Everyone has a favorite living Batman actor, but in the eyes of this Bats devotion and so many others, the one who reigns supreme above them all is Kevin Conroy, who sadly passed away on November 10, 2022, after a brief battle with cancer in celebration of this year’s 30th anniversary of the actor’s voicing role. The Dark Knight has been featured in several hit DC TV shows, many of DC’s best animated films, and even a number of critically acclaimed video games – most notably Rocksteady’s Arkham series.
It’s hard to choose which of Conroy’s many performances as Batman should be considered his crowning achievement, but I tried anyway by ranking a few of his greatest successes in ascending order.
7- Batwoman (2019)
For years, I’ve been imagining what it would be like if Kevin Conroy gave more than just his unmistakable voice to the role of Batman and portrayed him in a live-action setting. This wish was granted with a special appearance on BatwomanAs part of the epic crossover event in the Arrowverse, Crisis on Infinite Earths, as Earth-99’s version of the retired Sentinel, who relies on a robotic suit to move, has broken his one rule of no killing (Superman included), and refuses to help save a world he doesn’t think deserves it. Conroy brings out his darker side more than ever to play Bruce Wayne who has lost all hope, which is sad, but also entirely believable given the hero’s penchant for cynicism.
6. Batman: The Killing Joke (2016)
Batwoman This may not be the first time the actor has played a version of the Dark Knight pushed to his breaking point. The ambiguous ending to the animated adaptation of Alan Moore’s stunning, lauded one-shot, Batman: The Killing Joke, hinting that Batman’s rivalry with The Joker (Mark Hamill, widely considered the definitive iteration of the villain) is nearing its finale. However, just moments before, Batman shows some sympathy toward his damaged archenemy and offers his aid rather than a fist in a sweet speech Conroy delivers with genuine sympathy in his voice, seemingly reflecting how much the actor actually cares for Hamill. life.
5. Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)
In one of the most underrated Batman movies – in my opinion – Kevin Conroy delivers what I also believe is one of the most underrated Batman performances of his career in Batman: Gotham Knight. It takes six different interpretations of the character in Six very Various Stories in this anthology style was produced in part by Christopher Nolan. Yet he nails it every time, never feeling out of place no matter how different one part from the last in tone or style – providing, perhaps, the ultimate proof of Conroy’s superiority in the role.
4 – Batman Beyond (1999-2001)
Even before he completed the first third of his career voicing the character, Kevin Conroy proved he could play Bruce Wayne at any age when he reprized the role as an older man forced to hang up the cape and beret and mentor his young successor, Terry McGuinness (ex- Boy meets world Cast member Will Friedel). The idea of a “teenage Batman” should never have worked, but it’s futuristic Batman next It was so close to perfection, and much of the credit goes to Conroy in the way he reinvented his lead character as a crime-fighting hero from behind the scenes, entirely using his intellect rather than physicality and intimidation.
3. Justice League & Justice League: Unlimited (2001-2006)
On the other hand, it was especially satisfying to see the star return to play the Caped Crusader in his original form – but in an arguably more intimidating way this time around – as he struggles to play nice with others as the only powerless cast member. For a powerful team of superheroes. What makes Conroy’s version of Batman who? Justice League and follow it, Justice League: Unlimitedreally highlights his determination to risk everything for the greater good, and A.J Refreshing with a sense of compassionLike when he sits with a real-life terminally ill named Ace (Hynden Walch) until her death in one of the series’ best episodes, “Epilogue.”
2. Justice League: Doom (2012)
However, if you prefer your Batman to be a ruthless hard-ass, look no further than the 2012 movie Justice League: Doom, in which the hero team is threatened by a special contingency plan to successfully neutralize each member created by the Dark Knight himself. When Batman discovers his plans have been stolen and altered to make him deadly, he is horrified to see what his creation has brought about, but he is not shy about arrogantly defending the plans when his co-workers see it as a breach of trust. You get two of Batman’s most defining feelings, played perfectly by Kevin Conroy.
1. Batman: The Animated Series, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, and The New Adventures of Batman (1992-1999)
To see Kevin Conroy at his best, start at the beginning with the Emmy Award winner Batman: The Animated Series (later renamed as New Batman Adventures), which contains several moments that could be considered its climax—such as when his voice utters the iconic line, “I am Vendetta. I am the Night. I am Batman.”
My personal vote goes back to a flashback in one of the greatest animated Batman movies of all time, 1993 Batman: Mask of the PhantasmWhen Bruce Wayne falls in love for the first time, he desperately pleads with his dead parents at their grave to free him from the vengeful vow he made to them. The desperation in his voice when he says, “I didn’t count on being happy,” is something all voice actors live for.
I would go so far as to say that Kevin Conroy should be remembered as one of the greatest voice actors of all time, even if his career was defined by a single role. After all, for many, the role of Batman is defined by and will forever be Conroy, no matter who plays him, whether that means in a cape and cowl or in the recording studio. We have lost an icon who will be greatly missed, but who, fortunately, will live on in these amazing and touching performances.
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