One of the most famous– and controversial– Batman comic book stories is coming to animation this summer. From Warner Brothers Animation comes ‘The Killing Joke’ adapting the dark 1988 graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Brian Bolland which revealed at long last, the secret origin of The Joker (or did it?), saw Batgirl/Barbara Gordon crippled for life (or did it?) and featured Batman killing The Joker once and for all (or did it?).
The new animated movie features the highly anticipated reunion of Kevin Conroy as the voice of Batman, Mark Hamill as The Joker and Tara Strong as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, reprising their roles from ‘Batman: The Animated Series’. Also featured is Ray Wise as Commissioner Gordon.
The trailer for the movie is now available, which you can watch below:
Also available is a 12-minute behind-the-scenes featurette featuring Conroy, Hamill, Strong and Wise as well as creators including producer Bruce Timm and director Sam Liu, in which they discuss the difficulty of adapting the graphic novel to animated form (including attempting to emulate the beautiful Bolland artwork of the original) and reveal the details on what they added to the story (hint: more Batgirl).
You can watch that video below, but be warned there are interruptions throughout and I got a commercial half-way through.
‘Batman: The Killing Joke’ will make its debut in July at San Diego Comic-Con International before arriving on home video. (Presumably, it will be available digitally a week before physically, as is the case with the newest WBA release ‘Justice League Vs. Teen Titans’.)
The film is not yet rated, although the go-ahead has been given for it to land an R-rating. If it indeed garners that, it will be a first for a DC animated movie.
Are you excited to see this infamous tale brought to animated life?
Sources: Screen Crush, Flickering Myth
Jason can be followed on Twitter.
