Batman: Death in the Family Clip Released

On Tuesday, Warner Bros Home Entertainment released a new clip from Batman: Death in the Family, the company’s first-ever venture into interactive storytelling. In the clip, Jason Todd awakens from the beating he took at the Joker’s hands. He quickly turns against the other members of the Batman family. He runs off into the night and becomes the villain known as Hush, a fate hinted at in the original Batman: Hush comic book that turned out to be a red herring foreshadowing Jason’s later return as the masked vigilante called Red Hood. You can watch the clip above.

Batman: Death in the Family allows fans to choose where the story goes through navigation guided by the viewer’s remote control. The extended short adapts the 1988 comic book story Batman: A Death in the Family by Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo. The event offered fans the opportunity to vote by telephone to determine whether Robin, the young Jason Todd, would live or die in the story’s ending. The interactive Blu-ray presents multiple ways for viewers to tell the Batman: Death in the Family story, with twists and turns in the middle, and several possible endings.

Batman: Death in the Family is produced, directed, and written by Brandon Vietti. The animated story undoes the infamous murder of Batman protégé Jason Todd and the destinies of Batman, Robin, and The Joker play out in new ways as viewers make choices throughout the story. While Batman: Under the Red Hood, where Jason Todd returns as the ruthless vigilante Red Hood, provides a baseline, the tale also branches in new directions and features several characters previously unseen in the original film.

“Batman: Death in the Family is essentially a comic book come to life,” Vietti said in the film’s original announcement. “We’ve paid homage to the 1988 interactive experience of DC’s A Death in the Family comics release by giving fans a unique opportunity to craft their own story through a branching tool that can lead in multiple directions. The viewer gets to choose these characters’ paths, and each choice paves an alternate future for all of the characters and, ultimately, the story.

“From the very first navigation card, we wanted to give the audience an impression of what they’re getting into, but then also give them something unexpected—maybe even something they’ll regret, so they have to think twice about every future choice they make. Branched storytelling has to be stronger than just the gimmick of the choices—it has to be rewarding and offer new and worthwhile insights into the characters. It needs to involve you, and keep you searching for the next twist. So, we sought to subvert expectations and do something very different.”

Bruce Greenwood (The Resident, Star Trek, iRobot), Vincent Martella (Phineas and Ferb), and John DiMaggio (Futurama, Adventure Time) reprise their Batman: Under The Red Hood roles of Batman, young Jason Todd, and The Joker, respectively. The voice cast also includes Zehra Fazal (Young Justice) as Talia al Ghul and Gary Cole (Veep) as Two-Face and James Gordon.

DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family releases on Blu-ray & Digital on October 13th. Pre-orders are live on Amazon now.

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