The animated superhero series of both Marvel and DC always made sure not to follow the exact plot, dialogues, and panels from the comics in order to make their shows as kid-friendly as possible. However, sometimes, despite their best efforts, they were unable to cut out a few scenes from their series, and once almost ended up making the show R-rated.
One episode of The New Batman Adventures almost got into the R-rated category
Batman is one of the most popular superheroes of DC Comics and will certainly go down in history as one of the greatest superheroes of all time. Multiple series and movies, both animated and live-action of the character have been developed over the years and a lot of actors have portrayed the role of Bruce Wayne aka Batman.
After the end of Batman: The Animated Series, Warner Bros decided to make another animated series about the Caped Crusader, and therefore, The New Batman Adventures was released by the studio back in 1997.
In the episode, ‘Growing Pains’ of The New Batman Adventures, the series revolves around the story of a little girl and the story turns dark really quickly towards the climax of the episode. In the episode, Robin saves this girl on multiple occasions. She had apparently lost her memory and was being chased by a creepy stalker.
In the climax of the episode, it is revealed that the girl was just a part of Clayface who had created her to scout the city after his defeat and he was the one following her throughout the city. In a final showdown, Robin faces off and loses against Clayface who ends up reabsorbing the girl, to the shock of the viewers.
Robin flies into a fit of rage after the girl sacrifices herself to save him from Clayface and is about to kill Clayface in revenge. However, Batman steps in at the right time and stops the Boy Wonder from killing him off.
Kevin Conroy talks about portraying the character of Batman
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.
Kevin Conroy once opened up about voicing the role of the Caped Crusader over so many years. In the tribute documentary, Kevin Conroy: I Am the Knight, Conroy revealed that while voicing the character in series and movies, he used to think that Batman was the real character and Bruce Wayne was the alter ego. He said,
“I just went to a very dark and private place in my vocal range, because it seemed like such a dark, private world he lived in. And for Bruce, he has to play the society scene in New York — I mean, he’s the bachelor in town. It’s the other extreme, so it’s much brighter, a much more elevated sound. There’s a lot more modulation to the voice, a lot more color to the voice. It was fun!”
Kevin Conroy was considered one of the best voice actors of his generation as he was one of the few voice actors who used to change his voice even while switching between the characters of Bruce Wayne and Batman.
Conroy passed away a few years ago, back in 2022 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.
