BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS PART 2 Cast Discuss The Film

Peter Weller (Batman), Michael Emerson (Joker), and Mark Valley (Superman) discuss preparing to voice iconic roles in Warner Bros. Home Entertainment's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 2.

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By Mark Julian - 1/17/2013

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SYNOPSIS:The Dark Knight along with new sidekick Robin have finally reclaimed Gotham City and allowed a ray of hope to penetrate the reign of terror that The Mutants had cast upon his city. With Batman back in the spotlight the extended media coverage has awoken a far worse evil at Arkham Asylum The Joker! Forever destined to be mortal enemies The Joker has a diabolical scheme that may pull Batman down to the darkest levels of insanity. While on the horizon a global catastrophe races towards Gotham and with it comes a familiar face The Man of Steel though this time he has Batman in his sights. Witness as the aging Dark Knight wages a tireless war against crime while proving that courage and will are indeed timeless.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is a two-part animated superhero film, an adaptation of the 1986 comic book story arc "The Dark Knight Returns" by Frank Miller and a sequel to the 2011 animated film Batman: Year One. It was directed by Jay Oliva, who worked as a storyboard artist on Man of Steel, Batman: Year One and Batman: Under the Red Hood. Several other Batman veterans were also involved in the film. Part 1 was released September 25, 2012, and Part 2 is scheduled for release January 29, 2013. It is the 15th film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series.

