Kevin Conroy Discusses BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE and Teases Batman's Laugh

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One of the movies I'm most excited about seeing this year is Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment's animated film adaptation of Batman: The Killing Joke. This is such an incredible and intense story and it's exciting that it's being brought to life in animated form with Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprising their roles as Batman and The Joker. 

In a recent in-depth interview with DC All Access, Conroy spoke about reprising his role of Batman and how the film will expand on the story we know from the graphic novel. He even teased Batman's laugh in the iconic scene from the novel where he and the Joker break down in hysterical laughter. Conroy says:

"They've expanded some of the story a bit. There's much more Batgirl in this -- so that plot line is more developed. And the internal struggle that Batman has in wrestling with the demons and the Joker is much more explored. There are a couple of really wonderful scenes that I have with Mark that I'm really proud of. [Batman]'s actually trying to -- I think, at one point --- draw the evil out of the Joker. It's a very cathartic process for Batman...It's a very complete arc for him."

As for the laugh that Batman and the Joker share at the end of the story, Conroy says that "Batman laughs...very heartily." He then proceeds to give a little tease of what Batman laughing would sound like. Here's the plot summary for the R-rated animated movie:

What does it take for a person to snap? How much despair for a mind to fracture? These are the twisted questions that The Joker has set out to answer, to show Gotham that even an ordinary man like Commissioner Gordon is only one bad day away from sheer insanity. Based on the acclaimed DC Comics graphic novel, witness a journey into the dark psyche of the Clown Prince of Crime. Follow his humble beginnings as a struggling comic to his fateful encounter with the Dark Knight that changed everything. Fueled by the return of Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamill as The Joker, witness the birth of a super villain, the fortitude of a hero and the punch line that will leave you speechless.

Batman: The Killing Joke will premiere at San Diego Comic-Con and it will be released on VOD on July 26, and it will hit Blu-ray and DVD on August 2nd. 

Batman: The Killing Joke is seen by many as the definitive Batman and Joker story. So perhaps it's fitting that two of the most definitive actors to ever voice the roles are returning for its animated adaptation. In this DC All Access animation clip, we talk to Kevin Conroy about voicing Batman in the highly anticipated, R-rated film based on the acclaimed one-shot.