Dog Man is the first DreamWorks movie of 2025, released after the mᴀssive success of The Wild Robot in late 2024. The film is an animated adaptation of the Dog Man comics by Dav Pikey, which is a series that was spun off from Captain Underpants when the graphic novel ended with its 12th book in 2015. The film was directed by Peter Hastings, and features quite a large cast, with plenty of high-profile movie stars, alongside plenty of less outright famous but still well-respected character actors.

The theatrical Dog Man film tells the story of a human police officer named Knight who is surgically fused with his dog Greg when they are both injured on the job, resulting in the human-dog hybrid known as Dog Man. The original graphic novel started in 2016 and is still going to this day, meaning that there is plenty of material to mine from for potential sequels down the road. There are plenty of recurring characters in the series, so the film’s cast will certainly have a lot of work in future installments.

Pete Davidson as Petey

Date of Birth: November 16, 1993

• Active Since: 2013

Peter Davidson is an American actor and comedian born in New York City, who broke big when he was cast in Saturday Night Live‘s 40th season in 2014, being the first person born in the 90s to become a regular cast member on the show, staying on until 2022. Davidson has had supporting roles in a wide range of films and television shows, with a handful of stand-up specials for companies like Comedy Central and Netflix. He co-wrote and starred in The King of Staten Island, a film that was loosely based on his life.

Davidson plays Petey in Dog Man, who acts as the main antagonist of the film as well as the original graphic novels. He is a very quick-witted and arrogant orange cat who wants nothing more than to destroy Dog Man and take over the world, manipulating people to do his bidding as well as utilizing superior technology, such as enormous tanks, in order to exact his vengeance upon his enemies.

Lil Rel Howery as Chief

Date of Birth: December 17, 1979

• Active Since: 2007

Lil Rel Howery is an American actor and comedian, born in Chicago, who had his first big role in the NBC comedy series The Carmichael Show in 2015, which followed a fictionalized version of Jerrod Carmichael’s family, in which Howery played Bobby Carmichael. He has since had many smaller appearances in movies and TV shows, without too many starring roles, save for the TV series he created and starred in, Rel, based on Howery’s life. He has also created a number of stand-up specials for Netflix and HBO in recent years.

Howery’s character in Dog Man is Chief, who is, unsurprisingly, the chief of the police station that Dog Man works at. He is very commanding and serious, as would be fitting for a police chief, but he also has a much more caring and understanding side when it comes to Dog Man. The film is certainly a children’s comedy, and Chief acts very much like the straight man, especially when compared to the antics of the half-dog, half-man hybrid that works for him.

Isla Fisher as Sarah Hatoff

Date of Birth: February 3, 1976

• Active Since: 1994

Isla Fisher is an Australian actress, born in the country of Oman, who rose to prominence in the film and TV world for her portrayal of Shannon Reed in the Australian soap opera Home and Away. She moved to Los Angeles and transitioned into a career in Hollywood, beginning with small roles in films like the 2002 live-action Scooby-Doo, before becoming more of an American household name for her role in Wedding Crashers. Her first leading part was in Confessions of a Shopaholic, but the actress has since gone on to lead plenty of films in her long and illustrious career.

In Dog Man, Fisher plays Sarah Hatoff, a news reporter as well as one of Dog Man’s close friends, who is one of the central characters in the original graphic novels. She is meant to be one of the world’s greatest reporters, helping the тιтular character, as well as the Chief, to save the city from whatever evildoer happens to be threatening it at the time, alongside her camera operator, Seamus.

Ricky Gervais As Flippy The Fish

Date of Birth: June 25, 1961

• Active Since: 1998

Ricky Gervais is an English comedian and actor, born in Reading, Berkshire, who broke big with the mockumentary sitcom The Office, which he co-created and starred in. Gervais has had a very long and well-documented career, starting with plenty of stand-up comedy tours that have continued to this day, with a handful of them becoming specials on various streaming services. The majority of his acting career has been starring in projects that he created, oftentimes alongside longtime collaborator Stephen Merchant. His comedic style has always been controversial, but he has remained a household name because of it.

Flippy the Fish is a fish that achieved psychokinetic powers from eating a can of “Supa Brain Dots,” which granted him a greatly enhanced intellect. The character acted as one of the main antagonists in several of the novels, though he wasn’t as long-running as Petey. Flippy’s newfound intelligence allowed him to nearly take over the city, though he eventually came to blows against Petey as well as Dog Man, desiring to use his technology to complete his plans for taking over the city.

Dog Man Supporting Cast & Characters

The Film Has Plenty Of Other Stars

Dog Man’s main cast is chock-full of plenty of movie and TV stars, but plenty of the actors in supporting roles are also pretty significant names. Billy Boyd, best known as Pippin from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, plays Sarah Hatoff’s camera operator Seamus, who travels everywhere with her in order to pursue the truth, as well as help out Dog Man. Stephen Root, recently known for his excellent supporting role as Monroe Funches in Barry, plays Petey’s father, known simply as Grampa.

Other names that make up the supporting cast include actors like Poppy Liu, known for playing Mei Lin on the sitcom Sunnyside, and Kiki in the HBO dramedy Hacks, who plays Petey’s ᴀssistant, Butler. Longtime comedian Cheri Oteri, known for her 1995-2000 run on Saturday Night Live, plays The Mayor, the high-strung leader of the city who often ends up at odds with Dog Man and Chief, despite their shared interests. Finally, the writer/director of the film, Peter Hastings, provides the vocal effects for Dog Man throughout the film, which obviously mostly boils down to barks and growls.