We finally have our first official look at the upcoming DC animated movie The Killing Joke, which premieres this summer at San Diego Comic-Con.
Based on the 1988 graphic novel of the same name, The Killing Joke will bring the antagonistic relationship of Joker and Batman back to the forefront — and reunite Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy in the lead roles. Yes, that’s right, the quintessential versions of the Clown Prince of Crime and the Dark Knight (at least, for a lot of DC fans) will be returning to our screens, which is arguably the most exciting part of this project.
It also worth noting that The Killing Joke will feature the first R-rating for a DC animated movie — which isn’t entirely surprising, considering how violent and disturbing the source material is. But, before we get into any specifics, check out the trailer for yourself!
Okay, we’ll just get it out of the way right off the bat (ba-dum-tish), hearing Conroy and Hamill’s voices gave us chills. For fans who grew up watching Batman: The Animated Series, this reunion is practically a dream come true, even when it’s for something as devastatingly brutal as The Killing Joke. All of the dialogue present in this first trailer is lifted verbatim from the source material, which suggests that they’ll be sticking closely to the graphic novel.
For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the graphic novel the movie will be based on, The Killing Joke escalates the conflict between Batman and the Joker to catastrophic levels, as the Joker attempts to prove that having “one bad day” can turn even the best people into villains — something he seeks to illustrate through the mental and physical torture of Commissioner Gordon. The Killing Joke is also infamous for paralyzing Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) and serving as the catalyst for her eventually becoming Oracle.
The treatment of Barbara Gordon in The Killing Joke has often been a point of contention, particularly as her paralysis was very much about how it would affect both her father and Batman, rather than her being central to her own assault. However, the animated movie appears to be taking steps to address that — with a 15-minute prologue being added focusing on her character.
The Barbara Gordon narrative was eventually reclaimed through Kim Yale and John Ostrander when they gave her new purpose as Oracle, though that was never the intention when The Killing Joke was originally released. With the knowledge of who Barbara Gordon becomes in the wake of her paralysis and assault at the hands of the Joker, it’ll be interesting to see what the animated movie will do to expand her role — and there’s a lot of faith in the team behind the movie from fans, especially from this fan in particular.
It’ll also be interesting to see whether the hotly debated ending to the graphic novel will finally receive a definitive answer — as the dying moments of the trailer suggest we’ll be getting an almost exact recreation of that scene. We won’t spoil the specifics here, but we’re certainly hoping it remains ambiguous.
Are you looking forward to ‘The Killing Joke’ animated movie?
The Killing Joke currently has no release date, but a screening will be shown exclusively at San Diego Comic-Con in July.
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