Paul Reubens had more than one surprising connection to Batman, including a mischievous animated role that allowed the performer behind Pee-wee Herman to bring his distinctive comic energy to Gotham’s world.
Reubens voiced Bat-Mite in “Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” playing a fifth-dimensional imp whose intense admiration for the Caped Crusader ultimately took a wildly disruptive turn. While the character spent much of his time idolizing Batman, Bat-Mite became an especially memorable force in the show’s final episode.
That series finale pushed the character into fully self-aware territory. Bat-Mite used his powers in an effort to make “The Brave and the Bold” jump the shark, hoping the series would be canceled and replaced by a new adaptation he considered more worthy of Batman.
The show’s comedic approach provided a natural showcase for Reubens, who had a talent for making eccentric supporting characters linger in viewers’ memories. His Bat-Mite performance was also far from his only trip into the Batman universe.
Reubens played the Penguin’s father twice
Reubens first crossed into Batman’s world as the Penguin’s father in Tim Burton’s “Batman Returns.” Twenty-four years later, he returned to that family connection by once again playing the Penguin’s dad, this time in a three-episode arc on “Gotham.”
Those live-action roles and his animated Bat-Mite performance gave Reubens three distinct points of entry into Batman stories. They also reflected the range that shaped a career best known for Pee-wee Herman but filled with unusual characters across film and television.
On the big screen, Reubens appeared in projects including “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Mystery Men.” His television work included memorable turns on “30 Rock” and “What We Do in the Shadows.” Even when a part was small, Reubens frequently found a way to give it an unmistakable personality.
Bat-Mite was part of a much larger voice-acting career
Reubens’ work behind the microphone stretched well beyond “Batman: The Brave and the Bold.” His first voice-acting credit came as Freaky Frankenstone in “The Flintstone Comedy Show,” years before he took on Bat-Mite.
During the 1980s, Reubens voiced the sentient spaceship in “Flight of the Navigator.” In the 1990s, he supplied the voice of Lock in “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” He later contributed to animated movies including “The Smurfs” and “Tom and Jerry’s Giant Adventure.”
His voice could also be heard across both children’s and adult animation. His television credits in that area included “Bob’s Burgers,” “Adventure Time” and “American Dad,” underscoring how substantial voice performance became within his varied body of work.
Reubens carried Bat-Mite into another medium as well, reprising the role for “Batman: The Brave and the Bold — The Videogame.” He later provided voices for the “Minecraft” and “Call of Duty” franchises.
That wide-ranging career was explored in the HBO documentary “Pee-wee as Himself.” Across live-action comedy, animated projects, movies, television and video games, Reubens built a collection of roles as eclectic as the persona that made him best known.
Pee-wee Herman may remain his defining character, but Reubens’ Batman work offers another snapshot of his particular gift: turning an offbeat supporting role into something difficult to forget. Whether appearing as the Penguin’s father or plotting television chaos as Bat-Mite, he repeatedly brought his own eccentric stamp to the Dark Knight’s universe.