While we still have to wait a few more months for the return of Batman in a live action feature, DC has continued to produce a series of Batman animated films direct-to-DVD to keep fans of the Dark Knight satiated until the big crossover movie hits next March. Batman: Bad Blood is not, as it turns out, about an alternate universe where Taylor Swift becomes the new Robin. It is, in fact, a movie about a Batman going MIA, and the team of heroes who band together, whether they like it or not, to help fill the void. Watch the trailer below.
In Batman’s absence, Nightwing, aka Dick Grayson, dons the cowl and pretends to be the Bat. Presumably to prevent anybody from noticing that Batman isn’t around. Robin, the Damian Wayne version if you're keeping score, is apparently utterly unimpressed. It doesn’t look like any of the team even knows where the bat has gone. Based on the trailer, however, it’s not even clear how much of the film will be dedicated to the search. Instead, it seems like the focus will be much more on Nightwing, Robin and Batwoman, voiced by Yvonne Strahovski, along with newcomer hero Batwing, who apparently wasn’t notified that name was already taken by Batman’s plane. Batman is voiced in the feature by Jason O’Mara, who has been handling the duty in the last few Batman animated features. This means he is actually in the film, though he’s barely in the trailer.
Animation has been one of the places where the DC comics universe has been successful in recent years. WB has turned out film after film in the direct-to-DVD format, and the vast majority of them have been solid films. Batman, of course, has been the lynchpin in the entire machine. It was the success of Batman: The Animated Series in the early 1990s that started the entire ball rolling.
Batman: Bad Blood has received a PG-13 rating, which is par for the course for most of the DC animated features. That is a streak that may come to an end in the future. There are plans to make a future animated film out of the famous story The Killing Joke, and while it’s not a guarantee that it will be made as an R-rated film, the word is that such a thing is at least a possibility.
If you’re jonesing for a Batman fix Bad Blood may do it for you. Which of Warner Brothers animated films do you prefer? The film will be available in January. Now, who else wants to see Taylor Swift play Robin?
