Diedrich Bader at Comic Con 2008.

At a time when Batman is perhaps the darkest he’s ever been with Christian Bale and the live action films, this take on the famous character is a return to the softer side with elements reminiscent of the classic Adam West TV series and the mid 60’s retro drawing style made famous by Dick Sprang with nods to the style of Batman at his origin in the comics of the 1940s.  Bader is no stranger to voice over work, starting with a 1996 Gargoyles job, fleshed out more recently by appearances on several  Batman animated series, though this is the first time he himself will don the mantle of the Bat.  He has lent his voice to four different Batman cartoons as both heroes and villains: Batman Beyond, The Zeta Project, The Batman and now as the star of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, where he voices the Dark Knight himself. Bader previously had roles in such animated features as Ice Age, The Simpsons, Surf’s Up, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. He has lent his voice to a number of television series, including The Simpsons, King of the Hill and Hercules.

Diedrich recently took time out from his busy schedule to talk about his part in creating a Batman that he can watch with his young children.

Batman isn’t going at it alone this time around!  Blue Beetle, Green Arrow, Aquaman and countless others will get a chance to uphold justice alongside him.  Though still based in Gotham City, the Caped Crusader will frequently find himself outside city limits, facing situations that are both unfamiliar and exhilarating.  With formidable foes around every corner, Batman will still rely on his stealth, resourcefulness and limitless supply of cool gadgets to bring justice home.

Bader acknowledges the current darkeness of Batman in other media, and seems excited to be contributing to a version that the entire family can watch.  “Batman has a long history and there have been many iterations of him. Right now we probably have the darkest Batman that’s ever been in existence.  So we’re going left of that and going back to Batman’s more friendlier roots.  It’s the Batman you knew when you were a kid,” he says.

Though he’s happy to be playing the role, he wasn’t so sure when first approached.  “Well, I wasn’t exactly sure about it.  When Andrea (Romano) called me about it, she said they wanted to have a lighter touch and bring out the humor in the character and were going to have a style more reminiscent of the 1960’s comics.  I was really attracted to that.  I haven’t been able to watch Batman with my kids, so this gave me the chance to do a version that they could watch and it broadens the appeal of the character.  It’s the other side of the coin to The Dark Knight in the movies,” he says.

The voice of Batman, even in this lighter take is deep and dark, and it’s something that Bader balances with the humorous side of the new series.  “I just kind of bow my voice and make it more gravelly.  There is a different kind of gravitas to Batman that I don’t have in my regular voice. This Batman has a sense of humor.  It’s fun, but it’s in contrast to the antics to the various guest stars he’s going to be paired with,” he says. “The tone of this show is fun because we have these tongue in cheek lines about the “hammer of justice” and things like that that are half serious, and sometimes it’s hard to do the lines without cracking up, but it’s a lot of fun,” he added.

The way this series is being done with the voice actors is different than the approach taken on other projects that Bader has done, but it would seem that it plays to the group effort and lends a certain camaraderie to this take on Batman.  “Disney, when they record, does everybody separately.  For Warner, you’re all in the same room with the good guys and the bad guys there.  That’s really important for setting the overall tone of what the show will be. There’s a sense of camaraderie with the people working on this show because it’s a pretty small world of voice-over actors.  A lot of the recurring characters are people I’ve worked with for years.  Tom Kenny who does Plastic Man is hilarious. It’s really funny when you have people that are generally on camera actors, as opposed to voice over actors in the studio.  On camera actrors want to make eye contact with you like we’re having a real scene with you.  I generally don’t look at them.  I know you want to look at that other actor, but you  have to stay on mic,” Bader says.

A fan of Batman himself, Bader seems to really appreciate being able to share his new role with his family.  “I was a huge fan of the Adam West TV show.  I watched that and Get Smart every day when I was growing up, and this hearkens back to that.  While the voice is closer to the modern take on Batman, the show is looking back towards that version on the TV show with Adam.   My kids came to comic-con to see me talking on stage as Batman.  They are probably going to burst into flames when they see the first episode.  It’s really fun.  It’s an incredible gig to wake up every morning and say, “I’m Batman.”  In my household, I’m Alfred.  It’s kind of cool that he’s not in the show, so it’s not a double booking for me,” he laughs.

 Bader feels that the addition of some of the other characters in the DC Universe will really play into the strengths of Batman.  “Batman is very dry.  We don’t want to betray the character by making him funny, but with Green Aarow he is really funny.  We did an episode with the Blue Beatle, where he has a crush on the superhero lady, the Huntress.  He’s really in to the Huntress and he wants to know if he has any chance, and that interaction is really funny.   I don’t know if I can say anything about other characters that we are going to have on”, he says.  Though press materials suggest at least fellow Justice Leaguer, The Red Tornado, will be making an appearance or two.

The chance to don the mantle of the bat, and what that means to Batman fans is not lost on Diedrich.  “This is a great character, and the opportunity for a guy who does comedy to do Batman is extremely rare.  I think you’re really going to like the show.  It’s light, but it’s keeping in with the spirit of Batman,” he says.

Cartoon Network invites kids to team up with Batman and his friends to fight crime when it premieres the original new animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold on Friday, Nov. 14, at 7:30 p.m. (ET, PT) as part of the all-new night of fantasy, action and adventure.  Batman: The Brave and the Bold joins the hit new series STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS, The Secret Saturdays and the popular Ben 10: Alien Force for a night of non-stop adventure, exciting storytelling and innovative animation.