Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

Looking good!

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hea...ines-up-179942

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

For the lazy:

Disappointed that Kevin Conroy won't be voicing Bruce Wayne/Batman, but with these DC Animated Movies I can sort of accept different voice actors than in the established DC Continuity.

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

Love this voice-casting!!!

It sounds like DC has it's next few releases lined up well:

Green Lantern: Emerald Knights
Batman: Year One
Justice League: Doom
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

Looks like a great year for animated DC :D.

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

Considering that this is a Batman at the very beginning of his career, this casting makes perfect sense. Since Conroy is firmly established as the definitive Batman, it's a good idea to have a younger and less experienced sounding voice.

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

I disagree. Kevin Conroy is a pro and I'm sure he'd have no problem altering the voice to make Bruce Wayne/Batman sound younger. That's what a real voice actor does.

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

Yep,we need more Batman and Superman animated movies. DC has become a two trick pony and once people lose interest in Batman and Superman,they will go out of business. Why not a Flash animated movie or Plastic Man animated movie or Superboy or Hawkman or Atom or Aquaman or Metal Men or Doom Patrol or Captain Atom or Martian Manhunter or Green Arrow or Justice Society of America or Golden Era Flash or Legion of Superheroes or Challengers of the Unknown???

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

Well, you are going to get a Green Lantern Corps movie this year, so we'll see how that does drafting off the theatrical release.

In one of the previous DC threads, it was discussed that anything not Superman or Batman really tanks sales-wise. I believe the Wonder Woman movie, despite starring one of DC's "Big Three" and getting positive reviews, was a financial disappointment.

I personally would love to see a Legion of Super-Heroes movie--they did have the weekly series, after all--but can't imagine it would do very well. I'd also enjoy Metal Men or Doom Patrol--but no chance on those.

EDIT: I'd enjoy any of the peripheral characters you mention, but I think there's no chance if they weren't in the Justice League core. Plastic Man had that TV series released on DVD--if that sold significant numbers, they'd consider a movie, but I bet it didn't. I'll admit I'm part of the problem. I should be among the core audience for these movies, but there's a bunch I have that I just haven't gotten around to watching: the Green Lantern one, Apocalypse, Under the Red Hood, Gotham Knights. So when that happens, I question the need to get more.

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

I look at the success if Marvel and scratch my head over DCs obsession over two superheroes. Marvel produced two highly successful Iron Man movies and I consider Iron Man a Marvel third-tier superhero and here comes Thor next. DC needs to go back to the basics. Stop making animated movies and make tv series that introduce superheroes most of the public have no knowledge. They could produce an hour long DC Showcase show-show 4 (10) minute features and see what does well and what tanks. I think DC animation on tv is a high demand product but they seem more interested in straight to dvd-blu-ray releases.

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

They hope Green Lantern will be their Iron Man. I'm skeptical, but I didn't expect Iron Man to be as fun as it was either. And we know how much thrash the Wonder Woman live-action movie has gone through.

I believe they're somewhat hampered by always working through Warner. When Marvel properties go through different studios, they have more leeway to take flyers on Ghost Rider or the Punisher.

They did do those animated shorts for Green Arrow, Jonah Hex, etc. but I'm sure it's hard to judge their success when they were extras on other films, and then double-dipped on the Superman-Shazam release.

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

For a Minute I though the FUBAR that's keeping the 1966 Series from being released on DVD had FINALLY been solved! Oh Well. "Sigh".

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

Very much agreed. If you've seen Batman: Gotham Knight, Kevin Conroy played Bruce Wayne/Batman as a young man of maybe 20 or so...or even a late teen. You could tell that it was Kevin, but it sounded like a kid. There's no excuse to get anyone other than Kevin Conroy to play Batman. He can do a young, inexperienced Batman like no one else. This is a no sale....no matter how much I loved the comic.

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

Not without Kevin Conroy, it won't be.

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

Do I wish there were more movies (animated or otherwise) made about DC characters who aren't Batman or Superman? Of course.
Do I consider Kevin Conroy the definitive voice of Batman? Absolutely.
Do either of those considerations impact my interest in this release? Not in the least.

At this point, I'm just hopeful that most of my favorite comic stories will be eventually adapted as part of this anthology series of DTV movies. Batman: Year One is one of them. I confess I don't recognize any of the cast names well enough to think of who they are, excepting Eliza Dushku. I think she's a fine choice for Selina Kyle/Catwoman. Definitely looking forward to this one.

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

It seems there's always hope :D.

From tv guide's website:

"Cartoon Network and DC Comics Team-Up for Superhero Adventures
Rich Sands
Mar 23, 2011 02:00 PM ET
by Rich Sands

"If you're a DC Comics fan this is the best news of all time," says Geoff Johns, chief creative officer for DC Entertainment, with only a slight hint of hyperbole. Johns was on hand at Cartoon Network's upfront presentation in New York City on Wednesday morning to talk about "DC Nation," a programming initiative that will showcase DC's expansive library of characters. Set to debut in 2012, DC Nation will include shows like Green Lantern: The Animated Series, a CGI show coming this fall (springboarding off this summer's Ryan Reynolds film) and Young Justice: Invasion, a 10-episode miniseries spinning out of the original Young Justice. ("I can't tell you much about it," Johns says of Invasion, but it will feature a lot of new characters.")

