Helldivers 2: Craig Lee Thomas was cast as John Helldiver in seven days

Arrowhead released a "Dev Tales" video to mark Helldivers 2's two-year anniversary that explains how voice and motion-capture actor Craig Lee Thomas was cast as John Helldiver, the face of the game's beloved intro cinematic. The cinematic opens the game with the community-named John Helldiver's squeaky-clean suburban life torn apart by a giant insect, as the Super-Earth Spokesperson warns, "You could be next.

That is, unless you make the most important decision of your life." Millions of players answered the call to spread Managed Democracy throughout the galaxy. Russ Nickel, the game's former lead writer, says the script "went off sort of into the abyss" and he later learned the cinematic was going to shoot in a week.

The animation studio Goodbye Kansas had planned to use an actor based in Sweden, but Nickel said they needed "to get the funniest person we can possibly find," and the studio agreed if someone could be found in seven days.

helldivers 2, craig lee thomas, john helldiver, arrowhead games, goodbye kansas, russ nickel, dev tales video, intro cinematic casting, motion capture casting, cast in seven days, super-earth spokesperson, managed democracy