Batman Ninja released its first trailer back in December, and this second one is much the same — except for a few tantalizing extra clips and, vitally, the work of the animated movie’s English voice cast.
Watch closely, and you can get your first look at Bane, and a neat little clip of Batman hanging upside down from a bridge — both of them transported to feudal Japan by, hang on, let me check the press release ...
“Gorilla Grodd’s time displacement machine.”
Ah, I see. But Bane and Batman aren’t the only notorious Gotham citizens transported.
“The villains take over the forms of the feudal lords that rule the divided land,” says DC Entertainment’s press release, “with the Joker taking the lead among the warring factions. As his traditional high-tech weaponry is exhausted almost immediately, Batman must rely on his intellect and his allies — including Catwoman and the extended Bat-family — to restore order to the land, and return to present-day Gotham City.”
Batman Ninja is a feature-length collaboration between three big names in anime. The film was written by Kazuki Nakashima (Gurren Lagann), directed by Jumpei Mizusaki (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure), with character designs by Takashi Okazaki (Afro Samurai). Nakashima’s script was then adapted for Western audiences by Leo Chu and Eric Garcia.
Beyond the uncanny visuals on display in the trailer, the voice cast is just as impressive, with Roger Craig Smith (Batman: Arkham Origins) as Batman, Tony Hale (Arrested Development) as the Joker, Tara Strong (The New Batman Adventures) as Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, Fred Tatasciore (Family Guy) as Gorilla Grodd and Deathstroke, Yuri Lowenthal (Ben 10: Omniverse) as Robin, Will Friedle (Batman Beyond) as Red Robin and Red Hood and Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants) as the Penguin.
Batman Ninja will be released digitally on April 24, 2018; and on Blu-ray and DVD on May 8, 2018. It will be available in a 4K digital download sometime this summer.
