It’s happening, it’s finally happening!

DC have officially announced at SDCC (San Diego Comic-Con) that an animated film adaption of the Alan Moore classic, Batman : The Killing Joke, helmed by none other than the legendary Bruce Timm, will be coming in 2016.

Bruce Timm has been involved in almost every DC animation to date, as well as being behind the highly appraised Batman : The Animated Series, Batman Mask of The Phantasm, and Batman : Beyond. So its good to know the The Killing Joke will be in very good hands.

*Slight spoilers from the graphic novel*

The Killing Joke explores one of Batman’s most famous encounters with the Clown Prince of Crime, after the attack on Barbra Gordon (Batgirl) and her father Commissioner Gordon. The Graphic novel Centres around the Joker’s plot to drive the Commissioner insane to prove a point that all it takes is “one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy”.

During the main story, the Joker recounts the events (or a version of) that lead up to his disfigurement, involving him as a struggling comedian, who agrees to help a criminal gang break into a chemical plant disguise as ‘The Red Hood’. Although the Joker’s origin has varied with each retelling, to the point where the Joker himself doesn’t remember whats real and whats a lie, and DC have never definitively said “Yes, this is the Joker’s Origin”, The Killing Joke stands as the fan favourite.

So with an animation adaptation on the horizon, many fans will be both excited and nervous about seeing the iconic story brought to life; hopes are that it will be everything and more that fans want it to be.

Legendary actor Mark Hamill, who although famous for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars series, is perhaps even more known to comic fans as the voice actor behind the Joker, has said numerous times that he would come out of retirement to voice the Joker if they ever made a film adaption of The Killing Joke.

And now that it’s been officially announced, DC make the call.

Batman: The Killing Joke is coming to animated film 2016 -- Just announced by Bruce Timm at our JL: Gods & Monsters panel! #DCSDCC —

DC Comics (@DCComics) July 11, 2015

Although The Killing Joke is one of the most famous Batman Stories, it’s perhaps also one of the darkest to date, with the story even teasing Batman breaking his number one rule; never to kill, in the final pages.

It will be interesting to see how DC will handle the adult material in the graphic novel when bringing it to the screen. Hopefully we will see a return to type of storytelling seen in the Dark Knight Returns Pt I & II or Batman : Under the Red Hood, rather than DC’s more recent batman animated features like Batman Vs. Robin.

I wonder if anyones told Alan Moore about this? He’d probably hate the idea, due to the fact that he is 100% bat-shit crazy.

If you haven’t already, go read Batman : The Killing Joke

OR

alternatively if you don’t enjoy doing that reading thing, Digital Drift have made a really cool motion comic of the entire graphic novel, with voices and everything.

