Yesterday fresh trailers were sent out for Batman projects debuting in 2026: the Knightfall Trilogy and Caped Crusader Season Two. But the Bat-Train never stops, and WB is already hard at work on projects beyond. Today they revealed an animated show based on Absolute Batman and a Joker anime are now in production.
The Absolute Batman show is the least surprising news bite of the year if you know anything about the comic book business. The comic it’s going to be based on is the biggest hit DC has had in years. The first issue has gone over ten printings, and more recent issues are given second printings before their first even hit stores. The Absolute line overall has been a success for DC, but the Batman title is the current leader.
What’s the secret of its sauce? The Absolute line is a new take on DC heroes that takes away their “cheats” and makes their villains more powerful instead, forcing the heroes to fight through sheer willpower and determination alone. In the case of Batman, this is a Bruce Wayne who grows up working class and has no personal advantages to speak of. With no sleek super-car or fancy computers to aid his crusade, Batman survives solely on his own sharply honed skills. Meanwhile many of his enemies, like the Joker, are the rich ones in this universe.
At the moment, it’s unknown where the Absolute Batman show could show up. It has no network deal, and the industry will probably rearrange itself twelve times before the first season is complete. There is no release window either, not even a suggested year. It could be a while, is what we’re saying.
WB also announced Joker: Laugh Riot, which they claim is “the first-ever anime DC series”…and I don’t know what they’re talking about, because Suicide Squad Isekai already happened. Anyway, the SECOND DC anime will propose a hypothetical scenario where Batman is killed, but not by the Joker. The Clown Prince of Crime is furious, and starts a search through Gotham to find the one who took away his greatest adversary. In the meantime, Joker can’t help but feel directionless now.
If it sounds like the great BTAS episode “The Man Who Killed Batman,” we admit there are parallels here, but we also doubt it will feel remotely the same. Joker: Laugh Riot will be directed by Yasuhiro Aoki (ChaO, Batman: Gotham Knight – In Darkness Dwells) with Jim Krieg as EP; like Absolute Batman it has no network deal yet.
A third project was also announced; a new kids’ series starring Krypto the Superdog, executive produced by C.H. Greenblatt (Chowder, Harvey Beaks, Jellystone). Let’s hope James Gunn isn’t about to kill that dog!
