If you play video games, chances are that you've heard Nolan North's voice many times,
whether he's the ghost keeping your guardian alive in Destiny, firing off quippy lines
as Nathan Drake in the Uncharted games, or bringing to life a Jedi...the list goes on.
"You do know that you're not actually Nathan Drake?"
"You shut your mouth!"
In the world of DC, he's been everyone from Superboy to the Penguin, and on the Marvel
side of things, the dexterity of North's vocal ability stretches him from Rocket Raccoon
to Green Goblin and even Werewolf by Night. But North left the obscurity of Marvel werewolves
in the dust for Marvel's Avengers, the superhero video game from Tomb Raider developer Crystal
Dynamics and publisher Square Enix. This time, he plays one of the most famous heroes in
the history of comic books: Iron Man.
"Oh no. That's not ominous at all."
Part of the excitement and the challenge of playing Tony Stark is that, since 2008, the
character has been essentially synonymous with Robert Downey Jr. In an exclusive interview,
Looper spoke with North about his version of Iron Man, his cast mates, and the evolution
of the technology used to bring games to life.
Something Nolan brought up right away was the evolution of motion capture work.
"I've been really fortunate to see it from its inception when we really started doing
motion capture, because I was one of the first guys to kind of go, 'I'll do that. That sounds
like fun."
A big part of being Tony Stark in Marvel's Avengers means being in a mo-cap suit for
a long time, and a big part of what makes that process easier seems to be how much the
technology has changed.
"The camera, first time they ever did helmet cams, it was monstrous, looked like a diving
bell. And now they're smaller and lighter and less obtrusive."
North says that he has been especially impressed by recent improvements in facial recognition
technology.
"I remember getting scanned and I looked at the scan and I'm like, 'Show me the scan.'
And they're going, 'That's the scan.' It was like looking in the mirror. I said, 'You've
gotta be kidding me.'"
As for comics research, North studied up on MODOK, the massive-headed super-villain who
terrorizes Earth's Mightiest Heroes in the game.
"I did do a little reading up on MODOK, things like that, so, excuse me, so I knew a little
bit about what we're up against, but I'm kind of a fan of all that stuff."
It also doesn't hurt that North has played a ton of comic book characters over the years.
"I remember when we did, um, the Ultimate Avengers years ago, it was direct-to-TV, uh,
direct-to-video, this is when video was a thing, I got to play Hank Pym, the Giant-Man."
This is when he first had the chance to bone up on all things Marvel, and he brought those
books out again for Marvel's Avengers.
"When I did find out I was going to be playing Tony, I did go back and pull that off the
shelf and was reading up on some things, just to kind of get some ideas. Y'know, it's probably
not necessary, but it's always good to have something in the back of your head."
All that said, the biggest thing Nolan pointed out that makes playing Iron Man fun and rewarding
is having a team of talented people around him.
"I think the best gift was the fact that I got to kick off this character in an ensemble
cast. It takes a little bit of the pressure off that, because, as we know, Robert Downey
Jr. is the definitive Iron Man in the films, and he did an amazing job."
North also noted that putting on the mo-cap suit kind of felt like being in the actual
Stark Tech, but what truly helped him settle into the character was working alongside his
fellow actors, and one in particular: Travis Willingham, who plays Thor.
"If you want to be truthful, it was Travis Willingham and I, laughing over the fact that
every time we left the scene in our mo-cap suit, I go to take off, so, y'know, put the
pulses down to shoot up, and I stand there like this, because I can't fly. And he swings
the hammer to take off into the sky, and then we're just standing there next to each other,
kind of looking at each other, while the others are finishing the scene behind us. And we're
just standing there holding these poses. You're just cracking up."
Marvel's Avengers is out now on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
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