Batman: Gotham Knight Cast
Kevin Conroy Voices Batman in Warner Home Video's Animated Film
Longtime Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy returns to voice the title character in Warner Home Video's Batman: Gotham Knight
Warner Home Video has confirmed that veteran voice actor Kevin Conroy (Batman Beyond), not Batman Begins star Christian Bale, will once again voice the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in the upcoming straight-to-DVD release of Batman: Gotham Knight, according to Toon Zone.
Batman: Gotham Knight takes place between the events of the live-action Batman Begins and the upcoming The Dark Knight.
Kevin Conroy Fan Favourite as Batman
“Anytime we initiate an animated Batman project, ‘Will Kevin Conroy voice Batman?’ is the first question we hear from fans,” said Batman: Gotham Knight's executive producer Bruce Timms. “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.”
Conroy, who got his first major acting gig on the now-defunct soap opera Another World in 1980, first voiced the role of The Dark Knight in 1992 for Batman: The Animated Series, and also for the 1993 animated movie Batman: Mask fo the Phantasm.
Despite Batman: TAS getting canned in 1995, Conroy proved so popular in the role that he returned to voice the character in every subsequent series from 1998's SubZero, The Batman/Superman Movie, 1997's Superman: The Animated Series to 1999's Batman Beyond and 2001's Justice League.
Will Friedle, who voiced Batman's successor Terry McGinnis in Batman Beyond, will voice an as-yet undetermined character in Gotham Knight.
Gary Dourdan (C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation) and Ana Ortiz (Ugly Betty) are voicing major roles in the project, as police detectives Cripsus Allen and Anna Ramirez respectively. David McCallum (Ilya Kuryakin in The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) will voice Bruce Wayne's sardonic butler Alfred, and Parminder Nagra (E.R., Bend It Like Beckham) will play Cassandra, an Indian mystic.
Anime Directors Interpret Batman: Gotham Knight
Warner Home Video has also announced who will direct the six segments of Batman: Gotham Knight, and Satoshi Kon (Paprika) is not one of them.
Yasuhiro Aoki (key animator for Mind Game) teams up with writer David S. Goyer (Batman Begins) for the segment "In Darkness Dwells." Futoshi Higashide (who helped animate Jaianto robo: Animeshon) joins Greg Rucka (Queen and Country) for "The Dark Knight," while Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Vampire Hunter D) hooks up with Alan Burnett (Batman: TAS) for "Deadshot."
Jaianto robo: Animeshon animation director Toshiyuki Kubooka gets his game on with writer Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets) for "Working Through Pain," Hiroshi Morioka (Tsubasa Chronicle) joins The Prestige producer Jordan Goldberg on "Field Test," while Shoujirou Nishimi (key animator on Mind Game) works with Josh Olson (A History of Violence) on the segment "Have I Got a Story For You."
Batman: Gotham Knight hits DVD shelves on July 8th.
