Originally announced at New York Comic Con, the ongoing battle between Batman and the Joker is being thrust back in time to Feudal Japan in the anime, Batman Ninja. Warner Bros. released the official trailer today and it is quite a departure from any animated version of Batman we’ve seen in the past.
Written by Kazuki Nakashima (Kill La Kill) and directed by Jumpei Mizusaki (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure), the movie looks to follow Batman and company (the trailer shows glimpses of Red Robin, Robin, Nightwing, Alfred and Catwoman) as they find themselves hundreds of years in a past version of Japan. It seems Joker got there first (alongside Harley Quinn, Penguin and Two-Face) and has built himself quite an army to take over. While the trailer is light on story details beyond that, it is overflowing with style.
The character designs meld together feudal Japanese stylings with the iconic outfits of all the characters involved so they’re instantly recognizable while still fitting into the new setting. The animation style seems to blend CGI and hand drawn with some truly epic battles taking place between the heroes and villains. The end of the trailer even strongly hints that there will be a mech involved. Because of course Joker would find a way to pilot a mech.
No word on the release date yet, but in the meantime, check out the two trailers released and let us know your thoughts. Are you digging the new character designs and overall take on The Batman Universe?