“He was eager to do it”: Batman: Caped Crusader Could Have Become Kevin Conroy’s Final Dark Knight Role on a High After Divisive Suicide Squad Game
Batman: Caped Crusader is Bruce Timm’s next venture. Timm’s contributions to the DC Animated Universe (DCAU) are many. From Batman: The Animated Series to Justice League: Unlimited, he has helmed some of the best animated DC shows as the head producer. Much to fans’ delight, he is back with yet another great show.
Late actor Kevin Conroy voiced the character of the Dark Knight on Timm’s projects for years. However, this new show does not see him reprising his role due to his unfortunate demise, and the show creator has opened up about it.
Bruce Timm Confirmed Kevin Conroy’s Absence in Batman: Caped Crusader
Kevin Conroy‘s history with the Dark Knight is almost as old as Bruce Timm‘s. When Timm began working with Paul Dini on 1992’s Batman: TAS, Conroy was hired as the voice actor for the titular character. The show became a huge hit with the fans and even won a Primetime Emmy Award in addition to multiple Daytime Emmy Awards.
This led the creators and producers of the animated show to keep having Conroy voice the character in numerous future projects. In fact, he was not limited to the shows as he went on to become the definitive voice for the character for many animated television series, feature films, and video games over the next three decades.
A couple of months ago, IGN reported that Conroy would be posthumously voicing the masked hero for the upcoming animated movie Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 3. Reports also claimed he would be a part of Timm’s Caped Crusader.
However, the creator denied this claim as he wrote on the animesuperhero.com forum:
“I have no idea if the CRISIS part of IGN’s supposed scoop is true or not, but Kevin Conroy did not record a voice for CAPED CRUSADER. We were hoping to have him do a voice for the new show (and he was eager to do it) but sadly he passed away before we could make it happen.”
Timm also advised everyone to take such unsourced news with a grain of salt. Unfortunately, this confirmation would imply that the last time Conroy ever voiced the superhero was in the Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League video game.
Fans Were Not Too Impressed with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
It is no secret that the Kill the Justice League has been a huge disappointment as far as the Arkham games are concerned. In fact, recently Variety reported that Warner Bros. Discovery’s first-quarter 2024 earnings report has made it clear that the DC game is responsible for the low earnings.
The one scene that fans truly disliked was when after a back-and-forth between Harley Quinn and Batman, the former unceremoniously shoots the Justice League member in the head. This scene did not sit right with the fans considering that this would be Conroy’s last time as the character.
Here is how fans responded to the game:
I won't share the footage or spoilers or anything, but having seen the final scene of Batman in Suicide Squad, that being the final performance that Kevin Conroy will ever give as Batman just makes me sad.
Not angry or outraged or anything. Just sad.
— Many A True Nerd (@ManyATrueNerd) January 30, 2024
It Blows my mind thinking how we could have got a Batman Beyond game for Kevin Conroy's final performance from Rocksteady instead of Suicide Squad I'm not gonna jump on here and add to the fire but make no mistake this game is an unsatisfying ending to the iconic Arkham Series pic.twitter.com/qtsDRo0U5h
— Bit Cloud Gaming (@BitCloudGaming) January 30, 2024
My feelings on #Batman's role in Suicide Squad: Kill the justice league.
(#SuicideSquadGame)1. Kevin Conroy's passing was unexpected and happened mid-development.
2. We don't know what may transpire in post-game content as the story will continue beyond base-game. pic.twitter.com/ncEMEXhhXM
— RGX 🌟 (@RGXSuperSonic) January 29, 2024
Why the hell are we killing Batman in all these superhero games. Like seriously… what the fuck? We want to play as Batman. I don't care if it's Gotham Knights or Suicide Squad, it's dumb. Why are there these hero games where we play as the B team and piss on the heroes?
— Destin (@DestinLegarie) January 30, 2024
This is so bizarre, insulting and fucking over the top insane, I just have to wonder: is this a dream sequence? A losing endgame, like lots of times you see your character die when you screw up?
Surely they aren't actually killing Batman off? If so, FUCK THEM! If not, WTF?
— Doomcock (@doomcock) January 30, 2024
Rest assured, Conroy’s legacy is much more than this one time that he voiced the character. He will always be fondly remembered for voicing Gotham City’s hero.
Batman: Caped Crusader will premiere on Prime Video on August 1.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is available for playing on PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S.
