Whenever you have a character such as Batman who’s been around for 79 years, it’s only natural for him to be portrayed by a variety of actors over time. As such, it’s not uncommon for each of the men occupying that exclusive club to be asked opinions regarding the rest making up the brotherhood.
Having voiced the Caped Crusader for twenty-some years in projects such as Batman: The Animated Series and the Arkham video games, Kevin Conroy is viewed by many was being the definitive voice of the character – and is often asked his opinion concerning the performances of others like we just mentioned.
So, when Conroy appeared at MCM Comic Con London, not only did he once again have nice things to say about Ben Affleck, but he also had this to offer when it came to Christian Bale’s take:
“It sounded weird! What can I say? It sounded like he had laryngitis. But he does Bruce Wayne, my god, he nails Bruce Wayne. He’s a terrific actor. Did you see American Psycho? I mean, he’s a wonderful actor. But his voice was weird as Batman.”
In Bale’s defense, it should be noted that various comics have established Bruce doing a Clint Eastwood impression of sorts when he’s in his Batman guise in order to mask his everyday voice, with this especially holding true in the works of Frank Miller. And considering how Bale read the classics when researching the role, it stands to reason books like Year One and The Dark Knight Returns may have influenced his performance.
As much as I love Conroy, I’m actually hesitant to say he’s my favorite Batman overall. Make no mistake, this isn’t a showing of disrespect on my part, but rather, because I view live action and animation as two distinctly different forms of media. In truth, he’s my favorite on the animated side of things, though I find it important to separate the likes of Conroy, Roger Craig Smith and Bruce Greenwood from Bale, Affleck and Michael Keaton. Call me crazy, but it seems fair from where I’m sitting.
