Did You Know that ‘The Penguin’s’ Clancy Brown Played a Total of 30 Different Comic Book Roles?!
Clancy Brown might be one of those actors whose name you cannot immediately associate with a face, but once you see him, you’ll immediately know who he is. Known for his many supporting appearances, Clancy Brown has a very prolific career that has lasted for decades, and you probably know him from a variety of projects he’s worked on.
His roles include His film roles include Viking Lofgren in Bad Boys (1983), Rawhide in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984), the Kurgan in Highlander (1986), Capt. Byron Hadley in The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Sgt. Charles Zim in Starship Troopers (1997), Stanley Thomas in Promising Young Woman (2020), and the Harbinger in John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023).
In animation, Brown has voiced Lex Luthor in the DC Animated Universe (1996–2006) and Mr. Krabs on SpongeBob SquarePants (1999–present).
His other voice roles include Doctor Neo Cortex and Uka Uka in the Crash Bandicoot franchise (1997–2003), Long Feng in Avatar: The Last Airbender (2006), Savage Opress in Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2011–2013), and Surtur in Thor: Ragnarok (2017).
As you can see, Brown likes to take on comic book roles and you’ve probably seen/heard him in several such roles, but – did you know that he portrayed a total of 30 different comic book roles? In this report, we are going to go over them.
1. Sal Maroni in The Penguin
We start off with the most recent one, The Penguin, where Clancy Brown is portraying Salvatore (Sal) Maroni, a mobster and a supporting villain in the series who will play a large part in the Penguin’s plans.
2. Colonel Ray Schoonover in Daredevil & The Punisher
You might remember Colonel Ray Schoonover as an interesting character, and that is because he is. He first appeared as a mentor to Frank Castle, but it was later revealed that he was deeply corrupted, which added a layer to his portrayal.
3. General Wade Eiling in The Flash
Another military man, General Wade Eiling from The Flash is not a bad person, but he has a very hard-line approach to national security, which led to him clashing with Flash and his allies on more than one occasion.
4. Surtur in Thor: Ragnarok & What If…?
This is one you probably did not know unless you’re a true MCU fan, but yes, Clancy Brown provided the voice for the monstrous Surtur in his two appearances in the MCU, which isn’t surprising, seeing how often Brown does voice roles.
5. Parallax in Green Lantern
And while we’d most likely want to forget that movie, Clancy Brown also appeared in that one as well, voicing the villainous Parallax, the embodiment of fear in the Green Lantern universe.
6. Lex Luthor in the DC Animated Universe (& other projects)
Yes, the voice of Lex Luthor in the DCAU – arguably the most famous interpretation of the character on the screen – was provided by Clancy Brown in one of the actor’s most famous voice roles of all time.
7. Sasquatch in The Incredible Hulk: The Animated Series
This is also probably one that only true Clancy Brown fans will know (a lot of the ones coming up are, actually), but he portrayed the villain Sasquatch in The Incredible Hulk: The Animated Series, a very supporting role in the series.
8. Red Hulk in Ultimate Spider-Man, Hulk And The Agents Of SMASH, & Avengers Assemble
Another Hulk-related role, although a more famous one is his voicing of Red Hulk in several of Marvel’s animated projects, including Ultimate Spider-Man, Hulk And The Agents Of SMASH, & Avengers Assemble.
9. Mr. Freeze in The Batman
The Batman might not be one of the best Batman animated series, but Mr. Freeze was definitely an interesting character and we genuinely think that Clancy Brown’s voice role significantly contributed to that.
10. Bane in The Batman
We’re still in the world of the same series, but this time, we’re talking about a different role. Aside from voicing Mr. Freeze, Brown also provided the voice for Bane in that same series, which shows how big of a talent he is when it comes to voice roles.
11. Mister Sinister in Wolverine and the X-Men
Wolverine and the X-Men might not be remembered by many fans, but it was a solid show and Clancy Brown appeared in that one as well, this time voicing the villain Mister Sinister.
12. Rhino in The Spectacular Spider-Man
Clancy Brown, believe it or not, appeared as another Marvel villain, this time Rhino, in a relatively obscure Spider-Man animated series, titled The Spectacular Spider-Man. This is not one of his more memorable roles.
