In Batman: Death in the Family, out on Blu-ray October 13, the DC Animated Universe revisits Jason Todd’s death and its subsequent effect on Bruce – a storyline that director Brandon Vietti previously tackled in Under the Red Hood. Voice actor Vincent Martella returns to play Jason Todd himself, but his canvas is much more expanded this time around.
That’s because Death in the Family is experimenting with a digital Choose Your Own Adventure, allowing viewers to dictate the choices that will lead to various outcomes for Jason and Bruce. Martella spoke to Screen Rant about what it was like to work alongside Vietti again and how the new format influenced him as an actor.
Jason Todd resonates with audiences and his fame continues to grow because his story is fueled by some very real-world issues. Can you talk to me about what you found relatable about him?
Vincent Martella: What's great about this film is it actually delves a little bit further into what his relationship is with his family, which is Bruce Wayne. I think that's what makes the character so interesting in general; there are consequences for dragging a kid into these violent situations. You don't just get to do that without shaping who he's going to become, and the responsibility lies the family - the family did this to each other. And that is something that Jason Todd has to come to terms with, and so does Bruce.
I feel like that really resonated with me, in terms of family and the trauma that you can receive from family. You receive good things from family, but you also receive plenty of that. Obviously, this is the most extreme case of that, because they're vigilantes. But I think everyone can relate to actually taking a step back as you get older, thinking about some of the things that happened when you were growing up and going, "Oh, that actually shaped me, and I didn't realize it. That actually did something to make me who I am." We're doing that to a larger degree, but I do think that resonates with people.
You've kind of shaped this character, having worked with Brandon Vietti on Under the Red Hood. Can you talk to me about how much carryover from that vision of Robin there is, and about reteaming with Vietti?
Vincent Martella: It was interesting, because when I was coming back to do the role, I didn't even know about the interactive element. And I did not realize all the different pathways I was gonna get to take with the character. Right off the bat, it was about getting back into the mood of a Batman animated film, which is a very particular mood. It's a very particular style in which these characters have to be portrayed. Getting back into the character Robin after so much time was its own thing.
But then on top of that, this big thing was going to happen in this storyline, and this big thing was going to happen in that storyline. Now you have this other emotion on top of it, or this other feeling about Batman on top of it, or this other feeling regarding the Joker on top of it. Finding those nuances to add to the character was a process as we recorded, and Brandon was really helpful with that. So was Wes Gleason, who was voice directing me while I was in the booth.
They really did a good job of mapping out all the branches of what decisions that the audience can make, and showing how that's going to affect Jason's feeling towards other characters. We worked on that together, and we figured out how every decision needs to be played a little differently going forward with the character.
For a lot of fans that may not know what Death in the Family is, can you talk about where Jason's Todd mindset is in this storyline opposed to Under the Red Hood?
Vincent Martella: Where we pick up in Death in the Family with Jason Todd and Batman, they are not on great terms. They're in the middle of a familial spat, and they disagree with the way that they're handling business. Jason Todd has gone on his own to try and track the Joker, and both of them are being hard-headed and damaged, carrying around all the things that they're carrying around about families and how one should treat their family.
They make a series of mistakes that lead to a night that, depending on the choices that you make in this interactive film, is going to change both of their lives forever. The different changes, going forward, you will see in the in the film. But their relationship is already fractured as this as this movie begins. It just a question of: can that be repaired? And if it is repaired, what scars are left over? That's, I think, what makes this an interesting movie.
What was it like to act out multiple scenarios? Or was it just like any other project, except with cuts that would end up on the cutting room floor now being in the film?
Vincent Martella: It was definitely a unique experience for me, acting-wise. As you've seen in the picture, Robin becomes very different in some of these storylines; he becomes different versions of himself. Because of the different directions he goes, that affects my performance and how I have to play this character. This was unlike anything I had done before because I knew what decisions had to inform my character. That was laid out for me, so it was an interesting experience.
But I enjoyed the challenge of it, because it was definitely challenging at times.
What do you think will surprise fans the most about this interpretation of Jason Todd? I guess that's dependent on the path they choose.
