The LEGO Movie spinoff, LEGO Batman, has landed its first bit of new casting. THR reports that Michael Cera has signed on to voice Robin opposite his Arrested Development co-star in the upcoming animated movie. There are no details on the size of the role, but just on the surface casting Cera as Robin sounds pretty spot on, although THR doesn’t specify if he’s playing Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, or Damian Wayne. Since The LEGO Movie leaned into the goofy grittiness of Batman, I’m wondering if it will do the same for Robin’s best-known persona, which is the plucky, gee-whiz sidekick.
We don’t know much about the plot for LEGO Batman beyond what producer Phil Lord said back in January, which is that the ‘movie is really exciting because it’s about ‘Can Batman be happy?’” The film will also acknowledge every era of Batman filmmaking, and I wonder if that means we’ll also be getting different Robins.
THR also reports that Cera has picked up the rights for the novel Masters of Atlantis from True Grit author Charles Portis. The book, published in 1985, “was set in the first half of the 20th century and told of a young man that becomes entangled in a quasi-religious cult centered around the lost city of Atlantis named the Gnomon Society.” Cera will write the screenplay and plans to star and direct the feature.
Cera will next be heard in the R-rated Pixar-parody Sausage Party, which opens August 12, 2016, and he’s also writing and starring in the next season of Arrested Development, which is due to return to Netflix in mid-2016. LEGO Batman is set to hit theaters on February 10, 2017.
