Calling Kevin Conroy the best Batman of all time feels like an understatement. In fact, I would argue that such an assessment is probably the exact opposite of a hot take. The guy can take any Caped Crusader line and make it gold -- even lines uttered by other Batman actors. On that note, Conroy recently made an appearance on Talkin' Toons with Rob Paulsen, and expertly delivered Christian Bale's epic speech from the final scene of The Dark Knight. Check out the audio dubbed over the actual scene below.
If you need a moment, I completely understand. I got chills the first time that I heard it as well. Dubbing the audio in over the original cut of the climactic scene from Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, Conroy and Paulsen (voicing Commissioner Gordon) treat the sequence as a radio play -- delivering the lines in one take. The sequence clearly doesn't have the well-rehearsed atmosphere of Conroy's tenures on properties like Batman: The Animated Series or the Arkham game series, but the fact that he delivers the speech so perfectly in one sitting is impressive in its own right.
Of course, that video is even more impressive when we consider the Batman that Kevin Conroy is going up against. Christian Bale was undoubtedly one of the better actors to ever step into the cape and cowl, but most people generally seem to have come to a consensus that his voice was one of the worst aspects of the charter. When compared to the original cut of this scene, Conroy enunciates better than Bale's more animalistic growls, and the speech is far clearer in tone and quality. In many ways, it feels like it could easily belong in a darker entry in DC Animation's long line of films and TV shows -- it potentially even rivals the climactic speech from last year's The Killing Joke.
Kevin Conroy has not given up the role of The Dark Knight just yet. His latest work on Batman and Harley Quinn will be available digitally on August 14, and the Blu-ray and DVD copies of the film will hit shelves two weeks later on August 28. The animated film takes place within the reality established by Batman: The Animated Series, and centers on Batman and Loren Lester's Nightwing as they team up with a seemingly reformed Harleen Quinzel to prevent Poison Ivy from unleashing a deadly virus upon the planet. Conroy continues to have a passion for The Dark Knight almost 30 years after his initial introduction, and we cannot wait to see what he does with the role next.
As for the silver screen version of The Dark Knight, Batfleck will make his next appearance when Justice League debuts in theaters on November 17.
