Lance Reddick was a phenomenal actor who brought every character he played to life, whether on-screen or as a voice. Destiny 2 players heard him daily as Commander Zavalla, the head of the Vanguard who pulled us through so many crises.
As we inch closer to the release of The Final Shape, I and many other fans have been eager to hear what Commander Zavalla will sound like with Keith David stepping into the role. In the first of a series of ViDocs for the expansion, we were given a few lines of dialogue from David’s Zavalla, and it gave me shivers. The whole room felt cold because it was like I was hearing a ghost speak. But then, Guardians never really die.
The full ViDoc is very much worth a watch if you’re excited about the final expansion for Destiny 2. All you need to hear has been cut and put together by Destiny Bulletin on Twitter, though, in case you can’t wait to hear what our new Zavalla sounds like.
Lance Reddick was one of the greatest and most prolific actors of our time. A quick check of his IMDB profile shows 121 actor credits, 4 as a producer, and 2 on soundtracks. His voice was fantastic, the perfect blend of depth, attitude, and emotion, allowing him to fit easily into incredibly serious roles by bringing a level of authority to any situation that you simply understood without context.
When Reddick spoke, you listened, and that’s a hard act to follow. From what we’ve heard from him so far, Keith David isn’t going all in on replicating Reddick’s voice as closely as possible. Instead, he’s bringing to the table what his predecessor did. Raw emotion, depth, attitude, and that same authority that you obey without question because you know this man is asking you to saunter up to the gates of hell for the fight of your life for a reason.
Destiny 2‘s expansions and seasons have always been pocketed with emotional crescendos. The opening to The Taken King, Rise of Iron‘s tale of the ultimate warriors sacrificing themselves, reconnecting with Rasputin in Warmind, and, more recently, seeing Crow become a heroic character after falling so hard from grace and Eris Morn take one for the team as the most badass witch in the galaxy.
Commander Zavalla may not always have been the focal point of these stories, but he has been a stronghold when the game cracks our steely Guardian exteriors and forces us to remember that not everyone is going to come back from death.
Handling that kind of role is a huge amount of pressure. In the two clips we’ve seen, though, David demonstrates both a vulnerable Zavalla, and the strong, commanding voice we often need him to be. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll be the perfect Zavalla come The Final Shape. Not because of any one particular thing his voice portrays but because of how it embodies the unbreakable pillar of Destiny 2.
