In Real Life

Hold On, Wait, Whoa, Nolan North Is Voicing The Penguin?

If, tomorrow, I got a news release telling me Nolan North was the new play-by-play man for Madden NFL I would not bat an eye. He has lent his voice to just about every major video game release imaginable in the past five years. Now he will voice, of all characters, The Penguin, in Batman: Arkham City.

Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot isn’t some laid back assassin-bartender type. He has a cockney accent. But In a video interview on CVG, Rocksteady’s Dax Ginn says “none other than Nolan North!” is voicing The Penguin. Put another notch in North’s vocal-range bedpost, I guess.

Ginn’s declaration of North’s role is a noticeable cut in the audio, spliced in, and we don’t see North himself speaking the lines. Honestly, I still am not sure that Ginn isn’t making a joke about the fact North has appeared in games from Portal 2 to Prince of Persia to Mafia 2, and the specialty press didn’t get it.

I followed up with a Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment rep just to be sure, but heard nothing at publishing time. Take it at face value, folks. Nolan North is The Penguin.

Additionally, an EA Sports spokesman told Kotaku they have “no plans” to use North in Madden.

Arkham City’s Penguin voiced by Nolan North – Confirmed [CVG]

You can contact Owen Good, the author of this post, at owen@kotaku.com. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.

Discuss

(7 Comments)
  • [–]

    Carnifex

    Saturday, August 6, 2011 at 6:14 PM

    hmm i thought read about this somewhere a while back. i guess it wasn’t confirmed(?)

    Reply
  • [–]

    Chazz

    Saturday, August 6, 2011 at 7:25 PM

    You can’t use the term “vocal-range” in the same sentence as North’s name unless you use the terms “lack of” before it.

    Reply
  • [–]

    Scott

    Saturday, August 6, 2011 at 8:32 PM

    That fake east London accent is absolutely terrible. How hard is it to get an English voice actor

    Reply
    • [–]

      Chazz

      Saturday, August 6, 2011 at 9:03 PM

      Funnily enough I didn’t even check out the link before I made my comment. Now I have following what you said and it only adds to my burning question;

      Why the frak does Nolan North get so much work?

      He is without a doubt one of the worst voice actor on the planet. He is to voice acting as Shia Labeouf is to physical acting.

      Reply
      • [–]

        Hades

        Sunday, August 7, 2011 at 1:07 AM

        Will he commentating the Gotham Knights games as well?

        Reply
  • [–]

    Vapor

    Sunday, August 7, 2011 at 2:52 AM

    Wow, a whole lotta Nolan North hate here.

    The reason the guy gets so much work is because he doesa great every man sort of voice, and can do a decent accent at a stretch. Not to mention, from all accounts, he’s a great guy to work with, fun and willing to put in a whole heap of effort.

    It’s not really too different to Steve Blum, Yuri Lowenthall or Tara Strong having their voices in every damm thing as well. It’s just that a bigger deal seems to be made of North being in a lot.

    Reply
  • [–]

    Jordaan

    Sunday, August 7, 2011 at 7:30 AM

    Nolan also voices both Superman and Superboy in Young Justice.
    One of the few times I haven’t recognised him as him.

    Reply

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