Netflix’s Rumored ‘Evangelion’ English Dub Reportedly Features Entirely New Cast

Netflix finally announced the premiere date for Neon Genesis Evangelion on the service after initially announcing that the classic, anime would be added to the service late last year. While we now know exactly when the series and films will be added, one thing remains unclear: whether there will be a new English dub, and if it will feature the original English voice actors. While the streaming service has said nothing official, it’s been reported that there will, in fact, be a new English dub for the series — and it will feature an entirely new cast.

According to Amanda Winn Lee, the original English voice of Rei Ayanami in the Neon Genesis Evangelion series and initial two movies, the new English dub is exactly that: new. After the Netflix premiere date announcement last night, Lee took to Twitter to share the news.

“FYI Not only were our roles recast in Evangelion, but they never had any intention of even auditioning us in the first place,” Lee tweeted. “So stop wondering. No, Spike, Tiffany, Allison, and I are not in it.”

The name’s mentioned here are most likely referring to Spike Spencer, Tiffany Grant, and Allison Keith, the English voices for Shinji, Asuka, and Misato. Notably, Spencer, Grant, and Keith have served as the English voice for the ongoing film series in addition to the original anime series, while Brina Palencia voiced Rei in said film series. Lee offered further clarification in tweet responses to questions from others.

“They let us audition- AFTER we found out auditions were being held and raised a fuss,” Lee wrote. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if they threw out the files as soon as we left the studio. They never had any intention of involving us.”

While it does not appear that Palencia, Spencer, or Keith have publicly commented since the premiere announcement, it does seem like Grant posted to a public Facebook group with her own thoughts on the matter, which you can read in full below:

“I’m watching the countdown on the Netflix site with my heart pounding in my chest. For months, I have been dreading this moment. The moment I am no longer Asuka.

The truth is that I have known for months that we were all being replaced. I flew myself out to LA in early December to audition — for the first time — for the role of Asuka. It was the most surreal moment of my life.

Whether or not we were ever actually under consideration, I may never know. At the time, I remember reading a thread where some people said that we (me, Spike & Amanda) were lobbying to reprise our roles because we were greedy and wanted the money. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I am proud of the work we did, and I stand by it. I never wanted to re-do NGE. Nothing would’ve made me happier than Netflix streaming our original dub. But that was not to be.

To all the people who signed our petition, and shared our hashtags, it meant more to me than you can ever possibly know.”

We’ve reached out to Netflix for comment, and will update should we receive a response.

Netflix is set to add all 26 episodes of the original series as well as the films EVANGELION:DEATH TRUE² and The End of Evangelion on June 21st, worldwide. It’s unclear if both the series and films will drop at the same time. As previously mentioned, the new English dub has yet to be officially confirmed.