Batman: The Killing Joke

Batman: The Killing Joke (2016)

Timing: 1:17 (77 min)

6.582/10
1751

6.746/10
16110

6.4/10
65000

All about film

Video 10

Photo 30

Actors and characters

Release date

2016-07-24

Country

United States

Production

DC Entertainment, DC Comics, Warner Bros. Animation

Genre

Action, Animation, Crime, Drama

Budget

$3 500 000

Revenue

$4 462 034

Website

https://www.warnerbros.com/batman-killing-joke

Director

Sam Liu

Actors

Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Tara Strong, Ray Wise, John DiMaggio, Robin Atkin Downes, Brian George, JP Karliak, Andrew Kishino, Nolan North
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Brian Azzarello

Producer

Michael Uslan, Benjamin Melniker, Bruce Timm, Sam Register

Operator

Composer

Kristopher Carter

Artist

Audition

Wes Gleason

Editing

Christopher D. Lozinski, Bobbie Page
All team (38)

• After the release of the computer game “Batman: Arkham Knight,” Mark Hamill stated that he would never voice the Joker again (voicing this character required incredible strain on his vocal cords) unless “Batman: The Killing Joke” was made into a feature film. He then changed his mind and said he would continue to voice the Joker, but only if Kevin Conroy continued to voice Batman. Conroy passed away in 2022, and Hamill announced that he was finished voicing the Joker.
• Originally, it was planned that the animated film would be released directly to video, but after the announcement that Batman and the Joker would be voiced by Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, respectively, the project’s popularity grew so much that Fathom Events (a company specializing in broadcasting entertainment content in cinemas across the United States) and Warner Bros. released it in theaters for two days.
• The Joker claims to prefer “a multitude of choices.” In Christopher Nolan’s science fiction action film “The Dark Knight” (2008), the Joker repeatedly offers a variety of, often contradictory, explanations for the origin of his scars.
• The design of the “Batmobile” in the film is based on the classic look of the car from the “Batman” animated series (1992-1994), which was also produced by Bruce Timm.
• Work on the project began as early as 2009, but it was then shelved due to the box office failure of Zack Snyder’s “Watchmen” in the same year.
• In the courtroom scene (which is not present in the original comics), the jury consists of kangaroos. This is a reference to the expression “kangaroo court” (which literally translates from English as “kangaroo court”).
• According to Bruce Timm, the idea for the half-hour prologue came from himself, co-producer Alan Burnett, and screenwriter Brian Azzarello when they decided that the original plot of “The Killing Joke” was too short to be turned into a full-length film. They decided it would be logical to introduce the tragic story of Batgirl into the script. In 2016, Timm stated in an interview that he never particularly liked Alan Moore’s graphic novel. He added that the idea of introducing Batgirl and her romantic relationship with Batman was necessary, and that he had always considered such a plot twist logical, especially when he watched the “Batman” (1966-1968) TV series with Adam West as a child. However, in the original 1988 comics, Batman and Barbara Gordon were written as father and daughter. Timm found this detail “a little risky.”
• In the images of the Joker that Batman examines in his cave, numerous references are hidden on the screen. The fourth image in the top row is a reference to “The Dark Knight,” where the Joker, played by Heath Ledger, is captured by the Gotham City Police. The fifth image in the top row shows a bloodied or dead Robin, which is a reference to the “A Death in the Family” storyline, where the Joker kills the second Robin, Jason Todd. This storyline is featured in the animated film “Batman: Under the Hood” (2010) from the DC Animated Universe. The third image in the second row shows the Joker in the guise he first appeared in on the cover of the very first issue of Batman comics in the 1940s. The second image in the first row is a reference to a scene from Tim Burton’s science fiction action film “Batman” (1989), where the Joker was played by Jack Nicholson. In this scene, the Joker is shown in a television commercial.
• The Joker is never addressed by name here. His name can be seen on posters, but none of the characters utter the word “Joker.”