Batman has always been known for his duality, but this is ridiculous. Kevin Conroy’s panel at C2E2 on Friday gave us an interesting look into his world as the voice of animated Batman. While he mentioned the progress of the video game Batman: Arkham Asylum 2, the real treat was his words of disappointment with Christian Bale’s infamous Batman voice.
A civil war has brewed amongst fans on whether Bale’s husky voice work is good or bad since he first appeared as the Caped Crusader in Batman Begins. Now, we get a professional opinion. It’s tough to find more expertise than the most recognizable voice of the Dark Knight, Kevin Conroy. You may expect him to be coy with answers and simply praise Bale, but the man spoke his version of the truth.
When asked if Warner Bros. has ever requested he dub of The Dark Knight, the entire room laughed with Conroy before he gave an answer. Even better, he starts it off with his version of the awesome movie line, “I’m not wearing hockey pads.” See it for yourself with our video from the event. (Apologies for the audio mix-up near the beginning)
The passion with which people hate Christian Bale’s voice work is amusing, if not overwhelming. It is important to take a look at the character objectively and figure out why such an esteemed actor would choose to take it to such extremes.
Bruce Wayne’s goal to instill fear in his enemies is more than a cape and mask. It’s also more than “an idea.” The voice is an extension of his intimidation. While a line of dialogue here and there can become awkwardly forced with his raspy voice, it is part of the persona of Batman. If anything, it makes Wayne more human. But I understand many will not side with that sentiment, and their argument is sound with years of proof from Kevin Conroy that it can be done.
Video of the rest of Kevin Conroy’s discussion,will be up by the end of the weekend. It’s a great 25-minute up close look at the “classic Batman” with stories on how he got started with the character and its evolution throughout the years.
In addition to giving his fellow Batman a hard time, Conroy mentioned he had finished primary recording for Arkham Asylum 2 and expects the game to be finished by the end of the year. Based on a report from our own Game Rant, that seems a dubious claim.
If you are a fan of the animated Batman series, specifically with Mark Hamill as the Joker, Conroy shared some awe for the colleague’s performances. Stories of intensity and camaraderie between the two were intriguing and gave us an idea just why the characters are so powerful.
Voice your opinion on the Christian Bale voice debate below and let us know if you side with Conroy or Bale in the comments section below.
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I have two points; one I can completely understand Bale’s voice, I’m 100% I could identify everyone I know purely based on their voice, as in they could put on a costume to hide their identity then speak in their normal voice and I would immediately know who it is. Second; how people can see Conroy is batman is beyond me, he does an impressive voice in the animated versions and games but that is not even comparable to playing the character in a live action movie.
Batman the dark knight is one series of many different versions of batman. A film is not a mirror of the comic, book or what ever. All film is an adaptation of a script that is an adaptation of the original material. The first actor to portray the gravel voice was Michael Keaton. Bale has made the choice to take Keaton’s style as both franchises are from the dark knight series. Conroy is a VOICE actor with more than 20 years experience, bale, though committed is not a well trained actor at all. WB are responsible for batman from animation to live action who voices, who directs, how dark it is and how many toys can they sell.
both guys are good, at a diffrent version of batman. conroy does the animated versions, which for the most part are batman being the worlds greatest detective, not as much intimdation. christian bales batman was mostly just the dark “i beat the crap out of bad guys” not as much detective work, and more the dark origins of the character. personaly i like them both, i like the change up, and having something to compare the other one to.
I LOVE BALE’S BATMAN VOICE! that’s all i gotta say