The Real Drama Behind Those Controversial Hazbin Hotel Recasts

Summary

• Almost 5 years after the pilot episode, the first season of Hazbin Hotel was finally released.
• Old fans were immediately shocked when the previous voice actors were replaced.
• However, despite the buzz, many eventually accepted the new cast.

Created solely with the support of Vivienne 'VivziePop' Medrano's Patreon followers and the help of freelance artists and writers, the pilot episode of Hazbin Hotel was released in 2019, and immediately became the most talked about web series since the early 2010s. Then came the spin-off Helluva Boss, and now we're talking about the full first season of Hazbin Hotel, co-produced by A24 and Amazon Studios — virality on the Internet is a truly amazing phenomenon.

But some types of content become popular for specific reasons. In the case of animated series, it is primarily the depth of the worldbuilding and the characters, the chemistry between them, and, of course, how memorable the voice actors are.

The first four episodes of the first season of Hazbin Hotel premiered on January 18, 2024, the next two episodes were released on January 25, and the final two episodes were released on February 1. Since then, the show has gained an even larger audience who were not aware of the pilot episode. Both old and new members of the fandom are eagerly awaiting any updates on Season 2, but not every "old school" fan who has been familiar with Hazbin Hotel for 5 years was enthusiastic about the first season.

It's all about the controversies caused by the recasting of the characters. And although both the original and the new voice actors have tried to resolve the situation peacefully, some particularly zealous fans have not been without criticism and accusations. Let's get to the bottom of the Hazbin Hotel recast drama.

All Hazbin Hotel Cast Replacements

The pilot episode was released for free on YouTube on October 28, 2019, and the first season was marked for Prime Video on January 18, 2024. Here are the cast changes that were implemented:

• Charlie Magne (now Charlie Morningstar) — Jill Harris and Elise Lovelock (singing voice) replaced by Erika Henningsen
• Angel Dust — Michael Kodachrome replaced by Blake Roman
• Vaggie — Monica Franco replaced by Stephanie Beatriz
• Alastor — Edward Bosco and Gabriel C. Brown (singing voice) replaced by Amir Talai
• Husk — Mick Lauer replaced by Keith David

Not Everyone Was Thrilled with the News

Of course, not every fan was happy about the news, as despite the fact that the pilot episode was only half an hour long and was released almost 5 years ago, people had built a whole fandom around it, having become attached to the original voice actors. What made the situation even more heartwarming was the farewell song released by the former cast when the first season was released.

Of course, despite the bittersweet nature of the video, the actors in no way wanted to overshadow their more famous colleagues who had taken their place, and still held high opinions of both the new cast and VivziePop and their beloved project.

'We have nothing but love and respect for the incredible world that is the Hellaverse and the brilliant people who bring it to life! We are honored to have been a part of it, even for a moment!' They wrote.

Still, some fans took it with a grain of salt. According to X users, many were unhappy that instead of using the platform to support lesser-known actors, Amazon was engaging in 'big name corporatism' by using celebrities to make the show commercially successful.

Of course, there were more aggressive members of the fandom who began to literally insult either the new actors or Vivienne Medrano in general, but fortunately there were not many such opinions. On the contrary, many viewers were positively impressed by the new cast. This impression even reached Keith David, who thanked the fans for the warm welcome.

'You and a whole lot of people in my X and TikTok mentions. I'm glad you gave me a chance to change your mind.'

Source: X.