I Am Vengeance, I Am The Night

November 11, 2022 8:41 AM

Kevin Conroy, known for his iconic performance as the Caped Crusader over a range of media starting with Batman: The Animated Series, has passed away at the age of 66.
posted by NoxAeternum (62 comments total)

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posted by ishmael at 8:44 AM on November 11, 2022

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posted by FritoKAL at 8:44 AM on November 11, 2022

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I was really too old to be watching cartoons when B:TAS first went to air, but there was a nuance and maturity to that show that made it something a bit special and a large part of that was due to Conroy's performance. Outside of the terrible Arrowverse appearance, he really was an ideal Bruce Wayne (most importantly) and Batman.
posted by sardonyx at 8:45 AM on November 11, 2022 [10 favorites]

🦇🌃
posted by Wretch729 at 8:45 AM on November 11, 2022

[bat dot]
posted by Gelatin at 8:45 AM on November 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

Obligatory Justice League clip.
posted by sardonyx at 8:51 AM on November 11, 2022 [7 favorites]

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Fuck cancer.
posted by Etrigan at 8:53 AM on November 11, 2022 [7 favorites]

Mask Of The Phantasm and Return Of The Joker are the two best Batman movies and it isn't close.

Conroy defined that role.
posted by mhoye at 8:57 AM on November 11, 2022 [15 favorites]

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The best Batman.
posted by Ndwright at 8:58 AM on November 11, 2022 [7 favorites]

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posted by adekllny at 8:59 AM on November 11, 2022

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posted by riruro at 9:06 AM on November 11, 2022

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posted by Faintdreams at 9:07 AM on November 11, 2022

I liked Conroy in the Arrowverse crossover. I mean, I didn't love the Frank Milleresque scripting for him, but he was game.

I'm sorry he's gone.
posted by humbug at 9:10 AM on November 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

Earlier this year he wrote a story for DC’s Pride comic about his life, and his life as a gay man, and how it informed his Batman performance. Someone put it up here. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking.

RIP, Mr. Conroy. I think I will watch “Heart of Ice” today in your honor.
posted by mephron at 9:17 AM on November 11, 2022 [31 favorites]

Oh, he was definitely game. It's just that the role itself was a terrible mess and there was nothing he could do to fix it despite. It's just a shame that was his one opportunity to tackle a live-action version of his iconic role.
posted by sardonyx at 9:18 AM on November 11, 2022 [4 favorites]

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posted by djseafood at 9:30 AM on November 11, 2022

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posted by zengargoyle at 9:31 AM on November 11, 2022

What a loss. He just is Batman for an entire generation. There have been and are other Batman VAs, but no one like him. RIP

I was really too old to be watching cartoons when B:TAS

You're never too old! Today is a great day to start! It really is amazing what they were able to do within the constraints of Saturday morning kid TV.
posted by star gentle uterus at 9:32 AM on November 11, 2022 [10 favorites]

RIP, Captain Sunshine.

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posted by Tom Hanks Cannot Be Trusted at 9:37 AM on November 11, 2022 [4 favorites]

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posted by 1970s Antihero at 9:38 AM on November 11, 2022

Will forever be my batman, Keaton may have started it, but Conroy defined it completely. So much so it may be why I had zero interest in Batman after the animated series. The quote below from the Batman: Animated book always stuck with me.

Throughout the series one caveat we stressed was that Batman is our hero's true persona, and that billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne is the disguise. "He is Batman," says actor Kevin Conroy of his alter ego. "He became Batman the instant his parents were murdered. Batman needs Bruce, however hallow that identity feels to him from time to time. Bruce keeps Batman human." Although a common theme in the movies, we did not want to ever have Batman tempted to give up his costume for a normal life - the costume is his normal life. "I think the temptation is there," explains Kevin, "but the temptation us to retreat into the cave and never come out. To give up his disguise as Bruce Wayne and surrender himself completely to the darkness."

One more, to remember him by.

Naturally, the most important voice to be cast was that of the Dark Knight himself. But true to his nature, Batman proved to be an elusive figure. Nearly forty actors were auditioned, but none of them quite filled the cape. Finally it was Kevin Conroy, an accomplished Broadway actor with numerous TV and feature film credits, who won the part. Remembers Andrea [Romano, voice director]: "We wanted Batman's voice to have a dark side as well as a kind of sexy side. There's something very appealing to women about the Batman character, different from the Superman character, which is a bit more proper. Batman is a rule breaker. We felt his voice should be inherently sexy, not something the actor was playing. A lot of the other actors would tend to read the part sort of Clint Eastwood-raspy. Kevin came in and did this voice that is really his own, just made a little bit more intimate. We all went 'That's it. We're done. We found it.' It's a wonderful moment in casting when you can just go, 'This guy's got it.'"

