Despite all the wonderful cameos that have already and will appear in The CW’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” I was looking forward to Kevin Conroy’s the most. He’s been ‘my’ Batman ever since I first saw Batman: The Animated Series, with his portrayal in Rocksteady’s Arkham video games a particular highlight. So, when I saw that he appeared to be playing the Kingdom Come version in the crossover, I was over the moon.
Well, last night he finally made his appearance in the event but unfortunately, it wasn’t quite what I expected. It quickly became apparent that Conroy was playing a Batman gone bad. In this universe, we find Bruce Wayne with most (if not all) of the Batverse characters killed, and a Dark Knight who’s long since abandoned his code against murder.
It seems that, much like Pringles, once you pop you can’t stop, as he’s cut a bloody swathe through his rogues gallery and even killed Superman. By this point, our heroes are realizing that this guy might not be the same one they knew back on their universe – something confirmed when he starts quoting The Dark Knight Returns,Β pulling out Kryptonite and punching Supergirl in the face.
This wasn’t what fans were expecting, with the best observation I saw being that this is what the DCEU Batman would have become if he’d succeeded in killing Superman. Here’s just a selection of the reactions from Twitter:
Watching Kevin Conroy finally play Batman live #Batwoman #CrisisOnInfiniteEarths pic.twitter.com/wUkykmoU1V
— Damian (Taylorβs version) (@wolfsophic) December 10, 2019
Hearing Kevin Conroy's voice as he comes walking down those steps… #CrisisOfInfiniteEarths pic.twitter.com/bpe0a6lFrN
— CTriplette (@manofthetown) December 10, 2019
https://twitter.com/StahhpL/status/1204248729437507584?s=20
Idk what's darker… Kevin Conroy's Batman killing the Joker, Mr. Freeze, Superman, and more in his timeline or the Joker gassing the Daily Planet in Brandon Routh's Superman timeline. #CrisisOnInfiniteEarths
— Kirsten (@KirstenAcuna) December 10, 2019
@mguggenheim thank you for bringing a part of my childhood from the animated world, to the real one. Tonight…@RealKevinConroy WAS Bruce Wayne.-Josh. #BatwomanCW #Batwoman #CrisisOnInfiniteEarths #BruceWayne #Batman #OldManBruce #Earth99 #MondayMagic #MondayVibes pic.twitter.com/11jNCrSwqm
— Comics, Culture, and Cosplay Podcast (@TheCCCPodcast) December 10, 2019
I feel like Kevin Conroy was exploited in tonight's episode of #CrisisOnInfiniteEarths, I mean come on! No way this happens in any respectable Batman Universe. I don't care what earth it is! In my opinion, this was a WASTE of an icon! pic.twitter.com/N0VYpXNlk8
— ZodWriter (@ZodWriter) December 10, 2019
SO KEVIN CONROY BATMAN KILLS PEOPLE πππππππππππππππππππππππ THIS WILL GO OVER WELL #CrisisOnInfiniteEarths
— NewT/β (@NewTSage) December 10, 2019
After all these years, Kevin Conroy is still the GOAT Batman actor #CrisisOnInfiniteEarths pic.twitter.com/zHoyglGDRL
— Christian Holub (@cmholub) December 10, 2019
Kevin Conroy as evil Batman is genius! #CrisisOnInfiniteEarths
— Jen (@jbuffyangel) December 10, 2019
So, a mixed bag really. I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t expecting The CW to go so dark with Kevin Conroy’s appearance. But I do also like a surprise and the slow realization that this particular Batman has gone completely over the edge was very fun to watch. While the concept of ‘Batman goes evil’ isn’t an entirely new one, this still was a pretty damn cool realization of it, and from the Frank Miller dialogue they chose, you can tell they’re huge fans of the character.
Be sure to catch part 3 of “Crisis on Infinite Earths” tonight on The CW.