ComingSoon Senior Movie News Editor Brandon Schreur spoke to Hit-Monkey voice actor Fred Tatasciore, who voices the titular primate in the animated Marvel series, ahead of the premiere of Hit-Monkey Season 2. Tatasciore discussed his affection for the character, what Hit-Monkey Season 2 has in store for fans, and what a Hit-Monkey vs. Deadpool fight might look like.
“In New York City, Monkey finds a path to escape his life of killing, while Bryce attempts to repair the damage to those he wronged in life,” the synopsis for Hit-Monkey Season 2 reads. “But what will it cost them to undo the past?”
Hit-Monkey Season 2 arrives on July 15, 2024, on Hulu.
I’m wondering if you can tell me a little bit about your relationship with this character, Hit-Monkey. I know he hasn’t been in the comics for the longest time — I think his first appearance was in 2010. Did you know anything about him before you started on the show?
Fred Tatasciore: Yeah, it was very interesting. My buddy I work with, Scott Forbes, is a recordist and booth director. He said to me — because I do a lot of animals and am really into Marvel, I was into all sorts of comic books — he said, ‘Have you heard of Hit-Monkey? No?’ He gave me these comic books, and I thought, ‘What the what? This is just crazy.’ I learned about it there, and from the graphic novel, too; that was incredible. I learned about it, and then when I auditioned, I didn’t know it was for that. They just needed a monkey. They gave us the types of monkeys, and we had to do our best impressions. During the audition, we’d go in and *monkey noises.* ‘Do you want a big monkey? What kind of monkey do you want? A small monkey?’
So we went through it all, but I had no idea. When I got it, I got so excited. Like, ‘Oh, this is what it’s for!’ Then I started recording all the stuff. If you remember the first season, or at least the pilot episode, it’s very dark. It was very bloody and sad. I had no real idea of where this plot was going, I didn’t get to work with the other actors. I was just concentrating on the monkey’s character, on the sadness and anguish he goes through.
Even throughout the season, I was reading the scripts, and it’s so funny, but it’s dark. I had no idea how funny it was going to be. What Jason Sudeikis does with his quips and all the back talk, all the stuff where we’re going off each other. It made me laugh. So you also have a terrifying experience and then this comedy, it’s equally as funny, if not even more so.
I’d done a lot of the work without realizing that I was the straight man. The monkey, ironically, is the straight man. The sad, depressive straight man. He really wants to be done with this, and it’s tough. He and Bryce have such a great connection. It’s a spiritual, psychic connection, so they really understand each other. That grew. By the time I got to the second season, I knew this was the deal.
I love seeing it altogether. It’s such a different ride. I’ve never had something where we don’t pull any punches for an action show, and yet, it’s laugh-out-loud funny at the same time. In this new season, it’s very moving. There are some character arcs I didn’t see coming. Bryce has to go through quite a bit. So do I, so does the monkey. But there’s a lot of unfinished life business that has to happen.
Was that a challenge for you, at first? I know you’ve voiced hundreds of the characters over the years, but you get the script and you’re just making monkey noises the whole time.
That’s kind of my wheelhouse. I always joke to people, ‘I do speaking roles, too!’ One of my big jobs is to be a T-rex, a monkey, a dog, or a cat and express emotions and even dialogue through sounds. It’s a very musical job, almost. Depending on the character, it’s kind of like a broken saxophone or something — I’ve got to show up, say, ‘Bryce, we have to do this,’ but say that through *monkey noises.* I know what I’m saying when I do it. I have to put as much in there without making a monkey language, but there has to be an emotion behind the sounds and intention. Everything is about intention. What I love is how they edited it with Bryce and him. It’s really a back-and-forth.
After the first season came out, I’m curious about what kind of general reaction you saw. I think about something like Guardians of the Galaxy, the comic fans know who Star-Lord is but the general audience is like, ‘A talking raccoon? What’s that?’ Then they watch it, they love the movie, and you see Rocket everywhere. Have you noticed something similar with Hit-Monkey?
Most definitely. People are sort of tripped out by it. It’s less about the monkey or any one character, but the whole thing. I think at first people were like, ‘What is happening here?’ Now people say it’s a wildly entertaining ride. I think that’s what I get from so many people, they just can’t believe how intense it is and funny at the same time.
Now, I think people know the Hit-Monkey. Every now and then people will say, ‘Hey, love the Hit-Monkey.’ That’s great, it’s nice to hear when I do conventions and stuff like that. Again, there was a big gap. There was a time when we were waiting to see if we could do this again or not. I was so happy when we got greenlit to go forward.
It was one of those situations where you have the deep-cut fans that know Hit-Monkey just from the books. I think this really introduced it to a lot of people, I really do. It has its own story, really. It’s such a weird, different kind of story. A ghost hitman? And a monkey?
It’s not the normal kind of show you’re usually watching.
You know, like you do. Everybody just brought their A-game. And now to have Leslie Jones involved, I adore her. I don’t know her personally; I just adore her work, and she’s such an amazing talent. To see her play this character is so great, too. She’s so tough, but she’s so kind at the same time. It’s a really bizarre combo.
I was going to ask you about Leslie Jones. I know Cristin Milioti joined the cast for Season 2, too. That’s exciting.
That’s the biggest arc ever because it’s [Bryce’s] daughter. He and his daughter have got to find a way to reconcile. It’s tough because he’s going through an Ebenezer Scrooge kind of return in his life where he’s a ghost and he’s hearing everyone talking bad about him. He’s like, ‘Wait! I was cool! What are you talking about?’ Everyone else is just like, ‘That guy was an alcoholic, he owes me money.’
His daughter, especially, [Bryce] wasn’t there for her. For a good reason, kind of, because why do I want to bring my daughter into this world? He’s going through a lot. The rooting interest in Bryce and the things he has to get through is astounding. He’s also dealing with Hell — there’s a lot of character arcs going on. There’s communication with a monkey, a ghost, Hell, and reconciling with a daughter? That’s a lot.
So Hit-Monkey Season 2 is coming out on July 15. Another big Marvel project, Deadpool & Wolverine, is coming out the same month. Who do you think would win, Hit-Monkey vs. Deadpool?
I will say they will give each other a good run for their money. I think what would end up happening, knowing both those characters really well, is the fight would become a friendship. I really do. The snarky — first of all, Hit-Monkey is used to Bryce’s snarkiness. I think they’d end up befriending each other in a strange way. I think they’d give each other a run for their money and find a mutual acceptance. Of course, Monkey would be appalled, but I think he’d actually see Deadpool’s pain.
Thanks to Fred Tatasciore for discussing Hit-Monkey Season 2.
