Poor old Doug Jones. He just can’t catch a break, at least vocally speaking. Or is that speaking vocally? Anyway, he slaves under the prosthetic for Abe Sapien in Hellboy and then the studio decides his voice isn’t recognisable enough, or characteristic enough, and dubs him over with David Hyde Pierce.
And now, despite spending months with ping-pong balls attached to his body, performing as The Silver Surfer for the rest of the cast and lots of work helping the Weta Digital team build the character in Fantastic Four 2, he’s being silenced again.
Because in Rise Of The Silver Surfer, the voice of the titular metallic planetary herald will be provided by… Laurence Fishburne. Now, he’s certainly a recognisable voice with gravitas falling out of his ears and all, but you’ve got to feel for poor old Doug.
The ‘net has been abuzz recently with rumours that Fishburne would be providing the suitably gravely tones for planet-noshing super-being Galactus. But while director Tim Story and his Fox bosses are apparently still deciding whether the big G actually talks at all, the rumours are starting to swirl that he’ll only appear as a huge interstellar storm cloud, which isn’t exactly winning fans among those who want the comic version (gigantic guy in a suit). And having seen some early production art, we can say that the cloud version certainly seems to be the way the filmmakers are heading…
Next week, Doug Jones will have a conversation with his wife, and his voice will be provided by Ian McKellen. Enjoy, Doug!
