In 1997, a year after Superman: The Animated Series premiered on Kids’ WB, The New Batman Adventures, Batman: The Animated Series’ continuation, followed on the same programming block. Because these two shows boasted the same animation style, it was easy enough to bring the Caped Crusader over to the Man of Steel’s series for the three-parter called “World’s Finest.” Nearly 25 years after those episodes aired, Tim Daly, who voiced Superman, recently recalled how much fun he had teaming up with Kevin Conroy’s Batman for the first time.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Tim Daly on behalf of Superman: The Animated Series’ Blu-ray release from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, and during the interview, I asked whether he and Kevin Conroy recorded their lines together for that three-part crossover, and if they had, what that experience was like. Daly responded with the following:
Yes, we did, and it was really fun. And I sort of loved that Superman, in a very dry way, kind of gave Batman a lot of shit. It was really funny to me. It was like, ‘Dude, lighten up.’ I can’t remember the line exactly, but he busted Batman on that very thing, his darkness and demeanor about everything. Batman, as interesting as he is, he’s kind of a bummer. He’s so tortured. I loved those moments where Superman goaded him a bit.
Although the Batman of The New Batman Adventures was animated differently from the one in Batman: The Animated Series, this was the same version of the character that Kevin Conroy originated in 1992 on Fox Kids. Now, though, the pieces had fallen into place for the DC Animated Universe’s Bruce Wayne to team up with Clark Kent in Metropolis on Superman: The Animated Series. Batman had to go to Superman’s neck of the woods after learning that Joker and Harley Quinn had stolen a statue made of Kryptonite. From there, the Clown Prince of Crime struck a deal with Lex Luthor to kill Superman for $1 billion.
As Tim Daly noted, when his version of Superman met Kevin Conroy’s Batman, the two initially didn’t get along, with the former giving the latter some grief about his dark personality. You can enjoy the moment the two superheroes first came face to face below:
Eventually Tim Daly’s Superman and Kevin Conroy’s Batman came to an understanding and properly joined forces to defeat Batman and The Joker. Batman would later be featured in the Superman: The Animated Series episodes “Knight Time” and “The Demon Reborn.” While Superman never appeared on The New Batman Adventures, his future self, voiced by Christopher McDonald, was present for the Batman Beyond two-parter “The Call.” Then the DCAU’s present-day versions of Superman and Batman teamed up frequently in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, where George Newbern inherited Man of Steel vocal duties. Daly and Conroy would later co-star in the non-DCAU movies Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse and Justice League Doom.
Superman: The Animated Series is now available to purchase on Blu-ray, and the show can also be streamed on HBO Max. Looking to the future, keep checking back with CinemaBlend for the biggest news concerning upcoming DC Comics movies and TV shows.