13. George Stacy in The Spectacular Spider-Man
But, in that same show, Clancy Brown also had a heroic role, which is relatively atypical for him, but certainly interesting. In that same relatively obscure Spider-Man show, he also voiced George Stacy, a very important supporting character.
14. Raymond Bloch (Ox) in The Spectacular Spider-Man
And yes, Clancy Brown had a third role in that same show, which also goes to show how versatile he is. He also portrayed a minor villain, Raymond Bloch, who is also known under his villainous name Ox.
15. Taskmaster in Iron Man & Captain America: Heroes Unite, Ultimate Spider-Man, & Avengers Assemble
Another villainous Marvel role Clancy Brown did is that of Taskmaster in several different animated projects, which include Iron Man & Captain America: Heroes Unite, Ultimate Spider-Man, & Avengers Assemble.
16. Per Degaton in Batman: The Brave and the Bold
In this iteration of the Batman mythos, Clancy Brown also appeared, but this time in a completely original role, that of Per Degaton, a time-traveling villain who was quite interesting.
17. Rohtul in Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Believe it or not (yes, we’re sarcastic), Clancy Brown appeared in another role in that same Batman series, voicing the villainous Rohtul, an alternative version of Batman from a different universe.
18. Odin in The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes
In a role that fits him due to his appearance, Clancy Brown also portrayed the ruler of Asgard, the powerful Odin, in the animated project titled The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
19. King Faraday in Young Justice
Another important role that a lot of fans will remember was Clancy Brown’s portrayal of G-man King Faraday in the extremely popular and amazing series Young Justice; a supporting, but intriguing role.
20. General Zartok in Green Lantern: The Animated Series
Another – for many – memorable role is that from the very popular Green Lantern: The Animated Series, one of DC’s better animated shows, where he portrayed a Red Lantern, General Zartok.
21. Ben Parker in Ultimate Spider-Man
Clancy Brown also voiced the popular and beloved Ben Parker in the animated Ultimate Spider-Man, which is not one of his more memorable roles, but it is one of the more important characters he’s voiced in animation.
22. Phantom Rider in Ultimate Spider-Man
In that same series, Clancy Brown had a very interesting role, that of the Western/cowboy-themed hero called Phantom Rider, which remains one of his more interesting ones.
23. Negative Man in DC Nation Shorts
Clancy Brown also voiced the Doom Patrol member Negative Man in DC Nation Shorts, which is most likely one of his more forgettable appearances, simply because the whole project is something that only hardcore fans remember.
24. General Immortus in DC Nation Shorts
But that was not his only DC Nation Shorts role, as he also appeared as the voice of the centuries-old villain General Immortus. This is an equally forgettable role as the one we’ve mentioned before.
25. Uatu The Watcher in Hulk And The Agents Of SMASH & Avengers Assemble
In two interesting animated projects by Marvel, Clancy Brown also voiced an exceptionally important character, namely Uatu The Watcher, and this certainly counts as one of his more interesting roles.
26. Black Bolt in Hulk And The Agents Of SMASH
In the project we’ve mentioned several times before, Hulk And The Agents Of SMASH, Clancy Brown also portrayed Black Bolt, one of the more interesting characters in Marvel’s roster.
27. Supreme Intelligence in Hulk And The Agents Of SMASH
And another role from the same animated project! Yes, in Hulk And The Agents Of SMASH, Clancy Brown also provided the voice for the Supreme Intelligence… he really did a lot of work for that one!
28. Trident in Teen Titans
Teen Titans is one of the most beloved DC animated shows of all time, so you’ll be happy to know that Clancy Brown appeared in that one as well. He voiced the character named Trident.
29. Charlie “Big Time” Bigelow in Batman Beyond
Batman Beyond was an absolutely amazing show, a series that most Batman fans to date still adore. And while Clancy Brown’s character, Charlie “Big Time” Bigelow, is not a canon comic book character, we still wanted to mention it here.
30. Raymond in Spider-Man: The New Animated Series
This role is like the previous one from Batman Beyond, i.e., an original role created specifically for the series. Raymond is a minor antagonist who appeared in the Spider-Man: The New Animated Series.
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