#RIP Kevin Conroy

[theredjoka]

🫡😢

[seizethecringeofproduction]

This is probably the truest one I've made yet.

[karmawillcollectyourdebt]

[lily-claw]

Rest in peace Kevin Conroy (Batman's VA)

[hanasnx]

Which bruce wayne is ur favourite? (ex. Christian Bale, Robert Patterson) and follow up question why? -🐰

bunny, im so glad you asked. how much time do you have

i don't care about robert pattinson, i did not care about the batman (2022). i'm sure i'll do a full analysis once i'm able to establish my credentials as a lifelong batman fan, but there was a lot that fell so short for me.

christian bale was an exceptional bruce wayne, which is arguably as impossible a role to fill as the role of batman is. i loved bale's aloof and smug nature as bruce, his confidence and faults, but i can not stand his portrayal of batman. not only is the suit design egregious and unflattering, whoever helped him develop his bat-voice was a terrible guide. bale did his best, don't get me wrong, truly i can hear him giving his all and shredding his vocal chords in the process, but it was simply awful to listen to. the dark knight (2008) is still a rewatch-worthy movie of course, but batman begins (2005) & the dark knight rises (2012) was not memorable nor revolutionary. they pale in comparison to the middle of the trilogy.

more (and a TDLR at the bottom) under the cut:

i thought michael keaton's portrayal of both bruce and batman in batman (1989) and batman returns (1992) was boring. any personality he may have tried to bring to batman was washed out by tim burton trying to fit so much of... well... tim burton into something that didn't need any more of that injection. don't get me wrong, stylistically it's appealing, but if you told me that keaton just showed up and started acting as michael keaton instead of bruce wayne i'd believe you because there is no clear distinction between the two. the second movie was way more enjoyable to watch but it was because of elements that had... virtually nothing to do with bruce/batman. it was devito's penguin, and pfieffer's catwoman (and her subplot) that held my attention. i think it's definitely a burton movie, which is fine, and his morbid takes on those characters are interesting, but it was not a defining movie for bruce/batman. it honestly could've been better without batman entirely or benched as a side character / the antagonist.

batman forever (1995) is my secret favorite live action portrayal. val kilmer had bale's charisma when it came to bruce wayne, and gave batman a unique personality that i adored. he didn't shred his vocal chords to give batman a deeper voice either, instead gave himself an elegant yet commanding edge that reminded me of what i admired about kevin conroy's batman voice. as campy as it is, i love so much of what they did with this movie. i often think of it as a standalone vs it being actually a part of the "burtonverse." especially because batman & robin (1997) is supposed to be part of that franchise and i cannot tell you a single thing that happened in that movie besides maybe uma thurman.

another secret live-action favorite of mine was the foundational movie of adam west's portrayal in batman: the movie (1966) and i will elaborate on that another time either by someone's solicitation or my own hyperfixation driven wills.

now that the live-action shit is out of the way, let's get to the real winners.

the dcau or "timmverse" (bruce timm) or "diniverse" (paul dini) is the name for the dc animated universe franchise during 1992 - 2006 which includes loads of favorite shows/movies of mine. which leads me to say: my favorite portrayals of bruce wayne and batman of all time, is kevin conroy's from justice league (2001 - 2004) and justice league unlimited (2004 - 2006). those two might not be as solid as a legend like batman: the animated series (1992 - 1995) where conroy made his debut, but they were one of my introductory pieces to his portrayal and are a source of a lot of love and nostalgia that still hold up today as a twenty-one year old vs elementary school when i first discovered them. i stayed up til the AM watching them which i had never done before that (it was 7am). i would rewatch my favorite episodes over and over again which i have never done for any other show.

