DC’s League of Super-Pets Director Explains Why Keanu Reeves Is the Perfect Batman

Fans are just days away from getting their first look at DC League of Super-Pets, a new, animated movie starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Kevin Hart, in which the Justice League is captured and has to be rescued by a team of super-powered animals led by Krypto the Super-Dog. The movie is opening impressively wide, getting a bigger theatrical release than Warner Bros. gave Justice League in 2017, which means if all goes well, Warners has high hopes for a big opening weekend and an expanding franchise. They also have huge stars playing the roles of the Justice League members, even if those characters don’t get a ton of screen time.

Among them is Keanu Reeves, who is finally playing a superhero, and it’s a big one. The John Wick and The Matrix star is set to appear as Batman in the film, which opens Friday in theaters.

“Keanu Reeves’ voice was just such a perfect match for that,” writer/director Jared Stern told ScreenRant. “I think he would have been a great live-action Batman, but he’s wonderful as our animated haunted Batman and, most importantly, for our movie. I think he’s a guy who could really use a pet. And he really had fun with it. I’m nervous to direct wonderful, amazing actors who I’ve loved my whole life and I think he was he was so excited to be Batman. When you work in an animated movie, it kind of makes you a kid again, and to be Batman, it was pretty fun.”

DC League of Super-Pets has an absolutely stacked cast providing the voices for its characters. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is starring in the film as Krypto the Superdog, the canine pal of one Superman. Kevin Hart, Johnson’s friend and frequent collaborator, will be voicing Batman’s four-legged friend, Ace the Bat-Hound.

The cast of DC League of Super-Pets also includes Keanu Reeves, Kate McKinnon, Vanessa Bayer, Natasha Lyonne, and Diego Luna. DC League of Super-Pets is directed by Jared Stern and Sam Levine, from a script written by Stern. Johnson and Stern produce alongside Patricia Hicks, Dany Garcia, and Hiram Garcia. John Requa, Glenn Ficarra, and Nicholas Stoller all serve as executive procucers.

Here’s how DC Comics describes the upcoming adventure: “In DC League of Super-Pets, Krypto the Super-Dog and Superman are inseparable best friends, sharing the same superpowers and fighting crime in Metropolis side by side. When Superman and the rest of the Justice League are kidnapped, Krypto must convince a rag-tag shelter pack—Ace the hound, PB the potbellied pig, Merton the turtle and Chip the squirrel—to master their own newfound powers and help him rescue the Super Heroes.”