Batman: The Killing Joke Trailer (2016)

Trailer for Batman: The Killing Joke, starring Mark Hamill, Kevin Conroy and Ray Wise.

As Batman hunts for the escaped Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime attacks the Gordon family to prove a diabolical point mirroring his own fall into madness.

Based on the comicbook of the same name, Batman: The Killing Joke tells the origin story of the Joker, where the supervillain spends a lot of his time attempting to make Jim Gordon go insane. Most comicbook affectionados consider this graphic novel to be one of the best Batman comics ever published, while also being described as the definitive Joker story. It went on to win the Eisner Award for "Best Graphic Album" in 1989.

The only person who seems to not like Batman: The Killing Joke is the author himself, Alan Moore. When asked to clarify why he doesn't find his story to be "very good," he explains that it doesn't relate well to the real world.

In terms of the film, Mark Hamill made a career promise that he would never voice the Joker again after doing Batman: Arkham Knight, since the task is too much of a strain on his vocal chords. But he did leave one condition... That he'd come back and do the voice for the Joker if The Killing Joke were to be adapted to film, and so it has.

Warner Bros has announced that the animation will be darker and more violent than The Dark Knight, a fact that has landed the adaptation an R-rating from the MPAA.

How cool would it be if Warner Bros released a red band trailer for Batman: The Killing Joke? It would be one of those rare moments an animation would get such a treatment. In terms of the trailer before us, there is still enough here to hint that this is one dark animated film, especially with all the talk of killing from Batman himself.

I always find the animated Joker to be a bit er, eccentric and goofy, but there are plenty of shots that do represent a villain to fear. And Batgirl is definitely important in this bout between the "two legendary rivals," as we get to see Barbara Gordon both in and out of costume.

All in all, Batman: The Killing Joke looks pretty cool. While Warner Bros has not exactly specified their summer release for this just yet, I have my fingers crossed that it quickly shows up on Amazon or Netflix.