It’s no exaggeration to say that Carl Lumbly has had quite a prolific career as an actor with over 150 credits in theatre, film, television and voiceover. For comic book fans, he’s probably best known as the voice of Martian Manhunter in the acclaimed Justice League animated series and its sequel series Justice League Unlimited. After playing the DC Universe sandbox, Lumbly entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe portraying Isaiah Bradley in the Disney+ original series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
Lumbly is set to reprise to role of Isaiah Bradley in the much-anticipated film Captain America: Brave New World arriving in theaters this week. Ahead of the film’s release, we had the pleasure of chatting with the accomplished not only about returning to play the character of Isaiah Bradley, but his previous experience with superheroes including the short-lived M.A.N.T.I.S. television series.
Taimur Dar: Before we get into Captain America: Brave New World, I have to discuss your previous foray into superheroes with M.A.N.T.I.S., the superhero television series from the ‘90s. It has a really interesting production history. Apparently, the character was meant to be the uncle of Virgil Hawkins better known as Static.
Carl Lumbly: Oh, really?
Taimur Dar: Funny enough, years later you would voice Anansi in the Static Shock animated series which is kind of funny.
Carl Lumbly: That is funny because I didn’t know those connections. It was a special project for me. For one, it was an opportunity to wear spandex. So that was cool. Not really. [Laughs]. And the idea of a superhero who was among other things simply a mortal who used his gifts and mind and wealth to address crime and to try to do it without taking people off the planet. I loved being a part of it. For me, the document was the pilot. That was where it was all working. I think given the time and the context, it required a kind of bravery that I think was in shorter supply than it is now. I don’t think the series represented a step up from the pilot. Normally, you think the pilot starts at a certain level and that’s the basement for the series. In this instance a determination was made that it was too difficult or did not compel those people who were going to be on the next one. So they essentially dismantled it. That’s one of those jobs where I felt like if I was going to stay in it, I had to commit to the best version of the character I could get under the circumstances that I did not think were ideal. I give myself a B- in that navigation. Some moments I thought were as good as they could get. Other stuff was abysmal.
Taimur Dar: On that note, I have to mention through the late/great Dwayne McDuffie I learned M.A.N.T.I.S. series finale involved you getting killed by what he called a “budget conscious” invisible dinosaur. So I have to inquire about working under such ludicrous conditions?
Carl Lumbly: I think perhaps there was some loss of concept so it was, “let’s just end it.” I can’t think of anything that made less sense but given the direction that things had gone it was perfect. I think some of our lesser impulses fortunately are becoming like dinosaurs. They lived in an age that we have long moved past. But the idea of racism as an invisible dinosaur and all of the “isms” as invisible dinosaurs I kind of like. You don’t actually see them until you’re in their jaws sometimes. These days it’s probably not as easy to trumpet them as say the ‘60s or ‘70s or ‘80s when I began. In some ways it was an appropriate ending that said more about production than it might have realized.
Taimur Dar: I think it goes without saying, voicing Martian Manhunter in the Justice League animated series was a step up from the M.A.N.T.T.S. television show both in storytelling and representation. In many ways I feel like Justice League and its sequel series Justice League Unlimited heralded this progress over the last decade. After going from M.A.N.T.T.S. to Isaiah Bradley, how do you view it from your own perspective?
Carl Lumbly: Martian Manhunter was a joy. Here was someone who was cut off from his history, people, and planet. And finding points of attachment in this “Brave New World.” It’s some of the same juice I feel for Isaiah, someone who was taken out of his life and given abilities and powers he could utilize but he could probably have lived without. Having those powers led him to an existence that took him out of everything. Here’s a young man who’s just been married and enlists to be part of the effort save his country but also to represent his people that he felt would give equality to the black men and women who served the country. To have that flipped on its head and taken out of that world and put into solitary and experimented on and have those achievements erased as if they and he never happened, those resonances are at play in the lives of so many people of color in this country and around the world. Anyone who has been displaced from their home. Martian Manhunter did it through lightyears of travel. Isaiah when we find him in Winter Soldier, he’s not willing to make those steps. He had been reintroduced to a world that he still didn’t trust but might have possibility. To walk in the world with that kind of feeling requires a kind of bravery.
Taimur Dar: The character of Isaiah Bradley was introduced over two years ago in the comic miniseries Truth: Red, White & Blue. Obviously, there will always be changes in adapting anything to another medium. Did you still find it valuable to read the original graphic novel or did you rely primarily on the script?
Carl Lumbly: I consider that my secular bible. [Laughs]. The reason I looked at it is because of my son. Initially I couldn’t speak about what I had auditioned for. In fact, in the first audition, the character’s name wasn’t there. When I did find out it was Isaiah Bradley I mentioned it to my son. His reaction was outsized for the way I know him to be for a traditional twenty-something’s reaction to his dad. He said, “You have to read Truth!” I got ahold of that. The audition, while Isaiah’s name was not on it, the thoughts and feelings expressed by that character, a young man wanting to be a part of something he thought was great and the fact that people didn’t feel he had a place, made it more gratifying. They would lay down their lives if it could change things for everybody. Not just the black people who were oppressed but the white majority.
In that monologue he speaks about why he wanted to fight for America and what happened when he enlisted. He left his wife and young daughter. At the time his wife was pregnant. He never met his young daughter. He went off and what took place was beyond any imagining of Hell. Whatever that does to you, I imagine what is heroic is the journey back and that’s where he is now. Life is suffering and I’m not trying to say that in a way that leaves anyone out. Suffering incurs all types of levels. Yes, suffering is painful and resistance to that suffering is even more painful. Finding a way to continue to find yourself inside it is heroic. Those are things people do all over the planet every day. I think Isaiah represents that. There is something to be said about holding firm and operating from love. His wife was named Faith. So he has “faith.” He has to. For everything his life did not give him, maybe there is a reason for him to hold out for what life still has to offer.
Taimur Dar: One of my favorite moments in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is in the last episode when Sam Wilson takes Isaiah to the Captain America museum to show him a memorial statue of Isaiah has been added and tells him, “Now, they’ll never forget what you did for this country.” It’s a scene that really pulls at the heartstrings and I think anyone can relate to it regardless of race. Did that moment resonate for you personally in any way?
Carl Lumbly: It resonated very deeply, the idea of having a day where someone says, “I see you as you are and value and treasure the fact that you are here.” To me all of that comes from a statement of love. That recognition is the recognition of the love within yourself that allows you to say to someone, “I treasure you.” I’ve probably have had some moments like that. Not as dramatic as Isaiah’s but where you believe you are operating in relative obscurity and someone stops you on the street and says, “I saw something you did and it touched me. I value you did it and thank you for being you and doing what you did.” You can’t touch that stuff. That’s better than many tributes than you can receive. We do this work for an audience. But I think as a performer, I also believe that I am part of the audience so I am doing this for us.
Taimur Dar: Finally, any other upcoming projects you want to discuss?
Carl Lumbly: I’m writing a one man show about James Baldwin. He’s my superhero. That is something that I plan to have in production as a stage piece before the end of this year. I don’t make resolutions, but I am determined to do this. And I did another project that I’m very proud to be a part of called The Life of Chuck. It’s going to be coming out in May. I can’t describe it except that it was a delight to read and a joy to have the smallest bit to do with it. I am excited for that one as well. It’s a much smaller and more intimate and compact experience. But I think it’s going to be very powerful.
Captain America: Brave New World arrives in theaters on February 14, 2025
