Most fans will recognize actor Matt Lanter from his season one stint on Heroes where he played high school quarterback Brody Mitchum, who forced himself on Hayden Panettiere's Claire Bennet in the episode "One Giant leap". In the coming weeks, Lanter's name will be front and center in the cinematic spotlight with the role of a lifetime in the upcoming animated Clone Wars movie as the voice of Anakin Skywalker but not before fans will see him in the sequel to the popular 1983 favorite War Games when War Games: The Dead Code hits DVD shelves this week on July 29.

Picking up the War Games baton from where Matthew Broderick left off, Lanter stars as a computer geek who engages a government super-computer during an online terrorist simulation; unaware that the program is actually spyware designed to root out terrorists, which he's now seen as by the government.

With War Games: The Dead Code out this week on DVD and Star Wars: The Clone Wars about to hits theaters on August 15 before becoming a weekly TV series, there's no doubt you'll be seeing and hearing a lot more of Matt Later... aka: the animated Anakin Skywalker. After talking to Lanter about government super-computers and voicing the hero of the Republic, it's clear Lanter's been indoctrinated into the Star Wars universe like the rest of us.

THE DEADBOLT: How did you familiarize yourself with the original War Games since you were born the same year it first hit theaters?

MATT LANTER: [laughs] Yeah, well, obviously I’d seen it before and knew it was a classic. When I got the role I did as much research as I could. I watched the film and they actually have a commentary on the original DVD as well. I tried to see where the original director and the production team were trying to go with that one and I read a couple of books. There was a book I was reading called The Art of Intrusion; it's about hacking and it’s just so funny how so much has changed since 1983 in today’s world. There’s a lot more - I guess it’s just broader, I should say, as far as how to go about doing things and security systems that are set up and all of that kind of stuff. So it was kind of fun to dive in there and get a taste of what’s out there in that world.

THE DEADBOLT: How do you see The Dead Code as being different from the original?

LANTER: Well, I guess the main difference that is obvious and in-your-face is the change in the time period. I mean, the way that the story is written has to conform to 2008 and. like I said, so much has changed with security and just the way that the government runs things and does things. I guess one of the main differences is that in the original this kid hacked into a system and basically finds them. In this one, in a way the government kind of finds us. They’re actively searching now for terrorists and people fishing on the internet. So they actually find us and start hunting us.

THE DEADBOLT: When the first film came out, it made a lot of people step back and think, "Wow, this could really happen." How do you feel about the idea of a super-computer like R.I.P.L.E.Y.?

LANTER: You know, I don’t know. I guess if it is real, I guess it’s possible. I mean, I’m sure the government has some type of super computers. I don’t know whether it’s accurate to where it can have all of these bases on a network that can recognize and send planes out and everything. I don’t know. I’m not familiar with military equipment and what things can do nowadays but it’s a scary thought. It’s a scary thought that the government might have that much control to actually tap into webcams and street signals, and that is definitely a scary thought if that could happen. I don’t know if they could or not.

THE DEADBOLT: What's weird is that back in 1983 the web wasn’t around and computers were just hitting the market and now much of that stuff as real. No one would really question what’s in the movie.

LANTER: That’s one of the main reasons why I believe it was harder to try to achieve what we are achieving nowadays, because everyone has a home computer. Everyone has probably three and everyone knows what they are capable of and what they’re not capable of. At that time, not many people had home computers and it was this kind of a mystical, magical thing, you know - "Oh, my gosh! Could that happen?" Today I think we know security systems in the government are not that easy and it’s a little bit harder than just putting a phone on the machine and flicking a button.

THE DEADBOLT: So, do you know where I can get the plans to build a device like your character made? The one that can redirect cell phone calls to any phone in the world.

LANTER: [laughs] Yeah, let me contact our director. I’ll get those blueprints for ya. I don’t know, but that was cool. Supposedly all of the equipment and all of the stuff I messed with - you know, the Pringles can and all of that stuff - supposedly it could actually be done. I asked the questions, "Is this stuff real? What am I messing with here?" They had a tech-supervisor, and everything we did in the movie with the pin in the phone, it was very similar to what Matthew Broderick did in the first one. Supposedly it was all real and could be done.

THE DEADBOLT: So it was a little nod to MacGyver?

LANTER: Yeah, there’s a little bit of homage to MacGyver and the original with the phone trick. But it was cool, though.

THE DEADBOLT: On the Star Wars front, with the Clone Wars movie coming out, how did you find your way into Anakin at this stage in his journey?

LANTER: The Anakin we have in the cartoon and the film coming out, you’re going to see he’s more of an all around hero. He’s the hero of the Republic, he’s friends with Obi Wan, and they’ve got that witty banter. It’s a little bit reminiscent of the original Star Wars, you know, how you have a little bit of comedy thrown in there. Kind of the Han Solo-ish witty comments.

THE DEADBOLT: And the sarcasm.

LANTER: Yeah, some of the sarcasm. I think you’re going to find that in the new Anakin. I know George wanted to show the time in his life where he wasn’t on that downward spiral. We’ve already seen that. That was a choice in the movies and I think something different was wanting to be achieved here in showing a more likeable Anakin, a more hero Anakin, and more action oriented. We’re going to find him in a lot of battles, saving the day. He's kind of your classic likable hero. And if the audience is more in touch with Anakin then his downward spiral does become more tragic.

THE DEADBOLT: How will the series evolve from the movie?

LANTER: Well, the movie kicks off and we’ve got - By the way, I haven’t seen any of it yet. I’ve seen some trailers. Well, I have seen one episode or something, but they’re pretty secretive about it. But it’s really going to be cool. You’re going to see a lot of different stories and that’s what so cool about the show. I think I actually heard George say it’s like watching little mini-movies every week. And when I get the scripts, it’s like Christmas for me. I get to read one more Star Wars that’s straight from the horse’s mouth. I mean, I know George is overseeing all of this stuff and it’s just really cool - a little movie every week. It is Star Wars and I think people are hungry for Star Wars. If you’re a fan, you’re going to love having these new little stories every week. Sometimes it might center around one character and in the next week we might be in another part of the galaxy, centering around this character. So it’s really going to be fun and I think people are going to enjoy it.

THE DEADBOLT: So what’s the coolest thing that’s happened to you so far from being associated with the franchise?

LANTER: Oh, god. You know, honestly, the coolest thing so far for me is really just watching the evolution of the show. We were working on this thing two years ago and now that it’s out and people know about it. The film is coming out, we can kind of talk about it, and it’s just so cool getting to see fan reaction and finally getting to see these things - the trailers and stuff - evolve and the websites go up and the posters and that kind of stuff. This whole month for me is a really exciting time. So I’d have to say that’s the coolest part so far, just the whole buzz about it. I’ve been waiting for so long. [laughs]

THE DEADBOLT: Did you get a chance to talk to Hayden at all?

LANTER: No, I actually didn’t. I obviously watched the films, I’m a huge fan. I’m just as much a Star Wars geek as anybody else now. I’m going to decorate my office with Star Wars toys.

THE DEADBOLT: Well, it looks really good on the resume, especially since you're going down in Star Wars history.

LANTER: [laughs] I know, it’s crazy. But no, I haven’t talked to Hayden. Hayden did something really interesting and unique in the films and I obviously watched them and took reference. But I’m not trying to copy his performance by any means. Like I was saying, it’s a bit of a different Anakin. We’re kind of going in a new direction and it was great to have his performances as reference. But I’m kind of doing my own thing.