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Warner Bros Japan shared a new key visual for Batman Ninja vs Yakuza League featuring the Joker and Harley Quinn in their new designs for the anime. Additionally, the Japanese voice actors for both characters have been revealed.

Wataru Takagi will voice the Joker in the Japanese dub of Batman Ninja vs Yakuza League. Takagi is well known for his roles as Ganju Shiba in the Japanese dub of Bleach, Eikichi Onizuka in the Great Teacher Onizuka anime adaptation, Obito Uchiha in the Naruto anime series, and Okuyasu Nijimura in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable.

Meanwhile, Rie Kugimiya will be in charge of lending her voice to Harley Quinn. Kugimiya is a prolific voice actress and she has worked on roles such as Taiga Aisaka in Toradora!, Alphonse Elric in both Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and the first anime adaptation, Kaguya in Gintama, and Rise Kujikawa in Persona 4 and various related projects.

The new designs for the Joker and Harley Quinn are inspired by “bosozoku” biker gangs and “sukeban” delinquent girls aesthetics respectively. You can check out the new key visuals for the Batman Ninja vs Yakuza League anime series featuring the Joker and Harley Quinn here:

The new Batman Ninja vs Yakuza League anime series was announced on May 30, 2024. A teaser trailer for the new show appeared in early July 2024, and it briefly showcased the new designs for Green Lantern and Aquaman.

Batman Ninja vs Yakuza League is currently in development, and the original Batman Ninja anime is available worldwide.

The post Meet Joker and Harley Quinn in Batman Ninja vs Yakuza League appeared first on Siliconera.

LEGO announced its next set based on a comic series, and it is a Batman: The Classic TV Series Batmobile based on the car that showed up in the 1966 show. It costs $149.99, and pre-orders are already open through Amazon and LEGO directly ahead of its October 1, 2024 debut.

This set features 1822 pieces total, and it is recommended for people ages 18 and up. You get to build the Batmobile, with included Bat-Computer in the opening trunk, as well as a Batman minifigure with stand and vehicle information plate. The finished set will be 19 inches long and five inches tall. It can also roll, due to the design of the wheels and set. 

To compare, here is a photo of the original 1966 Batmobile from the Batman TV show from the Hollywood Star Cars Museum alongside the LEGO set.

And here are some additional photos of the kit and its minifigures. 

This is one of many new LEGO sets on the way. For example, three more Animal Crossing ones will show up in January 2025. One of those will be the Able Sisters shop. There will also be Mario Kart sets appearing for the first time on January 1, 2025 as well.

The Batman: The Classic TV Series Batmobile LEGO set will launch on October 1, 2024.

The post LEGO DC Batman: The Classic TV Series Batmobile Costs $150 appeared first on Siliconera.

Back in May 2024, Warner Bros Japan announced Batman Ninja vs Yakuza League, and at Anime Expo 2024 we got to see a first trailer. There’s also new key art that shows Batman alongside versions of Aquaman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman.

First, here’s the Batman Ninja vs Yakuza League key art. Batman is at the bottom of the piece, with Flash on the left and Wonder Woman on the right behind him. At the back are Green Lantern on the left and Aquaman on the right. 

Here’s the official trailer for the new project. If you turn on closed captions, English subtitles are available. It starts with Green Lantern chasing down Batman and Robin. After that, Aquaman attacks. The Flash shows up to fight after that. A glimpse of Wonder Woman follows, rounding out the “Yakuza League” that is in place instead of the Justice League.

Batman Ninja is one of two new DC Comics anime projects. The other is Suicide Squad Isekai. It is streaming on Hulu and Max. Vtuber Calliope Mori sings its theme song. Here’s the trailer for how that looks, to compare.

Batman Ninja vs Yakuza League is in development, and the original Batman Ninja anime is available worldwide.

The post See the First Batman Ninja vs Yakuza League Anime Trailer appeared first on Siliconera.

The roster of pricey pop culture statues continues to grow. A new Poison Ivy figure will run Batman superfans almost $1,400 to own. It's manufactured by Prime 1 Studio as part of its Museum Masterline series. [Thanks, Dengeki Hobby!]

Formally called the Poison Ivy Batman: Hush (Skin Color Version), the new Poison Ivy figure depicts the iconic Batman villain as she appears in the 2002 "Hush" storyline. There is one difference, however. This version shows Ivy with a natural skin tone. A second Prime 1 Batman: Hush figure shows Ivy with a more "canon-friendly" light green skin tone.

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The Museum Masterline Poison Ivy figure is designed at 1/3rd scale and stands at 78.4cm tall (about 30 inches). The design shows Ivy sitting on one of her mutated vines. It costs about $1,349 on Prime 1 Studio's site, but its Japanese retail price is 193,490 Yen (about $1,490).

