Many stars have voiced the character of Bruce Wayne’s version of Batman over the years since that is the most popular version of Batman. However, only a handful of actors have been blessed with the opportunity to voice Terry McGinnis’ version of Batman and Will Friedle is one of them.
Friedle once even mentioned how he got the role of the character and revealed that it was Bruce Timm’s wife who suggested him in the first place.
Will Friedle opens up about landing the role in Batman Beyond
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.
Batman Beyond quickly became a massive success after its release in 1999. The show largely received positive reviews from fans and critics alike. And a big reason for this massive success was the show’s incredible lineup of voice actors.
Will Friedle who portrayed the role of Terry McGinnis and his version of Batman in the series, once opened up in an interview with CinemaDebate and talked about how he got the role of the titular character. Friedle revealed that it was actually the wife of Bruce Timm, the creator of Batman Beyond who suggested the actor to her husband for the role. He said,
“Bruce Timm who created the show, his wife was a big Boy Meets World fan, which was the show that I was on and she said, ‘You should bring him in to read.’ And, I came in I think two or three different times. We worked on the voice to make sure that the Batman’s voice was different from the Terry’s voice.
It was something that I did think I had a prayer of getting and then I lucked out, and got the role.”
Considering that Batman Beyond was also Will Frielde‘s first voice-acting gig of his career, he really did do a phenomenal job in the role.
Will Friedle opens up about his favorite episodes from Batman Beyond
Batman Beyond ran for almost 3 years from 1999 to 2001 and the show released 3 seasons and 52 episodes during its run. Throughout the show, we saw a different side to Bruce Wayne’s Batman who just cannot fight his way through enemies anymore and has to take a back seat to let Terry McGinnis take the lead.
Once in an interview with CinemaDebate, Will Friedle opened up about his favorite episodes from Batman Beyond. He said,
“I loved ‘Egg Baby’, I thought it was funny and kind of out of the box. I loved it. I really liked ‘Out of the Past’, I liked how Terry and young Bruce Wayne got to kind of fighting together which was cool. And then I loved ‘The Call’, where he got to join the Justice League at the end of it. That was cool.”
Although the story of Terry McGinnis’ version of Batman became a massive success with Batman Beyond when it was released back in 1999, it is still highly unlikely that we will be seeing a live-action version of the character in the near future. With the ongoing reboot of DCU, it does not make much sense to explore the stories of any other versions of Batman other than Bruce Wayne.
All seasons of Batman Beyond are currently streaming on HBO Max.
