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Gotham by Gaslight Getting Animated DC Adaptation

By David Stephens 1 hour ago

The next DC animated movie to be released after Batman and Harley Quinn has been officially announced, and it will be an adaptation of the critically-acclaimed Elseworlds graphic novel Gotham by Gaslight. It was revealed after fuller details were given regarding the special features on the upcoming Harley Quinn escapade.

Gotham by Gaslight is a major fan-favorite for those who like to see the Dark Knight in an alternative setting, and one we’ve previously called out as being one of the Batman comics that should be an animated movie. It was published by DC Comics in 1989 as a one-shot, with the story having been written by editor and writer Brian Augustyn. The artwork and design originated from the legendary artist and writer Mike Mignola (Hellboy) and was inked his frequent work partner P. Craig Russell. The story re-imagines Bruce Wayne in a Victorian world, and filters every expected ingredient in a Batman story through that concept. It adapts the hero’s origin after he returns to Gotham City following a European trip, and introduces Commissioner Gordon and even a brief reference to a Victorian Joker. But mostly it’s about the freshly mantled caped crusader trying to deduce the identity of Jack the Ripper, who has started a fresh wave of killings in the US city.

It’s normal for the DVD and Blu-Ray releases to include sneak peeks of the next projects, so with Comicbook.com reporting that this title has just been added to the special features for the Batman and Harley Quinn release, it confirms that the next DC Animation direct-to-video release will be Batman: Gotham by Gaslight. There are currently no further details as to a release date, or who will be performing the voice-acting, although Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series ) would be the natural expectation for Bruce Wayne, although Jason O’Mara has been taking regular turns as the voice of the caped crusader lately as well.

Gotham by Gaslight was a hugely important graphic novel, and as influential, in its own way, as The Killing Joke. Although it wasn’t categorized as such at the time, it is generally accepted as being the very first Elseworlds tale and was later officially branded as such. The Elseworld stories were the DC version of Marvel’s What If stories, and placed their most famous characters in unfamiliar surroundings and times. This lead to incredibly popular publications like Superman: Red Son (which is rumored to be tapped for a live-action movie) and Batman: Red Rain (Batman as a vampire). Gotham by Gaslight itself spawned a sequel called Master of the Future which took on more Jules Verne trappings.

Hopefully for such an important story in Batman history, the animated film will give it the respect and tone that it deserves. The Killing Joke got some criticism for bolting on some contentious additional material to the plot, but that shouldn’t be necessary for this story which can easily standalone on its quality of plot and visuals. Until we know more, the only further details will be in the promotional footage included on the Batman and Harley Quinn release. In the meantime, we’ll keep you updated with any more information on the Gotham by Gaslight movie.

Batman and Harley Quinn is released on August 29, 2017.

Source: Comicbook.com

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News of these new DC Universe Original Movies comes to us courtesy of ComingSoon.net. The most exciting animated feature that was announced is the Death of Superman adaptation, which will be released in 2018 as two separate feature length movies. The two-part movie will adapt the legendary story of Superman's fatal battle with Doomsday. This will be the second time that DC is tackling the story, the first was in 2007's Superman: Doomsday, which altered the comic book to fit under a running time of 75 minutes. By spreading Death of Superman over two full length movies should allow the adaptation to be more faithful to the source material, which is huge news for Superman fans everywhere. The second half, Reign of Superman will tell the next part in the adaptation, which will see the rise of Superman, taking place a year after his death and again, should be a lot more detailed than the 2007 adaptation.

The first animated movie to be released will be Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, which is an adaptation of the popular 1989 story that introduced the Victorian Era Dark Knight. The title has been rumored for weeks, but was officially confirmed at Comic-Con. Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola wrote the story and many feel that the story kicked off DC's "Elseworlds" brand of stories with alternate realities. The movie is expected to expand on the original 48-page story and flesh it out as the Dark Knight goes after Jack the Ripper.

After Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is released, we can look forward to Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, which will be the first Suicide Squad movie to be set within the canon of the DC animated movieverse, much like how 2014's Batman: Assault on Arkham that featured the Suicide Squad was set in the popular Arkham video game. Hell to Pay will feature an original story, but details have not been officially announced yet other than promising a stellar voice cast.

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