The Killing Joke

[Catwoman]

I'm shocked that there isn't a post about this coming out of Comic Con but there was about the Batsy/TMNT thing lol.

Anyways!

Bruce Timm announced that he is making an animated movie of The Killing Joke, so, yeah. Discuss, peeps.

I'll start: if Mark Hamill isn't the Joker for this, just shelve it. lol. I'm not 100% serious but this kind of story has to have his Joker. I read that he totally loves the comic (oh, excuse me, graphic novel  got "enlightened" by someone on Facebook) so maybe he is already practicing.

This will be amazing though. Barbara's fate brought to life will be terrifying and so will the Commish being forced to endure what he endures, not saying it cause you know spoilers even though it should be like required to have read that to register here which means I wouldn't have been able to register here til this spring so forget I said that.

[johnnygobbs]

The Killing Joke is one of my all-time favourite graphic novels, not just with respect to Batman but ever.  It's just a shame that this will be an animated film rather than a live-action one.

[Catwoman]

To me the animation is perfect because it will be like the pages are coming to life. Plus, there's just stuff they can make happen with animation that can't be done in live action (or if they try it is so computer generated that it has no soul).

[The Laughing Fish]

I'd imagine that studios wouldn't have the guts to show the level of violence that occurs in The Killing Joke for a live action film. Can you imagine if the Joker managed to massacre a live TV audience and murder more people along the way at the carnival if The Dark Knight Returns was a live action movie? The backlash would be so enormous that it would make the Batman Returns controversy look so small by comparison. Yet strangely, graphic violence in animation seems to get away from that kind of scrutiny.

If Mark Hamill doesn't get to reprise Joker one more time, the safe bet would be hiring Troy Baker. He's the closest Hamill knock-off to come by, he even read one of the Joker's monologues from the book during a promotion for Arkham Origins.

[Catwoman]

Yet strangely, graphic violence in animation seems to get away from that kind of scrutiny.

Maybe because it's something drawn by hand or rendered on a computer, instead of real people with real looking death and disaster?

Maybe everyone has a little Joel Schumacher in their brains, sitting on a crane with a megaphone, going "Remember people, this is a cartoon." lol

[Edd Grayson]

Yet strangely, graphic violence in animation seems to get away from that kind of scrutiny.

It's like that now, but there was a time when many animated shows were censored, they couldn't show blood or even say ""kill" or "die" or show real guns in the Spider-Man and X-Men shows.

[The Laughing Fish]

You're right about the lack of guns Edd. I even remember that the original TMNT cartoon had carefully toned down the Turtles use of their weaponry in a lot of episodes, presumably because of complaints made by parents.

I believe BTAS was the first cartoon to show guns and mention killing without being hit by censorship, i.e. Batman facing off goons armed with guns and even getting injured and bloodied in some cases, and people dying is a possibility e.g. Carl Beaumont murdered by Jack Napier and the Phantasm murdering the Valestra mob in MOTP, and Two-Face's goons seemingly killed by Rupert Thorne's mob in Two-Face Part II.

[Catwoman]

http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/mark-hamill-hopes-to-voice-joker-for-killing-joke-adaptation

Memo to Bruce Timm: MAKE THE DAMN CALL!!!!

[Catwoman]

Mark is in, Kevin wants in!

http://comicbook.com/2015/07/27/kevin-conroy-would-love-to-do-the-killing-joke-with-mark-hamill/

[The Laughing Fish]

It seems that this adaptation is going to be rated R. That should mean it won't hold back on Joker's vile assault and abuse on Barbara Gordon and her dad.

The comic might have had disturbing subtext such as Barbara's possible sexual abuse, but thankfully it wasn't as graphic as it could've been. But I won't be surprised if the movie dares to shock the audience.

I'm eager to see whether or not the film will emphasize the Joker's tragic past and convey he had a backstory, or ignore it instead, and follow the "no origin" attitude by focusing too much on his multiple choice line.

Meanwhile, animator Phil Bourassa has revealed that The Killing Joke animated movie was in development back in 2009, but claims that Watchmen's poor box office persuaded WB to put everything on hold.

Source: http://www.techinsider.io/why-killing-joke-is-getting-made-2016-2