Doctor Who‘s David Tennant will join Black Panther star Michael B. Jordan in Rooster Teeth Animation’s science-fiction series gen:LOCK. The show’s cast also includes The Alienist star Dakota Fanning and veteran anime voice actors Kōichi Yamadera (Cowboy Bebop) and Monica Rial (Fullmetal Alchemist).
Set during a time of war in a dystopian future, the 3D animated gen:LOCK centers on a diverse team of young pilots recruited to operate a new generation of giant mecha, or human controlled armored robots. Creator Gray Haddock lists several classic anime titles as his inspirations for the series, including Ghost in the Shell, Gundam, Aldnoah Zero and Kiznaiver. A brief teaser for the series was shown at New York Comic Con in 2017, where it was described as “grounded science-fiction” in the tradition of Gundam and Tom Clancy novels, but in the style of Rooster Teeth’s RWBY.
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EW reports that David Tennant has taken on a voice role in gen:LOCK, playing Dr. Rufus Weller, a scientist with the Experimental Science Unit and the man who invented the new gen:LOCK technology. Jordan, whose casting was originally reported in May, will play the lead character Julian Chase, a mecha operator fighting on behalf of Earth’s last free society amid global war.
In introducing David Tennant as the newest gen:LOCK cast member, series creator Gray Braddock referred to the actor as “sci-fi royalty.” Tennant of course achieved that lofty status thanks to his 50 episode run as The Doctor on the classic British sci-fi series Doctor Who. A veteran of many TV series, Tennant has also starred on Broadchurch and Jessica Jones, and on the rebooted DuckTales in the role of Scrooge McDuck. Next up, Tennant will star alongside Michael Sheen on Good Omens, the series adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s novel.
He may not be sci-fi royalty, but Michael B. Jordan is surely comic book movie royalty after his performance as Erik Killmonger in this year’s blockbuster Black Panther. Later this year, Jordan will reprise the role of boxer Adonis Creed in the sequel Creed II, which reunites him with Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa. Jordan’s prior voice roles include Cyborg in the video Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox and Justice Young in the video game NBA 2K17. Both Jordan and Tennant now make the leap to anime for an intriguing series that dives into the classic mecha genre.
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gen:LOCK is set for release in January 2019 only on Rooster Teeth.
