Batman: The Killing Joke is hugely divisive among comics fans. Some regard it as a masterpiece, while others deride it as one of the most clearly sexist comics of all time. Bruce Timm and the DC Animated Universe team have chosen an - erm - unexpected course of action to address the latter.
In the graphic novel, Batgirl is famously paralyzed by the Joker in a scene that suggests sexual assault. Adapting the work for an animated film, Timm - one of the key players behind the great Batman: The Animated Series - and his team decided to give the character more of a role in their adaptation.
But rather than making her more than a Women in Refrigerators trope, they might have made things worse.
Batgirl appears in a new, thirty-minute prologue to the main story. It makes up 2/5ths of the movie and - well, the team certainly made a choice.
"[The choice] came from a three-way conversation between [co-producer] Alan Burnett, [screenwriter] Brian Azzarello, and myself", said Timm. "I don't remember who initially came up with the idea, but we all kind of jumped on it all at the same time and said, Yeah, that's kind of where we need to go".
Where exactly did they choose to go?
To having Batman and Batgirl have sex on a rooftop, of course!
Timm justifies the choice as making the story more human, messy, and understandable. And how does he think fans will react?
"I have no idea. I mean, I can kind of predict. Some people are going to be just freaking out, and some people might be going, Okay, I can see that kind of makes sense. It's not a comfortable place to be, but...We'll see".
We'll see, indeed!
At the film's San Diego Comic-Con panel, things got heated quickly. When the panel members defended their depiction of Batgirl as that of a strong female character, a reporter sarcastically quipped, “Yeah, by using sex and then pining for Bruce”, to which screenwriter Azzarello responded, “Wanna say that again? Pussy?"
That went well!
The DC Animated Universe is usually acclaimed by DC fans, and the movie features Batman: TAS alum Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprising their roles as Batman and the Joker, respectively. If you're curious, the film is slated for a DVD release August 2.
Check out a preview of the action below.