Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One arrives on Digital & Blu-ray on June 22 from Warner Bros. Animation, DC and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Inspired by the classic story from Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, the movie begins as a brutal murder on Halloween prompts Gotham City's young vigilante, the Batman, to form a pact with the city's only two uncorrupt lawmen (Police Captain James Gordan and District Attorney Harvey Dent) in order to take down The Roman.
However, when more deaths occur on Thanksgiving and Christmas, it becomes clear that instead of ordinary gang violence orchestrated by the head of the notorious Falcone Crime Family, they're also dealing with a serial killer - the identity of whom, with each conflicting clue, grows harder to discern.
Last week, we sat down for a conversation with Supervising Producer, Butch Lukic. Having worked on this movie, Superman: Man of Tomorrow, and Justice Society: World War II, he's very much the man in charge of the DC Animated Universe these days, and someone we're sure you'll be familiar with seeing as he's a longtime collaborator of Bruce Timm, who directed Batman Beyond.
As well as commenting on Terry McGinnis' possible DCAU debut, Butch also talks about bringing Batman: The Long Halloween to the screen, the two-part movie's different ratings, Naya Rivera's performance as Catwoman following her tragic death, and why Jensen Ackles was cast as Bruce Wayne.
I think everyone was blown away by the news that Jensen Ackles would voice Batman. Can you talk about what led to you enlisting him to play this version of the Dark Knight?
I think it was Wes [Gleason], our casting director, who had him as our most likely priority as far as what he felt would be a good Batman. I listened to Jensen and I’ve seen Supernatural, and right away, once I thought about it, I knew his voice would definitely fit our Batman. Especially the Batman we were looking for in his second year in that role. I thought it was a no-brainer, honestly, once Wes mentioned it.
Having produced this movie, Man of Tomorrow, and Justice Society: World War II, what can you tell our readers about your role as the person spearheading this new, post-Apokolips War DC Animated Universe?
Initially, Long Halloween was the only movie I was going to work on. I was planning to do the two-parter and move on to something else. I guess James Tucker was ending his run on the DC Animated Universe, so then they asked me to keep going. With that, it was a matter of coming up with a style that was going to work for the next few movies. That’s why I didn’t really go with the Tim Sale look [for this movie] because I couldn’t make it work going into Man of Tomorrow and the other movies. It was tough. I didn’t get a chance to work out the details of the style with Tim Sale, anyway, because once things changed where I had to continue continuity, that was then I had to figure out a style that would work beyond this story.
The Long Halloween is such an iconic storyline, but why did you feel now was the right time to adapt it?
Initially, no one else had really wanted to do it. We had a meeting about what the next DC Animated Universe stuff we’d be working on story and concept-wise, and home video had a list of what they thought would be the best adaptations. Number one was The Long Halloween, so I just said, ‘Great, let’s do that!’ [Laughs] I read the comic when it came out. I used to buy it every month. I knew the story and I knew how sections of it were taken and used for other things, but felt, ‘You know what? No one has done a true version, so why not?’
Part One is PG-13, while Part Two is going to be rated R. As a supervising producer, what sort of thought goes into how these animated movies are rated and the sort of audience you’re appealing to?
I was just going with the flow of the story and if it was going to lead to an R-Rating, then so be it. Generally, this is a crime film, so you’re going to have blood and comic book violence, so you’re going to have to show that. At the time when we did this movie, DC Comics wasn’t concerned about R-Ratings or anything, but by the time we finally got this released, then they were concerned. Part One was a PG-13 and Part Two is Rated-R, but only because there wasn’t enough stuff I could cut out and leave it a coherent story.
This storyline is, of course, famous for its amazing villains, but who is your favourite member of Batman’s rogues gallery?
Well, overall, it’s usually The Joker. Scarecrow is pretty good. Clayface. Two-Face. Pretty much most of them have something that’s worth value. It’s pretty much the best rogues gallery that anyone has ever had.
Naya Rivera is fantastic as Catwoman and after the tragedy surrounding her death, was it important to you that her performance still be included in the film - I believe, her last recorded work to be released?
Yeah, I’m just sad she isn’t around to be able to see the final version because, unfortunately, we had to delay it by a couple of years. Everything she did and recorded is in the movie. We haven’t had to cut anything out.
As someone with such a long history of working in the DC Universe, what is it about this world and Batman, in particular, that resonates with you?
For me, Batman doesn’t have superpowers. He’s really the only detective superhero too, and I think that’s what Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb were thinking when they came up with The Long Halloween. It puts Batman in that position of having spent a couple of years as a crime-fighter, but he’s still learning to be a detective. It’s a good set up to where Batman grows into the character we know from the comics.
While I have you, I know you have a history with Batman Beyond, and as the supervising producer of this DC Universe, have you given any thought to potentially revisiting Terry McGinnis’ story?
Yeah. We discussed that during our roundtable conference. That was a few years ago and, at the time, no one really wanted to go down that route. If anyone should, it should, of course, be Bruce Timm. I’d love to do it, but I’ve had to do other stuff in the meantime, so...