BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE Officially Rated R; Don't Expect A PG-13 Version For Your Kids
Warner Bros. Animation's adaptation of Batman: The Killing Joke will indeed be R-Rated, so hit the jump for details on that and why exactly you won't be able to buy a copy of the movie for your children.
It's been rumoured for a while, but Entertainment Weekly confirms that animated movie Batman: The Killing Joke will indeed be R-Rated when it hits DVD and Blu-ray later this year. That makes it only the second DC Comics adaptation to receive this rating (the first was the home video release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), and with Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill set to voice Batman and The Joker respectively, there's a lot for fans to look forward to when this take on the classic comic hits stores.
"From the start of production, we encouraged producer Bruce Timm and our team at Warner Bros. Animation to remain faithful to the original story — regardless of the eventual MPAA rating," Sam Register, president of Warner Bros. Animation & Warner Digital Series tells the site. "The Killing Joke is revered by the fans, particularly for its blunt, often-shocking adult themes and situations. We felt it was our responsibility to present our core audience — the comics-loving community — with an animated film that authentically represented the tale they know all too well." They mention that there are no plans in place for a PG-13 version, so this is one cartoon you won't share with your kids!
Batman: The Killing Joke premieres at the San Diego Comic-Con in July, so stay tuned for updates!
About The Author:
A lifelong comic book fan who grew up on Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the '90s, Josh Wilding has been contributing to ComicBookMovie.com since 2009.
While he's also written for websites like Batman-News, HeyUGuys, and WhatCulture, Josh is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic for CBM and the site's #1 contributor with nearly two decades of experience covering film and TV news (including interviews with Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Gary Oldman, Halle Berry, Jon Bernthal, Tom Welling, and hundreds more).
Based in the UK with his wife, Josh is also an avid WWE and Formula 1 fan and writes about those passions on CBM's sister sites, TheRingReport.com and FullThrottleHQ.com. Favourite superhero? Spider-Man. Favourite pro wrestler? CM Punk. Favourite F1 driver? Max Verstappen.