RIP Kevin Conroy aka Batman

[Andrew NDB]

I've always said he's kinda overrated, but only in the sense that people always equated his vocal performance in the same vein as, say, judging Michael Keaton's performance, or Christian Bale's performance, or even Adam West. The voice is an important part of an overall performance but not the overall one, so you can't just judge a voice actor who is probably sitting on a stool sipping some coffee with earphones looking at a script in front of a mic on vs. a guy who has beaten himself into shape, memorized lines, practiced in front of a mirror the little physical nuances and so on AND practiced their Batman/Bruce voice.

That said, I am well aware he has been loved by many, many for decades now and definitely has earned his place as The Definitive Batman Voice™ for pretty much all of time. And this is spanning not just cartoons, but video games and so on.

[Turo602]

Yeah, I always hate when people bring up voice actors in a discussion about who the best live action Batman or Joker was. Especially because you know it's done with the intent of one upping everyone else by showing off that they take their fandom beyond the movies even though it's not relevant and nobody cares.

With that said, Kevin Conroy will always be the voice of Batman to me. He is the standard that I would like actors to strive for in their performances because not a single actor who has portrayed Batman had a good Batman voice. It's like the most overlooked part of the portrayal. It definitely sucks that we will never hear his voice again in any future projects.

[LeotheLateBloomer]

I found the news out from a coworker in Concessions. I was like "no way, you're kidding" and when I took a break, I was shocked. Kevin was the first Batman voice I've listened to. Admittedly it does get annoying when people bring up the best Batman voice or best Batman when they'll always put him on a pedestal but this is a very sad day for not only his fans but voice actors in the industry.

Thanks Conroy, for all of the good memories.

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

I was thrown when he wrote the story in the gay propaganda comic as a way of coming out of the closet.

Originally Posted by robertfiduciary

What part of that comic was "propoganda," again?

Man.

You guys really like passing judgement on stuff you haven't seen / read.

Right? That entire statement could have either been worded differently or better yet left out entirely.

Anybody who'd take issue with or make thinly-veiled cheap shots about Conroy's sexuality, especially under the guise of a comment about being a "huge fan" of his, ironically enough wouldn't be the kind of person Conroy would have even wanted as a fan in the first place. They're exactly WHY he was closeted for so much of his life. And I never met the man, but I'm making an educated guess that "I love your Batman voice, I just don't like gay people, hope we can agree to disagree" wouldn't have been good enough for his approval.

I'm guessing all those "You can't get AIDS from shaking hands" ads in the 1990-1994 era DC comic books were all "propaganda", too, and not a springboard towards more information and a plea for compassion and understanding.

I often wonder just what kind of values you people actually take away from your super-hero comics and entertainment. Based on what I'm constantly seeing, I'm guessing it's a ton of "Solve problems with punching and lasers" and not a whole lot of "Treat other humans with dignity".

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

I've always said he's kinda overrated, but only in the sense that people always equated his vocal performance in the same vein as, say, judging Michael Keaton's performance, or Christian Bale's performance, or even Adam West.

But I think that's actually the point! How Batman was going to sound, his personality, the dichotomy between Bruce and Batman - was all captured so perfectly with Conroy that it could've made or broken the entire show.

Conroy brought both a sense of gravitas and realism to that cartoon that fit the formula so well that people now compare a voice actor to physical actors in the same role.

Arguably the only Batman on-screen who had a stronger audible presence was Ben Affleck and that's because he had some creative vocal technology. Conroy's talent kept him voicing a character across projects, across shows and across time which is widely unheard of for a voice actor. The guy created his own relevance and fan demand.

[Papenbrook]

Conroy was able to bring his own take on the Batman character.

He will continue to be loved by many.

My thoughts are with his loved ones at this time. He will be dearly missed.

[LeotheLateBloomer]

Thinking about it, I wonder if they're still going to produce that Batman Caped Crusader cartoon series. They could always find someone to voice the character but with this being behind the minds of TAS, fans will likely be uninterested without Kevin's voice in the role.

[Jester]

Total gut punch. Conroy was the best at dialing in on the fact that Bruce is the mask and Batman is his true self. Didn't even know he was sick. Cancer sucks.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

I was thrown when he wrote the story in the gay propaganda comic as a way of coming out of the closet. I never would have guessed. I assumed he had a wife and kids.

Did you somehow think less of him when you found out he was gay or something?

[AquaParade]

Originally Posted by LeotheLateBloomer

Thinking about it, I wonder if they're still going to produce that Batman Caped Crusader cartoon series. They could always find someone to voice the character but with this being behind the minds of TAS, fans will likely be uninterested without Kevin's voice in the role.

I'm not sure we ever found out if someone bought it from HBO Max, but I'm not sure they were planning on using Conroy for that show. Would have been nice but they have done projects without him.

Either way, I still want to see it. BTAS is still the best but then new show has a lot of potential. I hope it doesn't get canned.

And yeah, Kevin's passing keeps bumming me out. He had a warm personality.

[CyberCubed]

I think there were rumors he was going to play Thomas Wayne, but he definitely wasn't going to be Batman again. If they already recorded then he's probably just going to be in a brief flashback in the first episode or something.

[ranger_scout]

I was so saddened to hear this news. He was a very talented voice actor and left us way too soon.

[triplexxx]

Townsend Coleman on his instagram photographed the Batman statue in front of AMC theater in Burbank with flowers lain at the base in Kevin's honor.

[MikeandRaph87]

Have a tissue ready.

[CyberCubed]

He looked perfectly fine just a week before he died. His last twitter post was on Halloween, October 31st. Cancer must creep up so quick when its your time.

[AquaParade]

Depressing but at least he was loved by so many and got to appreciate that.

Interesting how it will make watching the animated series a bit sad now. Even when it’s not sad, it won’t be the same. I’ve always gone back to that show over the years.

[MikeandRaph87]

I have seen it. For a period after diagnosis it is undetectable physically and then in my two experiences with it about 6 weeks before is when it becomes noticeable and takes it's toll. However, you are right about Kevin in the video. He does look somewhat pale, but it could be because we know what would happen a week later.

https://www.cbr.com/kevin-conroy-tri...series-batman/

[AquaParade]

I bought the Blu-Ray set of the 90’s animated series. First thing I did was watch Phantasm. Still great. Wish it was given a bigger budget though, because it deserved it.

I have the digital code in case anyone wants to buy the series digitally for cheap from me.

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by AquaParade

I bought the Blu-Ray set of the 90’s animated series. First thing I did was watch Phantasm. Still great. Wish it was given a bigger budget though, because it deserved it.

I have the digital code in case anyone wants to buy the series digitally for cheap from me.

I actually kept my original DVD's after I upgraded to the Blu-Ray set just in case I ever want to watch any of the episodes upscaled to full screen. Which I'll probably never do, but that's an indicator of how much that show gets it's meathooks into ya...

[Autbot_Benz]

Today November 30th would have been Kevin's 67th Birthday