The first trailer for "Batman: The Killing Joke" animated film has been released, according to a report from Collider. The teaser is a very short snippet revealing the animation style that the movie is going for as well as a good first look at the main events in the film.
The movie is based on the graphic novel "The Killing Joke" by writer Alan Moore and artist Brian Bolland. The graphic novel explored a possible origin of the Joker (Mark Hamill) while also telling a story set in the present time, where the Joker captures Commisioner Gordon (Ray Wise) and severely injures Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl (Tara Strong).
Dialogue in the trailer is short, with the only notable lines coming from an exchange between Batman (Kevin Conroy) and one of the security guards at Arkham Asylum. The guard states that it is meaningless to interrogate the Joker, given how the villain is completely insane, to which Batman claims he can make the Joker confess.
Collider reports that the film has been given the green light to pursue an R-Rating, but the teaser trailer does not yet showcase if the movie will push through with this and portray several of the original graphic novel's darker and twisted images and plot lines.
It is hinted that some of these darker elements will be portrayed in the film as there are sequences in which Commisioner Gordon is naked and kept in a cage, constantly being tortured by the Joker's minions. There is also a scene with the Joker holding up his gun, indicating that the film will have the sequence where the Joker shoots down Batgirl, permanently paralyzing her from the waist down.
Bruce Timm, executive producer of DC Animated, revealed in a report from Den of Geek: "The source material is really not long enough to make an entire feature film out of, so we actually had to add a lot more story to it. Which is tricky. But I think we came up with a really good solution on how that worked."
"Batman: The Killing Joke" will be released this summer.
