Batman, Superman and various members of the Justice League are often the headliners in Warner Bros. Animation’s DC films, but their most recent film is turned not only on the sidekicks, but Batman and Superman’s sons Jonathan Kent and Damien Wayne. Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons follows Jon and Damian as they are the only superheroes to save their parents and the world from a dangerous alien invader.
We spoke with voice actor Troy Baker who portrays Batman in the film. Baker has had a long career in voicing acting and this marks the latest project in which he’s voiced the Dark Knight after starring in the Batman: The Telltale Series video games and Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles feature film – not to mention his time voicing The Joker in several projects. We spoke with Baker about Batman as a father, working with his friends Travis Willingham and Laura Bailey and the film’s unique animation style. Check out our interview below…
Ricky Church: Hi Troy! How are you doing?
Troy Baker: I am so good, man! I may have seen this movie more recently than you. I just finished and holy shit man, this is really, really good! I think a lot of people don’t realize that us actors, we’re brought in super early so we don’t necessarily get the benefit of knowing what the finished product is going to look like. A lot of the time we are watching this for the first time with the audience. I’m sitting here and I’m watching this and of course you know how it starts off. It has this beautiful setup and the tip of the hat with bringing in Nolan North to play Jor-El is incredible. The fact that every time we do Superman, every time we do Batman, there has to be some kind of origin set up and I get it and I love the fact that it’s always a challenge. We have to overcome it. The way that they did it was beautiful because they tied Starro into it. That was great. But the way that opening montage where it now reverts to showing where this started in this neo-retro style, the Joe Shuster look like where this whole thing came from, and then transforming that into the first all CG Warner Brothers DC movie ever was just a chef’s kiss! And this is a bold statement and I’ve made it today several times today, you’re not going to be an exception to this, but to me Travis Willingham is to Superman what Kevin Conroy is to Batman.
Okay, Wow! Nice.
He’s a perfect fit and it just works. I look at him and I see Clark and I see Superman. I don’t see someone who’s trying to be Clark or trying to be Superman. That’s always been a challenge. If you look at every iteration of Batman you can go great Batman bad Bruce, good Bruce bad Batman. And Kevin, to me, was like you’re both, I believe both of you, and Travis in this really, really shined. Jack Dylan Grazer and Jack Griffo do an incredible job, those guys got to the plate and knocked it out of the park as Superboy and Damian, and Laura Bailey as Lois Lane is incredible as always, But in that moment, specifically, like when Clark and Jon are laying back on that pile of hay and he’s struggling as a dad to go “I have to be away,” it’s such a beautifully earned real moment and Travis just does it so, so well. I was so proud of him. So proud of him.
Nice. Yeah. I thought he did a great job. The whole cast, you included, does an awesome job. You’re gushing about the way this movie looks and every single person I’ve spoken with, from the cast to the creatives behind it, have all been saying this movie looks way beyond their expectations.
Right? It has its own aesthetic and it’s worthy of just not trying to compare to too much, but they did it in such a great way because the temptation when you go “we’re gonna go all CG on this” is to do something that didn’t look like this. To continue the foundation of these characters and how they’re so deeply rooted in comic books and bring that into this to me was just a wonderful example of how everybody that’s on this is a fan of these characters, of this story, and is truly making something that feels like a fan film. Except with millions of dollars of a budget to be able to do!
For sure. Now it’s an interesting contrast between you and Travis because this is Travis’ first time playing Superman outside of LEGO films, but this is your third or fourth time playing Batman after the Telltale games and Batman vs. Ninja Turtles.
Yeah, there’s been a few times when I’ve been able to do it and Travis has done it as well. It bears noting that Travis, there’s probably no bigger fan of Superman than Travis. It’s so funny that we’re best friends because Travis’ affinity for Superman probably even outmatches my affinity for Batman. When we were kids, you can go down one of two paths, you do Pepsi or Coke, you can do Nike or Reebock and there were these two lines. It was either you do Superman or you do Batman! I was like “I don’t know, man, I relate to the grudgey, curmudgeon detective dude” and he’s like “I wanna be the strong, superhero all-American type” and I was like get in this lane! Travis has always wanted to play Superman and this is just a great opportunity for him to be able to do that.
Now you say you get to play Batman as this grudgey curmudgeon, but this is the first time you’ve played him where we slightly see Batman in a different light as he takes on the role of being a father to Damian. How did that change your performance compared to your past ones?
Man, look, it honestly is life imitating art or art imitating life. I have to say it’s probably the genius of Gary Miereanu because when we were brought in to do this Travis and I had just become fathers and he was like “This is gonna be a great role for you because here’s an opportunity to see these guys, these dads as superheroes.” I think that that’s an often overlooked thing is that just being a dad and making lunches and getting your kids ready for school and making ends meet and doing what it takes, just being there, that’s being a superhero. Saving the world and all of that, those are great storylines for comic books, but the reality is being able to raise a good man in this world is worthy of being called a superhero.
Travis and I were being faced with that very, very tangible reality when we stepped into the booth to do these roles. All of these things were very real for us. How do we get our kids to listen to us and our kids are in danger, what do we do? There’s a beautiful moment towards the end of the film where Batman and Superman crash down in the pod that the boys put them in to save them and Batman gets out and he goes “The boys!” There’s this really unique moment of genuine fear. Batman is lost and he always has a plan. He’s always the one who’s one step ahead of the criminals. In this moment he looks like “I don’t know how to solve this. What do we do?” And he looks at Superman to be like “Can you do something? I don’t have anything in my utility belt for this problem.” The approach was pretty inherent to the situation that we were in. Think about Batman and think about Superman as dads, as men. What does that look like? The rest of it, honestly, was on the page.
That’s awesome. I love the relationship between Batman and Damian in this movie. How it seems a little harsh at the beginning and Batman keeps his feelings inside, but at those dire moments like the one you just referenced he wears those feelings on his sleeve.
I have to point out what Jack Griffo does as Damian. Damian Wayne is such an interesting character and the things that they did that was so good was pulling in the lore from the comic books to be able to say remember he was raised by Talia and Ra’s al Ghul and we won’t even get into how that whole thing happened to begin with. To contrast that with the wholesome life that Jonathan was given, it feels earned. You feel the fact of Jonathan kind of rubbing Damian the wrong way from the onset because obviously he knows that he’s been brought up by the all-American family and he didn’t get dealt that card. To give them that arc and the very end he’s like “I was just beginning to like you,” it’s like every moment that they do here doesn’t feel like now we play this card. It feels genuinely earned. This one is definitely sitting on the top shelf for me. And ironically, it’s the one I’m in the least! Next to Under The Red Hood, it’s the one I’m in the least that’s my favourite! Everybody did a great job and I just hope that everybody watches this movie.
Thank you to Troy Baker for speaking with us!
SEE ALSO: Read our review of Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons here
Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons is now available on 4K UHD and Blu-ray.
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
