Comic Book Casting: The DAMAGE CONTROL Animated Series

It seems every week that Marvel, DC or other superhero publishers destroy a new town. Marvel’s practically cornered the market on decimating real towns in fictional stories they’ve done, and DC has wiped more than a few of its fictional cities from the map once or twice. But after all that destruction and carnage, who’s left to pick up the pieces? Sure we might see Spider-man cleaning up his mess once in a blue moon, but the real heroes here are Marvel’s Damage Control.

Created back in 1989 by Dwayne McDuffie and Ernie Colón, Damage Control was originally pitched as “a sitcom within the Marvel  Universe” and boy, is it. They’re a construction company with an uncanny specialty to clean up after superheroes and super-villains. Remember the ruins New York City was left in after the Avengers movie last year? That’s where Damage Control takes over.

And it has the potential to be one of the most memorable and off-kilter animated shows for Marvel ever. Here’s how I’d do it.

The Concept:

Dwayne McDuffie carved out a pretty substantial rough draft of what a Damage Control series could be in his writings on the book in the past twenty years. For an animated show, I’d boil that down to a core group of characters and intertwine it ever so slightly more into the rambunctious Marvel U. Sort of filling the slot, comedy-wise, of Marvel Super Hero Squad, Damage Control could show the aftermath of superhero battles with copious guest stars and these normal joes dealing with their over-sized powers and sometimes over-sized egos.

To fill out the crew, I’d take advantage of Hercules’ past and use his induction as the pilot episode. If you remember, Hercules is forced to work for Damage Control as community service time for a drunken rampage and is later put on their permanent payroll after looking all his untold riches from a personal injury lawsuit brought on by a disgruntled super-villain. That’s character, and that story of him working for Damage Control could be the idea launching pad for the series to work, with Hercules as the eyes into the organization.

The Showrunner:

To take this show on the road, I’d hire Chris Prynoski. This veteran of Metalocalypse and the recently concluded Motorcity. Prynoski is part of Titmouse, one of the major modern animation studios in America and is responsible for everything from the Scott Pilgrim vs. The Animation short film to Venture Bros. and The Amazing Screw-On Head. Prynoski may not be part of the in-crowd at Marvel Animation, but he could be an inspired outside voice to really provide a sardonic second look at living in the Marvel U.

The Cast:

Ann-Marie Hoag – Kathy Bates: She’s stood toe-to-toe with Nick Fury, Wolverine and Kingpin, and even had a wild night (or two) with Luke Cage. She’s Damage Control’s founder and director, and the excellent Kathy Bates would be a great voice for the character — with them looking visually similar only an unintended bonus. Hoag is a great but underutilized character in the Marvel U, but this could be a great outlet as a superhero sitcom animated series.

Hercules – Jess Harnell: “But he looks nothing like Hercules, Chris!” But this is an animated series. And Jess Harnell is one of my favorite voice-over actors from his work as Ironhide in the Transformers movies to playing Wakko in Animaniacs. Harnell voiced Hercules previously in Marvel’s Super Hero Squad on several occasions, and he’d be great as part of a comedic Damage Control series not just for Hercules but also providing additional, ancillary voices

Anne – Pauley Perrette:  Pauley’s got that oh-so-unique voice and after re-reading Damage Control recently I have to say its a perfect fit. Perrette has previously voiced Lois Lane for Superman Vs. The Elite and played the lead female bear in Brother Bear, so stepping back into the recording booth seems like an easy fit even with her busy NCIS schedule.

Tom Foster / Goliath – Tristan Wilds: I became a huge fan of Tristan Wilds after seeing him in The Wire, so much that I followed him through to 90210. That didn’t work so much for me, but his role in Red Tails re-energized by appreciation of Wilds’ work, and I’d love to see him play Tom Foster as he steps into the shoes of his father as Goliath.