Fellow Batmanfans, are you a bit bummed after the critical flop that was last month's Justice League movie? Tired of Ben Affleck taking to the press to waffle again and again on whether he'll do a standalone caped crusader flick? Well this week, the animation arm of DC threw us all a frickin' bone.
Coming in 2018, Batman Ninja is set to be the first theatrically-released full-length anime film in the Dark Knight's repertoire. Well, theatrically-released in Japan, that is. But a new English-subtitled version of the trailer release Friday hints that some kind of North American release (be it in theaters, VOD, Blu-ray, or via streaming service) will eventually come, saving us all from Affleck angst.
Takashi Okazaki (Afro Samurai) handled the character design, and the first glimpse of the Joker should make any Gotham fan ecstatic. The trailer offers quick looks at all the gang being transported back to feudal Japan: Two-Face, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Robin, and Gorilla Grodd(?!) among them.
As io9 reports, that purple flash towards the beginning of the trailer is some kind of time portal. Batman and some of Gotham's most notorious criminals get transported back to Medieval Japan and a power struggle ensues. "Director Jumpei Mizusaki has described Batman Ninja as a film meant to show the world how Japan sees Batman," io9's Charlie Pulliam-Moore writes. "Not one about how Batman (and Bruce Wayne) see Japan."
Based on the teaser, at least, that means Batman is quite comfortable wielding a sword and the Joker may have some kind of giant mech waiting at his disposal. Whatever unfolds, it already appears to be more exciting than however Affleck may (or may not) follow-up the Dark Knight trilogy.
Listing image by WB / DC Animation
