There are a lot of ways actors look at portraying superheroes when they have a secret identity. Most Spider-Man actors tend to use the same voice as Peter Parker and his alter ego. However, a different president was set for Batman by none other than Kevin Conroy, who has voiced the characters more times than one.
Kevin Conroy’s run as Batman across media is perhaps the most iconic portrayal of a character, let alone in superhero fiction. Conroy did some very interesting things with the character, and one of them even defined how the character would be portrayed by other actors, setting a genre-wide trend for the portrayal of Batman.
Kevin Conroy used separate voices for Batman and Bruce Wayne
When playing Bruce Wayne and Batman, Conroy decided to use different voices for the character, to plug the plot hole that someone would recognize Batman as Bruce Wayne. Given how chatty Bruce Wayne is portrayed to be in most iterations, Batman needs to be careful with his voice to not give himself away. Speaking to Starbust Magazine, he said:
Early on, the idea to use two different voices. I said to Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, ‘Wait a minute – this is the richest, most powerful guy in Gotham City. He’s the most eligible bachelor. Everyone wants to get at him, everyone knows who he is. And he puts on a cape and a cowl and no-one knows it’s him? That’s ridiculous. Why don’t we mask his voice and make it more of a performance?’ And they liked that idea.
Conroy began using separate voices for the character’s two aspects something that got picked up by another version of the character, which then became a norm among other portrayals of Bruce Wayne. This allowed for actors to be a little bit more versatile while handling the character, a norm that still prevails while portraying Bruce Wayne and Batman.
Kevin Conroy was not happy with the choices made in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice
Kevin Conroy was very vocal about the fact that he loves the fact that Batman does not kill. He talked about how it disturbed him that Batman was a killer in Batman v.Superman: Dawn of Justice, but he understood that the choice was what the writers and directors thought was right for that iteration of Batman. He said:
” I found that very disturbing in Batman v Superman. I didn’t think it was really necessary. That’s just a choice that the writers and directors made.”
The idea that Batman does not kill, is something that has become an integral part of the character in modern mythos. Initially, Batman even carried a gun into battle and had no qualms against killing, but that is a line that has become increasingly rigid for the character, with fans and performers keen on productions upholding the values of the character, or risk being labeled an inauthentic version of him.
