First Batman: The Killing Joke Teaser, Batgirl To Have Larger Role
A short new teaser has been released for the upcoming animated film Batman: The Killing Joke.
Commissioner Gordon and Batman can be heard talking over the trailer, with Gordon warning Bats that “it’s a mistake to think you’ll know what he’ll do.” This is over a short montage of various different scenes, before finishing on The Joker maniacally laughing, an iconic image from the graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvEZa_dY4Sc
In another, leaked preview of the movie, producer and animator Bruce Timm spoke on expanding Batgirl’s role in the story. Batgirl, whose real name is Barbara Gordon, Commissioner Gordon’s daughter, features in The Killing Joke in some very important scenes. Since the book’s publishing, her minimized role has been criticized. Timm says that for this adaptation, they’ve decided to give her, and the whole setup itself, a little more back-story.
“The audience gets to spend more time with Barbara Gordon as a person before the events of The Killing Joke. We get to like her more. We get to understand who she is as a character.” Timm said of the expanded storylines in the feature, with DC Entertainment’s Creative Director of Animation, Mike Carlin adding: “It was smart to come up with the prologue idea, which I think was really important to show Batgirl in action in this story just to get a sense of who she was. She wasn’t just somebody’s daughter, she was somebody who mattered to Gotham City, and Batman in particular.”
The preview can be watched below. It contains several large spoilers for The Killing Joke, including Barbara’s fate in the book, which means discussion and allusion to sexual assault.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueCJWmvyn78
The animated feature is expected to release at some point this year and features Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill back as Batman and The Joker respectively.
