Voicing Batman for almost a decade in DC’s animated cinematic universe has given Jason O’Mara some insight into the character — particularly Bruce Wayne’s relationship with his son, Damian Wayne.
It’s a relationship that O’Mara says pays off “in a big way” in Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, the new DC animated film that serves as a finale to the shared cinematic universe that launched in 2014.
The movie, which is out now on digital with a DVD release May 19, promises to bring together a slew of superheroes for one final battle against Darkseid. Among them will be O’Mara’s Batman, a character he’s voiced for six years in a total 11 films. Only Kevin Conroy has voiced Batman in more films, with 15.
O’Mara is a veteran to voice work, but he’s also an experienced actor in live action projects, including a recent role in The Man in the High Castle and a stint playing Jeffrey Mace/The Patriot in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..
Newsarama talked to O’Mara about how his version of Batman has evolved, why voiceover work is highly coveted work right now, and what fans can expect from the epic showdown in Justice League Dark: Apokolips War.
Newsarama: Jason, first up, how are you doing in the midst of all this?
Jason O’Mara in ‘Complications’
Credit: USA
Jason O’Mara: I’m doing OK. Yeah. For me, building a routine, particularly in the morning, is really important during quarantine. And setting myself some goals and tasks throughout the day, even if they’re simple, really helps.
And I talk about this as an ambassador for Movember, and I talk about this on the Movember website – particularly for men during this time, because we tend to isolate and pretend to the world the everything’s fine and that we’ve got this. But we don’t always got this.
So it’s really important for men to be reaching out to their friends and to their loved ones at this time, to talk about what’s really going on, and exchange some tips on how to get through this, keeping your sanity.
Nrama: That’s fantastic. I can imagine that as an actor, it’s difficult not to be able to practice your craft at all.
O’Mara: Yeah. I love working. I love what I do. I think it was Mark Twain who said — I’m paraphrasing him, but he said, find something you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. And I really feel that about my work. I love my work, whether it’s in front of a camera or in front of a microphone.
The fact that that’s been taken away is not easy.
I’m still auditioning for and reading for voice work. But so is the rest of the acting community. I’ve been doing voice work since the late ‘90s – you know, even back in London, I would do announcements for the BBC. So I’ve been doing this a long time. The Batman stuff only started seven years ago for me, but I’ve been voice work in one way or another for a long time.
And I’ve always managed to segue from voice work to camera work, stage work and back.
And now, every actor in the world is like, you know, I think this is a really good time to try voiceovers.[Laughs]
So it’s suddenly got really competitive. I’ll be going up for stuff with, I don’t know, Leonardo DiCaprio or something right now. So it’s going to be tough for us regular actors to book a job.
But I’m not going to quit! I’m going to keep reading, trying out for stuff.
I was lucky enough, before quarantine, to record a Netflix series, called Gods & Heroes, which is based on the classic Greek myths.
It’s made by the same guys who made the Castlevania animated series for Netflix, which was very successful. So I think that’s coming out toward the end of the year. So I’m really glad that that’s sort of a bun in the oven, if you like – something in the pipeline, something to look forward to.
Nrama: You’ve also got this new Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, which returns you to the role of Batman for a kind of finale to this movie universe. Do you feel like your Batman has evolved since you first started doing him until now?
O’Mara: What I love most about this version of Batman is that it’s evolved over the course of these 11 movies he’s been featured in over the course of the series.
It’s a more personal version of Batman. It’s a more emotional version. He has a relationship with his son, Damian, which came about through a pretty horrific back-story involving Talia and Ra’s Al Ghul and all that stuff.
And so, around the time I started Son of Batman, I was also a father to a son who, at the time, he was nine or 10 – around the age Damian’s supposed to be in that movie.
You know, he’s grown older and turned into a grown person, and Damian’s grown also you can hear it in [voice actor] Stuart [Allan]’s voice as the series has progressed – as has the relationship between Bruce and Damian.
There have been good times, there have been bad times, they’ve been very contentious at times, fought each other, but also have shown each other how they feel.
That part of Batman’s story in these films defines this version of Batman and my performance of him.
What I love about this is you can binge watch the entire series, almost like a TV show – there’s like 27, 28 hours of story that is sequential. There are some movies that are more stand-alone than others, but there are other movies that continue the storytelling.
As an actor, I love that, because there’s a chance of developing the movie with every movie that you do – to carry the heartbreak and the challenges and the injuries from one movie to another.
So I feel like, in this series, Batman has never been so developed, because he’s not just Batman and he’s not just Bruce. He has things that will happen to him that will change him forever.
And obviously, in this movie, we see him at his most compromised. And I think audiences will really feel for that, because they’ve been watching him for so long.
Nrama: Well, he comes up against a pretty formidable foe in this movie. Can you talk about what the characters encounter in this film and Batman’s role in it?
O’Mara: Darkseid is rearing his ugly head again, and he’s never been more powerful. And Batman is trying to rally the troops, Justice League, but it becomes clear very quickly that the Justice League is going to need help. And that will come in the form of Justice League Dark and Teen Titans and Suicide Squad – the whole gang.
So all the gangs will be working together against a common enemy.
The question is, what tricks will Darkseid have up his sleeve in terms of infiltrating the groups and turning some of the heroes against each other.
Nrama: Having played this character for so long over the years, do you find that there’s a bit of Jason O’Mara in him, or that maybe you internalize him yourself?
O’Mara: Oh yeah, I think what defines my performance is the fact that I’m a father and I know what it’s like to have a son and feel both responsible and concerned for your kid, you know? My son isn’t a trained ninja assassin, which is nice. He’s more of a regular kid. And Damian is pretty dangerous.
But yeah, I’m able to bring that to every session, the fact that I’m a father. And I think that’s helped me, over the course of the films, to emotionally access Batman. I think it’s probably the most emotional we’ve seen Batman and Bruce. And I think it’s the most compromised we’ve seen Batman.
Also, I think the writers and producers and directors have done a great job of setting up the story so far, in terms of a relationship between Bruce and Damian.
And it really pays off in this movie in a big way.
There won’t be a dry eye in the house.