DC has finally given us a thrilling new trailer for Batman: Knightfall, the next animated epic. 1993 was perhaps one of the hardest times for DC superheroes, with both Batman and Superman creative teams coming up with some of the darkest stories they ever told. The death of Superman coincided with another massive event: the breaking of the Bat, as Bruce Wayne suffered his greatest defeat in the epic “Knightfall” event. Readers were gripped with the shock of it… and now, that story is being adapted in a new animated movie.
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DC has finally unveiled a first trailer for Batman: Knightfall, the latest chapter in the thrilling DC Animated Universe. This immediately shows the scale of events, as Batman takes on his entire rogues’ gallery after a mass break-out from Arkham Asylum, while the ruthless villain Bane waits in the wings. Here’s the trailer, which offers close looks at Bane, Firefly, Scarecrow, Mr Freeze, the Joker, Two-Face, and more legendary DC villains, plus Nightwing, Tim Drake’s Robin, and of course Jean-Paul Valley, who takes over as Batman when Bruce is taken out by Bane…
Batman: Knightfall Shows How to Break the Bat
Looking back, the idea behind Knightfall was absolute genius. Individual villains had always pushed Batman close to breaking point; the break-out meant he’d wind up operating in a hostile environment, where most of his iconic villains were causing trouble all at once. This was before the Bat-Family, back when the Dark Knight considered himself a loner, meaning he wound up with an enormous amount of pressure resting on him to get crime in Gotham under control. Batman found himself spread far too thin, increasingly stressed, his exhaustion leading to clashes with his remaining allies.
This was, of course, the plan all along. For once, Batman had been outsmarted; his true enemy was a physical powerhouse named Bane, who sought to break the Bat both physically and spiritually. It all culminated in a shocking final confrontation between Batman and Bane, with Bane actually breaking Batman’s back, leaving Bruce Wayne crippled. The mantle passed on to the Batman ally Azrael, a much more brutal character who fitted well with the grim-dark approach of many mid-’90s comics. Azrael alienated many of Batman’s other allies, swiftly proving himself far too unstable to be a Batman.
Naturally, these are comics, so Bruce Wayne’s retirement didn’t last long. And yet, for all that’s the case, Knightfall remains one of the most iconic Batman stories ever told. This is because, for the first time, it punctured Batman’s aura of invincibility. There was no chance for prep time; he was drowning against a sweeping tide of enemies, before finally going up against a villain who could have physically matched him at his peak. The shift to Azrael was genius, offering a smart deconstruction of Batman that helped define him, and Knightfall really led to the emergence of the Bat-Family as Batman redefined himself and his crusade.
Given this context, it’s easy to see why we’re finally getting a Knightfall movie. It’s right that DC took a while getting there, because the DCAU’s Batman needed to rise high enough for the fall to really matter. The animation promises to be absolutely stunning, and we frankly can’t wait to see how this adaptation plays out. It’s time for the Dark Knight to fall.
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Image Courtesy of Sony -
Image Courtesy of DC Comics
