Back in October 2019, The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke teased fans on Twitter with the information that Patton Oswalt filmed a “secret role” for the hilariously violent Amazon series. A little under a year later, Oswalt’s role was revealed when the first batch of season two episodes debuted on the streaming platform, and well, it was a choice.
While tripping on hallucinogenic mushrooms in episode two, Chace Crawford’s The Deep was forced to confront his tormented feelings over his gills, which now had a voice. Specifically, Oswalt’s. While sitting down with Polygon, Kripke opened up about how he was faced with a series of decisions over how to best animate The Deep’s talking gills, which he had a more colorful name for, and how he originally wanted the CGI fish lungs to be voiced by Helen Mirren. When that didn’t work out, Kripke turned to Oswalt, who had professed his love of the show, and got the wheels spinning.
“I started thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if, like, one of Pixar’s most beloved characters was also the voice of The Deep’s mangina?’” Kripke said. But once Oswalt was in the pocket, Kripke was faced with a host of creative decisions. Via Polygon:
“There were a lot of fascinating questions,” Kripke notes. “How much should it spit? Should the gills all be moving in unison, or should they be saying different things at different times? Talking about a talking mangina is all very complicated.”
So far, Oswalt’s talking gills have only appeared in the second episode of the newest season, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the comedian’s voice pops up again down the road. Especially with The Deep’s journey focusing heavily on accepting his chest… mangina? That still doesn’t sound right.
New episodes of The Boys stream Friday on Amazon.
(Via Polygon)