When Dwayne Johnson and his Seven Bucks Productions got to work on DC League of Super-Pets, he knew he had to bring Kevin Hart onboard too.The two stars have had a bromance going on for years, having worked together on several films including Central Intelligence and of course, the Jumanji movies. Not to mention, Hart even did a cameo (along with Ryan Reynolds) in Johnson’s Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.Now, Johnson and Hart may have been collaborating for years, but Super-Pets marks the first time that the two ventured into an animated feature together.And while Hart is known for his work ethic, perhaps even Johnson couldn’t have imagined how far the comedian would go to make sure that he nailed his voice portrayal of Batman’s dog, Ace.
In DC League Of Super-Pets, Kevin Hart Voices Batman’s Furry Sidekick
The film tells the story of Krypto (Johnson), Superman’s (John Krasinski) dog and best friend, who ends up going on a rescue mission upon learning that Superman has been kidnapped.
To ensure mission success, Krypto enlists several of his pals: Ace the Bat-Hound, PB (Vanessa Bayer) the fast-growing pig, Chip (Diego Luna), the electric-powered squirrel, and Merton (Natasha Lyonne) the super speedy turtle.
Hart’s character made his debut in DC Comics back in the 1950s when Batman and Robin found him after his original owner was kidnaped.
Ace would go on to appear in the comics until the early 90s. Since then, the Bat-Hound was nowhere to be seen up until today. And as it turns out, there was no one better than Hart to introduce this DC pet to the big screen.
Kevin Insisted On Getting His Role Right
By the time they started work on the DC animated film, the COVID-19 pandemic had already swept through much of the world, forcing production shutdowns. In their case, the stars were forced to record their lines (at least some of them) while in isolation. That also meant that they didn’t have any audio engineers with them as they normally would in the studio.
To make this happen, the stars were all sent recording equipment so that they could work on their own. In Hart’s case, the equipment had to be sent to his hotel room. And aside from setting up the equipment, Hart also went one step further, creating his own sound booth in the room using the hotel’s mattresses and blankets.
Hart's Dedication To The Project Was Impressive
Hiram Garcia, Johnson’s partner at Seven Bucks who also served as a producer on Super-Pets, couldn’t help via Zoom.
“He was so clever in how he set it up, and the sound was great,” he said of Hart. That said, the set-up also posed some problems for the actor but being the consummate professional that he is, Hart kept going.
“He was so hot in there. ‘Guys, I’m sweating, you’ve got to hurry up,’” Garcia recalled. “He was so hot inside the booth. It was that kind of ingenuity, working with our engineers, doing what they could do to set up the best situation to optimize the sound.”
Aside from getting the sound just right, it seems Hart may have also contributed to some of his character’s lines as Super-Pets director Jared Stern revealed that the “brilliant comedic improvisers” added some new dialogue recording.
“They're going to give you bits of realness and surprise, that you just could never script on your own,” the director explained.
“So many of my favorite lines in the movie were not written by me or any other writer, but that came from just spontaneity, and I love it.”
Will There Be A Super-Pets Sequel?
Now, perhaps it’s too early to determine if a sequel to Super-Pets will ever happen. If anyone ever asks though, Stern is all for it. “We never want to jinx it. We don't want to talk about sequels until this one comes out,” he said. “But I hope it does well enough that there could be more because we love making it.”
Stern also teased that the film is essentially set up for the possibility of a future installment. “We're pretty much only in Metropolis and Krypton in this movie. And I would love to see what the Gotham City of this world is like and other parts of the world,” he explained.
“So I hope we get the chance. But again, we never get ahead of ourselves. We just hope people love this one because it is a self-contained story that I think is a really strong and fun superhero movie origin story as it is, but it does, it ends in a way that, if people want it, we'd love to make more.”
And if a Super-Pets 2 ever happens, fans can be assured that Hart will go above and beyond once again to make Ace sound like the coolest Bat-Hound ever.
