ComingSoon Editor Tyler Treese spoke with Troy Baker, who plays Batman/Bruce Wayne in Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons. Baker discussed Bruce’s role in the film and his goals as a performer. The film is available now in 4K, Blu-ray and digital.
“Ahhhh, to be young…and tasked with saving the world from impending doom!” That’s the burden 11-year-old Jonathan Kent and reluctant young sidekick Damian Wayne face in this all-new DC animated film,” reads the film’s official synopsis. “On his birthday, Jonathan Kent learns that his father is Superman and that he has his own latent superpowers! He also meets the legendary Dark Knight and current Boy Wonder, Damian. But when the two boys are forced to team up to protect their loved ones from a hostile alien force, will they become the Super Sons they were meant to be?
Tyler Treese: You’ve played Batman in the past, but this iteration is very interesting. He’s a father, he’s trying to raise Damian, and it’s one of the few things in his life that he can’t control. So what did you find most intriguing about this version of Batman?
Troy Baker: Man, you just said it. It’s just that there’s something I’m happy about [you picked up on]. I hoped everyone would take that from the story. Specifically, with Batman – Batman always has a plan. He always has something in his utility belt that can solve the problem. And there’s this specific moment that speaks to exactly that. When Batman and Superman fall apart, and he jumps and burns through the glass, and he burns the Starro on Superman, and he’s like “the boys.” In one line we see Batman, he says, “I don’t know how to handle this. I feel like the fact that this was recorded with you… we achieved our goal, because really, the heavy lifting of this movie is all on the Jacks [Jack Dylan Grazer and Jack Griffo, voices of Jon Kent and Damian Wayne], right? And they do such a good job in this area.
I really have to congratulate them. These two kids… they’re no strangers to voice roles, but specifically for that, it reads like everything – every choice they made – felt earned. I was incredibly impressed with what they do. The fact that Superman and Batman both have to take the back seat, first of all, there’s something that happens in a narrative way where we’re able to do that – having starfish stuck to our faces that makes us put them out of the game a bit, in the penalty boxes so to speak. But the fact that Superman tries to relate to his son the same way Batman tries to relate to his son and we can see that displayed on screen in a very tangible way… for me and Travis [Willingham, voice of Superman]first of all, this is the first time we’ve done this as fathers, and the first time we’ve been able to see these characters through the lens of being a father.
This is something I was really hoping to encounter. What I’m saying is that they’re superheroes because they save the world because they lock up criminals and put them in Arkham Asylum, but it’s also the fact that they are superheroes with no capes and no hoods – the fact that they’re dads. Clark showing up at the baseball game makes him a superhero. Bruce hugging Damian and saying “I’m proud of you” is he a superhero. So any dads or moms watching this with their kids… I hope what they take away is that you don’t need the metal towel cape or the cowl to be a super- hero, but just showing up and making lunch for your kids and supporting them and showing up to baseball games – that’s being a superhero.
Starro is such a fun villain. Batman is possessed, so we see this sinister version. How fun was it to show a darker side of the character?
Man, it’s always fun, but there’s always that moment in the session where I’m like, “You want me to do that sound? Are you going to do something? And they’re like, ‘we want to hear what it’s like if you do this. Because again, we’re brought in very early on, so we have the script and we may have a storyboard, but we don’t necessarily know what it’s going to look like. We don’t know what the animation style is, we don’t know how this moment is going to be portrayed on screen. So they’re like, “whatever it would be like if you were to have a starfish attach to your throat and then possess your soul.” So what did it sound like? “Oh, it’s from you, by the way. It therefore entered into you first, then it will come out and attach itself to your face.
I’m like, “Hmm. Well, let me flip through the Juilliard Acting Handbook to tell you what it should look like. So it’s us who are kids, man. We’re just in the booth in front of the mic saying “I don’t know, maybe it looks like that!” But Starro is so deep as a villain that nobody would ever have – and that’s what’s great about what they’re doing now with these movies – they can say ‘Hmm, we did the adaptations, right? We did Killing Joke, we did Long Halloween. What does it look like if we take this deep villain and put him at the forefront of a truly poignant story between Batman and Superman as fathers struggling to be good parents? I don’t know how that pitch came about, but here we are two years later and honestly this movie is on the top shelf for me, with Mask of the Phantasm, Under the Red Hood and Long Halloween as the one of the best that came out of it.
Persona 4 is being re-released next year. Kanji has such an amazing story that still resonates with people. When you see a character you voice still having an impact more than a decade later, what does that mean to you?
Man, that means I did my job. Honestly, all I want to do is make a game that I want to play and I want to be in a cartoon that I want to watch. That’s all I want to do. The fact that I can stand with the fans of these things and say, “I appreciate these stories just as much,” that’s me doing my job. It’s something I’m very proud of. I never thought Kanji would resonate with people as much as he did. But every time someone comes up to tell me how much this character meant to them, it reminds me how lucky I am and how grateful I am to be able to do this. That’s all I ever wanted to do was, again, the kid who rushed home after school every day to watch Batman: The Animated Series and learned who Kevin Conroy was and learned that it was the voice of Batman and that it was possible for it to be a job. The fact that I could be that for someone else is all I ever wanted to do. So if I inspired someone or nothing else, I entertained someone, I did my job and I’m happy.
I wanted to ask you about working with Hideo Kojima in the past because it’s kind of scary how prescient he is. During the pandemic, all I could think of was Death Stranding and its themes of connection and isolation. Metal Gear Solid 2 is becoming more and more relevant day by day. Working with him and his scripts, how crazy is it to see him bring all this to fruition?
Man, that never surprises me. I think I’m a pretty smart person. I think I’m educated enough. I think I have some really good ideas, and then I see someone like Kojima or I see what these writers in this movie may have pulled off and I’m like, ‘I don’t know anything. Whenever I think maybe I should be in charge, it reminds me that I’m constantly working with the most talented people in this industry, and that I can be a part of it. It inspires me to be better. I’m definitely a person who says if I’m the smartest, most successful person in the room, I’m probably in the wrong room. So the fact that I got to work with the Hideo Kojimas or the Neil Druckmann, those are the rooms I want to be in because I can walk in feeling really, really stupid, but I always walk out feeling a lot more clever. So it’s for opportunities like this that I’m truly grateful, and this is definitely one of them.
You mentioned Druckmann and you have a role in the Last of Us TV show. What did it mean to you that they involved you and played this new role?
Man, that was absolutely not necessary. It was 100% Neil and Craig who both wanted to make sure there was a spiritual connection between the show and the game. Even though there are a lot of differences between the two. They are two different mediums and it offers the possibility of telling this story in a different way. The fact that they let me in too… I’ll never forget, man. The first day on set, I’m standing there in this beautiful place and we’re about to take a picture and I just took it for a second, like, ‘I can’t believe we’re here. Because if you had told the person who 12 years ago was about to audition for a video game for Naughty Dog what would happen next, I never would have expected that. let it be real. But again, it’s one of those things where I’m grateful for every day and every step of the way has gotten me to where I am.
Troy Baker on Playing Batman in Battle of the Super Sons | Pretty Reel