Mister Miracle: Mackenzie Davis on King & Gerads' "Beautiful" Story

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Mister Miracle: Mackenzie Davis on King & Gerads' "Beautiful" Story

Mackenzie Davis on joining the adaptation of Tom King and Mitch Gerads' "beautiful" Mister Miracle, recording with Josh Hutcherson, and more.

Published Fri, 30 Oct 2026 18:37:09 -0500
by Ray Flook
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Article Summary

• Mackenzie Davis calls DC Studios' Mister Miracle a beautiful, grounded adaptation of Tom King and Mitch Gerads' comic.
• Davis says Mister Miracle tackles pain, depression, marriage, and healing through Scott Free and Big Barda's story.
• Josh Hutcherson and Mackenzie Davis recorded together, strengthening the chemistry at the heart of Mister Miracle.
• Davis is open to playing Big Barda in live action as Tom King praises the cast's performances and emotional depth.

Earlier this month, the news hit that DC Studios and Warner Animation's adaptation of Tom King and Mitch Gerads' Mister Miracle had tapped Josh Hutcherson ("The Hunger Games" franchise, I Love L.A.) and Mackenzie Davis (Below) to voice Scott Free and Big Barda, respectively. Now, we're getting some insights from Davis about the animated series, including what she took away from King and Gerads' work while researching the role, courtesy of a recent interview with Collider in support of her Netflix series Below. "I got involved because they reached out while I was shooting in Newfoundland, and I met with them and put my voice down. I was not familiar with anything, just because I have a very limited field of focus and I just didn't know about Tom King, and I didn't know about Mister Miracle and Big Barda. And then, I read the scripts and Tom's graphic novel," Davis shared about her early days with the project and what led to her coming aboard.

"It's so beautiful. It's very dark. Well, not dark, but it's dealing with true pain and depression. It's placed in this superhero world, but it's about a couple and a suicide attempt and a marriage and loving somebody and holding the pain that they're in. And then, there is this greater context that they're in," Davis added, hitting on some of the work's main themes and emotional strengths.  "But Tom has just written the most exquisite, painful, grounded show that happens to be about these two superheroes. It's kind of crazy." In order to maintain that quality with the adaptation, Hutcherson and Davis recorded their lines together. "I'm recording with Josh, always. I think it would be hard. It's such a two-hander of this couple dealing with a traumatic event and trying to navigate the healing of that and their marriage continuing," Davis shared. "It's quite a dense thing. I can't imagine doing it, just saying the lines out into a void. I got to record with Josh, and he was incredible."

Of course, with this being DC Studios' DCU, the live-action question has to be asked. When DC Studios' James Gunn and Peter Safran first rolled out their plans, Gunn revealed that the actors cast to voice DCU characters in animated projects would also portray them in live action (with some exceptions). Would Davis be up for that? "I think it would be really fun to explore in live action. She's [Big Barda] really funny and strong and angry and has a very traumatic childhood. There's lots of interesting stuff about her. Coming from complete unfamiliarity, and now knowing her quite well, I think she's incredible… For me, everything has been a discovery," she noted. "I believe Big Barda and Mister Miracle were less prominent characters in the DC world, and then Tom King wrote this extraordinary graphic novel a few years ago that really brought a lot of attention to them. And that's what we're using for our show."

Earlier this month, King checked in on social media to praise the casting and share what it's been like working with Hutcherson and Davis – even comparing their casting and chemistry to Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre's dynamic in HBO's Lanterns. "News is finally out. Mister Miracle is Josh Hutcherson. Big Barda is Mackenzie Davis," King shared in an Instagram post on Tuesday, which included artwork from Gerads, Nick Derington, and the legendary Jack Kirby. "Spent the last year working with these two brilliant actors as they brought their art to this story I love. I can't speak highly enough of their nuanced performances, their electric chemistry, how they somehow ground and elevate the material, adding their humor, warmth, and depth to these legendary King Kirby creations. Really felt like when Kyle and Aaron came to [Lanterns]—just perfect. [Mitch Gerads] and I have been enmeshed in this story for a decade, and we couldn't be more excited and honored to be bringing the New Gods to the DCU. We can't wait for you to see this gorgeously animated series."

