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As far as comic book heroes go, Batman is arguably the most popular. As such, the Dark Knight has been adapted for film and TV countless times since Bruce Wayne was introduced on the page. The latest of these will come with Matt Reeves' The Batman, which will introduce Robert Pattinson's version of the beloved DC character. The first trailer revealed Pattinson uttering the iconic phrase "I am vengeance," and now beloved Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy has responded to that particular line of dialogue.
While a variety of actors have played Batman over the years, Kevin Conroy has arguably the longest tenure as Gotham's Protector. He voiced Bruce Wayne in Batman: The Animated Series, as well as the Arkham video games, the Arrowverse's "Crisis on Infinite Earths", and a ton of animated movies. He clearly knows the character well, and had a strong reaction when Robert Pattinson used "I am vengeance." The iconic voice actor said:
I don't own those lines, you know what I mean? I have to put my ego aside and I have to accept the fact that there are a lot of actors who are just as good at playing Batman as I am. I think it was kind of brilliant of Warner Brothers to not give the role to one person. I thought it was crazy at first because usually they give a role to one actor and that actor becomes the face of the franchise. So when Michael Keaton started and I thought well he's going to be Batman. Then you got, George Clooney, Val Kilmer, all these different actors, Ben Affleck, who all did it slightly different. They all had a different strength in playing the role.
That's a great attitude. Because while Kevin Conroy is the actor with the longest tenure playing Batman, he understands that the wildly popular DC hero doesn't actually belong to him. As such, plenty of other actors have stepped into the cape and cowl, each with their own take on the character. Or in this case, their own take on the iconic line previously spoken by Conroy in various media.
Kevin Conroy's comments Geek House Show shows how the 64 year-old actor approaches his legacy with Batman, especially as countless other actors portray the character in live-action. Because while he originally thought Michael Keaton was going to be the definitive Bruce Wayne actor, he's seen a variety of other actors take on the mantle over the years. And for that reason he can't have ownership over Bats.
After The Batman arrives in theaters, Matt Reeves will bring a prequel series to HBO Max. You can use this link to sign up for the streaming service.
As a reminder, you can re-watch the first trailer for The Batman below, complete with the iconic "I am vengeance" line.
As Kevin Conroy mentioned, a variety of actors have portrayed Batman over the years. In fact, the next few years will see two different version of the character on the big screen. Because in addition to Robert Pattinson's highly anticipated role in The Batman, Ben Affleck is also coming out of retirement to wear the cape and cowl in Ezra Miller's Flash movie. So it's a good thing that Conroy doesn't feel ownership over the wildly popular hero.
The first trailer for The Batman highlighted Matt Reeves' unique director's vision for Gotham City. The upcoming movie will focus on a Bruce Wayne that is only two years into his experience as a crime fighter, and he'll face off against a trio of iconic villains. Namely, Penguin (Colin Farrell), Riddler (Paul Dano) and Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz).
The Batman is currently set to arrive in theaters on March 4th, 2022. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next movie experience.
