In 2015, the Dark Knight met the Heroes in a Half Shell
on the comics page for the first time. Now that same team-up is headed to animation with an all-star voice cast, and
SYFY Wire has unveiled a Turtley Awesome first look!
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
This spring, Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Home Entertainment are teaming up with DC Entertainment and Nickelodeon for
Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, an all-new animated movie that unites everyone's favorite turtles with the Caped Crusader for the first time outside of the comics page. Based on the
Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics miniseries by James Tynion IV and Freddie Williams II, the film will see the turtles meeting Batman, Batgirl and Robin — thanks to a dimensional warp — and feature our heroes teaming up to face Batman's deadly rogues gallery.
Update (3/9): Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will host the world premiere of
Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at WonderCon Anaheim 2019 on Sunday March 31, 2019 at 1:45pm – 3:45pm! See below for details!
The film's voice cast features Troy Baker (
The Last of Us,
Batman: Arkham Origins) as both Batman and the Joker (making him the first actor ever to take on both roles in one project), Darren Criss (the Emmy-winning star of
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story) as Raphael, Kyle Mooney (
Saturday Night Live) as Michelangelo, Baron Vaughn (
Grace and Frankie) as Donatello, Eric Bauza (
The Woody Woodpecker Show) as Leonardo, Rachel Bloom (
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) as Batgirl, Tom Kenny (
SpongeBob SquarePants) as the Penguin, John DiMaggio (
Futurama,
Adventure Time) as Mr. Freeze, Tara Strong (
The Powerpuff Girls) as both Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, Carlos Alazraqui (
Rocko's Modern Life,
Fairly OddParents,
Reno 911!) as Bane, and Cas Anvar (
The Expanse) as Ra's al Ghul.
“Not gonna lie, it’s been SUPER hard keeping this one a secret,” Baker
tweeted of the announcement.
Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will arrive on 4K, Blu-ray, and Digital late this spring. For now, check out our official first look at images from the film, as well as a behind-the-scenes shot of Criss recording his dialogue as Raphael below! COWABUNGA!:
Photo: Gary Miereanu
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
With a
new Ghostbusters movie in the pipeline, and with the Turtles also
previously teaming up with the Stantz, Spengler, Venkman and Zeddemore on the comics pages, hopefully we'll be seeing an animated
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters movie, too!
More Nick: Paramount Moves Ahead with Third 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Theatrical Movie!
Considering that this movie is based off the first time that Batman and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles met on the printed page, noticeably absent from this lineup of characters is the Turtles’ greatest foe, The Shredder. In the original storyline, Shredder and his Foot Clan were transported with the Turtles to Gotham City, and Shredder subsequently formed an alliance with Ra’s al Ghul. Either this movie is keeping Shredder’s role a secret or this will be more of a loose adaptation that doesn’t include him. If it’s the latter, perhaps he could be saved for a sequel where Batman is the one transported to the Turtles’ universe and has to fight an assortment of their enemies, including Shredder.
After Batman and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles first crossed over in 2015, these versions of the characters reunited in 2017, where Bane traveled to the Turtles’ universe and seized control of the Foot Clan. That story could also be used as the story for a
Batman vs. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sequel, especially since we’re meeting Bane in the first movie. There was also a crossover that was published between late 2016 and early 2017, although that was a separate ‘first encounter’ event between the Batman from the DC Animated Universe continuity and the Ninja Turtles from the world of the 2012 CGI animated series. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were also made available as playable DLC characters in the
Injustice 2 video game. To put it simply, this animated movie marks the next logical step for an odd, yet fun superhero alliance that’s less than half a decade old.
The Turtles have had a busy schedule lately, with the reveal of a
Netflix film based on Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, plus the possibility that a
third live-action movie may start filming this year.
Batman has also been busy lately. Just last month, it was revealed that a
Batman Beyond animated movie is in the works from Warner Animation Group and today's announcement is bound to excite fans just as much. Additionally, the beloved cartoon
Young Justice: Outsiders recently wrapped the first half of its continuation on DC Universe, with the remaining 13 episodes set to begin airing in June.
While he’s currently not leading his own animated series, Batman also appears in many of the direct-to-video DC animated movies, most recently
Reign of the Supermen. In live action, the DC Extended Universe’s Bruce Wayne most recently appeared in Justice League, which ended up being Ben Affleck’s last performance as the character. For Matt Reeves’
The Batman, a younger, but still well-known actor, is being sought to take over as Gotham City’s shadowy vigilante. This project will have a noir vibe, highlight Batman’s detective skills and feature several members of his rogues gallery, including possibly The Penguin. The origin of Batman is also being told in
Gotham.
Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles World Premiere at WonderCon Anaheim 2019:
Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
It’ll take the unlikely unification of The Dark Knight and the Heroes in a Half-shell to overcome combined villainous forces afoot in Gotham City in the all-new, feature-length animated thriller, Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment proudly invites WonderCon attendees to be the first live audience to witness this tantalizing team-up at the World Premiere and its star-studded post-screening panel. The Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles all-star cast is led by Troy Baker (Batman: Arkham Origins, The Last of Us) as the voice of both Batman and the Joker, making Baker the first actor to ever play both roles in the same film. Opposite Baker are the Ninja Turtles themselves-Emmy Award/Golden Globe Award/SAG Award-winner Darren Criss (American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, Glee) as Raphael, Kyle Mooney (Saturday Night Live) as Michelangelo, Baron Vaughn (Grace and Frankie) as Donatello, and Eric Bauza (Looney Tunes Cartoons, The Woody Woodpecker Show) as Leonardo. Other key members of the voice cast include Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) as Batgirl, John DiMaggio (Adventure Time, Futurama) as Mr. Freeze, Tara Strong (Batman: The Animated Series, Teen Titans, Teen Titans Go!) as Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants) as Penguin, Carlos Alazraqui (Reno 911!) as Bane, Cas Anvar (The Expanse) as Ra’s al Ghul, Keith Ferguson (Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends) as Baxter Stockman and Two-Face, Brian George (Seinfeld) as Alfred, Ben Giroux (Hart of Dixie) as Robin, Andrew Kishino (The Lion Guard) as Shredder, and Jim Meskimen (Parks and Recreation) as Commissioner Gordon and Scarecrow. Jake Castorena (The Death of Superman) directs Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from a script by Marly Halpern-Graser (Mad, Batman Unlimited, Be Cool, Scooby-Doo). The film is inspired by the comic book series “Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” by James Tynion IV and Freddie Williams II (published by DC Comics and IDW Publishing), and based on characters from DC and Nickelodeon. Ben Jones (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Batman: The Brave and the Bold) is producer. Executive producers are Benjamin Melniker and Michael Uslan. Sam Register and Chris Viscardi are executive producers. Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a produced by Warner Bros. Animation, DC, Nickelodeon and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.
Sunday March 31, 2019 1:45pm – 3:45pm
Arena
Originally published: Wednesday, February 13, 2019.
H/T: Anime Superhero Forum /@James Harvey; Additional sources: EW.com, Screen Rant, CinemaBlend, VitalThrills.com.
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