DC has revealed the villainous cast of the upcoming kids animated series Batwheels, which stars anthropromophized versions of vehicles driven by Batman and his extended family of heroes. This isn’t the world of Pixar’s Cars, though, so there will be humans as well, and that gives the show a chance to recast some of the most iconic Bat-villains in DC history, as well as giving voices to their vehicles for the first time. The Legion of Zoom, a riff on the Super Friends and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow villains the Legion of Doom, will feature numerous Bat-antagonists and their technological surrogates…plus Catwoman, who doesn’t seem to have a vehicle yet, and a crash test dummy who’s presumably a bit of both.
Mick Wingert will play The Joker, with Griffin Burns as Prank, his vehicle. There seems to be a missed opportunity there, because it looks more like a cross between the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ van and a hearse, rather than the more obvious joke of a tiny clown car.
Sungwon Cho will play The Riddler with Josey Montana McCoy as Quizz, his helicopter. Chandni Parekh will be Harley Quinn, with Alexandra Novelle as Jestah, her souped-up, hyena-themed ATV. Animaniacs icon Jess Harness will play the Penguin, with Ariyan Kassam as Ducky, a rubber duck-themed vehicle that’s a pretty clear nod to Oswald Cobbleplot’s iconic conveyance from Batman Returns. Mister Freeze is to be voiced by Regi Davis, and an ice creatm truck with monster truck wheels, Snowy, will be voiced by Xolo Mariduena. SpongeBob SquarePants star Tom Kenny will step in as Crash, a crash-test dummy, and Gina Rodriguez will voice Catwoman.
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You can see the tweets, along with images of the Batwheels versions of the characters, below.
In the series, the Batmobile and other Gotham vehicles have been given sentient life by the Batcomputer, essentially making them kids with no life experience. The team includes the Batmobile, the Batgirl Cycle, the Redbird, the Batwing, and the Bat Truck. You can check out the synopsis below.
“They are a team of incredible crimefighters who have banded together to oppose evil, combat crime and clean up the streets of Gotham City. They are…okay, they’re NOT Batman and Robin. They’re the Batwheels – an awesome group of sentient super-powered crime-fighting vehicles defending Gotham City alongside Batman, Robin, Batgirl and a host of DC Super Heroes. Having just been created by the Batcomputer, our heroes are essentially kids with little to no life experience. Led by Bam (The Batmobile), the Batwheels – Bibi (The Batgirl Cycle), Red (The Redbird), Jett (The Batwing) and Buff (The Bat Truck) – must navigate the growing pains of being a newly formed super team as well as the growing pains that come with just being a kid. This relatable and aspirational series will follow the journey of this dynamic team as they thrill and entertain with their heroic adventures as well as demonstrate to kids the value of self-confidence, friendship and teamwork.”
“Batwheels is the perfect show to headline our new foray into preschool,” said Tom Ascheim, President, Warner Bros. Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics (GKYAC). “I can’t wait for all the aspiring super heroes out there to meet this whole new batch of crime-fighters.”
“From Batman: The Animated Series to Teen Titans Go!, superhero storytelling has definitely been one of our superpowers here at Warner Bros. Animation,” said Sam Register, President, Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios. “We are so excited to bring that expertise over to the preschool space and take something that all kids love, cool vehicles, and give it a turbo boost with Batman!”
Batwheels is produced by Warner Bros. Animation. Sam Register serves as the show’s executive producer with Michael G. Stern serving as co-executive producer. Steven Fink produces the series for Bang Zoom Ltd. and Simon J. Smith is the supervising producer.
