Summary
Tomorrowverse actor Elysia Rotaru opens up on her final chapter in theDCfranchise withJustice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three. Throughout 2024, Warner Bros. Animation has been focusing on finishing the Tomorrowverse, which began all the way back in 2020. To give the franchise a conclusion, the creative team turned to one of DC’s most iconic storylines by adaptingCrisis on Infinite Earths.
Followingthe ending inJustice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths, Part Two, the third and final installment, gave the heroes of the Tomorrowverse their final spotlight. Both incarnations of Black Canary are featured in the project, and each is played by Rotaru. After having voiced the Dinah Drake iteration, Rotaru also got the opportunity to voice Dinah Laurel Lance, who is canonically the daughter of the original Black Canary.
DC Kills 2 Popular Universes In Justice League Timeline Shake-Up
Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths Part Three revisits a few beloved DC animated universes, only to bring them to an abrupt end.
Screen Rantinterviewed Rotaru about taking on herfinal adventure as Black Canary, but having the responsibility of playing both versions of the DC heroine. Rotaru, who is no stranger to the Green Arrow mythology, talks about the fun transition fromArrowto the Tomorrowverse, playing one of the most important characters in that mythology. FollowingJustice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three, Rotaru also looks at the potential of revisiting the DC brand in the future.
Elysia Rotaru Breaks Down Her Final Black Canary Chapter In Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths, Part Three
Screen Rant: First, I’ve been wanting to save this sinceArrowseason 4: Taiana deserved better, I’m just gonna put that out there right now.
Elysia Rotaru: Yeah! [laughs]
I was reading the credits, and I went, ‘This name sounds so familiar to me!’ when I was watching these movies before I realized,‘Oh my God, it’s Taina from the island!‘and now you get to be Black Canary! Has it been kind of funny like making that realization of,‘Oh, I was this player in this Green Arrow adaptation and now I’m playing one of the key characters in the Green Arrow [mythology] for the DC Universe’?
Elysia Rotaru: Oh God, I don’t know, I wish I could say I could have made that decision but the universe did that for me and I just had to say yes. But it’s kind of a fun segue and then we get to see a little peek of Green Arrow and Black Canary in this film!
Playing Not One, But Two Black Canaries
It’s not often we get to see, whenever we have both Black Canaries, we don’t usually get the same actor playing them. What was it like developing those two perspective voices for your respective Black Canaries?
Elysia Rotaru: We honestly had to find it on the day, Wes was just like, ‘Okay, she’s obviously older. We don’t want to make her sound tired and crotchety, she’s a superhero. But we want there to be a difference.’ We just put a little bit of texture in my voice more, especially towards the end of the scene where they were together, but it was pretty simple. I’d say it wasn’t too much of a creative theatrical stretch for me.
When you are recording these lines, you don’t always get to see what the animation style looks like. But when we see the younger Black Canary, I loved seeing the visual costume differences; what was your reaction when you saw like,‘Oh, so that’s what my daughter looks like as the next Black Canary!’
Elysia Rotaru: I think what’s great about Black Canary is that she’s transcended throughout the years. Her costume doesn’t really get too wild and too crazy. So for me when I saw mom and daughter [together] it was like, ‘Oh yeah, this is dope!’ you may keep it real and keeping it consistent and I liked that it was just a little tweak here and there.
What’s been one of the biggest takeaways from playing such an iconic role like Black Canary in animation for all these films?
Elysia Rotaru: Honestly, that I can’t wait for my kid to get older and watch them and go, ‘Oh s–t, mom was Black Canary?!’ [laughs] She’s only three right now, but I think for me that’s going to be something really awesome and that I hope it resonates with all the fans of her throughout the years and that they enjoy my take on it.
A Potential Return To The DC Franchise
Is the DC superhero realm that you’d like to revisit after having doneArrowand the Tomorrowverse, is that’s something that you’d want to pursue again, whether it’s in live action or animation?
Elysia Rotaru: Hell yeah, I remember watching Batman with Michael Keaton, I remember watching that movie when I was a kid and I’m just like ‘God, everyone’s so hot!’ When Catwoman comes in, there’s something just so sexy and empowering, it etched in my mind about the DC world that I can’t ever forget. I’ll never forget being a kid and seeing Joker and having his face melted off in the movies and then having them come to life and watching Batman as an animation as a kid too. Then Wonder Woman, for some reason those pivotal superheroes will always be so prominent in my mind and being a part of that world is wild! [laughs]
We know that James Gunn’s DC Universe is one of the next big projects coming up, is there a role in there you would like to take a shot at?
Elysia Rotaru: I don’t know, maybe something evil, getting a good evil cackle out! [laughs] We’ll see, I’d like to keep it open. I really do hope that it comes my way with things like that. But I think, for sure, maybe on the flip side, maybe good versus evil and see what we can do.
What Is Next After The Tomorrowverse?
Besides promotingJustice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three, where can people find you next?
Elysia Rotaru: I’m going to Fantasia Film Festival, which is one of the biggest film genre festivals out there. My short film Hell Is a Teenage Girl is premiering there this Sunday, that I executive produced with my partner and other than that, I’ve got a lot of video games that are coming out on the docket that I can’t talk about yet as well. But yeah, Instagram @elysiarotaru is pretty much my main platform and I always like to post my work and what I’m up to there.
AboutJustice League - Crisis On Infinite Earth, Part Three
Now fully revealed as the ultimate threat to existence, the ANTI-MONITOR wages an unrelenting attack on the surviving Earths that struggle for survival in a pocket universe. One-by-one, these worlds and all their inhabitants are vaporized! On the planets that remain, even time itself is shattered and heroes from the past join the Justice League and their rag-tag allies against the epitome of evil. But as they make their last stand, will the sacrifice of the superheroes be enough to save us all?
Check out our otherJustice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Threeinterviews:
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Threeis now available for purchase through Digital Download.
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part Three
Cast
Now fully revealed as the ultimate threat to existence, the Anti-Monitor wages an unrelenting attack on the surviving Earths that struggle for survival in a pocket universe. One by one, these worlds and all their inhabitants are vaporized! On the planets that remain, even time itself is shattered, and heroes from the past join the Justice League and their rag-tag allies against the epitome of evil. But as they make their last stand, will the sacrifice of the superheroes be enough to save us all?
