Antony Starr, the actor who plays Homelander on the Amazon Prime series The Boys, has taken to Instagram to confirm that he will not be reprising his role as the character in the upcoming DLC for Mortal Kombat 1. In the comments of a recent post about an appearance in The Boys spinoff Gen V, an Instagram user asked Starr if he would be voicing Homelander, to which Starr replied with a simple “nope.”
This follows a similar Instagram question that inspired a much less clear response just four weeks ago. When asked about a role the game, Starr appeared unsure of whether or not he would be returning, not committing in either direction. Though Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm secured the actor’s likeness, he now seems much more certain of his position on voicing the character.
Homelander is expected to be available in Spring 2024 as a part of the Kombat Pack 1 DLC, which also includes J.K. Simmons’ already-released Omni-Man from Invincible and John Cena’s Peacemaker from The Suicide Squad. Antony Starr’s absence is particularly surprising given that both Simmons and Cena are reprising their roles for the other two comic-based guest characters, as confirmed by creator Ed Boon in an interview with IGN.
This is not the first time that NetherRealm has used actor’s likeness without their voice. In Mortal Kombat 11, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s likeness was used for the Terminator with sound-alike Chris Cox providing the voice. That being said, the studio is generally willing to bring back a high profile actor to reprise a role, as previous games have received voicework from Sylvester Stallone, Keith David, and Peter Weller.
Mortal Kombat 1 has faced some controversy in the past month with a single new Fatality being priced at $10. Despite this, it has sold nearly 3 million copies since its launch, plus additional sales of the $19.99 DLC. NetherRealm has not commented on Starr’s statement.