What makes Kevin Conroy the best Batman??

[dru-zod2501]

I'm asking you to think seriously about the show, more than "Oh I grew up with him, and I always hear his voice in my whenever I read now..."

most people would agree that Batman: TAS was one of the best versions of batman, and then they'd go on to say Conroy was arguably the best Batman even though he wasn't physically the Bat.

But I'm asking would that assessment still hold up if the look was styled differently? It did change over time but your opinions change too?

And what if Conroy hadn't done the voice? What if it had been closer to that guy in The Batman? Do you think TAS would still have been as incredible as it was?

My thoughts:
It wasn't just Conroy that made it; getting all those elements together at the same time was the equivalent of bottling Lightning.

If they had started using the style they did for TNBA for example, it wouldn't have been as memorable even with the gravitas Kevin's voice brought and the caliber of writing.

By the time TNBA and Justice League started, Conroy was already synonymous with Batman so it was practically a foregone conclusion that it would do quite well, let's face it the writing character designs at that time were great but definitely not as epic as the first seasons

 

[DACrowe]

I think it is a number of things. He was part of TAS, which is amazing. Most people here grew up on TAS so they grew up with his voice as Batman. When TAS was in its full prime (being revived on WB) it was the time of the Schumaucher Batman movies. So it literally was the most mature non-comics interpretation of Batman out there.

And his voice was so perfect for it. He was hired to be the voice of Batman and he basically played that part for nearly 15 years in the DCAU with both waves of TAS, Batman Beyond, Justice League, Unlimited and the half a dozen DCAU films ALL OF WHICH he was a or the main character in. And looking back DACU is probably the best vision of the DC Univverse to date (at least Bat-related), so he is associated with that.

I wouldn't say he is the best Batman, as it is a different medium than film and obviously a different set of acting skills. But I'd say he is far better than the guy on The Batman and just simply was so suited for the role it was the perfect alignment of voice actor and character and is why with mediocre stuff like Gotham Knights they are still bringing him back.

 

[CFE]

I always thought Kevin was the best Batman because he had the limitation of only being able to convince you he was Batman with nothing more than his voice.

And Kevin's voice alone has more on-screen presence than a good portion of the live action Batman actors.

You have to see Keaton or Bale in that suit to believe they're Batman. With Kevin the screen could be black with him saying his "I Am Vengeance" bit and I'd buy his being Batman in a heartbeat.

CFE

 

[OctaviusINC]

You have to see Keaton or Bale in that suit to believe they're Batman. With Kevin the screen could be black with him saying his "I Am Vengeance" bit and I'd buy his being Batman in a heartbeat.

CFE

I agree with this. Well said.

 

[Tree27]

Kevins got a voice thats so deep whales respond to it, heh. thats why he kicks ass. X)

 

[CFE]

And obviously people still regard Conroy as Batman today since he was picked up to play Batman six times over in "Gotham Knight." Despite the varying directors and visual styles...Kevin's voice fits into each and every one.

CFE

 

[Qoèlet]

Aside from a variety of other things that contribute to the TAS legend, one thing that Conroy had over any of the other Batman actors in the past 20 years was that he made it clear that Batman was the real man and Bruce Wayne was a comedy act. This is clear as soon as he starts speaking, where Bruce is a light, artificial sounding voice and Batman actually sounded like a real person. I think that is way better than the obviously fake gravelly "Batman" voice that, say, Keaton and Bale do.

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

I love Conroy but he isnt the best in my book!

 

[DeaDheaD]

Because we only here his voice, I still think Keaton and Bale do it better, but Conroy is a good voice actor, If we saw him in a live action Batman movie though, I dont think we would be singing his praises then

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

My list is:
Ties for 1st Bale & Keaton
2. Conroy