The partnership, which also involves the companies' corporate sibling Warner Bros. Animation, will mine 75 years worth of history. "We'll be diving deeper into the DC Universe with characters you'd never expect us to animate," Johns says, hinting that Blue Beetle is under consideration. (The presentation to advertisers included a glimpse at some live-action test footage with the character that has been previously revealed last summer.) Programming will be both on TV and online in a variety of formats. "There could be any number of mediums, that's the other fun part about it," Diane Nelson, the president of DC Entertainment, told TV Guide Magazine. "It's not necessarily limited to traditional 2D or CG animation — there could be stop motion, there could be live action, whatever suits the character.""

This could be a really good thing.

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

The $64,000 question is: Will they actually commit to seeing this through, or will they close down the entire operation the first time something under-performs? It seems that skittishness on the part of Warner has had much to do with the limited efforts to date to explore the DCU in TV and movies. That caveat aside, this is indeed welcome news. I for one would love to see a Lobo series developed for [adult swim] come out of all this!

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

I think in the past I would agree that we'd know the answer to the question but now there are new factors involved hopefully to our benefit. The split of DC into 2 separate divisions earlier this year (comics and media) may be a really positive factor as they're trying to use all of their characters, even the lesser known ones, to their best benefit. Actually, after they reported that the Showcase Presents DVD was in fact profitable to them and then the subsequent stop of the shorts on their DVDs I kind of figured they'd put something like this on which could benefit both DC Comics and DC Universe Online as well. Good call on Lobo :D, I'm hoping for some JSA shorts as well :D.

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

I just hope the media division is headed by people with confidence in the DCU. Recall that when the animated Wonder Woman movie under-performed, Warner declared it was proof positive that no one in the entire world would ever be interested in a Batgirl movie. That's the kind of "sky is falling" reaction that can thwart this whole thing.

To be honest, I kinda forgot about Lobo for a while. Then a friend of mine was cleaning out his comic library and gave me a sealed copy of Superman: The Man of Steel (#30-something, I believe) that featured Lobo. It came with Colorform-type stickers so you could customize the cover however you wanted. Fun stuff.

Back to Batman: Year One, I have a good feeling about this. A few years ago I would have worried that it would be butchered to appease audiences who needed to see colorful supervillains, but I think given how many of these characters and elements were incorporated into Batman Begins, they'll feel more confident that there's an audience out there that can be contented with the story that Miller wrote all those years ago. Isn't it funny how it can take the viewing audience decades to catch up with the reading audience?

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

You've never heard of Bryan Cranston? I find that pretty hard to believe.

I can see not recognizing Ben McKenzie (The O.C., Southland) or Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica, 24) though.

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

I know Sackhoff but not Cranston, probably because I watched BSG but not Breaking Bad.

I have to give credit to DC for featuring low-tier characters on JLU and Batman Brave and the Bold. And I do remember our previous conversation about the aborted Batgirl: Year One project, which I would have loved (and would still love) to see.

I love Kevin Conroy but would love to get to the point where the first reaction to any new project isn't "No Conroy, no sale."

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

Never gonna happen. Just like No Tim Daly as Superman, no sale.

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

Taking a look at his Wikipedia page, I see that I've ever watched three of these shows. I vaguely recall his dentist character on Seinfeld, but couldn't have told you who the actor was or even remembered what the hell he looked like. I despised The King of Queens and only saw any of it because my wife insists on flaking out with its reruns from time to time. I have seen the Family Guy episode he voiced, but his character there is even less memorable to me than the others. The rest of his filmography is wholly unknown to me.

At this point, I think it's become a meme with a life of its own.

Not even close to being equals. George Newbern did a terrific job voicing Superman in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, which ran for only two fewer episodes than Superman: The Animated Series. I liked Daly's work, too, but he doesn't have nearly as solid a claim on Superman as Conroy has on Batman.

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

Cranston seems like a solid choice for Gordon if you ask me. It kind of irritating that they don't keep the voices for these more consistent though. If they can't get Conroy it would've been nice to at least have used Bruce Greenwood from Under The Red Hood. Minor gripe as I've enjoyed most of these movies but I wish they'd not change them so much.

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

I've talked a lot in the comics forum about how my favorite Batman comic was Legends of the Dark Knight, which I largely enjoyed because it was an anthology. I love that the voice cast changes with each production; it helps give each story its own personality, just like having different writers and artists (and even different settings) helped make the Legends of the Dark Knight stories feel unique.

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

I suppose I can see where your coming from and to an extent agree, but I think I like the feel of consistency when it comes to voices. I guess ideally if I had a choice in these movies I'd like them all to be somewhat connected instead of just one shots. I've always liked the idea of a series of movies that are part of a larger story. Plus of the people who've been Batman I think only a few have really nailed his voice and made it memorable.

Re: Batman: Year One. Voice Cast
 

I've soured on the whole "fictitious universe" concept. Between comic stories requiring seventeen subscriptions to follow, the Star Wars EU building its own infrastructure of fiction and Star Trek stories becoming so self-referential they're incestuous, I just have no real enthusiasm for stories that "build on" one another unnecessarily.

For instance, I like that the two Superman/Batman movies share continuity, but I don't see any reason why Under the Red Hood should be overtly connected to them just because both feature Batman. If anything, the varied voice casts and character designs are what makes these DTV animated features interesting to me. Plus, they've been able to get a lot of talent that wouldn't have been willing or able to commit to an ongoing series, but can make time for a one-off production. I dig that. I loved Anne Heche as Lois Lane in Superman: Doomsday, Bruce Greenwood as Batman in Under the Red Hood and I'm looking forward to Eliza Dushku as Catwoman in Batman: Year One.