It’s pretty well established among fans that Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is one of the best—if not the best—Batflix ever made. Personally, I think it’s the hands-down tops, and not just because I run an animation site. Yeah, OK, I lapped up The Dark Knight along with the rest of them (although plenty didn’t). But as part of the canon as a whole, TDK’s a net negative, simply because it ushered in an era of unforgivable bloat with stupidly long running times and ham-fisted grimdark that won’t end anytime soon. Phantasm, on the other hand, is the more talented yet sadly overlooked older brother ($5.6M total in the box office? You messed up, America.) that was almost released as direct-to-video (remember VCRs?) and served as bookend to Batman: The Animated Series, a cartoon so legendary it now has an entire podcast and several thousands of words dedicated to its explication. The creative team proved so potent that it sparked major canonical changes in the comic books.
This augurs extraordinarily good things for the upcoming, possibly R-rated adaptation of Alan Moore’s horror-show of an ’80s graphic novel The Killing Joke. [UPDATE: It’s R-rated.] The film is helmed by the same creative minds and stars some of the best of the old guard: True Voice of Batboy Kevin Conroy as the man himself, journeywoman voice actor Tara Strong reprising her Batgirl, and the brilliantly unhinged giggly snarl of Joker (and also trickster) Mark Hamill. Bonus: Leland Palmer as Commissioner Gordon! Which feels perfect for a freak show of a story that borders on Lynchian. Although the best news here is that Kevin Conroy will never RACHEL and never pout. And there was much rejoicing.
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