18) Roger Craig Smith (Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem, Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts)
While Roger Craig Smith is a prolific voice actor, his involvement with Batman is relatively recent. He portrayed the Dark Knight in two feature length animated movies, inspired by the Batman Unlimited action figure range by Mattel. The child-friendly storylines are built around Smith’s depiction of the icon, which is necessarily bland.
17) Rino Romano (The Batman, The Batman vs. Dracula)
Rino Romano has voiced several iconic characters in animation (including both Spider-Man and the Green Goblin), but took his place in the Batman firmament in 2004. Featuring on both episodic and feature length animation, Romano voiced the Dark Knight for the animated series The Batman from 2004-2008. The show included many characters from the comic book source material, though it did not follow the continuity of those stories.
Despite criticism from audiences and media for essentially diluting the historically complex characterization of the Caped Crusader – reflected in both the writing, and in Romano’s performances – the series collected six Daytime Emmy Awards. The 2005 feature length animation The Batman vs. Dracula is a spinoff from the animated series, and received a much more positive critical reception – including for the voice work of Rino Romano.
16) Will Friedle (Batman Of The Future, Static Shock, Justice League And Many More)
Will Friedle is known for voicing the character of ‘next generation’ Batman, Terry McGinnis. McGinnis appears as the biological son of Bruce Wayne, who assumes the cape and cowl when the original Batman retires. It is a giant leap forward in terms of narrative continuity, but Friedle has proven himself able to deliver a balanced characterization through his voice work that is a positive contribution to the Batman universe.
15) Kevin McKidd (Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox)
The version of Batman portrayed by Kevin McKidd in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox is necessarily different, in that it is a Batman with the alter ego of Thomas Wayne, rather than Bruce. Since the storyline centres around a time-shift/alternate timeline problem for The Flash, we see a much changed narrative for the Dark Knight.
Kevin McKidd’s performance, along with most others in the film, is somewhat overshadowed by a deeply menacing C. Thomas Howell portraying the villain of the piece, Professor Zoom. However, McKidd was praised for creating a Batman that was sufficiently set apart from depictions of the Bruce Wayne version, while remaining within the tone of the overall story.
14) Michael C. Hall (Justice League: Gods And Monsters Chronicles (Web Series), Justice League: Gods And Monsters)
Another alternate take on the character of Batman, this version is part of a larger alternate Justice League which sees the cap and cowl filled out by Dr. Kirk Langstrom – a scientist who accidentally creates vampiric qualities in himself while trying to cure his own cancer. As such a creature, he feeds upon criminals. The story featured in the animated film Justice League: Gods And Monsters, and also in the limited online series of the same name, released ahead of the film, by way of introduction.
Michael C. Hall’s performance of such a different version of this beloved character is very well-pitched. The actor embraces the changes, while remaining mindful of the history associated with Batman – which leads to a satisfying viewing experience for the audience.
13) Peter Weller (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 2)
Legendary actor Peter Weller provided the voice performance for Batman in the two-part animated film adaptation of Frank Miller’s famous 1986 comic book story The Dark Knight Returns – and he was rightly praised for it. The story is particularly dark, with a great deal of death and destruction, courtesy of The Joker.
Its version of Batman is an older, more battle-weary vigilante, and Weller creates a depiction steeped in complexity, and valiantly bearing the weight of a grim history on its broad shoulders.
12) Bruce Greenwood (Young Justice, Batman: Under The Red Hood)
Though he is perhaps best known for his long and distinguished career in film and television, Bruce Greenwood has two voice portrayals of Batman under his utility belt, too. In the animated TV series, Young Justice, Greenwood featured as the voice of the Dark Knight within Justice League – essentially mentors to the teenage would-be superheroes on ‘The Team.’ Greenwood’s Batman in this project has a deeply paternal aspect to him, as he emerges as default leader.
In Batman: Under The Red Hood, Greenwood delivers a Batman entirely in-keeping with the darker tone of the film, helping the release to widespread critical acclaim. His performance built a mature, complex character that anchored the proceedings in such a way as to capture the essence of the source material better than many other onscreen adaptations had to date.
