B:TAS.” Still, he was far from the well-known actor he would become in the following decade.
Seth Green started his voiceover career with Batman: The Animated Series
Wizard, Batman, and Leslie Thompkins stand side by side in Batman The Animated Series – Warner Bros.
Interestingly enough, the same year he voiced Wizard, Seth Green also played a vampire in the oft-derided but actually good “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” movie — though he only appeared briefly and went uncredited for his contribution. In “I Am the Night,” however, he was very much credited, appearing alongside the main cast in the episode’s end credits and securing his first ever voice acting role. As his career took off, he’d rack up plenty more voice acting credits.
Not only did Green go on to voice Nelson Nash in multiple episodes of the “Batman Beyond” animated series (which holds a confusing place in the DC timeline), he arguably landed one of the biggest jobs of his career when he started voicing Chris Griffin on “Family Guy” — a role he still has to this day. Green also voiced Leonardo in the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” series that ran from 2014 to 2017 and the character of Joker in the “Mass Effect” video games. That’s to say nothing of “Robot Chicken,” which he created, directed, wrote, produced, and lent his voice to multiple times.
Green also returned to the world of comic book adaptations when he provided the voice for Howard the Duck in several Marvel Cinematic Universe films, including James Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” trilogy and Marvel’s Disney+ series “What If…?”, all of which must have been unthinkable to the kid who played Wizard back in the “Batman: The Animated Series” days.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.
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