Kevin Conroy not returning for Batman: Arkham Origins after all

Despite previous reports to the contrary, Batman: Arkham Origins, the eagerly awaited third installment to the critically acclaimed ‘Arkham’ series of videogames, will not feature the voice of Kevin Conroy.

 

Conroy is the actor most strongly associated with Batman, having voiced the character for nearly 21 years in 18 productions including feature-length films, videogames and television series beginning with 1992’s Batman: The Animated Series, which many fans regard as the definitive take on the Caped Crusader.

 

Although the third in a series of videogames carrying the Arkham name, Batman: Arkham Origins is a prequel set in the earlier days of Batman’s career, described as ‘Batman: Year Two’ by the developers at Warner Bros. Games Montreal, which takes over the franchise from its creators at Rocksteady Studios, which released Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City in 2009 and 2011, respectively, to critical acclaim and commercial success.

 

There has been much confusion regarding the involvement of Conroy, a fan favorite who has been associated with Batman far longer than any other actor in the character’s history. Initial reports were that the veteran voice actor would not return to the character, since the developers were looking for a younger and more inexperienced take on the character. However, Conroy made remarks at the 2013 Dallas Comic Con that indicated his involvement in “the next Arkham,” leading to widespread conclusions that he would be reprising the character.

 

It was later reported that Roger Craig Smith, a voice actor best known for his performances as Ezio Auditore in the Assassin’s Creed videogames and the current voice of Sonic the Hedgehog would be taking over the role of Batman. Troy Baker, the voice actor with big roles in recent big releases like Bioshock Infinite (as Booker DeWitt) and The Last of Us (Joel) will portray The Joker. Mark Hamill played the character in the previous Arkham games and has a similar association with the character as Conroy does with the Batman. 

 

Since then, the assumption has been that Conroy would be heard as a supporting character, much as he has in the past in other Batman productions like The Batman and Batman: Brave and the Bold. However, confusion persists with the following tweet from Conroy: "Confusion in Dallas! I am in new ARKHAM GAME coming soon, NOT ARKHAM ORIGINS coming this fall.” The tweet has since been deleted. 

 

The widespread conjecture since then has been that Conroy is involved in another unannounced Arkham game, if not Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, a spin-off for the Nintendo 3DS and Playstation Vita. For now, the mystery continues. 

 

Batman: Arkham Origins is scheduled for release on October 25, 2013 on Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U and the PC. Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate is set for release on the same date. — TJD, GMA News