C2E2 Interview: Breckin Meyer, Zeb Wells And Matthew Senreich Talks New Season Of SuperMansion On Crackle

Post by James Lindorf

The third season of SuperMansion will make its debut May 7th, on the streaming platform Crackle. You may have never heard of SuperMansion, and you wouldn’t be alone, the show while successful is very underappreciated. If you are wondering if it is a show for you, I have a few simple questions to help you find out.

1. Do you have an internet-connected device? If you do, that’s all you need to access Crackle. Crackle is available on iOS and Android devices as well as tablets, gaming consoles and smart TVs in 21 countries.

2. Are you a fan of superhero-themed entertainment? If you cannot get enough of the caped do-gooders and their dastardly villains, it is a show for you.

3. Are you a fan of parodies? Just like the people behind Spaceballs, Blazing Saddles or Shaun of the Dead, the writers of SuperMansion blend pop culture and a love for specific genre into a highly entertaining comedy.

4. Do you like TV shows with a fantastic cast? If so, you are in luck. SuperMansion features the voice talents of Bryan Cranston, Chris Pine, Keegan-Michael Key, Heidi Gardner, Breckin Meyer, Jillian Bell and many more to fill out the rosters of heroes and villains.

5. Do you enjoy stop motion animation? It is an art form that doesn’t get as much airtime as it used to but is responsible for some beloved classics like, the original Clash of the Titans, Coraline and The Nightmare Before Christmas. It takes the animators a full day to film 10 seconds worth of a 30-minute episode, leaving no doubt that this show is a labor of love from the top down.

If you answered in the affirmative to all or most of those questions, then you should check out the show. If you are still on the fence or just want to know more, please keep reading. I recently got the chance to sit down with voice-over star Breckin Meyer, co-creators and executive producers Zeb Wells (the voice of Robobot) and Matthew Senreich to discuss what we can expect from season three.

What makes SuperMansion unique among all the superhero-themed entertainment?

Wells: I think it is because we take inspiration from everywhere; we know and love all the superheroes. People may recognize something from Jack Kirby DC comic or The Punisher from 70’s Marvel, and we can parody it all. Senreich: I think what makes it fun is that we take those traditional comic book moments and show you the 30 seconds before or after those moments you’re wondering about. If Superman and Lex Luthor have had thousands of conversations they won’t be the same every time, they will talk about the personal and the things they’ve had for lunch. I think our sense of humor, coming from Robot Chicken, takes a situation and turns it 90 degrees on its side and the dialogue is what makes it different from anything else.

What can we expect in the upcoming in general and for the characters of Jewbot (Wells) and Courtney (Meyer) more specifically?

Wells: At the end of season 2 the villains helped the heroes save the world and were declared heroes as well, allowing them to move into the mansion. So, that means The Groaner and Black Saturn are living together, and they have a complicated history; they may love each other, they may hate each other. In the future, it looks like they are married but its still very complicated at the moment. Black Saturn is also best friends with Courtney, Breckin’s character, which causes a lot of jealous on The Groaners side. Courtney has to spend the season watching his ass, or he may be killed by a scary evil clown, that’s not a Juggalo.

With the heroes and villains living together, will this season be like MTV’s The Real World?

Wells: Basically, its people that don’t get along with each other forced to live together. There isn’t enough room for everyone and RoboDino has to sleep in the tub which he isn’t jazzed about. The first episode has a very Real World vibe as everyone gets his or her room as they figure out where people will stay. Senreich: They also have to figure out how to work together in the field. How do you work with someone you have fought against for the last ten years? Are you supposed to be best friends now, can you trust them when you still kind of hate them.

Mikey Day from SNL will be joining the cast this season as Max Penalizer. What was it like working with Mikey and will there be any other guest stars this season?

Wells: Mikey wrote with us on Robot Chicken before he got the job on SNL so we knew how funny he was and it was great to have back, he’s very fast and a bit of a maniac. Senreich: I’m not sure what else we can say, they are looking at us with evil eyes right now. Wells: We will have Taran Killam also from SNL coming on. Senreich: I will say it is a bunch of SNL people at the start of the season, and there are a few more, later on, that I might be killed for mentioning.

What were some of your favorite comic book characters and how have you incorporated them into the show?

Senreich: Both of us [Wells] actually started in comic books, so it’s wild to be doing all this other stuff. I grew up with the Avengers; I loved Captain America, Thor, Iron Man and anything that took place at the Avengers Mansion, which was the basis for the show. Zeb came to me with the idea, and all I could think was yes please, I love that idea. Wells: I think Spider-Man was my first love, and then I moved on to the rest of Marvel, DC was always harder for me to wrap my mind around. The DC characters were off in space or fighting a god, which was harder to relate to. I’m sure Breckin was off playing football or something. Breckin: Oh yeah that’s exactly what I was doing. I also met this girl Sandy over the summer and then my gang the T-Birds spent the year getting in trouble. I was never a big comic person, I read X-Men and Wolverine, but the only thing I ever collected was MAD Magazine.

When I first started getting an income one of the first big things I bought was Mad Magazine number 1. Whenever we do something comic heavy, I always have to do a crash course. When we do our DC specials, they go deep in the archives, and I have to learn about things like cocaine man. Wells: So Breckin is leafing through a book and putting all the comic nerds on trial to defend the existence of cocaine man. We did our best to explain who he was and why he was important all while Breckin is asking, “this is what you guys like.” What could we do, you can’t really justify some of this stuff.

When are you guys creating characters, who comes first the character or the voice actor?

Senreich: Character always, we have to do what’s best for the story first. Wells: Once we right it the fun begins and we get to decide what they will sound like, and then the actors come in with their spin. Senreich: Jillian Bell who plays Lex is a perfect example. Lex had a voice in the script, but it just wasn’t funny enough, but Jillian came in and made everything funny. Wells: That’s so good too because when we go back to write more of that character, you have this voice in your head. After a while, the actors help us write the characters because of what they’ve added to it.

How has working on Robot Chicken and SuperMansion helped or hindered each show?

Senreich: Robot is a sketch comedy show, so it is fast and furious in that way. SuperMansion we have to think about a story and build characters that will evolve over a full season. It’s like the difference between watching SNL and 30 Rock. Wells: With Robot the writers get to do their own thing when you see a sketch it was written by one writer. For SuperMansion, we get in a room and bat ideas around and make sure they make sense for a full season.

What has your experience at C2E2 been like so far?

Senreich: The good thing for us is we can blend in and walk around. This is probably my 20th year doing conventions, HA HA NERD jests Breckin, it’s always a blast, and you get to catch up with people you haven’t seen in years. Breckin: Honestly, I love it; I think it is so much fun. It sounds cliché to say it’s because you get to meet the fans, but the Robot Chicken writers and the Robot Chicken fans are the same people, It’s not much different than coming to work on Robot. We were just at Wonder Con, and there was a guy dressed as Black Saturn, and it was super exciting and super sweet. It’s always so fun because if I am on the street and someone recognizes me from Road Trip, they aren’t dressed as Josh, so it’s a different experience. Sometimes doing press can be a pain with all the traveling and staying in hotels but those moments are what make it worth it.

I highly suggest checking out the show. You still have some time to binge seasons 1 and 2 before the new season launches on May 7th. If you still want to know more, you can find the panel that Breckin, Jeb, and Matthew did while at C2E2.