The Greatest Comic Villain Is Finally Getting His Own Show

By Chris Snellgrove
| Updated 23 seconds ago

At the Annecy Animation Film Festival, one thing has become abundantly clear: this is the year of the bat. We already knew Warner Bros. was going to show footage of Batman: Knightfalltheir multi-part, R-rated adaptation of Batman’s most famous ‘90s comic story. The studio then announced Dynamic Duoa theatrical film focused on two of Batman’s sidekicks and animated like Into the Spider-Verse. What else could a fan of the Caped Crusader want? More TV series, of course!

Recently, WB announced that we would be getting not one but two new cartoons set in the world of the Dark Knight. The first is Absolute Batmanwhich adapts the best-selling comic from rockstar comics writer Scott Snyder. The buzzworthy comic is a complete Batman reboot, and its cartoon announcement drew huge cheers at the film festival. Arguably, though, it was WB’s other big announcement that sent fans into a frenzy. The studio confirmed we will be getting Joker: Laugh Riotan anime where the Joker becomes obsessed with finding the villain who killed Batman.

The Joke’s On Us

Joker: Laugh Riot is already set to make history as DC’s first anime project. Why the heck are we getting a supervillain anime? This is likely due to the influence of Jason DeMarco: the Toonami guru is senior VP of action and anime development at Warner Bros. Animation, who produced the surprisingly fun anime film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. That movie was animated by Yasuhiro Aoki, who will be the showrunner for Joker: Laugh Riot. Based on the show’s description, it sounds like we’ll be exploring a side of the Clown Prince of Crime rarely seen in comics, shows, or film.

The official logline for Joker: Laugh Riot reads as follows: “When Batman is murdered, the Joker launches a ruthless crusade through Gotham’s underworld to find the killer who took away his greatest adversary. But as his violent quest for answers pushes him closer towards vigilante than villain, Joker is forced to confront the truth that without Batman, he doesn’t know who he is.” Reading between the lines, it seems like Joker will actually become a Batman-style vigilante in his relentless quest to find the man who killed his oldest enemy.

Not Exactly A Kid’s Show

While the premise of Joker: Laugh Riot is relatively unique, it has been explored before by other writers. One of the most notable examples is the Batman: The Animated Series episode “The Man Who Killed Batman,” where Batman is seemingly killed by a small-time gangster. Upon hearing the news, Joker laments that “crime has no punchline” anymore and even holds a funeral for the Caped Crusader where he tries to murder Batman’s killer. Of course, it’s later revealed that Batman faked his own death, but this episode is a powerful example of how Joker’s life would lose most of its meaning if Batman were to die.

Additionally, a four-issue storyline in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight featured Joker seemingly killing Batman. When this happened, he actually went sane, got a job, and even fell in love as he became a relatively normal guy. As soon as he realized Batman was still alive, though, he became his old self. Of course, both this storyline and the aforementioned cartoon were relatively short tales. It sounds like Joker: Laugh Riot will offer a more prolonged look at the titular clown’s codependent relationship with Batman. Plus, it’s a given that Joker will have some fun battles with familiar foes like Penguin, Two-Face, and maybe even Harley Quinn in his quest to find Batman’s killer.

Other than the announcement about its plot and that it’s in production, there are no other details about Joker: Laugh Riot. No release date has been set, and we don’t yet know if it will stream exclusively on HBO Max or if it will be released on Toonami. Whenever and wherever it releases, though, this anime is sure to be a hit with Batman fans who are looking for something new. Plus, it might just tide over fans of the Clown Prince of Crime before he makes his inevitable debut in the DCU in a movie we can only hope is better than Supergirl.