Garfield Animated Movie Casts Samuel L Jackson As New Character

Samuel L. Jackson joins the cast of the Chris Pratt-led animated Garfield movie at Sony Pictures as the titular lasagna lover's father.

The cast for Chris Pratt's Garfield movie is beginning to grow as fellow Marvel Cinematic Universe star Samuel L. Jackson has joined the animated film reboot. The beloved orange cat first came to life in the comic strips created by Jim Davis in the late '70s that he briefly self-published before putting them into syndication worldwide. The Garfield comics center on the titular cat as he goes through life hating Mondays, loving lasagna and driving his human owner Jon Arbuckle and canine sibling Odie crazy.

Garfield is one of the best-known comic strips in history, currently holding the Guinness World Record for the world's most widely syndicated comic strip. This success has in turn seen the character expand to various other mediums, including multiple TV shows, video games and two live-action films starring Bill Murray as Garfield. Following the poor reception to the films, Garfield's big screen days seemed over until Viacom Entertainment acquired the rights to the character and a new Garfield animated movie that was put into development in 2016 and now the project is gaining new ground.

Some six months after the film was first announced to be in the works, The Wrap has brought word that Samuel L. Jackson has joined the cast of the new animated Garfield film. The project is set to star Chris Pratt in the titular role with Jackson signing on to star as a new character, Vic, the previously unrevealed father of Garfield. No release date has been set for the film at the time of writing.

Jackson is no stranger to the animated genre, having provided his voice to everything from Pixar's Incredibles movies to the anime adaptation of Afro Samurai, which he also produced, Adult Swim's The Boondocks and a variety of documentaries. The Honorary Oscar winner has even expanded his vocal footprint to video games and audiobooks, including the humorous children's book Go the F--k to Sleep and voicing Officer Frank Tenpenny in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. In addition to joining the animated Garfield film, Jackson is currently gearing up for his animated genre return with Paramount's Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, in which he stars alongside Michael Cera.

Given Jackson has joined the cast of Chris Pratt's animated Garfield movie as the character's father, it raises a curiosity of whether the film is retconning the titular cat's backstory. In the comics and original animated series, audiences either met or were introduced to Garfield's various family, including his mom, brother Raoul and cousin Sly, though his father was never introduced or mentioned, with Jon Arbuckle instead acting as both his human owner and father figure. As development continues on the animated Garfield movie, only time will tell whether other members of his family will be introduced in the film.

More: Fans Really Want What We Do In The Shadows’ Matt Berry To Voice Garfield

Source: The Wrap