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22 Comments

	TheSonicScrew - 1/17/2013, 2:56 AM Login to report abuse Whoever thought "You know who'd be a great Joker? Ben from Lost!" ...I salute you
	holeymonkey - 1/17/2013, 4:02 AM Login to report abuse I will never understand why they didn't just use Batman's inner monologue from the books.... It would have cut down on so much of the terrible, terrible script. It is one of the most important works in comics...and yet, I can't show it to people without them being completely lost. And why, WHY was Peter Weller cast? Batman in this story is driven, but not a robot..... They should have paid him for the work, said "thanks", and then re-cast. No harm no foul.... Worst Batman to date.
	holeymonkey - 1/17/2013, 4:03 AM Login to report abuse As for best Joker....that dude from "Under the Red Hood" was better than Hamill.
	fattieacid - 1/17/2013, 4:27 AM Login to report abuse @markspuks.. DiMaggio also did a robot... coincidence?
	holeymonkey - 1/17/2013, 4:28 AM Login to report abuse Markspuks....I get it. I'm a huge fan of the original Robocop (ironically before Frank Miller [frick]ed up the other two...), hell I even like Buckaroo Banzai (That's how old I am...) But Weller was completely wrong for this... As for John DiMaggio... Still my favorite Joker.
	holeymonkey - 1/17/2013, 4:33 AM Login to report abuse I just feel like Warner Bros has missed a huge opportunity here.....Although, I should mention that when word of a "Dark Knight Returns" movie was first floated, it was pre-Nolan, post-Schumacher and they wanted Clint Eastwood in the cape. It should have been so much better....
	holeymonkey - 1/17/2013, 5:01 AM Login to report abuse Not wrong....He was going to maybe DIRECT a year one film, that came after meetings with Warner Bros to resurrect the franchise. Originally, the idea was to do "The Dark Knight Returns" and they were looking for an older, established name to put on the cape. Clint was the first to realise that he was too old (mid sixties at that point), and the idea to do "Year one" came from that. Fast forward... Nolan, Bale.... you know the rest.
	holeymonkey - 1/17/2013, 5:05 AM Login to report abuse I was alive at the time, and had to read "Newspapers"
	holeymonkey - 1/17/2013, 5:06 AM Login to report abuse Y'know, those things that don't really break....and only fire and water can destroy...
	reverendjonnynemo - 1/17/2013, 5:06 AM Login to report abuse I'm sorta inclined to back HM here. In the years I've been a batfan, and thats a few - beyond tossed around in fancast, Eastwood never had any involvement with the Batman franchise on film.
	holeymonkey - 1/17/2013, 5:19 AM Login to report abuse I'm not saying this adaption is bad....I just don't think it's very good. To be honest, I'm a bit tired of these actors waltzing in for a few hours and a few thousand dollars, then sitting down to discuss how much they admire the characters and the source material, without any of that respect present on screen. And these are actors that I LIKE, whose work I have enjoyed for years, but here,they "phoned it in". As far as I can see, the only ones who truly respected the story were the animators (that scene with Joker in the tunnel of love...chilling.).
	holeymonkey - 1/17/2013, 5:24 AM Login to report abuse woof! (damnnit!)
	cmax - 1/17/2013, 6:20 AM Login to report abuse This was so good. DC Animation has dropped the ball before. When Superman: Doomsday was announced I was very excited and it ended up being a huge let down. Then the subsequent releases after that with movies that barely hit the 1 hour mark kept on disappointing me. There were a couple of gems, but they came later (like Red Hood, and Superman vs The Elite). When they announced The Dark Knight Returns, I was worried. Will they [frick] this one up too? When it was announced that it was going to be two parts, my confidence in the project rose significantly. Part 1 was good! It was a perfect adaptation of the first half of the story. There were great moments in there, and some very emotional moments too, especially seeing as this was the first time I saw the story come to life. I just watched part 2 last night. Wow. This part was better than the first. The music I really noticed added a lot. The final standoff with Batman and Joker was awesome. BEYOND awesome even. Same with the Superman fight. I really hope they release this cut together as a full film in the future. DC finally met my expectations with one of their adaptations, and I'm glad it was this one.
	fettastic - 1/17/2013, 7:03 AM Login to report abuse Wait, so now we're bashing TDKR part 1? WHAAAAAA? And I'll admit Weller's voice took some getting used to in the role, but I thought it worked great. However, I'm getting pretty sick of all these actors shitting on superheroes, as Weller kinda does in this clip.
	DukeAcureds - 1/17/2013, 7:04 AM Login to report abuse holeymonkey@ You know the internet was aroud, bac then, dude. I was following these stories on various websites (most of them full of crap and Batman Triumphant fancasts). Batman-on-film turned out to be the only one that knew what it was talking abot and had good sources and I followed that one all the way up to Batman Begins. They even broke the Ducard/ Ra's Al Ghul spoiler. The only good newspapers on these projects were Variety and The Hollywood Reporter and even they printed some shit, too. Damn interesting time it was inbetween Batman an Robin and Batman Begins. Back then we called thid s cybernetic space "The Information Superhighway" I remember when all this were fields. Vast fields whee websites should've been. Full of fan-fiction and unreliable "news reports".
	SentinelofLiberty - 1/17/2013, 7:10 AM Login to report abuse I'm with you, holymonkey. I like Weller, but I just don't really think the voice is right for this. The Clint Eastwood, whisper-growl deal, has always struck me as perfect for an older Batman. And....didn't Miller basically say that, when he was writing TDKR, he was actually picturing Clint Eastwood under the cowl?
	RAV3RXTZ - 1/17/2013, 7:28 AM Login to report abuse I really enjoyed The Dark Knight Returns. Part 2 just kept blowing my mind! Now I shall read the graphic novel.
	fettastic - 1/17/2013, 8:48 AM Login to report abuse Damnit I gott wait a couple of weeks for the Blu-ray. I know you can stream it now, but I'm not paying for it twice.
	Tainted87 - 1/17/2013, 9:05 AM Login to report abuse Weller just wasted 40 seconds of my life, haha. Everyone has a fantasy cast. Clint Eastwood is TOO old now. He sounds so damn old. Batman is not supposed to be ancient, just in his 50s. I really would have loved Rutger Hauer as the Joker though.
	BlindLemonShemp - 1/17/2013, 10:39 AM Login to report abuse @Tainted- damn good choice... Rutger Hauer would be a perfect Joker! Loved both parts, I just wish they would have put in the Dick Grayson part from the books.. They kept alluding to it like it was a major part of the story, but never really said or showed what happened to him, or in the case of the books, his obsession with killing the female Robin for taking his place... I always thought that was one of the best parts of the books, the final showdown between Bruce and Dick, it also explains why they start building a new batcave at the end... And honestly, who wasnt just waiting to hear Batman yell, 'Sorry Grayson, You just couldnt cut the mustard!'
	SmithWillSuffice - 1/17/2013, 5:12 PM Login to report abuse Really disappointed they cut out the voice over narration, as so much of the story is told from Batman's point of view. Without it, the actions have no context. You have no idea WHY anyone is doing what they do.
	damntree - 1/17/2013, 6:27 PM Login to report abuse Batman and Gordon were the worst voices imo.

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