MultiVersus’ Batman is still Kevin Conroy ‘for the foreseeable future’

Earlier this month, MultiVersus developer Player First Games announced a new PvE mode for its fighting game. That mode, called Rifts, will feature unique battle scenarios and minigames, as well as cinematics and story elements, the developer says. It will be updated seasonally with new content.

We’ll see characters interact in mode-specific ways in Rifts, and Player First promises to keep adding to the PvE mode season to season. With a fully voiced cast featuring the talents of John Dimaggio, Matthew Lillard, Tara Strong, and others, the game will bring a long list of beloved characters together for some first-of-their-kind interactions.

One notable issue the developers face is the death of Kevin Conroy, the iconic voice of Batman and Bruce Wayne in animated features and video games. In MultiVersus, Conroy is reunited with fellow Batman: The Animated Series actor Mark Hamill, the famous voice of the Joker. In an interview with Player First Games co-founder and MultiVersus game director Tony Huynh, I asked him how the studio plans to approach future content featuring Batman in the wake of Conroy’s passing.

“Kevin Conroy was a big part of my childhood,” Huynh told me before addressing the issue, “and Batman is my favorite fictional character, period. Kevin’s passing really affected me personally. And I think that the pairing of Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy in our game is special.

“I actually don’t know what we’re gonna do going forward. We have to figure that out. No matter what though, we want to be respectful of Kevin and the legacy that he left behind. A big reason why, I think, Mark Hamill is in the game is because Kevin is as well. So Kevin is extremely important to our game, and the work that he’s done for our game will persist. Going forward, I don’t know fully what we’re going to be doing. We do plan on updating the game regularly and have to come up with plan for that, but that isn’t finalized yet.”

A representative for Warner Bros. Games added that “there was a lot of voiceover work that was done” by Conroy, “so, for the foreseeable future, that’s who Batman will be in MultiVersus.”

MultiVersus will return, with many new additions, on May 28. The free-to-play game will be available once again on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.