Some performances are so perfect and powerful that they forever define a character, and it turns out that for Mark Hamill, there can only ever be one Batman.
Hamill revealed, in response to a Tweet from a passionate Batman fan, that Kevin Conroy, who voiced Batman in an incredible library of animated movies, shows, and video games over 30 years, “was and always will be” his Batman. This sentiment is shared by millions of Bat-fans around the world.
Sadly, Conroy passed away at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City on November 10, 2022, at 66 years of age due to intestinal cancer. The world is a lesser place for his passing.
Hamill, who has etched his name into the annals of nerd lore with his performance as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars saga over the years, worked alongside Conroy on numerous Batman projects, lending his talents to the voice of the Joker.
The two defined the Batman mythos for an entire generation with their work on the incredible Batman: The Animated Series from 1992 to 1995, a show that managed to portray the delicate twin facets of Batman and Bruce Wayne as complex and nuanced without the exploration of either one undermining the other.
A large part of that was down to Conroy’s inspired performances on the show. As Bruce Wayne he was kind and compassionate, capable of playing the standoffish billionaire without coming across as off-putting . As Batman, he was a powerful presence, eschewing cartoonish growling for little more than his natural, low tones, putting lots of energy from his roots as a Shakespearian actor into the work.
Conroy’s Batman and Bruce Wayne are at their best when the two characters blend together, meshing their strengths through Conroy’s powerful performances. Scenes like his confrontation with Ace from the Royal Flush Gang in Season 4 of Justice League Unlimited, where he engages with a young, scared villain as an equal, finding a little bit of his own childhood in an opportunity to comfort someone who felt lost, held remarkable weight for what many people would have seen as just voicing a character in a kid’s cartoon.
It is likely that Conroy felt so comfortable portraying a character with a secret life due to his own experiences. Conroy came out as gay in 2016 during the promotion of the animated adaptation of The Killing Joke. He said he felt the need to hide his homosexuality throughout his career, as he was worried about the impact it might have on his ability to find work. He wrote a story called “Finding Batman” about his experiences as a closeted gay man who voices one of the most iconic comic book characters of all time.
Since his passing, fans on the internet, professional coworkers, and close friends like Hamill have celebrated both his life and his work, which is how you know someone has truly had an honest and heartfelt impact on those around them.
So, yes, Mr. Hamill. For many of us, Kevin Conroy will always and forever be our hero. He was vengeance. He was the night. He was Batman.