In the original KILLING JOKE written by Alan Moore, characters like Barbara Gordon were relegated to a background that left many questions laying on the table and left a strong woman just a toy for the Clown Prince to play with.
Don’t take me wrong. In the time when KILLING JOKE was written (almost 30 years ago…GOD I’M OLD!), the story was wonderfully crafted to enhance the main theme of the story: a deep dive into the Joker’s twisted psyche viewed on the shadow of his relationship with the Batman. That is all cool, but it is also true that because of the media limitations, exploring other characters and other emotions than those of the main characters was extremely difficult if not impossible then.
Now, the new generation wants to know more, want to explore more of who Barbara Gordon is, and related more to her to understand the tragedy of her assault. The animation media, allows just for that and DC is adding a specials 15 minute prologue to explore Barbara Gordon before her painful encounter with the Joker.
“Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has accepted the MPAA’s “R” rating for its upcoming animated film, Batman: The Killing Joke, choosing to remain true to the landmark DC Comics graphic novel’s violent, controversial story, and making the film the first non-PG/PG-13 rated movie in the nine-year history of the DC Universe Original Movie franchise. At this time, there are no plans for an edited, PG-13 version of the film. The animated adaptation of Batman: The Killing Joke is executive produced by Bruce Timm and will retell this classic tale in an exciting new way. It’ll also feature an original 15-minute prologue that helps set up the story, giving even longtime fans of the story something new to look forward to.”
I don’t know you guys, but this is just pure genius.
I think that this addition will allow a little more dimension to her character and enrich an already loaded drama. That, added to the fact that the movie is going to be R-rated, gives hopes that the story can follow on the original steps for what was intended: To EXPLORE THE PERVERSE MIND OF GOTHAM’S MOST DANGEROUS CRIMINAL.
Hope DC has a chance to “explore” a little more of the other supporting characters through dialogue and animation as well….
Can’t hardly hold my enthusiasm and hope Summer is soon here…
(Read the complete MOVIEWEB article HERE)
