Actor Mark Hamill, a legend of the big and small screen thanks to his iconic roles in such Luke Skywalker in Star Wars and The Joker in the acclaimed Batman animated series along with Fire Lord Ozai on Avatar: The Last Airbender - and even the voice of Invader ZIM in the sadly unreleased original pilot of the show - is set to voice iconic ghoul The Flying Dutchman in The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, set to hit theaters in December.
During a recent interview with Animation Magazine to promote his latest role, as the voice of the despotic King Herod in Angel Studios’ new animated feature The King of Kings, the Emmy-winning actor and three-time Annie nominee took some time to talk about his upcoming appearance on the fourth theatrical movie based on Nickelodeon's beloved animated series, SpongeBob SquarePants, and heaped praise on the series and Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob and his wife, Jill Talley, the voice of Karen.
Speaking to Animation Magazine, Hamill said:
I’ll be voicing The Flying Dutchman again in that movie. Let me tell you: Being invited to come and visit Bikini Bottom is like someone paying you to go on all the rides in an amusement. I can’t believe how much fun this is. Tom Kenny and I and his wife Jill Talley have been friends of my wife and I for decades. They’re two of the most talented and wonderful people I know. Tom is so much fun to work, and I mean he is SpongeBob. I don’t know what they would have done if they hadn’t found him. He just embodies that sort of guileless, innocent and cheerful character in every situation.
Not too much is currently known about The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, however, it was recently teased in a trailer during Paramount Pictures' presentation at CinemaCon that it'll follow SpongeBob's efforts to become a "big man." When Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown) tells SpongeBob about his days on the seas, it motivates SpongeBob and Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke) to follow in his footsteps and go on a swashbuckling sailing adventure. When SpongeBob and Patrick cross paths with the Flying Dutchman (Hamill), he takes them to the underworld, where they must endure terrors beyond the sponge’s imagination, including scary rollercoasters. The movie will boast CG-animation and live-action.
During Paramount's CinemaCon presentation, Tom Kenny and Mark Hamill took to the stage to discuss The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants.
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Mark Hamill received the CinemaCon Icon Award last week (Image; Hollywood Icon Video] |
Hamill offered up a particularly eyebrow-raising tease for his role as the Flying Dutchman: "I actually did an episode of SpongeBob in the fifth season, and I did such a great job they asked me back 18 years later...And if I do my job correctly, every child in America will hate my guts."
The original SpongeBob SquarePants voice cast will return for The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants. The cast includes Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants), Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabs), Rodger Bumpass (Squidward Tentacles), Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick Star), Carolyn Lawrence (Sandy Cheeks) and Mr. Lawrence (Sheldon J. Plankton).
The Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies release, based on the beloved series created by Stephen Hillenburg, is being directed by Derek Drymon. Pam Brady and Lisa Stewart and producing.
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants is currently slated to be released in theaters on Friday, December 19, 2025 during the holiday season.
Fans can catch Hamill as the voice of the despotic King Herod in The King of Kings, which is a new animated take on the story of Jesus Christ, as seen through a little-known story by Charles Dickens, in theaters today just in time for Easter.
You can read Animation Magazine's interview with Mark Hamill in full at animationmagazine.net.
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CALLING ALL GOOFY GOOBERS! (ROCK!) Are ya ready for a deep dive into the world of SpongeBob SquarePants? The SpongeBob YouTube channel is THE PLACE for all fan-favorite SpongeBob moments! Subscribe now at https://www.youtube.com/SpongeBobOfficial!
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