Summary
- Hamish Linklater to voice Batman in
Batman: Caped Crusader
, exploring unused Bruce Timm ideas. - Linklater’s Batman voice inspired by memory of Kevin Conroy.
- Series set in the ’40s and will treat Bruce Wayne as the secret identity.
The actor who will take over from the late, great Kevin Conroy in the upcoming animated series, Batman: Caped Crusader, has finally been revealed. Prime Video has now shared the first teaser for the show, revealing that Midnight Mass star Hamish Linklater will provide the voice of Batman/Bruce Wayne in the series, which has been described as a “spiritual” prequel to the acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series, which starred Conroy as The Dark Knight.
You can check out the first teaser for Batman: Caped Crusader below, which offers our first taste of what Linklater will sound like as the DC icon. The rest of the main cast has also now been revealed, with Christina Ricci voicing Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Jamie Chung starring as Harley Quinn, and Diedrich Bader, who has previously voiced Batman in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, starring as Harvey Dent. The likes of Mckenna Grace, Gary Anthony Williams, Toby Stephens, John DiMaggio, Dan Donohue, Jason Watkins, and Minnie Driver, make up the rest of the cast.
Hamish Linklater is best known for his roles in the likes of Midnight Mass and American Horror Story: Delicate, as well as Manhunt, Legion, and Fargo. His performance as Batman differs somewhat from the iconic tones of Kevin Conroy, and reactions to the teaser have been decidedly mixed so far….
Hamish Linklater Based His Batman Voice on His Memory of Kevin Conroy’s Performance
Batman: Caped Crusader will explore unused ideas that were conceived by Bruce Timm during the making of Batman: The Animated Series, with Linklater revealing to Vanity Fair that he did channel Conroy somewhat when bringing forth the newest voice for Batman.
“[It’s based] off my memory of Kevin Conroy’s voice. When I actually rewatched the shows, I realized that it was different, but I had him in my head.”
Kevin Conroy sadly passed away on November 10, 2022, at the age of 66 following a battle with cancer. One of the main elements that achieved the actor such plaudits from critics and fans of The Dark Knight was his ability to differentiate so effortlessly the voices of Batman and Bruce Wayne. And this is something that Timm reveals Linklater was equally adept at…
“We had a lot of people who were pretty good Batmans, but almost no good Bruces.”
Related
Batman: Caped Crusader Gets First Look & Prime Video Premiere Date
The animated series Batman: Caped Crusader has now released a batch of first look images alongside a release date.
Much like its predecessor, Batman: Caped Crusader will also treat Bruce Wayne as the “secret identity,” with Linklater explaining that the show is “set in the ’40s, [so I just thought of] how Batman would try to play himself off as a playboy socialite. I think I just tried to swing and swing and swing until I made contact with something.”
Timm agrees, describing Bruce as “a persona that Batman himself has cultivated to throw people off of his scent. Deep down inside, he’s not a fun guy. He’s not charming, he’s not sexy, or anything like that. He’s devoted to warring on crime 24/7. Hamish was really the only one who nailed exactly what we were going for.”
Initially set for release on what was HBO Max, Batman: Caped Crusaderwas saved by Amazon Prime Video after the HBO streaming service passed on the project. While Linklater will take over from Conroy in Batman: Caped Crusader, fans of the actor will be able to hear his voice emanate from the cape and cowl one last time in the upcoming Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part 3.
Created and produced by Bruce Timm, Matt Reeves, and J. J. Abrams, with Ed Brubaker as Head Writer,
Batman: Caped Crusader
is due to premiere on Thursday, August 1, on Prime Video.
