How cool is this? Kevin Conroy will be returning to the role he made famous in the WB Batman: Animated Series by voicing the title character in the upcoming Batman: Gotham Knight animated movie from DC Comics, Warner Premiere, Warner Home Video and Warner Bros. Animation.
“Anytime we initiate an animated Batman project, ‘Will Kevin Conroy voice Batman?’ is the first question we hear from fans,” said Bruce Timm, Executive Producer. “To meet Kevin is to know that he’s not anything like Batman, and yet he manages to perfectly nail that indefinable element that is Batman. He’s got the voice, he’s got the acting chops, and he’s absolutely the best man for the job.”
After hearing this news, I’m suddenly more excited about this direct to DVD animated movie than I was when New Frontier arrived at my door.
More on the DVD set and other voice actors after the jump.
The cast also features popular voice over artists Corey Burton, Rob Paulsen, Kevin Michael Richardson, Will Friedle, Jason Marsden, Jim Meskimen, Pat Musick, Scott Menville, Hynden Walch, Corey Padnos and Crystal Scales.
From the press release:
Batman Gotham Knight will be available on DVD for $19.98 SRP. There will also be a 2-disc Special Edition DVD available for $29.98 SRP which contains over 100 minutes of bonus features plus 4 bonus episodes. All the content from the 2-disc Special Edition DVD will be available on Blu-ray Disc for $34.99 SRP.
Batman Gotham Knight 2-disc Special Edition DVD and Blu-ray Disc will
feature incredible extras including:
- “Batman and Me a Devotion of Destiny: The Bob Kane Story” – The comprehensive chronology of the remarkable life of the creator of Batman.
- “A Mirror for the Bat: The Evil Denizens of Gotham City” – A stimulating documentary covering Gotham City’s most nefarious of characters, combined with a look into the symbiotic relationship Batman shares with his enemies.
- “Batman: The Animated Series” Bonus Episodes – Bruce Timm selects his favorite episodes from Batman: The Animated Series.
- “Sneak Peek: Wonder Woman” – DC Universe animated original movie
- Audio Commentary – Featuring the filmmakers of Gotham Knight.
- Widescreen (1.78:1)
- 5.1 Dolby Digital
Batman Gotham Knight was headed by an impressive list of directors who have brought their distinctly different anime styles to the classic Batman character. The production was divided among three renowned studios – Studio 4ºC, Production I.G and Madhouse – and included the truly inimitable visions of directors Shojiro Nishimi, Futoshi Higashide, Hiroshi Morioka, Yasuhiro Aoki and Toshiyuki Kubooka.
With stories written by several of the most talented writers of film, comic books, and animation, including Academy Award(R)-nominated screenwriter Josh Olson (A History of Violence), David S. Goyer (Batman Begins), Emmy(R)-winner Alan Burnett (Batman: The Animated Series), Jordan Goldberg (Associate Producer, The Dark Knight), and award-winning comics writers Greg Rucka and Brian Azzarello, Batman Gotham Knight presents thrilling new adventures of Batman that spotlight several of Gotham City’s most dangerous villains, including the fearsome Scarecrow, the freakish Killer Croc and the unnerving marksman known as Deadshot.
Batman Gotham Knight is produced by Emma Thomas (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight), Michael Uslan & Benjamin Melniker (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight), Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series) and Toshi Hiruma.
click thumbnail for HD (1920×1080) image.
July 8, can not get her fast enough!
7 Comments
Kevin Conroy was great as squarehead batman, but there are other guys who can do it out there. To use the same voice is almost saying ‘this is JLU batman’ which it isn’t, so when anibatman behaves differently people might get a sour taste between the batman they know and this new take on him.
Rodrigo, I tend to agree with you … as this is a different vision of Batman I would like to see them branch out a little bit and grab some other voice talent. However, this is Kevin Conroy … he’s like the Bruce Campbell of animation and you can’t deny that every time you read a Batman book you hear his voice through the bubbles. Kevin Conroy FTW
Kevin Conroy FTW indeed……although I agree with Rodrigo that this Batman is not our JLU Bats, I still can’t imagine anyone other than Conroy doing the voice. Nor can I imagine that I’d even be interested in hearing anyone other than him do the voice. That voice is synonomous with Batman in my mind, and you’re right – whenever I read a comic with Batman in it, my internal voice sounds like Conroy.
Seriously, could you read these lines with any other voice in your head than Conroy’s?
“The last time you inspired anyone, you were dead.”
“The thing about Clark is, deep down inside, he’s a good person. And deep down inside, I’m not.”
I read say “The Killing Joke” I hear Conroy’s voice for Batman and Hamill’s Joker.
“To use the same voice is almost saying ‘this is JLU batman’ which it isn’t, so when anibatman behaves differently people might get a sour taste between the batman they know and this new take on him.” – Rodrigo
I would actually tend to think that if this pyschology is considered, then choice would help familiar audiences better relate to this “new” Batman.
AT LEAS THIS @@ANIME@@ IS BETTER THAN THE BATMQAN THEY AIR IN CARTOON NETWORK> RAL GUNS, REAL BULLETES, BLODD, . BUT HE STILL LOOKS TO ME AS GATCHAMAN’S ZOLTAR.
Hands down Kevin Conroy is the voice of the Batman. And when he’s done with Batman he can voice my Black Mau character. He’s perfect!
i love kevin conroy, i think his voice is perfect for batman and when i think of him i don’t think of JLU i think of the animated batman series from 1997. i could not picture anyone else as batman’s voice, he is just the one. plus JLU was pretty lame. ^_^