Jack Black Lands An Awesome Role In The Borderlands Movie

The only news more exciting than the existence of the Borderlands movie is the star-studded cast that has signed up so far. First we had Cate Blanchett confirm her role as the siren Lilith, and then Kevin Hart agreed to star as the soldier Roland. Two playable characters down, two to go. The next actor to be revealed was Jamie Lee Curtis, who is in talks to portray the semi-sane Dr. Patricia Tannis. What actor could possibly top that? How about Jack Black?

IGN recently announced that Jack Black will join the Borderlands movie cast as a very (self-)important NPC: Claptrap. As fun as it might be to picture Black playing Scooter and shouting "Catch-A-Ride!" or introducing audiences to the world of Pandora as the lovable bus driver/gun merchant Marcus Kincaid, director Eli Roth believes Black is the right voice for the little robot. Roth explained, "Claptrap is the funniest character in the game, and Jack is perfect to bring him to the big screen."

For those who have never played a Borderlands game, Claptrap is the franchise's overenthusiastic, boisterous mascot who is deathly afraid of Pandora's two chief imports: guns and stairs. Basically, imagine R2-D2, except with hands and an utter lack of competence. And yet despite all that, Claptrap remains confident in his abilities — or at least the player's abilities and willingness to risk their life for loot.

Claptrap has appeared in every Borderlands game to date and serves a multitude of roles. Depending on the title, he has lent his aid as a tutorial, narrative device, playable character, and punching bag. Moreover, Jack Black will mark the third person to voice the annoying little robot. Initially, Gearbox's Vice President of Business Development David Eddings voiced the character, but after Eddings left the company, Jim Foronda took over the role.

Of course, with Jack Black's reveal as Claptrap in the movie (not that it would be a true Borderlands movie without the robot), a glaringly obvious question comes to mind: What role will Claptrap play? If the movie is based on the first Borderlands, he might just be relegated to window dressing-turned-final boss. Whatever the part, though, Black will give it 195%.