"I am vengeance. I am the night. I AM BATMAN!"
The world will never hear that same conviction and powerful performance delivered by Kevin Conroy - The Juilliard School trained actor who has been "The Voice of Batman" since 1992's Batman The Animated Series. Having voiced the character and played several different versions of The Dark Knight through various forms of media, the 66 year old fought a battle with cancer that ultimately claimed his life - and the world and entire Batman fandom mourns over the loss of one of the most prolific actors ever to bring the Caped Crusader to life.
The news of Kevin's passing first broke through social media among his fellow voice actors and peers, before eventually hitting mainstream news outlets such as THR that have verified the actor's death. Having played Bruce Wayne and Batman since BTAS and The New Batman Adventures, Kevin Conroy continued playing the role in the DC Animated Universe with spin-off shows like Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited. His tenure as Bruce and Bats would continue with other projects (and usually paired with his BTAS co-star and Joker voice actor Mark Hamill) - including the DC Animated Movies and video games such as Rocksteady Studios Batman Arkham trilogy of games as well as NetherRealm Studios' Injustice: Gods Among Us and its sequel Injustice 2. Conroy would even get the chance to play a live-action version of Bruce Wayne - long retired as Batman and wearing an exosuit not unlike the version seen in Kingdom Come, during The CW's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" TV crossover event in 2019. One of Kevin's last projects was the video game "Multiversus" - where he once again played Batman with minimal effort and full of conviction.
Just a few weeks shy of what would have been his 67th birthday (November 30), the world has truly lost a true superhero and Dark Knight icon in the entertainment industry. No other man can say "I AM BATMAN" like Kevin Conroy - and there may never be another person who could step into the cape and cowl like he could.RIP Kevin Conroy, and thank you for being our definitive interpretation of Batman.
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