Checking in with The Brave and the Boys podcast back in January, King explained how essential auditions were in making sure he could find the right voice for each character. From there, he described the experience he feels when an actor is so right for a character that, as a writer, he focuses less on the words written and more on the moment being expressed. Regarding the upcoming animated series, King explained how some of the actors cast hit perfectly with the voice that King had for certain characters, while another actor offered King something he wasn't expecting, something that was right for the role.

"So yeah, I mean, there were some people who nailed it, who were exactly just… I was like, 'Oh, my god! That is Scott. That is Barta," King shared about the actors cast for the DCU animated series. "And then there were some people who are… I was like, 'That's not what I expected, but that is what… that is Darkseid.' So yeah, it ran the gauntlet from, I mean… I love this book. I love it to death. I wasn't going to settle for anything less than perfect. But it ran the gauntlet from perfect to just beyond."

Checking in with Brandon Davis during WonderCon in May for a wide-ranging interview covering his comics and DC Studios work (which you can check out above), King had some things to share about the highly anticipated animated series. As he's mentioned in the past, King notes that the animated series is "my whole life right now." That includes writing the season's scripts, with King noting that he was taking a page from DC Studios co-CEO and writer/director James Gunn's playbook with how he approached Creature Commandos.

In addition, King shared that he was with the actors during the recording that morning, doing "all that kind of actorly… directing kind of stuff." The previous day, King was in the editing bay, editing the pilot, and had previously checked out the artwork while in Paris. In addition, King shared that he and Gerads are "constantly in touch, building the whole thing."

From there, King shared a brief look at Mister Miracle with Davis via his phone, with Davis clearly impressed. Having heard from fans over the past 10 years how deeply the work affected them emotionally, King approached the animated adaptation with those thoughts in mind. "And so people tell me, 'Oh, this part really meant a lot to me or this part was confusing.' And so, recreating it, I can be like, 'This was the part that meant the most to fans. Let's lean into that.' Or, 'This part needed some clarification. We can clarify that.' But I can, having talked to so many fans about this book, I can bring out what they loved in it in the series. So, it's just been a joy."

Teasing that there were "lots of announcements to come," King wanted it to be known that working on the series "couldn't be more fun." He continued, "I love these Jack Kirby characters. And just, you know, playing with Orion and Darkseid and Mr. Miracle. Especially Mr. Miracle and Barta and their relationship, which is the key to the whole series, has been just absolutely joy. And wait till you see who's been cast. Oh my god, it's amazing. It's great."

No prison can hold him. No trap can contain him. He is Scott Free, the worldwide celebrity sensation known as Mister Miracle, and he is the greatest escape artist who ever lived. But can he pull off the ultimate trick — and escape death itself?

Something has gone horribly wrong with the perfect life that Scott and his warrior wife, Big Barda, have built for themselves on Earth. With war raging between their home worlds of Apocalypse and New Genesis, Scott's cruel adoptive father, Darkseid, seems to have finally captured the Anti-Life Equation — the ultimate weapon that will give Darkseid total dominance over the universe.

As the mountains of bodies on both sides grow ever higher, only Mister Miracle can stop the slaughter and restore peace. But the terrible power of the Anti-Life Equation may already be at work in his own mind, warping his reality, exposing his long-buried pain, and shattering the fragile happiness he's found with the woman he loves.

And so begins the odyssey of Scott Free, Mister Miracle: a harrowing, hilarious, heart-wrenching journey across the pitfalls of the ordinary and extraordinary as the son of God raised by the devil tries to save his family, his world, and maybe even himself.

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