When it comes to naming the best actor to have ever played Batman, the conversation usually boils down to a straight shoot between Michael Keaton and Christian Bale, and Kevin Conroy is far too often left out entirely. As the voice of the Dark Knight in Batman: The Animated Series, he was the defining take on the character for an entire generation of kids, and nobody’s lent their talents to the Caped Crusader as often as the 65 year-old has.
Conroy may have finally got to scratch one major itch when he showed up in live-action as Bruce Wayne in the Arrowverse’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover event, but he didn’t even need to suit up in person to become a Bat-legend in his own right. Indeed, in thirteen animated movies, fourteen TV shows and fifteen video games over the course of three decades, his voice became synonymous with the comic book icon.
Batman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond were finally added to the HBO Max library at the end of December, and are proving to be hugely popular with subscribers as longtime fans revisit them and entirely new viewers check them out for the first time. Of course, animation is going to play a huge part in the streaming service’s continued expansion, and the latest report from Small Screen is claiming that Bruce Timm and Paul Dini’s stone cold classic will be getting a sequel series, and Conroy is now attached to reprise his career-defining role. However, the outlet says that Mark Hamill’s involvement is unclear and they can’t confirm yet if he’ll be back.
The final episode of Batman: The Animated Series aired in September 1995, but a sequel series never felt like a genuine possibility until the announcement of HBO Max, and the platform’s subsequent lineup of incoming DC animated content. We’d advise taking this report with a grain of salt until Small Screen’s scoop can be officially confirmed, but there’s definitely an audience there for such a project should Warner Bros. indeed move forward with the idea.
