[UPDATE: A San Diego Comic-Con panel has confirmed that The Dark Knight Returns is set for a 2012 release date as two separate movies because why not, everyone’s gonna buy them regardless. Also announced was Justice League: Doom based on the Mark Waid JLA story Tower of Babel, and Superman Vs. The Elite, based on Joe Kelley’s story What’s So Funny About Truth Justice and The American Way?]
I stand proudly under the Marvel Comics flag, but in terms of single stories I’ve never been impressed by anything in comics more than Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns. For this reason, I’m always bothered when Christopher Nolan’s films borrow elements of Miller’s work. The Nolan Batmans are good, certainly. Great? Not by a long shot, not in the DKR sense of the word. DKR as in Dark Knight Returns, not Dark Knight Rises, the awful title of Nolan’s third and final entry.
Rumor has it, DKR may finally see feature film light of day, in the hands of DC’s animation department… located in Korea. While their products have definitely been on the lower scale of animation quality, recent movies Batman: Under the Red Hood and All-Star Superman (my review here) proved that mature themes and faithful story treatments aren’t beyond the ability of these Warner Brothers home video releases.
Similarly worthy of attention, the animated Batman: Year One, also by Frank Miller, is well on its way to being released. It stands to reason that if Dark Knight Returns really has been given the greenlight, it might be in response to Year One‘s progress. For a less gritty, more cheeky homage to Miller’s DKR, check out this excerpt from Batman: The Animated Series after the jump…
[via Bleedingcool]