Vincent Martella: Yeah, exactly. That's one reason why I want to encourage people who watch the film to not just choose one storyline. Don't just go through at once and go, "Alright, cool. I liked that; that was fine." Because you miss out on a lot of footage. And in doing so, you miss out on really good cameos from other characters and other awesome actors and actresses.
I have favorite directions of where the film goes, but I'm curious to see what the majority of fans decide, and what their favorite decision ends up being. Where Robin goes for the majority of fans, whether they're hitting me up on social media or whatnot, saying, "I really appreciated this storyline that we were able to explore because of this decision,"
Fans kind of get their own personal cut of Batman: Death in the Family, which I think is pretty cool. Before you signed on to reprise the role of Jason Todd, how much did you actually know about the initial storyline and the dial-in vote that happened 30 years ago?
Vincent Martella: You know what? I actually learned a lot about that just through playing Jason Todd the first time, when I worked on Under the Red Hood. So, that was something that I was familiar with because I had done the first film a decade ago. Because I had done that, I knew a lot about the experience.
And having the ability to call in and vote is also what helped inspire Brandon to write this film and allow for an interactive element. What if we gave them more choices and more things to explore for these characters?
The fans voted for Jason to die, and I believe that margin was very small. Is the alternate storyline we could have gotten back then included in this film, or is this completely new and original ideas?
Vincent Martella: Yeah, it's difficult to answer that question because Brandon explored a lot of different places that this character could have gone. So, I could say that one of them might be, but I'm truly not sure. Because in this film, there are so many different destinations that Jason Todd ends up at. In some of them, he goes in the direction that people are going to be familiar with, because we explore some similar themes to stories involving credit. But then there's completely separate, wholly original storylines.
So, I'm not sure which storyline would be the actual one that would have happened back in '88.
What made Jason Todd so compelling to you in this film?
Vincent Martella: I think the fact that I got to really explore a lot of different sides of him. He's already an interesting character; he's already incredibly interesting, in terms of how he pushes Batman's buttons and not wanting to be a stereotypical boy wonder. So, I think exploring more of his growth and further into his life than just the events of the comics really interested me. And it still does. I thought that that was a really cool experience to have, but I also think it'd be nice for the fans to get to see how he may have progressed as a person.
How do you think you would you have voted in 1988? Would you vote for Jason Todd to live or die?
Vincent Martella: Obviously, I choose to continue the character and have many films where I get to play him. No, I think I probably would have chose him dying just to see what that does to Batman. I understand why that won, because that's also like, "This is going to be quite an experience that Batman has to have to deal with."
Spending so much time with Batman by that time, you want to see something completely different and completely new. So, I definitely understand why that ended up winning, even though it won by a small margin.
You've done so many other great voice acting projects. What DC storylines or other franchises in general do you think this multiple-choice narrative style would be good for?
Vincent Martella: Oh, wow. Great question. I would definitely love to see it being used in something Star Wars-related, because I love Star Wars. So, I would definitely watch something that allowed me to [choose].
I also love Knights of the Old Republic, those video games. So, I love being able to choose where my character goes in a galaxy far, far away. I would definitely want something where I was able to interact with, or interact with the characters in terms of a Star Wars storyline.
What is it that you wanted to bring to Jason Todd this time around that was new and fresh?
Vincent Martella: I mean, the amount of complexity that went into playing him this time was so much more than the first time. Just in general, I didn't have that much time to play him in Under the Red Hood.
I think the most important thing for me was to show the familial trauma; to show his own trauma behind his actions. That's something I was able to do with many scenes, because that's not something you can usually do with one scene. That's something to demonstrate over the course of a story. I thought that was something that we really tried to hold on to; look at the damage behind who this person is. That was that was something that was cool, that I enjoyed playing.
I'm assuming you've done research into Jason Todd. What other storylines of his would you like to see adapted into this Choose Your Own Adventure narrative storytelling?
Vincent Martella: I don't know. People talking about the Outlaws, and I would definitely come back and do that.