Batman: The Mask of the Phantasm at 30: Mark Hamill and more on the animated classic

No one expected Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm to be as good as it is except the people who made it. Thirty years later, they revisit an animated classic and the actor who gave the Dark Knight his heart.

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Batman was dead.

That’s how I felt when news broke that Kevin Conroy, the man who had voiced the character for 30 years in animated films, TV shows and more, had died after a brief battle with cancer last November. year. The impact of his loss has been deeply felt by generations of Bats fans. For many, Conroy was the beloved Batman of their childhood. He is an inseparable part of the Dark Knight’s legacy. So the mourning was more than the death of an iconic voice actor – it truly felt like we lost Batman himself.

So definitive was this rumor that Conroy continued to play the Caped Crusader for three decades, long afterward Batman: The Animated Series he had called it a day. And whenever it was confirmed that he was on board for another Bat-related project, there was an added layer of excitement for those eager for another blockbuster from Conroy’s new rumours. It almost felt like he would outlive us all and be the voice of Batman forever. when Empire talk to Conroy’s friend and longtime Joker co-star Mark Hamill, it’s what would have been Conroy’s 67th birthday and emotions are still running high. “I’m still in sort of semi-denial about losing him, you know,” Hamill said. “It just doesn’t feel real to me.”

While Conroy is no longer with us, his iconic work remains. Hours upon hours of animated episodes, movies and video games show why he was the perfect voice commissar for the Dark Knight. He could play hard. He could be playing vulnerable. He brought seriousness. In a memorable episode of justice league unlimited, “This little piggy,” he even sings. None of this ever felt wrong. Conroy sounded exactly how Batman should sound.

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