A spoiler-free discussion.
Robert Pattinson as The Batman
“I’m vengeance.” - The Batman
Among the many gadgets and tricks that The Caped Crusader employs to put the literal fear of god into his enemies, one particular trait stands out as what we believe is the most important of them all: his voice.
Throughout the many years that Batman has appeared on screen, there existed a pressure on the actor who would eventually don the cape and cowl to not only exhibit the physically menacing presence of The Dark Knight but also communicate that said presence through his voice. After all, Batman would not be Batman if his voice did not reflect his image. The “bat voice”, while unique to each individual interpretation of The Caped Crusader over the years, is essential to the kind of superhero that he is.
To put it simply, Batman is a character that often relies on intimidation, whether to extract information out of a low-level thug or to espouse a stoic monologue that would send chills down the spines of most of his Rogues Gallery and subsequently send fans cheering at how cool the character is.
Ever since the Keaton era Batman, it is an accepted truth that the bat voice often used in the films is one that is a combination of a whisper and a gravelly low-register tone. This gives the Batman the right amount of grim appeal that makes his foes instantly take him seriously.
That being said, the most widely recognized Batman voice associated with the character is Kevin Conroy’s voice from the animated series and video games. Unlike the films, Conroy’s voice presents a clear and commanding tone, one that presents him as a leader and a serious individual that should not be messed around with.
Then, of course, there came Christian Bale’s Batman, who utilized a more coarse sort of speech that received mixed reviews from fans. While it did suit the version of the Batman that Bale portrayed, it would ultimately go on to be a running joke that Bale’s Batman suffered from a sore throat and hence developed the voice.
With Batfleck, however, his portrayal of The Caped Crusader presented him as using a voice modulator to give him a more robotic and low-register, completely masking his voice and concealing his identity while also sounding threatening enough to do the character justice.
With that being said, it would appear that the Robert Pattinson Batman appears to be applying a style of bat voice that is a mix between the Keaton era Batman and the coarser Bale Batman voice. This could make the character appear grimmer and ultra-serious to audiences. We would certainly be interested to see if the actor manages to convince us with his interpretation of the character because the Batman is not truly the Batman without his voice.
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