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posted by Brainstorming Time! at 9:39 AM on November 11, 2022 [13 favorites]

The voice kept calling me Kevin...
posted by jozxyqk at 9:40 AM on November 11, 2022 [4 favorites]

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posted by Pendragon at 9:40 AM on November 11, 2022

The canonical Batman.
posted by rodlymight at 9:44 AM on November 11, 2022 [4 favorites]

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posted by evilDoug at 9:44 AM on November 11, 2022

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posted by Joey Michaels at 9:48 AM on November 11, 2022

A bit of the Kevin Conroy interview from the documentary I Know That Voice

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posted by mstokes650 at 10:02 AM on November 11, 2022 [4 favorites]

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posted by kewb at 10:05 AM on November 11, 2022

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posted by eclectist at 10:08 AM on November 11, 2022

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posted by qntm at 10:12 AM on November 11, 2022

*BOOO*

He was such a fantastic Bats - literally the Bats I think of.
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:12 AM on November 11, 2022

Dang it. He was my Batman, too.
posted by Spike Glee at 10:29 AM on November 11, 2022

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posted by Windopaene at 10:51 AM on November 11, 2022

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posted by Ber at 10:58 AM on November 11, 2022

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The best Batman ever.
posted by ceejaytee at 11:01 AM on November 11, 2022

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posted by Devoidoid at 11:02 AM on November 11, 2022

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The voice of Batman for me.
posted by doctor_negative at 11:11 AM on November 11, 2022

This video is a great explanation of why Conroy was the best to ever don the cowl, and how his performance has definitively shaped the character.
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:48 AM on November 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

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posted by JoeXIII007 at 11:55 AM on November 11, 2022

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He will be greatly missed.

At least, I can keep reading Batman comics and hearing his voice in my head whenever Bats is talking.
posted by sharp pointy objects at 12:02 PM on November 11, 2022 [3 favorites]

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posted by lock robster at 12:13 PM on November 11, 2022

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posted by dannyboybell at 12:43 PM on November 11, 2022

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RIP to the best to ever do it.
posted by jameaterblues at 1:30 PM on November 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

Even when I watched shows or played games where someone else voiced Batman -- and some of the others did perfectly fine jobs -- I still heard the Dark Knight's lines in his voice, that's how much he owned the role.

May he rest in power.

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posted by lord_wolf at 2:15 PM on November 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

So as he tells it in the comic mephron linked, Conroy saw Bruce Wayne as Batman in the closet, putting on a public face to hide his secret self.

That is an amazing connection and it makes sense that it worked so well.

I thought Conroy's performance made a huge difference in how successfully the Arkham games really feel like Batman. I'm grateful he was able to contribute so many great performances.
posted by straight at 2:27 PM on November 11, 2022 [5 favorites]

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Doctor Who fans (I'm one) talk about "my Doctor". Conroy in B:TAS was my Batman.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 2:30 PM on November 11, 2022 [4 favorites]

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posted by mikelieman at 2:38 PM on November 11, 2022

RIP, Mr. Conroy. I think I will watch “Heart of Ice” today in your honor.

Written by Dini, directed by Timm.
posted by mikelieman at 2:46 PM on November 11, 2022

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posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 2:52 PM on November 11, 2022

🦇
posted by synecdoche at 3:08 PM on November 11, 2022

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posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 3:46 PM on November 11, 2022

I wish I could offer more than my sadness of hearing about his death. He'll always be the voice of Batman in my head, and it was such a perfect voice. Thanks, mephron, for sharing that comic, which I hadn't seen.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:21 PM on November 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

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My favorite Batman.
posted by pelvicsorcery at 5:59 PM on November 11, 2022

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I watched all the cartoons. JLU was a dream come true for this comics fan.

Highlight reel.
posted by vrakatar at 10:10 PM on November 11, 2022 [2 favorites]

I watched all the cartoons. JLU was a dream come true for this comics fan.

Speaking of JLU, I'm reminded of this article on The Mary Sue by Briana Lawrence on Mar 11th, 2022, which says it all...

this tweet did make me remember the moment that truly impacted my view of who Batman is. Kevin Conroy wasn’t my first Batman, but his version of the hero has always been my favorite. I’ve always been fond of how his Batman was equal parts intimidating, mysterious, compassionate, and even had a sense of humor every now and then. This carried over into the Justice League animated series where it was easy to tell that behind the scowl was a man who cared for others.

And there’s no better example than his time with Ace, a member of the criminal group known as the Royal Flush Gang.

It's dusty in here
posted by mikelieman at 3:44 AM on November 12, 2022 [7 favorites]

I mostly know Conroy from the Arkham games... where he's amazing. The villains can all go juicily over the top, but Conroy holds his own... he's never just grimdark, he keeps a vein of earnestness and a hint of humor underneath. I have a soft spot for Adam West, but... yeah, Conroy is just the best.
posted by zompist at 1:27 AM on November 13, 2022 [1 favorite]

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posted by scaryblackdeath at 11:22 AM on November 13, 2022

I was really too old to be watching cartoons when B:TAS

Oh god, go watch "Feat of Clay" right now.
posted by lkc at 4:27 PM on November 13, 2022

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I will not say that he was the best ever, only that he was part of a crew that set a bar that no one has yet surpassed. I will miss his many interpretations of Batman.
posted by Ignorantsavage at 4:27 PM on November 13, 2022

I'm not saying I didn't watch it. I'm saying it was a bit of a mind shift to get to the point where I would watch it. Of course once I did, I was hooked. (Despite having a history of reading comics--mainly DC and especially Batman--I was fed up with them at that point in time, which exacerbated my anti-cartoon inclination.)

DC made the biggest mistake it could ever make by not putting the people in charge of the animated division that brought us Superman and B:TAS and JL and JLU, etc. in charge of the movie division. Those people understood the characters--what makes them tick and what makes them appeal to fans. Yes, I know big-dollar movies are a completely different thing in Hollywood from small-dollar cartoons, but I'm still pretty that team would have done a brilliant job.
posted by sardonyx at 5:26 PM on November 13, 2022 [3 favorites]

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posted by ckape at 5:59 PM on November 13, 2022

Those people understood the characters--what makes them tick and what makes them appeal to fans.

They created the only adaptation of an Alan Moore story that Moore actually liked.
posted by NoxAeternum at 9:03 PM on November 13, 2022 [1 favorite]