San Diego Comic-Con @ Home 2021 played host to Gen:Lock last night, where host Karama Horne spoke to Michael B. Jordan and Dakota Fanning, and showrunner/head writer Dan Dominguez, to discuss what’s next for the Rooster Teeth animated series and future projects.
The show — which you can find on HBO Max — follows Julian Chase (voiced by Jordan) in a dystopian future, where Earth’s last free society recruits young robot pilots in the Gen:Lock experiment. The program has its members upload their minds to control giant mecha robots and battle against the evil forces of the Union. “The characters and the world jumped out at me, so it was an easy process to get on board,” Jordan said of why he joined Gen: Lock in the first place. “[Julian] Chase is a very ambitious man who goes through a lot of suffering. He has a lot of moments where he doesn’t care about anything, but ultimately he comes to care about his team. As the story unravels he begins to feel emotionally connected again.” When asked about his character’s trajectory for season two, Jordan didn’t give anything away: “In season two, we’re taking his character to new heights.”
Check out the first season two teaser below:
Fanning, meanwhile, was enamoured by the story and wanted to join right away. The actress has been a part of various animated projects before, but she mentions the Gen:Lock experience is on another level. “Most of the previous animated projects have been larger than life, and fun, so getting to do something that was serious, emotional and I get to act it as serious as if we’re in [a] live-action show.” Fanning added that her character Miranda Worth will be going through a transition in the upcoming season, “We get to see more of her internal struggle, her career, and her relationships with her being pulled in different directions and how she deals with that.”
Jordan also talked about Outlier Society’s desire for more animation, and some future projects the production company has coming up. “Outlier society will be producing more animated series in the future. We have stuff cooking right now that I can’t talk about, but I am really excited.” Gen: Lock’s first season is currently streaming on Crunchyroll in Australia. The second season will arrive this spring.