Despite being some of the strongest or smartest beings in the universe, even our beloved superheroes aren’t immune to old age. Although some superheroes have an extended life span, some superheroes of human origin like Batman are known to have become old over the years in comics.
An old version of Batman was shown in the series Batman Beyond in which the character had become too old to serve as the Guardian Angel of Gotham City.
Kevin Conroy opens up about portraying an old version of Batman in Batman Beyond
Kevin Conroy was one of the most popular voice actors in Hollywood and was most well-known as the voice of Batman to a whole generation of kids. Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Conroy voiced the character of Bruce Wayne aka Batman in multiple series, movies, and video games.
Batman Beyond was considered one of the most popular animated series back in the day. The series revolves around the story of Terry McGinnis, a teenage boy who is being trained by Bruce Wayne aka Batman himself to become his successor and watch over Gotham City as The Caped Crusader has become too old.
Kevin Conroy has portrayed the iconic role in multiple franchises over the years, and once in an interview with Bleeding Cool, talked about his experience of portraying an older version of Batman in Batman Beyond. The American voice actor opened up about how the role of the character in Batman Beyond was a lot different than other franchises. He said,
“Well, yeah. I mean It’s the same man…In (Batman: The Animated Series) Bruce Wayne has the luxury of youth. He hasn’t tasted mortality, really. In Batman Beyond, he has. He senses the passage of time. Which is why he reaches out to Terry McGinnis. And that is a very sobering thing. He is still a powerful man, but he’s frustrated by the fact that his body won’t do everything he demands it to do anymore.
And that makes him cranky, and angry. He’s angry at his body. But he is still powerful, he’s still got that passion of Bruce Wayne, of Batman. …what was fun about playing him in that stage. He’s not a dottery 80 year old. He’s a feisty, passionate hero. They are different stages of the same man’s life.”
Batman Beyond was a massive critical success among the fans.
Kevin Conroy reveals his relationship with Mark Hamill
Other than being an incredible and established Hollywood star, Mark Hamill is also one of the most incredible voice actors the industry has ever seen. In DC Animated Universe, Hamill voiced the iconic character of Batman’s arch-nemesis, Joker in multiple franchises over the years.
As a result, Hamill has worked a lot alongside Kevin Conroy and the duo has also developed sort of a bromance as Conroy once revealed in an interview with Bleeding Cool. He said,
“He is so much fun to work with. Everything you see is Mark. there is no pretense, there’s no ego, there’s no bull. He is one-hundred-percent there. He’s generous, he’s there to play. And he gives me so much, that I can’t help but perform well when I’m with him, and I’ve said this to him – You define me, and he said ‘Well you define me.’ …You know Batman and Joker they kind of define each other.”
The journey of Kevin Conroy as the voice of Batman came to an end a few years ago, back in 2022 after the actor unfortunately passed away due to intestinal cancer. DC Comics gave away free online access to Finding Batman after Conroy’s death to honor the legacy of the legendary actor.
Batman Beyond was first released in 1999 and quickly gained massive critical acclaim. Although the fans initially doubted if the story would be any good if the focus was shifted from Bruce Wayne to Terry McGinnis, they were proven wrong eventually.
All episodes of Batman Beyond are currently streaming on HBO Max.
