Batman Unburied star Winston Duke explained how he went about deconstructing Batman/Bruce Wayne's white privilege when voicing the character in the Spotify series.
"Bruce Wayne historically has been a product of white privilege — that's almost been his superpower, his wealth. That felt like its own wall to me. How do I connect to a character who is so grounded in his whiteness?" Duke said in an interview with Variety. Yet as Duke delved deeper into the psyche of the Caped Crusader, he found "a lot of really direct, cool allegories of Bruce Wayne as a person of color." He added, "What happens when it's mild privilege instead of extreme privilege? He ends up coming off as more relatable. That was my intention."
Batman Unburied is a radio drama with an original story by David S. Goyer that launched in May. Now ten episodes in, the series explores a different iteration of the Dark Knight. Bruce Wayne is a forensic pathologist in a hospital owned by his father, Thomas Wayne, who initially seems to still be alive, along with his wife, Martha, in this world. Bruce's new occupation sheds new light on his extraordinary detective skills, which come in handy as he tracks down a new serial killer named the Harvester (voiced by Sam Witwer).
Duke, who was announced to play Bruce Wayne in July of 2021, finds playing the Dark Knight to be "a social-justice advocate's wet dream." He commented, "How would I, as a powerful person of color with billions of dollars, change the world… and a justice system that feels like I couldn't come out on the right end?"
According to Goyer, the series always intended to have a Bruce Wayne/Batman who was a person of color. "That was literally the first exploratory conversation [with DC/Warner Bros. executives] — I said, 'Are you open to that?'" Goyer said. Additional voice actors involved with Batman Unburied include Gina Rodriguez, Jason Isaacs, Hasan Minhaj, Lance Reddick, Ashely Burch and John Rhys-Davies.
As Batman Unburied airs on Spotify, DC Comics' ongoing I Am Batman comic series also stars a Black Batman as Lucious Fox's oldest son, Jace Fox, dons the Dark Knight costume while operating out of New York City. I Am Batman #9 is currently on sale from DC, written by John Ridley, with issue #10 arriving on June 14.
Batman Unburied airs exclusively on Spotify.
Source: Variety