Batman: Year One Getting a 4K Commemorative Edition
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is celebrating the tenth anniversary of their acclaimed animated adaptation of Batman: Year One with a special commemorative edition, which will upgrade the movie to 4K UHD for disc and digital. The movie, adapted from the comic book story by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, centers on a young Bruce Wayne just beginning to find his footing as Batman. While Matt Reeves's live-action The Batman isn't a Year One story, elements of the film seem to be inspired by origin stories like this, Scott Snyder's Zero Year, and other tales of Bruce's early days.
The commemorative edition features a fully-remastered version of the film, and a newly-created bonus feature, Reinventing Gordon. It will get a simultaneous release on disc and Digital starting November 9, 2021. It will also include a "DC Universe Movies Flashback" looking at Batman: Soul of the Dragon, Batman: The Long Halloween Part One, and Batman: The Long Halloween Part Two.
The featurette focusing on Gordon is an interesting move: Batman: Year One's Bruce Wayne was Ben McKenzie, who would go on to play Jim Gordon on Gotham. The character will also be appearing in the Batman (played by Jeffrey Wright), and that version will carry over to a planned Gotham PD TV show on HBO Max. The streaming platform will also be the home of DC's planned Batgirl movie, starring Leslie Grace as Gordon's daughter Barbara.
Fans can get a sneak peek at the new special feature Reinventing Gordon at DC FanDome. The global fan experience returns on Saturday, October 16 at 10 a.m. PDT with an all-new, epic streaming event at DCFandome.com.
You can see Warner's official synopsis for Batman: Year One below.
Originally released on Blu-ray and DVD in 2011, Batman: Year One is based on the landmark 1987 DC titles from 12-time Eisner Award winner and Eisner Award Hall of Fame member Frank Miller and illustrator David Mazzucchelli. The film depicts young Bruce Wayne's return to Gotham City in his first attempts to fight injustice as a costumed Super Hero. The playboy billionaire chooses the guise of a giant bat to combat crime, creates an early bond with a young Lieutenant James Gordon (who is already battling corruption from inside the police department), inadvertently plays a role in the birth of Catwoman, and helps to bring down a crooked political system that infests Gotham City.
Six-time Emmy® Award winner Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad, Trumbo, Your Honor) and Gotham star Ben McKenzie (Southland, The O.C.) lead a star-studded cast as Lieutenant James Gordon and Bruce Wayne/Batman, respectively. Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) provides the voice of Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Katee Sackhoff (The Mandalorian, Battlestar Galactica) gives voice to Detective Sarah Essen, and the late Alex Rocco (The Godfather) is the voice of crime lord Carmine Falcone. Additional voices/characters include the late Jon Polito as Commissioner Loeb, Jeff Bennett as Alfred, Grey Griffin as Barbara Gordon & Vicki Vale, Robin Atkin Downes as Harvey Dent, Keith Ferguson as Jefferson Skeevers, Fred Tatasciore as Detective Flass, Stephen Root as Brendon, Liliana Mumy as Holly and Nick Jameson as Merkel.
Lauren Montgomery (Wonder Woman, Voltron: Legendary Defender) and Sam Liu (Batman: Soul of the Dragon, Superman: Red Son) co-directed Batman: Year One from a script penned by Academy Award® nominee Tab Murphy (Gorillas in the Mist, Disney's Tarzan). Animation legend Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series) is executive producer of Batman: Year One. Executive producers are Sam Register, Michael Uslan and the late Benjamin Melniker.
The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack features an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc in 4K with HDR, a Blu-ray disc featuring the film in hi-definition, and a digital version of the movie.