Jensen Ackles On Finding a 'Unique' Sound in Batman: The Long Halloween Films

During the Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two Comic-Con@Home panel, Jensen Ackles (Batman/Bruce Wayne), Katee Sackhoff (Poison Ivy), Troy Baker (The Joker), Julie Nathanson (Gilda Dent), screenwriter Tim Sheridan, and moderator Tiffany Smith sat down to chat about the DC and Warner Bros. Animation project.

Ackles, who is currently in production on The Boys Season 3, shared what it was like finding his own Batman voice when approaching the new role, as well as the responsibility that goes along with being “a link in a chain” for an animated feature and all of its moving parts.

“Doing any kind of project like this, you’re responsible for a portion of that,” Ackles said. “You come in and you try to knock that out as best as you possibly can and you use all the tools that you can to give the best performance that you can possibly do. And then it’s off. And then it goes off into the ether and the animation folks have their way with it, directors have their way with it, the sound — and so you just sit back and hope for the best. But, it really is, you’re just a link in a chain, and you just wanna make sure that that link is as strong as possible. I don’t wanna be the weak link, that’s for damn sure.”

Nathanson reassured Ackles he didn’t have to worry about being a weak link, however, and Baker made it a point to let his co-star know he “smashed it.” Baker admitted that because Ackles was so good as Red Hood when he voiced the character in 2010’s animated film Batman: Under the Red Hood, he worried that was “all I could see you as.” But, Baker’s mind was quickly changed, and after mentioning iconic actors who have previously given life to Batman, such as Adam West and Kevin Conroy, Baker told Ackles, “You stand shoulder to shoulder. You are incredible.”

Ackles later commented that there is “an all-star list” of people who have voiced Batman and who have played the live-action version of the DC character over the years, saying, “It is a hot potato, and you don’t want to drop this one. I tried my best not to think about what somebody else had done, what I had heard before. I really tried to knock all that out and not go in a direction that felt familiar to me. And so, I just tried to find it on my own, in my own way,” which included “knocking the Texas out of my accent.”

Ultimately, the voice Ackles was looking for “clicked” and it “sounded unique,” helping him to lock in on the character and find a rhythm with his performance.

“It’s incredible. It’s unreal, as a fan, to hear Jensen Ackles do Batman in lines that you wrote for him,” added Sheridan. “Because I’m like everybody else, I’ve been waiting for Jensen Ackles to be Batman for a long time. I just feel like it makes sense.”

Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two arrives on Digital starting tomorrow, Tuesday, July 27, and then on Blu-ray on August 10 from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.