Summary

  • Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate features an entirely different voice cast, with Will Ferrell replaced by Keith Ferguson.
  • The creators of the film explained the recasting was due to scheduling and the ability to find fresh talent to expand the characters' relationships.
  • The film has received universal criticism, sitting at a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes as of writing.

new movie follows Megamind defending Metro City from his former partners-in-crime, who want to destroy it. The streaming original features a different voice cast from the 2010 original, with Ferrell replaced by Keith Ferguson.

Speaking with Screen Rant, Fogel, Schoolcraft, and Simons explained why Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate's cast was not the same as the first movie. They explained how they weren't aware of all internal discussions, but explained how Ferguson was available for both the film and its follow-up TV show Megamind Rules!. Check out what the film's creators had to say below:

Brent Simons: Yeah, there's a lot of internal discussions we're not privy to, but I think it ultimately usually comes down to the time. And having Megamind and this ensemble around, that's a lot of people's schedules to organize. So, I think it was decided early on to find fresh talent. But also, we were lucky enough to get Keith Ferguson, who was Megamind's voice in a lot of video games, and some of the commercials when the movie came out. We even cast a wide net, but we always came back to Keith because, not only does he have that experience of speaking in Will's voice, he's such a talented voice actor that he's able to kind of take the baton from Will, and build on what Will created. It's a collaboration, even though these two guys — I'm not sure if they've even met — it's such a cool and interesting thing to see.

Eric Fogel: There's a term that DreamWorks likes to use when trying to find these voice actors to replace people from the movies. They don't like to call them soundalikes, they call them feelalikes. I think that was a thing that we sort of latched on to with Keith, where he was able to sort of build on that character, and sort of add layers to it, which you need, because we're expanding the world now, and expanding relationships.

Alan Schoolcraft: Yeah, so Will Ferrell has only done the voice for, you know, 85 minutes whereas Keith has now done it for 10 hours.

Eric Fogel: Hundreds of minutes. [Chuckles] And the same goes for all the cast. Laura Post as Roxanne, Josh Brener as Chum, Maya Aoki Tuttle as Keiko. They all bring just a real pathos, and just bring these characters to life. It's so fun to see them all, and hear them all interacting.

Megamind 2 Is Getting Lots Of Negative Reviews

Megamind looking confident with the Doom Syndicate in Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate

Alongside Ferrell, Tina Fey's Roxanne Ritchi and David Cross' Minion - renamed "Ol' Chum" - are now played by Laura Post and Josh Brener respectively. While the writers and director of the sequel are satisfied with the recasting of major characters, the response to the movie as a whole has been overwhelmingly negative. As of writing, the film sits at a 0% critics score out of 5 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 2.1 out of 10 based on 1,300 IMDb ratings.

While the movie offers an expanded villain backstory for Megamind, reviews indicate the film is plagued by bad animation and unfunny humor. This doesn't bode well for the future of the franchise, whose TV series Megamind Rules! is meant to further expand on the sequel's premise. Although the different voice cast makes the familiar characters feel different from the original, these recasts don't appear to be the movie's most notable issue.

Titan, Roxanne, Megamind, and Mega-Megamind from the Megamind movies
Related
All 4 Megamind Movie & TV Show, Ranked From Worst To Best

Megamind's new movie and TV show are the first projects in over a decade for DreamWorks' franchise, but how do they compete with the originals?

The team behind Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate have ion for their project, but that unfortunately wasn't enough to save it from criticism. Based on the public response to the movie and its subsequent show, these new entries won't be fondly ed. The major negative responses to the movie exhibit how, if the franchise were to continue, it would need to reach a level of quality established by the original.

Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate and all eight episodes of Megamind Rules! are now streaming on Peacock.

Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate
TV-G
Animation
Action
Adventure
1.5/10
Release Date
March 1, 2024

Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate is a Peacock original film from director Eric Fogel. Keith Ferguson replaces Will Ferrell as Megamind, who, this time, must stop his former villainous organization from shooting Metro City into the moon.

Cast
Scott Adsit, Chris Sullivan
Runtime
83 Minutes
Director
Eric Fogel
Writers
Alan Schoolcraft, Brent Simons
Studio(s)
DreamWorks Animation
Where To Stream
Peacock