Sit tight, I’m about to start something that will make the war between the Omnics and Humans seem trivial..
Blizzard did the right thing casting Sahr Ngaujah as the voice of Overwatch’s new attack character – Doomfist.
It was a big call by Blizzard to use Sahr’s voice in what was arguably the biggest character release in Overwatch (if not MOBA) history.
The pressure was on from the wider Overwatch community to cast Terry Crews, and the star himself hinted many times as to how much he’d love to play Overwatch’s new character, even going as far as to release multiple auditions.
Let me make one thing clear, I love Terry Crews as much as anyone, his IMDB list is a mile long and he’s one of the funniest blokes on TV and in movies – and that’s the reason why he could never be Doomfist. He’s too hilarious.. and Doomfist needs gravitas in his portrayal.
Firstly let’s take a look at the history of Doomfist that Blizzard has built:
- He lost his arm in the Omnic crisis
- He believes in peace through conflict
- Akinjide Adeyemi – scourge of Numbani was his teacher, who he later went on to kill and replace as Doomfist
- He became the leader of Talon – an organisation built on bringing about peace through conflict
- He’s battle worn, having been involved in huge fights throughout the Overwatch battle history
He’s such a layered character with a deep history, and I imagine the direction from the studio would be one of someone who is scarred, wholeheartedly believing that his view of the world is the right one, and that he would stop at nothing to make it happen. Terry Crews’ voice doesn’t suggest that, even though he has been able to tackle more serious roles in his time, there’s an element of being able to ‘bring him around’.
The other really simple thing that Blizzard got right was the accent – I can’t imagine Terry being able to do a Nigerian accent with as much flavour and depth as what we’ve ended up with.
Sahr has the right balance of elements in his voice to have given us the sort of layered character I believe Blizzard is portraying. Watch the video below and see if you can imagine Terry Crews doing the voice of Doomfist:
So the question remains – could Terry Crews still have a spot in the Overwatch universe?
I believe the answer is yes, although I think the character needs to be the lighthearted and comedic ice breaker in the tense situation, always approaching the fight seriously, but his voice and execution suggesting that he’s looking for the opportunity to crack a joke or lighten the mood. He’d be the effortless light to Doomfist’s darkness – almost like the Goku of the OW team.
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