Travis Willingham, a co-founder of the tabletop series Critical Role, is taking over as the English voice of Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII Revelation, replacing Tyler Hoechlin, Square Enix confirmed after the game’s reveal at Summer Game Fest on June 6.
The change surfaced when fans noticed Sephiroth sounded deeper and rougher in the reveal trailer for Revelation, the third and final entry in Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy. On a post-show stream hosted by content creator Maximilian Dood, game director Naoki Hamaguchi confirmed the villain had a new English actor. Hamaguchi, who also directed 2024’s Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, said through an interpreter that the previous actor was “unable to provide his voice for this one.” Square Enix told Dood afterward that Willingham had taken the part; Hamaguchi did not name the replacement on the stream.
Hoechlin voiced Sephiroth in 2020’s Final Fantasy VII Remake and its 2024 sequel, Rebirth. Hamaguchi tied the exit to availability rather than any creative split, and GameSpot reported a scheduling conflict kept him from returning. Hoechlin built his profile in live action, playing Derek Hale across six seasons of Teen Wolf and Clark Kent in The CW’s Superman & Lois.
Willingham arrives with a long record in games and anime. He voices Thor and Dr. Doom in Marvel Rivals, Roy Mustang in the Fullmetal Alchemist dub, and Portgas D. Ace in One Piece, and he holds a Guinness World Record for the most video game voice performances as Superman, a role he has played across the Lego Batman games. He joins fellow Critical Role co-founder Matt Mercer, who voices the newly playable Vincent Valentine in Revelation.
The casting continues an odd pattern in the role. Willingham becomes the fourth actor to voice Sephiroth in English and the third straight with a Superman credit on his résumé. Lance Bass of NSync originated the character in 2002. George Newbern, who voiced Superman in several DC animated films, held the part for close to two decades before Hoechlin took over for the remake.
Willingham had hinted at the job a while ago. Nerdist reported that he posed with a Sephiroth cosplayer at Florida Supercon in 2024 and later confirmed to her on social media that the photo had signaled his casting.
Square Enix has not set a release date but said Final Fantasy VII Revelation will arrive in spring 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC on the same day. The simultaneous launch breaks from Remake and Rebirth, which both released first as PlayStation timed exclusives.
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