Nolan North is one of the biggest names in the Video Game industry. His voice is all over it, with some iconic roles in gaming like Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series, Assassin’s Creed’s Desmond Miles, and Ghost in Destiny 2.
It isn’t just games, however. North has played major roles in animated shows like Star Trek: Lower Deck and Young Justice, and he even pops up in movies every now and then—such as his cameo in the recent Uncharted movie starring Tom Holland. He also provides the voices of several key heroes in the DC animated world.
North has a history with Marvel, too, having originally voiced Deadpool in the character’s 2013 solo video game. More recently, he played Tony Stark in Square Enix's troubled Avengers avengers game, which landed to a notably mixed reception.
Now the actor has commented on his experience with Square's recent title and also how he’d love to revisit Deadpool.
Nolan North Wants Deadpool Sequel
The Direct attended a Dragon Con press conference with Nolan North this weekend, during which he was asked about his voice & motion-capture acting on Uncharted, Marvel's Avengers, and more.
While Nolan’s most notable and acclaimed work has been the Uncharted franchise, one of his latest roles was Iron Man in Square Enix’s Avengers project. As many will know, that title wasn’t quite met with critical acclaim.
But how exactly does varying reception impact the actors on these sorts of projects? The actor admitted how it “doesn’t affect [his] experience at all,” as by the time it comes out, he’s already moved on to the next thing:
“[The reception] doesn’t affect my experience at all, is the short answer for that. My experience is before the game even comes out. The difference between the two is that Nathan Drake is the lead character. Not only am I doing all the scenes, I’m doing all the motion capture work for the running, jumping through fire, you know, rolling, shooting, every game set move, I’m doing that. And I’m in everything. With Avengers, loved playing Tony Stark, Iron Man, I mean how cool is that? We used to joke like, ‘Oh it’s Nathan Drake in the Mark 4.’ But it was a different character, you know, different kind of style, but it was an ensemble cast. So it’s like, being Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man or in The Avengers.”
In regards to Avengers, Nolan pointed out how he didn’t think the negative reception had anything to “do with performances or anything,” but that he heard it had more to do with “the mechanics of the game:”
“It’s a different dynamic when you’re shooting with everybody else. Lot of fun on set to be working with Troy [Baker], Travis [Willingham], Jeff [Schine], Laura [Bailey] and everybody else. It was a blast but, it’s just different. You don’t feel as much responsibility as like, you’re the main guy… And I think the reaction, it had nothing to do with performances or anything. What I understand, and I’m not knocking anybody, it had a lot of problems with the mechanics of the game… And that’s what I read. It’s not an indictment on the studio or anything, that’s what I’ve read. And I think what happens is people have to understand… I can go out and give the best performance of my life… If the game isn’t a good game, noone’s gonna play it. And you can give a great performance in a bad movie and people will go, ‘Ah, movie sucked but man, wasn’t Phillip Seymour Hoffman amazing in that,’ or whatever. In a game, it’s a game first. And as actors, we’ve gotta put our egos aside and… the game has to be good…”
The actor noted that there’s “one exception” to his thinking solid mechanics make a good game, being the Deadpool project he did back in 2013. In reminiscing about the title, North even revealed how it even originally had an original song titled “F' you, legal:”
“I mean the one exception, in my knowledge, was [the] Deadpool [game]. It had simple mechanics, and fights, and everything, but it was so funny and ridiculous… People don’t even realize it. They actually wrote a song that was supposed to be in it called ‘F' you, legal.’ And it wasn’t ‘F.’ It was literally to their legal team that kept saying, ‘No, you can’t do this, you can’t do that.’ And Deadpool does a whole song and dance number about the whole thing. And it was one of the funniest things I ever read. The guys that wrote that, it was hysterical.”
But did North ever actually sing it? Yes, he did, “but it never made the game” according to him.
The actor also exclaimed how he “want[s] Marvel to let [him] do a Deadpool 2 game… [in the] same style as Uncharted,” with room for a little Ryan Reynolds cameo:
“We did. I don’t remember and I won’t… but it never made to the game, and High Moon Studio was shut down the second that thing went gold. So, I don’t know. I don’t have the ins and outs of… I’m hoping Marvel will let me… I want Marvel to let me do a Deadpool 2 game. I want to shoot it. I want to direct it. And I want to do it as a same style as Uncharted. I want to do a very narrative-driven game. And hopefully get Ryan Reynolds to come in and do a cameo.”
As for North potentially cameoing in the upcoming Deadpool 3 movie, the actor stated, “yeah, you never know.”
Might a Deadpool 2 Happen?
A Deadpool game sequel would be quite a surprise. But the timing could certainly be beneficial and offer lots of synergy. Plus, maybe the stars would align, and both Nolan North and Ryan Reynolds could work together for maximum hilarity.
A truly narrative-focused game for Merc with a Mouth would be awesome as well. Imagine a complete overhaul in the same vein as 2018’s God of War. If that franchise can make such a drastic change work, anything’s possible.
Sadly, fans probably shouldn't get their hopes up for a second Deadpool game. It’s perfectly reasonable to at least keep the dream going.
There are plenty of other Marvel Games in the works for those itching for it. There’s Marvel's Midnight Suns, Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2, Wolverine, and several unannounced projects—including one that’ll be revealed at D23.
