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Fans of DC Comics’ Batman were ecstatic to learn one of the most influential men to play the Dark Knight is gay. And Twitter users have a solid mix of surprise and elation at this discovery.
Kevin Conroy is an actor best known for voicing the Caped Crusader in Batman: The Animated Series, the Arkham video games, along with other media over the last 30 years.
Recently it was announced he would be writing a story for DC’s celebration of Pride Month.
Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy will be writing a segment for the 'DC PRIDE 2022' comic special with art by Aditya Bidikar and J. Bone. \n\nThe segment is called Finding Batman and is described as a personal story. Conroy was one of the first openly gay men to play a superhero.pic.twitter.com/GCUVdzuRyw— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) 1649870128
DC Comics announced a series of stories about and for LGBTQ+ people that would make up a Pride Anthology. Conroy is writing a 'personal story' called Finding Batman.
Conroy has played Batman for 30 years, most famously voicing the character for the DC Animated Universe of cartoon shows. The universe started with Batman: The Animated Series, an Emmy Award winning show that explored the character and his villains.
He continued voicing the character in other media, including well received, straight to DVD films, and video games, culminating in Rocksteady’s Arkham trilogy. He even got to play Bruce Wayne in live action, on The CW’s Batwoman during a crossover event.
For many, Conroy is the definitive voice of Batman, and couldn’t imagine anyone else in the role. His characterization has won many fans over, leading to his prolific portrayal of Batman.
And despite being so famous, many fans were surprised they didn’t know something about him.
WAIT I didn\u2019t know that Kevin Conroy is gay, how did I miss that, can\u2019t wait to see what he\u2019s writing for the Pride Monthhttps://twitter.com/timbosnightmare/status/1514288172649353216\u00a0\u2026— Timbo \ud83e\udd89 (@Timbo \ud83e\udd89) 1649870647
Kevin Conroy is gay ??? And I'm just now finding this out ??— Kit Kat (they/them) \ud80c\udd8f \ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f (@Kit Kat (they/them) \ud80c\udd8f \ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f) 1649880718
How did I not know Kevin Conroy was gay?????https://twitter.com/discussingfilm/status/1514291189884805123\u00a0\u2026— Ollie \ud83c\udff9 (@Ollie \ud83c\udff9) 1649874979
Did we all just find out out Kevin Conroy was gay? I\u2019m surprised I never knew— Joe (@Joe) 1649896384
Kevin Conroy is writing on this Pride special in part because he is openly gay though lots of fans might not be aware of that cool fact. I didn't know myself until the New York Times profiled Conroy in 2016https://twitter.com/whatthe_shea/status/1514273394459484160\u00a0\u2026— Henry Gilbert (@Henry Gilbert) 1649884156
Y\u2019all didn\u2019t know Kevin Conroy gay?pic.twitter.com/mNH9fV8GIB— TASK the Leader of the #Khongregation of #Khonshu (@TASK the Leader of the #Khongregation of #Khonshu) 1649894375
When the DC Pride Anthology story was announced, some fans didn’t initially put together why Conroy would be writing for the anthology. However, as other fans pointed out, Conroy has never hidden his sexuality.
During an interview with the New York Times in 2016, he spoke about living through the 1980s AIDS crisis, and how it felt as a gay man. He took a role in a Broadway production of Eastern Standard, playing a TV Producer living with the disease.
He said of the role:
“I went to so many funerals that I felt such a sense of obligation to do it right. Every night I would just wail, feeling all the pain.”
“I couldn’t not feel it. It was a scream of, ‘Look what’s happening to us! Help!’”
However, it’s clear from reactions on Twitter that not everyone knew about Conroy’s sexuality.
Kevin Conroy was trending and I was worried he died or did something horrible, but actually it's everyone learning that he's openly gay.\n\nSo that's much better!— Justin McDaniel \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Justin McDaniel \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1649878587
Kevin Conroy for real trending because we all just found out today he was gay with the dc pride creative listpic.twitter.com/t6Vqrwtunx— nebula should have killed thanos (@nebula should have killed thanos) 1649916221
I always forget he\u2019s gay. I know he\u2019s from a generation that didn\u2019t talk about it much but hopefully him lending his voice to something like this sets a positive cross-generation example— Gregory Paul Silber (@Gregory Paul Silber) 1649866325
Does this guy think Kevin Conroy came out as gay so that an issue of Batman would sell betterhttps://twitter.com/SolidSnakus1465/status/1514427923469529090\u00a0\u2026— Louis (@Louis) 1649929259
Conservatives, 30 seconds after learning Kevin Conroy is gay:pic.twitter.com/wXtrGAiesz— Jason Colavito (@Jason Colavito) 1649881454
TIL Kevin Conroy is gay. \nHe's literally my favorite super hero actor, and I had no idea. World's finest indeed!https://twitter.com/DiscussingFilm/status/1514291189884805123\u00a0\u2026— B. Dave Walters: I Say Words About Things (@B. Dave Walters: I Say Words About Things) 1649905283
Conroy’s story for the anthology, Finding Batman has been said to be a ‘personal story’ for the actor. He will be working with artist J. Bone and letterer Aditya Bidikar.
The DC Pride Anthology will be available May 31st.