as many have already agreed, conroy was the definitive voice of batman for decades. his beginnings in the legendary batman: the animated series (1991 - 1995) put him on the map as bruce's most recognizable VA, and he went on to voice him in many adaptations that i also adore. a few examples are batman beyond (1999 - 2001) and the rocksteady arkham video game series (2009 - 2015). not only did he form a dynamic duo with mark hamill's joker (who is also so important for the joker's character, but i can't elaborate on that here without a terrific tangent) which employed one of the most potent examples of chemistry i've ever seen in media, but i would've trusted conroy's expertise on bruce/batman to the ends of the earth. he cared about that character, and he showed it in every faithful adaptation he performed. trustworthy and admirable, conroy is hands down the best batman by far, and did justice to his characterization that defined my love for the character. without conroy who brought him alive, i doubt i'd be into batman as much as i am or for as long as i have.

i knew that writing this post i'd get emotional. it's been a year since conroy's death in november 2022. i still remember the night before the news and how i had coincidentally imagined a world without him, come to find out the very next day that he had passed away. i remember exactly where i was when i found out, i remember exactly what i did after. he had honestly been a part of life through batman for almost the entirety of it. he was the celebrity i always wanted to meet, no one was important enough to me to go through that trouble. but conroy was worth it to me, and i missed out on the chance before he passed away. i heard he was always so personable and so kind, and who could ask for better from batman, you know? god there's so much more i could say, but i dont want to be disrespectful to his family who i'm sure miss him terribly, and are the ones that experienced that loss. in the grand scheme of things, i was nothing to him and that's fine, but i'm just very proud of him.

TDLR the character bruce wayne / batman portrayals in any live action adaptations fell short when it comes to animated adaptations of his character. batman forever (1995) is my favorite live-action movie, but it's nothing compared to my love for the voice acting of kevin conroy's bruce wayne / batman in justice league (2001 - 2004) / justice league unlimited (2004 - 2006).

[poorestforest]

The first Star Wars movie I watched was The Force Awakens (in theaters) and it obviously awoke me because I've since seen all the films*. Anyways, I remember when I learned that Mark Hamill in Star Wars was also Mark Hamill the voice actor. I was shocked and gagged. What an icon.

*that's not true, I didn't watch the last one because fuck that trash. The third trilogy begins & ends with TFA for me

[dragonturtle2]

Morty would jumped at the lightning strike, and then Rick would take a swig of his drink after Morty fell off the ledge.

[superreader30]

[knucklesamwichart]

Thank you Kevin Conroy, the true voice of Batman!

[jamersonsworld1]

Kevin Conroy will always be my Batman. I would come home from school every day and watch Batman The Animated Series on fox kids and couldn’t wait until the next day to watch again. Kevin Conroy’s voice for Batman was a stroke of genius, there couldn’t have been a better actor for the role. The DC Pride comic that he did Becoming Batman was amazing and a great story if you haven’t read it. I can’t read a Batman comic without his voice in my head when reading Batman speech bubbles.

[facelift90]

Just started replaying the Batman Arkham games (for something like the 4th time) because I just got a new computer and let me tell you Joker gas has killed plenty.

We pretty much knew Kirby and the Forgotten Land wasn't going to be properly post-apocalyptic, because while Kirby does routinely fight elder gods, they never actually get to succeed in eradicating all life, but I feel like Nintendo's workaround of "everything is deserted because a high-tech human civilisation captured an alien god, tortured its secrets from it, achieved some sort of post-human singularity and ascended en masse to a higher plane of existence, abandoning their uplifted animal servants to inherit the empty world they left behind" is kind of more fucked up than if everything had just gotten blown up.

[yourdailyqueer]

Kevin Conroy (deceased)

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Gay

DOB: 30 November 1955  

RIP: 10 November 2022

Ethnicity: White - American

Occupation: Actor, voice actor

[bruceandmary]

I care, Joker. About Gotham, about justice... and if it has to end, at least I go out like this, being Batman!"

Batman, Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Three

Rest in peace, Kevin Conroy.

[pandamonium2861]

Happy Batman Day!!!

[mshedgehog117]

Obviously Harley had to be the one to give the bio on every one’s favorite brute🥺🥺🥺 rip to the real one Kevin Conroy he will be missed, respected and Cherished for for decades.

I love what she says cause she has a good point that will always be used to argue against Bruce’s no killing rule

[lannylocroft]

Characters I would marry with all my soul