There have been a lot of iconic Batmen over the years. But even if you prefer Robert Pattinson over Michael Keaton, or Adam West over Christian Bale, nearly every generation of Bat-fans are united over unmitigated love for the one actor who has played Batman the longest. The late, great Kevin Conroy, who passed away in 2022, began his tenure as the Caped Crusader back in 1992 with the debut of the beloved, and highly influential Batman: The Animated Series. And, in various incarnations — including a live-action cameo in CW’s Arrowverse — Conroy has embodied the basic idea of what we all think Batman should sound like.
And now, his final performance as Batman, ever, has been posthumously released. Tucked away toward the end of the newly released DC animated movie Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Three is a visit to the alternate dimension of Conroy’s Batman, dubbed Earth-12.
Spoilers ahead.
Kevin Conroy’s Batman cameo — explained
Across three animated features, this version of Crisis on Infinite Earths has loosely adapted the famous multiverse miniseries, originally published by DC Comics from 1985 to 1986. Although the current DC animated versions of Crisis take some liberties with the original storyline, the essential premise remains the same: the villain Anti-Monitor is destroying various parallel universes, and it's up to the Justice League — across the multiverse — to stop him.
Towards the end of the new Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Three, the Anti-Monitor’s fleet reaches Earth-12, and suddenly, the animation style switches. Now, we’re firmly back in the 1990s Batman: Animated Series, created by Bruce Timm. Batman (Kevin Conroy) is battling the Joker (Mark Hamill) on a rooftop, as their Earth is about to be wiped out. The Joker taunts Batman, saying, “The end of the world, and you want to spend it with me? I didn’t know you cared.”
Batman grabs the Joker by his lapels and says: “I care, Joker. About Gotham. About justice. And if it has to end, at least I go out like this: Being Batman.”
And pow, Batman punches the Joker, and Earth-12 is wiped out. The scene has made its way to Twitter in the past few days, which, out of context, might seem a bit strange. But the poignant aspect of this moment is the simple fact that this particular continuity seems to end, once and for all. It’s true in the multiverse and true in our univesre, too.
It’s a bittersweet moment but also comes at a very interesting time for fans of this style of Batman adventures. In August, Amazon’s new animated series Batman: Caped Crusader looks to be a kind of spiritual reboot of The Animated Series, including the fact that producer Bruce Timm is behind the new show. Caped Crusader will feature Batman as voiced by Hamish Linklater, but the Kevin Conroy influence on the new show is clear.
Conroy’s Batman may no longer be with us, and Earth-12 might have been taken out of the multiverse, but the spirit of this Batman will clearly always be with us.
