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How Superman and TMNT's Raphael would get along, according to Darren Criss

The Man of Steel and Ninja Turtle voice actor makes a crossover happen

Darren Criss at C2E2 2024
Image credit: ReedPop

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He may be best known for his role as Blaine Anderson on Glee from 2010 to 2015, but since, Darren Criss has had plenty of crossover with comics and superhero universes. Criss played a memorable role as the Music Meister in CW's Supergirl and The Flash show-stopper musical crossover, and has also lent his voice-acting talents to a healthy array of animation, including DC animated movies.

Recent highlights include Criss voicing Superman and Raphael from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. During the C2E2 2024 spotlight panel on Criss's career, a fan asked questions about how Criss felt Clark and Raphael would get along and interact. When told he was surprised to hear Criss would voice the rough and tumble turtle, Criss replied "Yeah, me too, man!"

As to what they would argue about, Criss suggested Raff would definitely give Superman a hard time over how much better New York City is than Metropolis. He said Superman was "too polite" to really get into it, but that he could see Raphael getting extremely protective of his city. Given the turtles ran into plenty of turf issues with Batman in the Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated movie where Criss voiced Raphael, it's not surprising he'd want to stake out his territory with another member of the Justice League.

The counterpart question was how Raphael and Superman would bond, and unsurprisingly, Criss promptly suggested they'd share a pizza. He then suggested any artists in the room cash in what a "beautiful" scene that would be with the duo sharing a slice on a high-rise in one of their cities (probably NYC if Raphael has anything to do with it!).

Between voicing Superman in Superman: For Tomorrow (with Zachary Quinto voicing Lex Luthor) and Raphael in the aforementioned Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Criss suggested voicing the turtle was a trickier assignment. Criss spoke to his desire to do more of a Brooklyn accent for the turtle, but was more or less talked down by the filmmakers.

Given the turtle's pre-existing crossovers with the Dark Knight, perhaps an animated feature with the Man of Steel isn't too far away. Criss may well have the chance to make these hypotheticals a reality if that happens.


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Dave Buesing avatar
Dave Buesing: Dave is the founder & editor-in-chief of Comic Book Herald, dedicated to helping all kinds of readers enjoy comics. He hosts Krakin' Krakoa on Youtube, and a Marvel reading club podcast called My Marvelous Year. He's written about comics for CBR, Ranker, and unsolicited text exchanges with his wife. Dave was the only kid in his elementary school wearing a homemade Nightcrawler costume for Halloween, and can be seen most evenings in Batman pajama pants.
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