Batman voice actor disagrees with the vigilante becoming a murderer

Kevin Conroy, the actor who voiced Batman in The Animated Series, the Arkham games series and who recently reprised his role as the caped crusader in Batman: The Killing Joke, says he disagrees with director Zack Snyder’s interpretation of the hero.

Speaking to IGN, Conroy said that what he loved best about Batman was that despite having the option to kill his enemies whenever he wished, he always held back. Conroy said what he particularly loved about the Arkham games was being able to play as Batman and explore the institution that the hero eventually drops them off at after a big fight.

"Batman is not a killer," Conroy told IGN. "In the most recent action movie, that seems to be a line that was crossed and it’s not one I’m particularly comfortable with."

Conroy added that Batman was the truest form of Bruce Wayne and while Bruce Wayne was a man with a considerable amount of qualities that should be frowned upon, he wasn’t a killer. Conroy said that whenever he voices the character, the performance really depends on his portrayal of Bruce Wayne. Conroy explained that it was easier to play Batman because that was the most honest version of the man and Wayne was the mask he wore whenever he had to be out of the bat suit.

"Bruce Wayne is the performance element," Conroy said. "That’s always been my key to the character, and I think when you play it that way it makes the Batman so authentic. It makes it less of an artifice."

The pain Bruce Wayne was left with after the traumatic death of his parents, Conroy said, was something that he never got over and was also what birthed Batman in the first place. The moment he became Batman and was allowed to embrace his pain, taking it out on criminals and not having to hide his disdain for what Gotham had become, was the moment he became the man fans know today.

Conroy didn’t talk about the negative reviews the film had received or the controversy surrounding it, but said he was honored to be able to play the iconic character for as long as he has.

Batman: The Killing Joke is currently available to download or purchase in stores.