Neil Patrick Harris as Nightwing? Yes, please!
There's going to be an animated Batman DVD coming out in the summer. It's called Under the Hood. From the LA Times blog: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2010/02/new-batman-dvd-to-peek-out-from-under-the-red-hood.html
Written by Judd Winick and based on his 2005 Batman comics story line, it's Batman versus another vigilante, Red Hood, who doesn't mind cleaning up Gotham by leaving dead bodies in his wake. Animated guru Bruce Timm exec produces this pretty violent look into crime on the streets, and it's directed by "Superman Doomsday" co-director Brandon Vietti, with a cavalcade of stars as voice talent. It all starts with Bruce Greenwood ("Star Trek") as Batman, then continues with "Supernatural" star Jensen Ackles as Red Hood, Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother") as Nightwing, John DiMaggio ("Futurama") as the Joker and Jason Isaacs (the Harry Potter films) as Ra's Al Ghul.
This was one of the most popular story lines to come out of Batman in recent history.
Jason Isaacs, aka Lucius Malfoy, as Ra's? Awesome.
Neil Patrick Harris as Nightwing? It's like the most perfect choice possible.
And Jensen Ackles has a hot, hot, HOT voice. And is also hot.
Yes. I agree with all of these choices.
SCREENCAP.
And now, for theminiwheat here's a little history lesson, kiddies. So sit back, relax and enjoy.
So there was this kid in Crime Alley who Batman caught stealing tires off his Batmobile. Bats thought that was pretty funny and decided to take this kid in.
Yeah. That's right. Jason Motherfucking Todd.
And so Jason has some crazy ass adventures with Batman.
He bitch-slaps Batman. NO joke.
He's a way different Robin from Dick Grayson, the original.
He hits on Babs.
He smokes.
He has no problem in using excessive force.
He nearly kills Two-Face for killing his dad.
And maybe, possibly pushes a serial rapist off a roof...
DUN DUN DUNNNNNN. So the kid's got issues. He's angry, reckless, etc. A lot of fans weren't keen on this.
SO DC was like... HEY. HEY. HEEEEEY. Let's have people call in to see whether he lives or dies! So they established this 1-900 number so people could vote in.
And he was killed by a vote of 5343-5271. 72 votes different, so *actually* by a pretty slim margin. Obviously not everyone hated him. Though, he was a total punk. YEAH. He was. And it was awesome.
So Jason meets the Joker with a crowbar and some explosives.
And Batman spends the next 16 years torturing himself over Jason's death. It shadows EVERYTHING he does.
He doesn't want to let the next Robin, Tim Drake, BE Robin because of Jason. He thinks about it ALL the time. It sends him to a very, very dark place, that Tim eventually helps him out of. He is constantly haunted by the fact that he failed to save Jason and perhaps failed to realise that being Robin maybe wasn't the best thing to help Jason with his anger.
Dick Grayson, who's grown up and become Nightwing, breaks down when he learns about Jason's death. He and Tim talk about it a bunch.
When the Joker taunts Dick, he says: "I hit Jason a lot harder than that. His name was Jason, right?" Which sends Dick into a furious rage and he nearly kills the Joker himself.
So yeah. Affects everybody.
Saddest scene EVER. EVER.
Seriously. Batman... also has issues.
And then something happens, six months after Jason died, there was this uhhhh... *reality punch* and Jason's brought back to life.
And he digs his own ass out of his grave.
And then this guy calling himself the Red Hood shows up. But he's not the old Red Hood... aka the identity Mr. J used pre-Joker days.
And he's a lot like Batman, except he's way darker and deadlier. And willing to cross that no-killing line.
Oh yeah. And he's a total badass.
I love this scene.
You know, I never noticed that LOL on the grenade until recently. Go Jay!
Check out Under the Hood vol. 1 and 2 or Batman 635-641 and Batman 645-650, along with Batman Annual 25. Really good story, very emotional, was well-reviewed and has some fabulous art.
So yeah. This movie? Is going to be kick-ass. Comes out in the summer. Jason Todd, your crazy ass is gettin' animated.
YEAH BITCHES.
