Kevin Conroy Will NOT Return to Voice Batman in Arkham Origins

It was widely reported yesterday that veteran voice actor Kevin Conroy, who has been voicing Batman across various media including Batman: The Animated Series, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and Batman: Arkham City, would be returning to the role of the Caped Crusader for this fall's Batman: Arkham Origins.

However, this appears to not be the case. Today, Warner Bros. revealed that Roger Craig Smith (best known for his performances as Ezio Auditore in Assassin's Creed and Chris Redfield in Resident Evil) would be taking on the iconic role. Perhaps even more interesting, it was also announced that Troy Baker (Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite, Jake Muller in Resident Evil 6) will be portraying the Joker.

This announcement seems contradictory to Conroy's statements yesterday at Dallas Comic-Con that he was working on the "next Arkham game." So, which is it? Many speculate that Conroy will be portraying an older Batman (Arkham Origins is a prequel to the first two games in the series). It's also worth noting that Conroy never explicitly stated that he was working on Origins, just the "next Arkham game." Is it possible that Conroy just inadvertently revealed the existence of a future Batman: Arkham title?

In any case, it remains to be seen what Conroy's involvement will be in Arkham Origins. Conroy, who most recently portrayed Batman in last month's Injustice: Gods Among Us, is considered by most to be THE definitive Batman, so I'm sure he'll return to this series in some capacity.