Yapping with Marvel Rival’s Gabe Kunda, aka Blade

Since 2016 and the launch of Overwatch, I’ve been engrossed in the hero shooter genre. Among them, I’ve tried Gigantic, Paladins, Lawbreakers, Concord, and some of the more popular titles like Apex Legends, Valorant and the most recent and one I’m currently playing, Marvel Rivals.

With my love for all these games, I jumped at the chance when I was offered the opportunity to interview Gabe Kunda, the voice actor for Marvel Rivals’ latest character, Blade.

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Gabe Kunda: I’m honoured to be a part of the Marvel Rivals Universe’s Blade and hopefully, everybody else enjoys it as well.

Did you have to do anything to put yourself in the mindset of this character?

Kunda: I’m pretty familiar with the Blade movies and Wesley Snipes’ version of it. It had been, obviously, years since I’ve watched it. I did a little bit of research on those movies, and then also some research on some of the games and animated series that have come out to find out some of the other iterations of Blade. But I didn’t want to do too much of a dive because I wanted to kind of keep true to whatever I was going to bring to it.

So, yeah, I did do some preparation for it, just so I understood what his motivations are, his intentions are, and a lot of that. You know, every once in a while, we talk about Blade in the game, so you just want to know what you’re saying.

You do your best.

10 or 15 years ago, when you were younger, could you see yourself playing Blade or is there another character you see yourself more in the Marvel Universe?

Kunda: Growing up, I’ve always wanted to do Black Panther because of my background — my family’s from the Congo. That being in Africa, I mean, it was like this is the closest thing to… me.

Blade wasn’t up until like a few years ago, where I felt like, “You know, what? That’d be cool to step into a Blade role, but not sure how realistic that is.” And then, I kind of put it in the ether last year, and then, two weeks later, I got the audition and the call for it, which was kind of surreal.

Would you consider another character in Rivals you’d want to do that’s not currently in the game?

Kunda: Gosh, not really. I’m pretty satisfied with Blade. There’s not really anyone else outside of Black Panther.

And the voice actor [James C. Mathis III] already does fantastic, and he’s been doing it for a while, and I now hear him every time I read Black Panther. No, I think Blade has always been my favourite.

There’s no one else really that I would want to take a swing at. Maybe Luke Cage, he would be dope, but I don’t know. I feel like Blade fits so well and personally, I’m resonating with the story quite a bit.

You’ve done other games as well. Is there anything that for Marvel Rivals you felt was more challenging to do compared to past games?

Kunda: Not really. I’m pretty used to first-person, like quote-unquote “shooters,” and live service gameplay. I think maybe one of the hardest things to do in a type of game like that is you don’t get much context for your lines. Everything kind of feels like it’s its own [thing]. Like, you just get a bunch of lines, and you don’t know if you’re responding to somebody. Or, if you are, you know, not responding to somebody, it’s just kind of in animation.

Sometimes you have the luxury of recording with castmates, so you’re kind of responding off what they’re doing. But in video games, you record in such an isolated environment. The producer and the directors do a great job of making it seem as if we’re interacting together, but it really is, we’re just kind of saying our lines, and we’re hoping that the intention of what it’s supposed to match, but that’s what our director is there for. He’ll say, “Hey, listen in this scene, you’re talking to Wolverine. Wolverine is saying X, Y, and Z, and your response is, go for it.”

But I think the most difficult part is having to imagine it in your head and then responding to it — it’s like theatre of the mind for sure.

Is there another game or series you’d like to see yourself in that you haven’t been able to get in yet?

Kunda: Overwatch is probably one of the other ones that I would love to sneak on in there if they allow me.

Is there anything you would say to young, Black voice actors that you’d want to let them know before getting into this field?

Kunda: I would, definitely. The first thing I would say is take acting classes, especially if you’re wanting to be like a character actor, like you want to do video games or animation.

Acting classes would be your biggest help, because it’s not about just doing amazing voices or funny voices. You have to learn how to make it sing right. It’s almost like playing an instrument; it’s cool if you have a nice guitar, but if you don’t know how to play the guitar, then it doesn’t matter, right? It’s just a nice guitar.

So even with your voice, like it might be nice, you might have a cool-sounding voice and all that stuff. But if you don’t know how to use that instrument within the context of a game or an animated series, then it’s just a nice voice.

