While audiences are on the receiving end of a constant flux of superhero movies and TV shows, there are certain characters that are truly beloved. Batman is at the top of most's list, as he's a complex character who doesn't have any superpowers of his own. And despite being a somewhat cold and calculated badass, Bruce Wayne operates through a specific moral code: Batman is a hero who is opposed to killing of any kind, and will deploy a variety of non lethal methods to apprehend the psychotic criminals of Gotham City. He was most famously voiced by Kevin Conroy in animated media and video games, and now the voice of Bruce Wayne has revealed why he thinks this choice works, logistically.
If he'd killed any of those people, they wouldn't have been available, you know what I mean? I love the fact that he doesn't kill.
That's certainly a legitimate upside to Batman's no killing policy. Because since the Caped Crusader sends his foes to Arkham Asylum, they're able to escape or be released, and therefore re-enter the narrative for another adventure.
It's probably for this reason that Batman has some of DC's most beloved villains. The Rogues gallery like The Joker, Poison Ivy, The Riddler, etc. have all been able to return to the comics and media time and time again. This just helps add to Batman's overall popularity, as even his bad guys have massive followings and fans who will dress up as them every Halloween.
Kevin Conroy's comments to Den Of Geek also reference how beneficial it is to have Batman's villains develop their own dynamics and relationships from their shared time at Arkham Asylum. Rather than act independently, Batman villains are often seen teaming up in attempt to finally kill the Dark Knight. Or even more exciting is the possibility of a mass breakout, where Batman has to track down and apprehend a mass of villains in a night from hell.
That was something they established early on and it ended up benefiting them so enormously because years later they realized, 'Wait a minute, we have this rogues gallery of crazy villains and they're all in Arkham Asylum. Let's get em! Let's get them out of there and let's open it up.' And then you had the whole Arkham series of games that they were able to do out of that.
This guy knows his Batman. And after voicing the character for the massively popular Arkham video game series, he should know how effective it is to lean on the character's villains. So while Batman's typical stance against killing helps to motivate the way he fights crime, it also opens up the character and property to a variety story possibilities.
Kevin Conroy is once again voicing Batman/Bruce Wayne in Justice League Action on Cartoon Network, and Batman can be seen on the silver screen in Justice League November 17th.
