Kevin Conroy's Final Batman Performance Puts The Perfect Cap On An Astonishing Legacy

There have been many actors who have played Batman, and there will be many more in the future, but without a doubt the definitive voice of the Caped Crusader was Kevin Conroy as heard in "Batman: The Animated Series." When Conroy passed away in 2022, it was a huge loss for the voice acting community, the superhero community, for fans, and for the world in general. It certainly didn't help that what audiences thought would be his final performance was in that maligned, awful "Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League" video game.

Thankfully, that wasn't the case. Instead, Conroy had one last gift to the world: a reunion with Mark Hamill's Joker. Hamill only ever voiced Joker opposite Conroy's Batman, and has now decided to retire from the role. This reunion takes place in "Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths — Part Three," an animated movie adaptation of Marv Wolfman and the late George Pérez' seminal 1985 comic series "Crisis on Infinite Earths." A trilogy of films that sees the DC multiverse under threat of a cosmic entity known as the Anti-Monitor, countless universes are destroyed by a wave of antimatter, and it is up to heroes and villains from across the multiverse to stop it before it's too late.

Anyone hoping Conroy's Batman would be a significant player in the story of "Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths" may be disappointed to hear that this is more of a cameo, but a significantly meaningful one at that.

Just when things are at its most hopeless, we cut to Earth 12 (which, in the comics is the "Batman Beyond" universe — fitting since Conroy voices Batman in that show, too, and it's a sequel to "Batman: The Animated Series"). The instantly recognizable (and cool to build) Art Deco skyline of Gotham City clues us in that this is the home of "Batman: The Animated Series," where — even in the face of the apocalypse — Joker is causing problems for Batman. It is a stunningly animated sequence made to look just like the original '90s cartoon, only crisper and more fluid. 

Why is Batman spending his last moments alive fighting Joker rather than with his family? That's what Joker asks his longtime enemy and the closest thing he has to a best friend. Why does he care so much about beating up some old clown, even at the end of everything, Joker asks. And then, as he grabs Joker by his lapels, Conroy growls and delivers his final line as Batman.

"I care, Joker. About Gotham. About Justice. And if it has to end, at least I go out like this," Conroy's Batman says as the world ends around him and he raises his fist to punch Joker in the face one last time. "Being Batman!"

Honestly, this short and to the point scene is a perfect encapsulation of both "Batman: The Animated Series" and Kevin Conroy's iconic performance as Batman. For Conroy's Caped Crusader — a character whom Conroy compared to "a state of mind" rather than a performance — to spend his last living minutes making sure that Joker isn't free to wreak havoc on his beloved city, and to spend his last breath punching his nemesis in the face while reminding this dying world that he is Batman, is a perfect send-off. 

Conroy, unsurprisingly, delivers the line as perfectly as you'd hope and imagine. Much like his portrayal in "Batman: The Animated Series," his line in "Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths — Part Three" is equally passionate and angry, but also comes from a deep well of pain and grief. Even if we didn't know this is the last time we would ever hear Conroy play the character, it's still a fantastic cameo — one that is infinitely more thoughtful and effective than every ghoulish cameo in "The Flash." But it's the fact that this is Conroy's last time under the cowl, and that his final words are "If it has to end, at least I go out like this. Being Batman!" (an echo of his iconic line, "I am vengeance! I am the night! I am Batman!") while in the face of death and the total obliteration of his world, that makes this such a powerful and meaningful goodbye to a legendary performance.

And if that scene wasn't emotional enough, it's immediately followed by the loss of another recognizable universe — that of "Justice League Unlimited." The scene reveals, once and for all, that Hawkgirl and Green Lantern were an item, a bittersweet moment as their world fades to white.