I would definitely say, take acting classes, and then, from there, take some voice acting classes to help you kind of understand how to get on the mic and what are some of the words that are being used when they’re directing you in a game. All those things I think are an integral part of being not just a voice actor, but an actor in general, because that’s ultimately what we’re doing, it’s acting. It’s small versus big ‘A,’ that’s what I like to call it.

Do you face any challenges within the community from being a Black voice actor?

Kunda: I think for voice acting specifically that we have the luxury of no one can see our faces.

So, like, we can be literally any monster, any sort of whatever. We’re just working behind the mic. But even with that, there’s still, you know, some things of like, sometimes we’re not considered for other parts outside of what we do as Black actors. “He only plays those type of roles.”

Or maybe [they] only want to see us in roles where we’re like, “Yo yo, yo. What’s up? I’m in the hood.” That kind of vibe, and they don’t see there are different shades of Black people, and we’re not a monolith.

If you have an agent’s representation, work with them to kind of help shape the narrative a little bit, and put you up for other things and diversify the portfolio. You have to be your own advocate as well, and also find other like-minded people and folks that look like you and connect with them and see what they’re doing.

And community is a huge thing in the acting space, but voice actors especially, because we work so much in kind of solo environments.

We kind of feed on community and getting together and exchanging notes and all that stuff to try to figure out what’s going on and how things can be bettered. I think there’s issues in every kind of sector as a Black person, but with voice acting one of the things in the upper hand is, no one can see our faces, and it’s all about giving an amazing performance, and the only way you do that is if you’re good at what you do, and you get training and all that stuff, so no one can say, “Ah he’s okay, but he’s not a good actor.”

Since no one can see your faces, is diversity and representation important in voice acting?

Kunda: Yeah, I think it is. And I think so, because you know, for a long time, there were people before me, actors like Phil LaMarr, Chris Summer, and even then, there were only like three, four, five of them, that were working in the space, but not even as heavy as they are now. And a lot of the roles were going to white folks, which is fine, but some of these white folks were also voicing Black characters, and so Black folks were completely shut out and, in some instances, out of work. 

And so one of the things that we have tried over the years is to push against that, and say we want some more piece of the pie and, and being able to play our roles. And also because there have been so many years of us not having a lot of these opportunities, we would like to get shots at other things as well, just to kind of grow that a little bit.

So yeah, I absolutely think it’s important. I think being able to speak through specific characters and nuances of certain cultures and things is very important. I think you need to have people who understand it, who can speak to it and who can also add some colour to it. So I think diversity is very important to not just voice acting, but in every aspect of the entertainment industry, especially when you are presenting that medium to a general audience. And a general audience doesn’t mean just one shade of colour, there are all sorts of shades. And you want to make sure that people are appropriately represented, but also make an intentional effort of bringing up the ones who have not gotten the chance as much.

What is something you are most proud of in your career thus far?

Kunda: Oh man, most proud of in my career thus far. I mean, I think it’s the fact that I’m able to do this full time, and make a living out of using my voice and performing. It is the scariest thing in the world because you don’t know when your next cheque is going to come from, obviously. But I love it so much, and I have a passion for bringing stories to life, and so to be able to do that and being compensated for that?

Also, to get to meet the fans that are touched by the work that I do is all I can ask for and the good thing, a side thing about it as well is I don’t have to deal with being hassled in the store when I’m trying to get some eggs or some lettuce or something at a local Trader Joe’s, or whatever. I could kind of enjoy the little bit of the limelight that comes with it, but also have some sort of privacy for me and my family, so I’m really blessed to be in this position and be able to to do what I do, and the people trust me to bring characters like Blade to life.

What’s your favourite voice line or interaction for Blade?

Kunda: There’s a line that he says from the movie, and I’m gonna get this wrong, but it’s towards Luna. This line is also in the [Blade] movie, Wesley Snipes says it.

[The voice line is: “Somebody’s always trying to ice skate uphill.” Blade says it after he gets the final hit on Luna Snow.]

This interview has been edited for length, language and clarity.

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You can listen to Kunda as Blade in Marvel Rivals, free on PC and console. Kunda is also notable for his work in the games Date Everything, Diablo IV and Hi-Fi Rush, as well as anime series including Fairy Tail, My Hero Academia, Ranking of Kings, and Hell’s Paradise, which you can watch on Crunchyroll.

Image credit: Chrisean Rose