Earlier this week, DC revealed the first trailer to Merry Little Batman, a Christmas-themed Batman movie debuting on Amazon Prime on December 8th, 2023. The movie looks like a very fun new take on the Dark Knight’s world, and on its pint-sized protagonist, Damien Wayne.
The movie stars Luke Wilson as Batman, Yonas Kibraeb as Damian, James Cromwell as Alfred and David Hornsby as the Joker. From the trailer, the story appears to be set in a version of Gotham City in which Batman won his war against crime. When Batman is called away, the Joker strikes, leaving little Damian to become the Dark Knight and save Christmas.
The animation style and voice cast is very different from what many would expect from a Batman story. It’s clearly more exaggerated and comedic, and Wilson is a remarkably unconventional choice for the Dark Knight. And I like it.
Frankly, adaptations are in kind of a rut. Many of DC’s were overly serious to the point that they were becoming unaware self-parody (just look at the CGI Nicolas Cage in The Flash). The MCU is putting out so much material that it’s starting to wear on fans, and it still finds itself rolling its eyes at the source material.
This, on the other hand, feels exciting because it’s so out of the ordinary. A bearded Dark Knight and a much sillier and childlike Damien is just the start. The animation style is closer to something we’d see on Adult Swim. The Bat-rogues are all older. Gotham is brighter and shinier. It’s a setting that’s recognizable as Batman but gives us tons of storytelling potential that a much more traditional Gotham City couldn’t.
It reminds me of The Lego Batman Movie. If you didn’t see it, it’s a movie in which the Joker gets sick of losing with the usual Arkham-set bad guys by his side. His solution- he goes out and recruits the worst from the multiverse- including King Kong, Voldemort, Sauron, the Daleks, and the raptors from Jurassic Park (don’t think too hard about the last one). Also, Batman and Joker have a romance plotline that’s not really romantic but plays with all those tropes. Frankly, I don’t think it’s the best Batman movie, but it might be my favorite.
And that’s what adaptations of superhero media need more of.
Take a look at the most successful Marvel adaptations of the past decade — the Spider-Verse. For the first time a Spider-Man that’s not Peter Parker took center stage, immediately setting the two films apart from every other version of the franchise. The animation style was distinct and thoughtful (if you haven’t heard about how Miles was animated at half the frame rate of the rest of the characters, look it up on YouTube). But best of all, it was different because the filmmakers weren’t afraid to switch things up.
Just like there’s a place for straight up adaptations of the Marvel and DC comics universe, there’s a place for films, TV shows, and even comics that break the norm of what’s expected for our favorite heroes and villains. For every The Batman, why aren’t we getting another Merry Little Batman or The Lego Batman Movie. Why aren’t we getting more comics that take the basics and do something fun and interesting with them- whether it’s setting, style or even the point of view character.
Am I saying the multimedia adaptations need to get away entirely from the source material? Absolutely not. But let’s have some fun more often. We’ve gotten decades of stories about Batman punching Joker. Why not make Batman a precocious ten year-old and the Joker a retired clown making his comeback? Why can’t we tell father and son stories within the Batman universe?
After all, it might just give us the best Christmas present ever.
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