Posted in: Disney+, Marvel, TV | Tagged: loki, powerpuff girls, tara strong

Loki Star Tara Strong Discusses Miss Minutes/MCU Future, AI Debate

Tara Strong (Teen Titans GO!) spoke with Bleeding Cool about her Miss Minutes/MCU future beyond "Loki," using AI to preserve voices, and more.

As with any beloved role, some can't see anyone but the original actor as that character. It's something that was abundantly made clear as recently as 2024's The Crow, which is a remake of the 1994 starring the late Brandon Lee, who died during its filming. The Bill Skarsgård-starred film was largely panned by critics and fans at the box office. Disney is among the first major studios to embrace Artificial Intelligence to ensure the late actors of yesteryear have a place in their future, as demonstrated in 2016's Rogue One, digitally resurrecting the late Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin from his role in 1977's A New Hope and the late James Earl Jones permitting AI to make himself sound younger and recording enough of his voice for use any future Star Wars-related project. It's something that affects voice actors like Loki star Tara Strong and how she feels about the thousands of roles she's taken over the years through various projects.

While promoting her work on Teen Titans Go! 400th episode, the Loki star, who voiced Miss Minutes, spoke to Bleeding Cool about her character's MCU future given the heavy involvement of the Time Variance Authority since being introduced in the Disney+ series in 2021 with their most recent involvement in 2024's Deadpool & Wolverine and her character's Easter Egg moment, where she feels AI fits in the voice actor community's future, and if she would like Warner Bros Discovery to preserve her voice as Bubbles from the Powerpuff Girls for all future generations.

Loki Star Tara Strong on Miss Minutes' MCU Future & If She Wants AI to Preserve Her Roles

Bleeding Cool: Has Marvel told you anything about your future as Miss Minutes beyond 'Loki,' since the TVA's clearly in the current relevant conversation in the current phase, and we had a little visual Easter Egg and tease in 'Deadpool & Wolverine.' I wished you had a cameo there, but I guess beggars can't be choosers. Is there anything creative where you might end up next, or have you been in contact at all? Perhaps on speed dial?

[As Miss Minutes] "Well, listen, Tom, I could tell you, but then I'd have to prune you, and what good would that be?" [laughs]. I don't think we've seen the last of Miss Minutes. She certainly turned out to be a fun and rewarding character, and I'm so grateful the fans have taken to her and loved her so much because she's super fun to play.

How do you feel about when studios use AI and the actor to preserve the voice of a character? The most recent example I can think of is James Earl Jones when he voiced Darth Vader working with Disney, providing enough content so they could use A.I. to recreate his voice on any Star Wars-related project. Do you feel like it robs the opportunity from another actor of that opportunity to carry the legacy? Is it something since the studio owns, it's beyond your hands, and you take what you can get?

That's a great question. We need to be open because it is a heated discussion in the same way the Internet did when it came out; there was no stopping it. There's no stopping AI. We need to focus on preserving actors' voices to make sure things aren't getting stolen, and it would be quite easy for someone to take my voice off another show, pitch it up a note or two, and claim it's not me.

There must be safeguards for stealing voices, and that's important. It's hard to argue against having James Earl Jones' voice forever. That's pretty special, and if it helps his family, that's wonderful. I would assume that sort of must be on a per-character basis, but you're right. Warner Bros, as an example, certainly owns certain characters, but of course, you have someone like Eric Bauza who came in and performed everything as brilliantly as Mel Blanc did, just as well. We might not have seen an Eric Bauza if they had that before.

It's a big discussion, and the most important thing to remember is there's going to be good and bad, like if we can type into AI, like how do you cure Alzheimer's, that's going to be great. If it's stealing work from creatives, that's going to be terrible. How do we fairly weave this new technology that still encourages creativity or that's a way bigger question than I know for sure.

How would you feel if a studio were to use your voice with AI to preserve one of your roles?

I get upset when anyone plays a role that I'm known for [laughs]. If they were going to pay me a large sum of money and say, you get to be Bubbles for the next hundred years, the next hundred generations, I get to pay for my kids, grandkids, and a million other charities, I probably wouldn't say "No."

Teen Titans Go! airs on Cartoon Network and is available to stream on Max.

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