The new Batman animated movie, The Killing Joke, is DC’s biggest animated event in years. Marc Hamill and Kevin Conroy will reprise their roles as the Caped Crusader and The Joker from Batman: The Animated Series. The film will premiere at San Diego Comic-Con in just a few short weeks, but right now we’re in for a treat because new footage released by DC Access just gave us a closer look at Batgirl.
While this is The Joker’s origin story, Batman fans know the events that occur in The Killing Joke change Batgirl forever. That’s why commentary from veteran voice acting goddess, Tara Strong, is particularly intriguing.
“In The Killing Joke , Barbara Gordon will not disappoint the fans who have been waiting to see this story. It's completely dark, and she does stuff that she’s never done on any series I've ever worked on. She's strong, she’s older and wiser, but dark is a really really a cool place for her to be,” Strong explained.
In the new footage, Batgirl jumps off of buildings onto a huge Mac truck. She scales the top of the 18-wheeler and explodes the criminals inside with a Batarang. You may recognize Strong’s voice as Raven from Teen Titans Go , or as another version of Barbara Gordon from The New Batman Adventures. She’ll also voice Harley Quinn in the upcoming Justice League Action series.
DC Entertainment also released another sneak peek this week, a scene where Batman tries to get Joker to confess to his crimes. “Perhaps you’ll kill me, perhaps I’ll kill you. Perhaps sooner, perhaps later. You know that don’t you,” Batman tells The Joker.
Staying true to The Killing Joke comic’s blunt, dark themes, the animated film will be the first in the DCEU to get an R rating. Mark Hamill recently explained during a panel at Star Wars Celebration 2016 why the creative team decided make the film not so suitable for kids.
“The thing is, it’s not for kids. And I really apologize, but it’s really mean and nasty. For you Allen Moore fundamentalists, which I am one, I thought of it as a book on tape. Killing Joke is embedded in a larger story that involves Batgirl and Batman. It's earned its R rating. Kids will come up to me and say I’m so excited, and I’ll say “Don't you watch that.” It got progressively weirder and harsher as we got into the video games.”
Expect new footage from San Diego Comic-Con at the end of this month. Batman: The Killing Joke arrives in theaters for just one night, July 25, before coming to Digital HD July 26 and Blu-ray and DVD Aug. 2.For now, enjoy the synopsis and the original trailer below.
What does it take for a person to snap? How much despair for a mind to fracture? These are the twisted questions that The Joker has set out to answer, to show Gotham that even an ordinary man like Commissioner Gordon is only one bad day away from sheer insanity. Based on the acclaimed DC Comics graphic novel, witness a journey into the dark psyche of the Clown Prince of Crime. Follow his humble beginnings as a struggling comic to his fateful encounter with the Dark Knight that changed everything. Fueled by the return of Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamill as The Joker, witness the birth of a super villain, the fortitude of a hero and the punch line that will leave you speechless.
