Will Arnett will cameo in the Twisted Metal series as the iconic killer clown Sweet Tooth, the frightening mascot of the games. PlayStation's iconic vehicular combat series started with the original Twisted Metal in 1995. Players choose from one of many despicable competitors in heavily-armed death machines who kill each other as part of the eponymous Twisted Metal contest. The mysterious Calypso orchestrates the events and promises to grant the victor any wish, though he relishes deliberately misinterpreting what they ask for. The series was very popular in its heyday but has been dormant since a rerelease on the PS4 in 2015. Its legacy lives on in games inspired by its fittingly twisted gameplay.
In 2012, Sony announced plans to develop a film based on the games, but poor sales of the Twisted Metal reboot released that year sewed doubt as to whether the fanbase warranted what would have been an expensive production given the required set pieces. Quite a few years out from an original installment, it seemed that fans of the series were out of luck, but Sony announced in 2019 that they were developing a Twisted Metal TV series. It is one of the first projects in the works at PlayStation Productions, founded to develop video game IPs into films and television programs. Until now, little has been revealed about what it will actually look like.
Per The Illuminerdi, Arnett will have a "cameo voiceover role" as Sweet Tooth. The series will be a high-octane action-comedy in which an outsider is tasked with delivering a package across a post-apocalyptic wasteland while accompanied by a loose-cannon carjacker. Kumail Nanjiani was originally considered for the lead, though it's rumored that Anthony Mackie will be taking the role instead. The outsider will contend with the darkly comedic dangers of the world of Twisted Metal, chief among them the killer clown.
Arnett seems like an excellent choice to portray Sweet Tooth, hopefully making the despicable character more palatable for a wider audience. The murderous psychopath in a weaponized ice cream truck adorned with a bobblehead of his own flaming visage features on the cover of most Twisted Metal games, scarring children whose eyes wander to the wrong part of the video game case. Though he began as a seriously disturbed individual who just wanted to rescue his best friend (a paper bag) he has since reached such depths of depravity as rabidly seeking to murder his own daughter. If anyone can bring the dark humor in Sweet Tooth to the surface, it's Arnett. In the 2012 film adaptation, Nicolas Cage was set to take the role, but the man who kept viewers invested in the self-serving BoJack Horseman seems better suited nearly a decade later.
It's hard to imagine that a program based on Twisted Metal wouldn't be as disturbing as the games, but leaning into the humor of the series seems like the right decision. For now, things are looking up for video game adaptations thanks to the solid performances of Sonic the Hedgehog and Detective Pikachu at the box office. Sweet Tooth is no electric teddy bear, but PlayStation productions must have had some reason to bring a homicidal maniac to our television sets before Spyro the Dragon or Crash Bandicoot. Hopefully this adaptation is successful.
Source: The Illuminerdi