When you read a Batman comic, chances are it’s Kevin Conroy’s voice you’re thinking about in your head. Considered the definitive Batman, Conroy has voiced the character from 1992’s Batman: TAS all the way through 2016’s The Killing Joke and will also be voicing him in the upcoming Justice League Action. So it’s safe to say he knows a thing or two about the Dark Knight.
Conroy recently sat down with IGN for an interview about what it’s been like playing the Caped Crusader for a quarter of a century, and in their conversation he had some thoughts regarding Ben Affleck’s Batman killing in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
“He puts them into Arkham Asylum, which is what is so brilliant about the Arkham Games – someone realized, ‘my god, all these incredible villains are all in the same institution – let’s get a video game in there’. It’s a brilliant idea. But the fact that Batman never kills anyone – I loved that fact.
“In the most recent live action movie, that seems to have been a line that was crossed and it’s not one I’m particularly comfortable with.”
While the overall consensus seems to be that Affleck did a great job as Batman, the common (and pretty much only) complaint is his disregard for human life in the film. When we are introduced to Bruce Wayne in the DCEU, he has already been Batman for 20 years and the appearance of Superman makes him feel like his work has been insignificant. So we are seeing a man at the end of his rope, who feels his career has been a waste, and is looking to make a significant difference by killing Superman, and it seems he won’t let anyone stand in his way. It is only before he deals the killing blow to the Man of Steel that he sees the error of his ways and one would assume we’ll see the no-killing Batman again in the future DCEU installments.
In the grand scheme of the cinematic universe, Snyder’s vision does make sense, and it’s not like Batman hasn’t killed before in his other cinematic incarnations (whether it was intentional or unintentional).
However, it is Kevin Conroy saying Batman shouldn’t kill and he is the one true Batman, isn’t he (well at least his voice)? What do you think? Are you okay with the film adaptations of Batman taking some liberties with his no kill rule or should he remain pure to the comics and never kill?