DC Studios Drops First Trailer for Batman: Knightfall – Part 1
Fresh off its debut at the Annecy Film Festival, Warner Bros. Animation and DC Studios released the trailer for the animated feature event, Batman: Knightfall – Part 1. This first look at the opening act of a new adult-oriented trilogy offers a straightforward peek at the 1993 crossover event that redefined the Dark Knight forever.
New villain Bane, the Venom-fueled big man who would go on to “Break the Bat,” detonates an explosion at Arkham Asylum that causes a mass breakout. Batman naturally springs into action to round up all the escaped villains, who include Joker, Scarecrow, Two-Face, and Mr. Freeze, playing right into Bane’s ploy to exhaust the vigilante before confronting him at Wayne Manor.
A strong voice cast was assembled to carry the weight of the story. The returning Anson Mount (Marvel’s Inhumans, Injustice) headlines the ensemble as the battle-weary Bat with the heaviness of Gotham on his shoulders. Michael Mando (Better Call Saul) voices Bane in what could prove to be the most intimidating iteration since The Dark Knight Rises.
Pablo Schreiber (The Wire, brother of Liev) voices Jean-Paul Valley, the volatile anti-hero who is drafted by the broken, commisserating Bruce into replacing him. Lastly, David Dastmalchian, who is never far from DC, circled back to play The Riddler – the villain who initially kicked off the Knightfall storyline with his schemes that intersected with Bane’s.
The latter’s appearance is one of the biggest takeaways from the trailer, as his design sticks closer to the comics of the 90s than Christopher Nolan’s real-world take in TDKR. Bane is depicted as a hulking and imposing figure with his traditional luchador-inspired mask, and the iconic venom tubes pumping the super-steroid directly into his head.
The animation heavily channels the contours and shadows of Kelley Jones’s surreal covers from that era. It gained the attention and a slight note of optimism from Chuck Dixon, co-creator of Bane (and one of the straws stirring the drink of the character’s destiny back then). He took to Facebook, adding a trailer still as his cover photo, and giving the animators credit for portraying Bane’s design accurately for once.
Batman: Knightfall – Part 1 is directed by Jeff Wamester and written by Jeremy Adams. It should be released later this year, with the next two chapters following soon after.
