Award-winning voice actor Zeno Robinson has built an impressive career across both US animation and Japanese anime, and he spoke with The Direct about some of his most recognizable roles. Known for performances in major franchises like My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, and Attack on Titan, Robinson has become a familiar voice to fans of animated storytelling. He also took on the iconic role of Harry Osborn in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on Disney+.
In an exclusive conversation with The Direct, Robinson offered a behind-the-scenes look at how these projects helped shape his diverse and growing career. One of his more popular roles was voicing Cyborg in the later seasons of Young Justice, though he unfortunately could not offer a hopeful update on the prospects of a Season 5.
Looking ahead, Robinson will return for Season 2 of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, which is expected to premiere this fall on Disney+.
He spoke highly of the experience working on the Marvel Studios animated series and even said that he would love the chance to bring a similar version of his character to life in live action: "If you do have Colman [Domingo] play Norman, I do work on camera... I have no problem auditioning to play Harry. You already have me voicing him."
Beyond Marvel, Robinson was asked about two of his most prominent anime roles as Hawks in My Hero Academia and Genya in Demon Slayer, highlighting some of the nuances to playing both characters:
"One of the most interesting aspects about [Genya] is he's sort of got this rough, sort of abrasive exterior, but he has this really deep emotional core."
Fans will see more of Genya soon as the story continues in Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 2.
Robinson's anime resume keeps expanding as well, as he also voices Kashimo in the latest season of Jujutsu Kaisen, which is rolling out new episodes weekly on Crunchyroll.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Harry Osborn
"I Was Kind of Scared It Wasn’t Going To Come Out..."
- The Direct: "What was the recording process like for your take on Harry Osborn in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and how did it feel to finally see the show release and fans react to this new version of the character?"
Zeno Robinson: For a minute there I was kind of scared it wasn't going to come out...I've been a big Spider-Man fan the entirety of my life, so I've kind of grown up watching all the different sort of iterations of the Spider-Man cartoons. In the previous cartoon before this one, which I believe is Disney XD Marvel's Spider-Man, I played Randy Robertson, who's Robbie Robertson's son, who worked at the Bugle.
And I remember auditioning for this, not knowing what it was. It felt very Spider-Man...I wasn't sure. I thought maybe it was a new superhero thing. And then, like, I remember getting sort of the email with the contract, and it was saying that I was playing freaking Harry Osborn.
As a huge Marvel fan, a huge MCU fan, the first thing I thought, was like, 'I'm a part of the MCU,' ... In a splintered sort of way, I'm kind of a part of the MCU, which is super duper cool to me.
This is a sort of a new approach to Harry Osborn, the character... He's had many, many different iterations with many, many different sort of different interpretations of his character...but all with the same sort of core of, having this really complicated, nuanced yet strained relationship with his father.
The Direct: "Since the Osborns have primarily appeared in the MCU through multiversal technicalities, would you like to see your specific iteration of Harry or the family in general eventually adapted into a main live-action Marvel Studios project?"
Zeno Robinson: We're sort of a splintered universe from the MCU, but there are still direct links to to the MCU storyline and callbacks to the MCU stuff. So of course, I would love to see Harry and Norman.
I made a post, like, 'Oh hey, Kevin Feige, like, if you do put Coleman, if you do have Coleman play Norman, I do work on camera. I would indeed. I have no problem auditioning to play Harry. You already have me voicing him. I have no problem coming in and playing him on camera, if it's in alignment and if it's what the team wants.'
So yes, for multiple reasons, I'd love to see them on screen. That would be super awesome.
The Nuanced Approach to Hawks on My Hero Academia
"The Balance of What You Give and What You Want To Receive..."
- The Direct: "As a Crunchyroll Anime Awards recipient for your portrayal of Hawks, how does your approach to navigating the nuances of a dual-sided 'double agent' character differ from a more traditional voice acting role?"
Zeno Robinson: I think there's a lot of sort of complexities and nuances to Hawks. And I think the sort of the tricky thing in I think any acting role is sort of the balance of what you give and what you want to receive.
With Hawks, who sort of for like two or three seasons, sort of ends up, finds himself in sort of this double agent situation, especially when the manga was still going and we didn't know, we had no idea which actual side he kind of leaned toward.
I didn't want to play him too villain-y, and I didn't want to play him too hero-y because I wasn't sure, right? In those moments, I wasn't sure, and information wasn't available.
I sort of had to try to fill in that gap. And with that comes trying to justify his decisions in the text and in his history and in his past. So a lot of that is like, what parts of his brain can be swayed to, sort of the villains cause, and the villains like emotions and their feelings and how they feel about the world.
And that takes learning about them and what they go through, and like the reality of sort of living in their sphere. As well as, like, why he's a hero and why he's doing what he's doing.
Genya's Emotional Layers in Demon Slayer
"He Has This Really Deep Emotional Core..."
- The Direct: "Given the unique nature of Genya’s ability to consume demons and take on their traits, how do you approach the specific vocal and physical challenges of portraying that half-human, half-demon?
Zeno Robinson: I think the unique aspect of Genya and one of the most interesting aspects about him is he's sort of got this rough, sort of abrasive exterior, but he has this really deep emotional core.
He's got this sort of deep emotional well, he's got all these feelings of, he's got this inferiority complex going, and he's got this feeling of this drive to sort of just seek redemption from his brother and seek forgiveness for his brother, and that sort of is the catalyst and the driving force of all of his actions.
There's two different voices I have to do. Well, kind of three. Honestly, there's like this standard base, he's always yelling, kind of voice, and he's got this sort of softer side that I try to bring out when he's just talking to someone or he gets nervous around girls, so that's a key aspect to his character.
But the demon, sort of transformation has sort of a more aggressive, harsher tone than even his standard tone, and sort of making, delineating those lines and making those things clear is the thing I try to do the most with him.
- The Direct: "Since Genya's presence was limited in the first Infinity Castle film, can you tease whether the upcoming sequel will follow the manga's trajectory and offer a significantly larger role for your character?"
Zeno Robinson: Everything has sort of followed the story established by the manga. So if the movie also does the same, then the next movie should feature much, much more Genya than we saw in the first movie.
And that is going to be really exciting to do, because the first move was incredible. So I'm excited to see what we do with the second movie.
