Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine Batman: The Killing Joke - The Cartoon Movie

It was confirmed several months ago that "Batman: The Killing Joke" would be made into an animated movie, and today it was officially revealed that "Batman: The Animated Series" alums Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill will reprise Batman and The Joker, respectively, for the project. Hamill couldn't contain his excitement at returning to play The Clown Prince of Crime and was quite active posting on Twitter today about it. It was also confirmed today that the movie would be rated R.

How do you feel about the new drive towards comic book movies, even the animated ones, being R rated?

Animation for adult viewers isn't a new thing, so why not? There are still plenty of animated kids movies for everyone to enjoy.

That said, I remain bored with all things Batman. So I doubt I'll be rushing out to see this.

Adult animated movies are great in theory, but I find that in practice, they're mostly just gross-outs and ugliness for their own sakes grafted onto otherwise unsophisticated storylines.

And don't get me started on "The Killing Joke." I love Alan Moore, but I hate that so-called graphic novel.

Moore has distanced himself from Killing Joke, and while I think there is an interesting take on the dynamic between the two leads, as well as the origin/maybe not origin of the Joker, I'm afraid the movie will focus on the baser aspects of the story and lose any value. Most of the "adult" DCU animated movies lately have been pretty awful.

I thought he had, but wasn't 100% sure. Thanks for confirming it.

I could really do without seeing an animated version of the abuse Barbara Gordon suffered.

The rating really makes me worried about the rape controversy of a year or two ago being dramatized.

But, more directly, I don't think a movie featuring icons like Superman, Batman, etc. should ever be made to be R-rated or worse. Punisher, Deadpool, etc.--those are fine, but iconic, historically kid-friendly heroes that routinely have appeared on pajamas and lunchboxes for decades should never go beyond PG-13, imo.

Agreed 100%, Lardy.

Unfortunately we'll be getting an R rated version of Batman v Superman when it's released to DVD, also rumored to portray that scene from The Killing Joke but with live actors instead of animated ones.

Yeah, I heard about that getting an R-rated cut as well. Had no idea the differences between the versions there was Barbara being brutalized/raped...

I don't think there should be an R-rated version for BvS even if only on home release. Live action or animated, I still stick to my principle feeling there.

I'll add that I also find it pretty disturbing that there are apparently people who *would* want to see such a thing.

I "get" it to a degree. There are fans out there who want to see them true to the source material, specifically the elements of BvS said to be modeled after Frank Miller's Dark Knight returns and the darkness and grittiness of Killing Joke. I think it's possible to tell both stories without crossing the line, though--I mean Nolan's Batman films were dark, but still stayed below the line.

Personally, though, I'd rather see new stories dramatized, maybe with a few nods and winks like the MCU, rather than telling stories straight-up that you can already read in their original medium.

I don't see why anyone would want to see an R-rated depiction of what happened to Barbara Gordon, though. I honestly don't want to see it in a PG-13 version, personally.

Perhaps the movies are going through the same cycle as the comics did. Brutality over context, bleakness over the real themes of the source material.

I wonder how many people will buy the varient, holographic DVD covers for the Liefeld style animations to come.

It was an interesting story, but Bolland's art saved it for me.

by the by, not trying to be a shit...but I've read several times that Barbara wasn't raped by DC and people that worked on it. Going off memory here, it's been a while. That's why I'm asking, cause it would be a fundamental change to the story for me. Being shot was bad enough, true.

So, has it been confirmed that she was raped or is it just assumed?

Rick, I'll admit to being a little fuzzy on the details, but a couple of years ago, there was a big controversy about this when some un-edited Bolland art from the story was released. The original version shows Barbara topless in a shot. If nothing else, it sexualizes Barbara's attack and fuels the flame (that had already existed) that Barbara may have been raped in addition to being shot and tortured. At the very least it comes off as a crass attempt to titillate in a horrific example of exploitation. At worst it seemingly confirms a beloved character was raped.

Google it and you can easily find articles which show the page in question in the two versions.

In the original it is (intentionally) left vague. The Joker definitely disrobes her and takes pictures. You can certainly infer physical sexual assault, but it's not explicitly confirmed. Obviously the act by it's nature is still sexual assault.

Even the more graphic alternate art from a few years ago Paladin mentions just shows her breasts and the wound explicitly, but leaves us with the same information to work with we had previously.

That is true, and I tried to make it clear in my post. However, I find it deplorable that there was ever a version in which Barbara's breasts (and her buttocks in another shot) were exposed in a scene like this. Yes, editorial made the right call to edit that scene, but it should never have been created in that manner in the first place. It clearly sexualizes violence to women and does so to a beloved character who appears in pajamas and lunch boxes. The more I think about it, the version that actually made the cut is still too much as it was.

Just the act of having her undressed pushed the scene into sexual assault territory. I'm not sure a couple of other shots would have been anything other than more explicit reinforcements of something that the story made clear.

Aw jeez...

Ugh. This is an insult not only to Batgirl, but also to Batman.

I didn't want to see this movie when it was first announced, and now I just have more justification not to.