This week DC Entertainment released the latest in their line of straight-to-home-video animated movies mostly based on storylines from the comics. Not letting the dust settle on their last release, January’s Throne of Atlanis, they bring us Batman v Robin, starring returning voice actors Jason O’Mara, Stuart Allan, and Sean Maher along with Jeremy Sisto as the villain, Talon. While at WonderCon this year our favorite Villainous Correspondents Sara Winchester and Skratch Okami spoke with some of the cast and crew about coming back to Gotham City with one of Batman’s greatest stories in recent time and what it was like putting on the tights again… metaphorically that is… maybe.
While loosely based on 2011’s The Court of Owls storyline by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, in this iteration Damien Wayne (Stuart Allan) returns as the new Robin following Son of Batman. The energetic young actor was once again as charming as ever, which makes for quite the stretch when it comes to playing the arrogant and aggressive Damien.
When asked about any similarities to the Littlest Wayne, Allan said:
Damien is a bit more darker than me, obviously. I’m more of a lover than I am a fighter, although I do take Tae Kwon Do, so that balances out.
Along with Allan, Sean Maher is also returning to the cast, reprising his role as Dick Grayson / Nightwing. If anything could be complained about regarding Nightwing in Son of Batman, it’s that the appearance was too brief. The high flying hero is a comic book favorite who fans would love to see shine in his own film, though none of the Nightwing stories have risen to the same level of fame as The Court of Owls or Under the Red Hood. Maybe if DC was to take Grayson’s run as Batman in The Black Mirror, another Snyder storyline, we could see the original bird-boy shine.
During the interview Maher was seemingly timid and a little short on words, but had high praise for the Voice Director, animation living legend Andrea Romano:
[Andrea Romano] I’m in such great hands, she’s remarkable at guiding me exactly where I need to be and stepping back, letting me bring something fresh to it.
The film is written by Eisner Award winning writer J.M. DeMatteis, who was also on the WonderCon red carpet talking about his experience writing the movie. DeMatteis was quick to remind us that Batman v Robin wasn’t an adaption of The Court of Owls storyline, but rather he used the foundation of what Snyder and Capullo created to create a new version of the story better suited for the animated universe that DC has been building. He was also very positive about his time writing the story and working with other DC Animated legends Allan Burnett and Producer James Tucker:
In this case it didn’t, for whatever reason this gig was fun and easy… I think working with great guys like James Tucker and Alan Bernett and drawing material from this great story… It was so freeing and fun.
We’ll have our own review of the film next, after speaking with cast and crew, and considering some of the source material it would seem that Batman v Robin will be another movie worth adding to the collection. The DC animated films have nearly a blemish-free track record, from their loose reinterpretations to their more faithful adaptations, so fans are hard-pressed to find one that they don’t enjoy at some level. If you’ve already seen the movie, be sure to let us know what you think of it but PLEASE no spoilers. For other readers’ sakes as well as our own.