One man has portrayed the Caped Crusader in more Batman productions over more years than Adam West, Michael Keaton or Christian Bale combined -- and no one but the most dedicated DC Comics fans would be likely to recognize his face.
Kevin Conroy is a veteran television and stage actor with an IMDB credit listing longer than the Batmobile, but he's made a Gotham-sized dent in popular culture as the prototype voice for Batman. Originally tackling the role for Warner Bros.' Batman: The Animated Series, Conroy spent the next 18 years giving voice to Bruce Wayne and his crime-fighting alter ego in the feature film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, The New Batman Adventures, Superman, Batman Beyond, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited and in a series of direct-to-DVD animated films.
Now, Conroy is back in the vocal cape and cowl in the big budget, much-hyped Eidos Interactive game, Batman: Arkham Asylum -- returning to a role to which he says he now has an unbreakable bond.
"I admit I'm not up on all of the Batman comics," Conroy told Wired.com. "But I have a deep connection to the character after playing him for so many years."
Arkham Asylum pits Batman against The Joker as the Clown Prince of Crime organizes a mutiny of Gotham City's assembled rogue's gallery. Combining advanced CGI animation and an enhanced combat engine, the game is one of the summer's most buzz-worthy titles.
Conroy was an obvious choice to voice Batman in the new game as it marks a return to the production formula for the original animated series of the 1990s. The game was written by Paul Dini -- a veteran writer for many of the Warner Bros. animated DC-based series -- and reunites much of the voice cast from that show. Most importantly, The Joker is once again voiced by Mark Hamill -- Conroy's opposite number throughout his time as Batman.
"Mark is incredible as always," Conroy said. "There's no one I'd rather have voicing The Joker."
"I think Mark created the definitive 'crazy' Joker. There's no question Heath Ledger gave an unbelievable performance in The Dark Knight as a scheming, anarchist Joker. But Mark perfected that fun, insane character."
"Reuniting the cast and so many people from the animated series made Arkham Asylum such a great experience," Conroy added. "After working with (the animated series crew) for so many years, you develop a shorthand that allows everything to work really smoothly."
But, as the pre-eminent expert on giving voice to his longtime character, what did Conroy think of Christian Bale's controversial vocal work in The Dark Knight?
"I thought Christian was excellent as Bruce Wayne, but I didn't understand his choices there. I thought it was over the top and distracted from his scenes as Batman. I'm not sure what they were going for there. But, what do I know?"
He knows enough to jump right back into the role. After Arkham Asylum, Conroy moved on to voicing Batman opposite Tim Daly's Superman in the animated DVD* Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, due out Sept. 29.*
Image courtesy Eidos Interactive
See also:
- A First-Hand Tour of Batman: Arkham Asylum's Madhouse
- Batman: Arkham Asylum Trailer Nods to 20-Year-Old Grant Morrison
- Batman: Arkham Asylum Delayed
- Video: Batman: Arkham Asylum Trailer
- Video: Latest Batman: Arkham Asylum Clip Introduces Harley Quinn
- Batman: Arkham Asylum 'Close To Perfect,' Publisher Says ...
