DC has been putting out animated features of its more famous comics since 2007, and most of them have been PG-13-rated fare. But their next animated film will be The Killing Joke, Alan Moore’s disturbing origin story of the Joker. As anybody who has ever read the graphic novel knows, it’s appropriate that that the film will be rated R. And we have a scene for you.
In this scene—the opening of the graphic novel—Batman is visiting the Joker in Arkham Asylum. The Caped Crusader confesses to the Joker that he’s been thinking a lot about his nemesis, about the fact that one of them will likely kill the other.
Batman says, “I need to know, for when that time comes, I made a genuine attempt to talk things over, to try to avert the inevitable, just once… Listen to me, this is life and death. Mine or yours.”
And while Batman speaks, the Joker quietly plays a hand of solitaire.
It’s a bleak beginning when the superhero famous for not killing starts off with murder on his mind. Trust me, the story doesn’t get any more cheerful. Yes, there are some disturbing images, but mostly the story earns its R rating for violence of the emotional kind.
Mark Hamill has been known as the voice of the Joker for 24 years until he hung up his green-and-purple duds. But when Hamill learned that The Killing Joke was next on DC Animated Original Movies’ slate, he came out of retirement for the occasion. You won’t hear him in this clip, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch it anyway.
Via Blastr.
Featured Image Credit: YouTube: DC Entertainment.