Posted in: Disney+, Marvel, Marvel Studios, Movies, TV, Warner Animation Group | Tagged: captain america: brave new world, carl lumbly, falcon and the winter soldier

Captain America: Carl Lumbly Discusses DC/Marvel, James Gunn & More

Carl Lumbly (Captain America: Brave New World) spoke with us about MCU's Isaiah Bradley, DC's Martin Manhunter, James Gunn, and much more.

Carl Lumbly has sustained such a long career, spending nearly a half-century on screen since his debut in the 1979 classic Escape from Alcatraz. Not only has he been in some of the biggest roles across film and television, including runs and appearances on Cagney & Lacey, L.A. Law, Going to Extremes, Touched by an Angel, The X-Files, but he's also embraced the superhero genre long before he took on Marvel and DC starting with Fox's M.A.N.T.I.S. While he made his voiceover debut in the 1997 Cartoon Network series The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, Lumbly found a home in animation on multiple Batman and Superman shows starting in the late 1990s.

Lumbly would embrace the role he became most synonymous with on DC in J'onn J'onzz (aka Martian Manhunter in the Warner Bros animated series Static Shock, going on to play the role six more times and finally making his DC live-action debut in the Arrowverse's Supergirl as M'yrnn J'onzz, the father of J'onn (David Harewood). Lumbly also plays his brother-in-law, M'aatt M'orzz, in the animated Young Justice. When the actor was cast as Isaiah Bradley, the former supersoldier locked away by the US government following the Korean War, in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he found another golden opportunity to flex his acting chops he never had before. While promoting his follow-up film Captain America: Brave New World, Lumbly spoke to Bleeding Cool about embracing both worlds, why the tragic and visceral story of Isaiah resonated with him on another level, his career longevity, and his thoughts on what James Gunn has done as head of DC Studios.

Captain America: Brave New World Star Carl Lumbly on Living as Martin Manhunter and Isaiah Bradley in 'Falcon and Winter Soldier'

Bleeding Cool: Having worked both in Marvel and DC across live-action and voiceovers, what would you say are the biggest differences between working in both worlds?

Voice work doesn't make your body sore [laughs], that's one. Also, individuals who have those great big stories are sometimes great big individuals. Sometimes, there are people like you and me who are presented with a challenge. Rather than thinking of it as impossible, they think of it as well. They think of it as impossible, but they imagine if it were possible, it might have a shape and try to live in that shape. That's heroism and it's like everyday heroism everyone has.

As far as playing, the difference between Martian Manhunter and Isaiah [Bradley] I say it is, literally and figuratively, Isaiah is so much more grounded in the blood he has witnessed that was shed, grounded in the dirt in which he slept on missions, grounded in the love of a wife, that he married young, and had to leave, and never saw again in a daughter he did not get the opportunity to meet. All those wildly fraught developmental phases that we go through as human beings, he had got that cut off. I get to see what his face looks like after having gone through all of that.

J'onn J'onzz was always the same. He always looked like the same Martian, and while we didn't have other Martians to compare him to [laughs]. You imagine that was the standard look for a Martian that was 12-1500 years old. I can't remember, and age is just a number. Isaiah's been lived in, and like some of my favorite shoes, it's not shiny or bright anymore, but really comfortable. You're used to…playing Isaiah in a lived reality allows me to access more of myself.

When I do voice work, I try to isolate as much as I can, then distill, consolidate to a character, and then express that character in the voice. Being able to see Isaiah's face and to read his eyes is a big difference, and I suppose that's why I love both. With voiceover, you don't need makeup and live-action because I don't understand it, Tom, but it's more like alchemy. There is the me who learns as much as I can about a character, then tries to bring the two together and have them live together for the duration of the story.

Speaking of grounded, James Gunn has also lived in both animated and live-action worlds. I was wondering what your thoughts are on how he handled his responsibilities at DC Studios and whether you look forward to working with him on any future projects.

What I like about James Gunn has done is it's about accessibility. The idea that someone is superheroic generally means it's something I can't touch. If you see not just the vulnerabilities but the things about a superhero you might not like, the pettiness and decisiveness that sometimes operate out of self-interest that is not necessarily evil, but it certainly doesn't pay much attention to the needs of others, like narcissism.

When you can fly, you can have an attitude when you're that strong and no wall can withstand you. It might take you above yourself, but there's a consciousness inside you that is always able to bring you back, and then there's life, which deals everyone some bad cards, superhero or not. There's a greater consciousness being brought to the work that he's done, and I can only judge part of it by the fact that it seems that there's some controversy involved and not everyone is happy, and I think that's a measure of success.

Carl, I want to thank you for your time. There's so much more I want to ask you about, but obviously, in the interest of time. I also want to close by saying that I adore your work with Mike Flanagan with 'The Fall of the House of Usher' and 'Doctor Sleep,' just brilliant work! I'm looking forward to Captain America: Brave New World!

Thank you so much. I feel fortunate to have survived in this business for what is now a much longer time than I thought I might be. That's maybe what I share with what I say and why I love it so much. There's a lot to be proud of in simply continuing to not only be yourself but continuing to try and grow. If you're in life and you're participating, life will give you those opportunities. You're fortunate to be able to continue to take them, and that's how I feel about Isaiah, too. He's taking the opportunities he has.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is available to stream on Disney+. Captain America: Brave New World, which also stars Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Xosha Roquemore, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Giancarlo Esposito, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford, comes to theaters on February 14th. You can check out our part one, where Lumbly breaks down Isaiah's journey in FAWS.

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