Batman’s Iconic Voice Takes a Backseat for the First Time as Luke Wilson Envisions the Caped Crusader in the Most Unique Way Possible

Actor Luke Wilson now stars as the latest Batman in Amazon Prime’s Merry Little Batman, an animated Christmas film. Wilson stars as Bruce Wayne a.k.a Batman who gets stranded on a mission during Christmas while his son Damian Wayne tries to don the suit and help his father save the day.

Wilson joins a long list of actors who have played the iconic caped-crusader such as Michael Keaton, Kevin Conroy, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, and Robert Pattinson. However, the Rushmore star decided to change one key aspect of the character that might revolutionize the way Batman is portrayed.

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Luke Wilson As Batman In Merry Little Batman

Actor Luke Wilson’s Merry Little Batman strays away from the usual moody and brooding version of the caped crusader. The Mike Roth directorial is a Christmas film that is aimed at kids and families. It shows a less explored aspect of Bruce Wayne which is his family life. In the comics, Wayne has a child named Damian Wayne and he makes an appearance.

The film follows the story of Bruce Wayne leaving the Manor right before Christmas, promising Damian that he would make it in time for the holiday. However, he gets stranded and Damian decides to take matters into his own hands and goes to save Gotham from the Joker, who plans on stealing Christmas.

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Wilson plays the role of Bruce Wayne in a light-hearted fatherly way, which is a refreshing take on the character who is usually set in dark undertones and explores the criminal underbelly of the city. The Bottle Rocket star spoke about what appealed to him in the film in an interview with Coming Soon,

“We’ve all seen the gravelly voiced, dark, dystopian take on Bruce Wayne, which is really fun and cool to watch…just as soon as I saw that the title of this was Merry Little Batman and I read the script — which was so funny — I got an idea of who the target audience was…Knowing that informed my take on it.”

Wilson also changes a key aspect of the character which has been a tradition for the past few years.

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The Bat Voice Takes A Backseat In Luke Wilson’s Batman

One of the most iconic parts of Batman is his gruff voice which he changes when Bruce Wayne dons the Batsuit. All of the actors who have portrayed the role such as Michael Keaton, Ben Affleck, and Christian Bale have used the ‘bat voice’ to hide Wayne’s natural voice and to make himself more menacing to the villains and criminals.

However, Luke Wilson’s Batman does away with the gruff, intimidating voice change and decides to keep the same as Bruce’s. The only change appears in the AI Bat-Dad, which has an altered voice of Wilson. When talking to CBR, Wilson revealed his intention behind not changing the voice,

“In retrospect, of course, I’m like, ‘Gosh, should I have done a deeper, more gravelly voice?’ I think just based on the title being Merry Little Batman…I was also thinking about kids watching it…I just wanted to have a real sense of enthusiasm and fun in my voice. It was more a voice — like a Willy Wonka type — ‘Hey, follow me’ kind of take on it.”

The Bat Voice is a creative choice that distinguishes Batman from Bruce Wayne. It was an irreplaceable part of the portrayal and is often celebrated by fans. It is also trolled and parodied with Christian Bale’s gruff voice being spoofed multiple times.

Also read: Merry Little Batman Review: Cute Holiday Animated Movie Is Best for Young Kids