After lending his voice to a few recent projects, Hugh Jackman is returning to the animation fold with Koala Man. Developed by YOLO: Crystal Fantasy and alum Michael Cusack, the animated comedy is set in the Australian suburban town of Dapto and revolves around Kevin, a middle-aged dad who sets out fighting petty crime, villainous masterminds and supernatural horrors in his town under the eponymous alter-ego. Cusack is also leading the cast of Hulu's Koala Man as Kevin.
Development on Koala Man was first announced in early 2021 when Hulu picked up the rights to the project with an eight-episode order with Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland attached to executive produce alongside Detective Pikachu co-writers Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, the latter two of whom also serve as showrunners. Word has largely gone quiet on Koala Man in the year since, with Roiland busy putting together future seasons of his hit Adult Swim animated series as well as fellow Hulu title Solar Opposites, which just recently aired its third season and has already been greenlit for season 4 by the streaming platform. Hulu recently unveiled its full schedule for this year's San Diego Comic-Con, which includes a first look at Koala Man, but now the streamer has some exciting news about what's to come from the series.
Ahead of the show's premiere at San Diego Comic-Con, Hulu took to Twitter to reveal that Hugh Jackman has ed the cast of Koala Man. The former Wolverine star is set to voice a character named Big Greg, a former host of a fishing show who is now the head of the Australian suburb Dapto's Town Council. See Hulu's announcement below:
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Jackman g on for Koala Man marks the interesting latest dive into the voiceover field for the former X-Men franchise star. Though still largely present in live-action, the past few years have seen Jackman lend his voice to a variety of projects, most notably a cameo in Big Mouth season 5 as a fictionalized version of himself, the spinoff to the hit Netflix comedy Human Resources in a recurring role and a vocal cameo in Ryan Reynolds' Free Guy. Given the pandemic has kept many actors in their homes, it's understandable high-profile talent like Jackman have taken to further exploring the animated genre with projects such as Koala Man.
Outside of Jackman's casting, it will be interesting to see how involved Justin Roiland will be with Hulu's Koala Man. With the Rick and Morty creator/star's schedule already packed producing more episodes of the Adult Swim series and Hulu's Solar Opposites, it seems more likely he's lending his name and producing power to the show, though given Roiland also lent his voice to Invincible and The Boys Presents: Diabolical, as well as writing an episode of the latter, it seems possible he could have more involvement than executive producing. Only time will tell when Koala Man's SDCC kicks off this Thursday.
Source: Hulu/Twitter