From Adam West in the ’60s to Robert Pattinson in 2022, a plethora of iterations of Batman have been presented onscreen since the character’s inception. But while most of them are great in their own right, nobody quite embodied the spirit of the caped crusader like the late Kevin Conroy, who is still considered by many to be the definitive version of Batman.
However, Conroy wasn’t the initial choice to voice the character, and even when he was considered for the part, the actor was interested in voicing other characters, which ended up frustrating Andrea Romano.
Kevin Conroy’s Interest in Other Characters Frustrated Andrea Romano
While Troy Baker, Will Arnett, and Jensen Ackles have proven to be pretty great when it comes to voicing the caped crusader, for most, Kevin Conroy is Batman’s voice. But back in the ’90s, when voice director Andrea Romano was in search for the perfect voice for Batman: The Animated Series, Conroy wasn’t in the initial scheme of things. After listening to 500 voices for the role, Romano and Bruce Timm narrowed the list to five, but none fit the bill.
Conroy eventually came into the picture after Romano asked her casting director if he was aware of any voice actor fit for the job. But having no preconceived notion about the character, as he had only watched Adam West’s Batman up to that point, Conroy took a keen interest in auditioning for other characters. Romano was reasonably appalled when Conroy proposed the idea of auditioning for Harvey Bullock and Commissioner Gordon.
Romano said:
“Do you understand that, if you get Batman, you’ll be in every episode? Stop trying to talk us out of hiring you!”
Fortunately, Conroy stuck to voicing Batman, thus kickstarting his iconic stint as the caped crusader.
Michael Keaton Inspired Mark Hamill to Audition for Joker
Unlike Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill was aware of Tim Burton’s Batman flicks and the controversy surrounding Michael Keaton‘s Batman. It’s well-known that the initial reception to Keaton’s casting as the dark-brooding vigilante was less than stellar, as many deemed he wasn’t fit for the part following the actor’s roots in comedy.
But as the story goes, Keaton proved his skeptics wrong, which inspired Hamill to audition for Joker in BTAS.
Hamill recalled (via THR):
“There was this big outcry that Michael Keaton was going to play Batman. Oh, he’s Mr. Mom, he’s a comedy actor.’ I mean they hadn’t even seen him, and they didn’t realize how great he would become. But there was great controversy… So, when I went in, I thought, ‘You think they’re going to hire Luke Skywalker to play the Joker? The fans will lose their minds!’ I was so sure that I couldn’t be cast, I was completely relaxed.”
Similar to Conroy, Hamill would go on to cement himself as the definitive Joker, and both of them would go on to inspire a generation of DC fans.
Batman: The Animated Series is available to stream on Max.