Batman: Hush ran in Batman issues #608 to #619 from 2002 to 2003. It was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Jim Lee, Scott Williams, and Alex Sinclair. The story followed Batman as he fought to unravel a grand conspiracy against him. Those involved included Batman's enemies like Killer Croc, the Joker, the Riddler, with the plan masterminded by a new villain: A bandaged man called "Hush." In the story, Poison Ivy uses her pheremone-based mind-control powers to manipulate Catwoman and even Superman into acting against Batman. Batman: Hush was later adapted into an animated film in 2019.

The Batman: Hush Poison Ivy figure is available for pre-order. Prime 1 Studio also produced a NieR Automata 2B figure.

The post Masterline Poison Ivy Figure Costs Almost $1,400 appeared first on Siliconera.

Best known for his work on the Final Fantasy franchise, artist Yoshitaka Amano has been commissioned by comics publisher DC to create a Batman series variant cover. The Yoshitaka Amano Detective Comics cover was revealed in DC's solicitations for August 2022. [Thanks, GamesRadar!]

Check out a preview of the Yoshitaka Amano Batman illustration below. It will appear as a variant cover on issue #1063 of DC's Detective Comics. It goes on sale on August 23, 2022.

Below is the standard cover art for Detective Comics #1063, by artist Evan Cagle.

The Yoshitaka Amano Batman cover is a "1:25" variant. This means that one variant edition will be printed for every 25 standard editions, making it more scarce by default. Another variant cover with art by X-Men artist Jim Lee, inker Scott Williams, and colorist Alex Sinclair will be printed at a 1:50 ratio. The issue is expected to cost $4.99 USD for the standard and $5.99 USD for the variants.

Detective Comics is the original name of the series that DC took its name as a publisher from. Beginning in 1937, Detective Comics saw the debut of iconic American superhero characters like Batman and is the longest continuously published comic in the United States. DC reset its numbering in 2011 after 881 issues but resumed the original count in 2016 with issue #934. Issue #1063, which bears the Yoshitaka Amano Batman variant, will feature interactions between Batman's alter ego Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent, the original identity of the villain Two-Face.

For his part, Yoshitaka Amano's work goes beyond Final Fantasy. He also created a variant for the Harley Quinn comic series and a special gallery for Fate/Grand Order. Even the Nichiren Shu sect of Buddhism commissioned him to illustrate the influential Lotus Sutra scripture for a line of merchandise and commemorative art.

Detective Comics #1063 goes on sale on August 23, 2022.

The post Yoshitaka Amano Draws Batman for Detective Comics Cover appeared first on Siliconera.

After several days of teasing, including an ARG involving a series of maps, WB Games Montreal has officially announced Gotham Knights, a new game that involves the Bat-Family taking on Gotham City criminals after the death of Batman. The game is currently headed to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.

Check out the reveal trailer below:

The trailer shows off the four playable characters of the game, including Nightwing, Robin, Bat-Girl, and Red Hood. With Batman out of the picture, Gotham's villains have returned, and the Bat-Family needs to become the city's new vigilante fighters, and eventually, new heroes. The main feature of the game is that you can play the game either solo or co-op with another player, and there is EXP progression and story arcs where players must face off against different iconic villains.

Here's a look at gameplay in a chapter against Mr. Freeze below:

Players will need to travel through an open-world Gotham City and take on various Villain Encounters at specific locations. Each character has special abilities, like how Robin can teleport via satellite, and Bat-Girl uses some of Batman's gadgets alongside some new ones. The game is meant to allow players to develop these new heroes of Gotham in their own ways, and develop their own playstyles.

Gotham Knights will release in 2021 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC. You can find the game's Twitter here.

The post Gotham Knights Has the Bat-Family Becoming New Gotham City Heroes appeared first on Siliconera.

Warner Bros. Montreal is working on a new Batman game. We know it’s coming, there’s a teaser site with Court of Owls imagery, and the DC FanDome announcement is coming on August 22, 2020. But before full reveals, there’s an ARG running on the Twitter and official site that is supposed to trickle out details. However, fans have already started to skip ahead to share details. [Thanks, Reddit and Batman Arkham Videos!]

Editor’s note: If you want to participate in and solve the Batman game ARG yourself, be warned that there are spoilers below. rxy

The bulk of the work is happening on subreddits like r/BatmanGothamKnight and r/PS5. For example, one person unlocked the map of Gotham hidden on the r3dakt3d site early.

Someone managed to get tomorrow’s map early and it connects to yesterday’s map! from r/Batmangothamknight

A Reddit going by Chase-5 got the codes for the site unlocked early. They discovered 12 numbers, released in groups of three, are 761-941-364-995. Both Spider-Fan77 and the Batman Arkham Videos Twitter noted that is the Detective Comics #359 EAN number, which added Batgirl as another hero alongside Batman and Robin. A Discord named Gydra pointed out Detective Comics #359 and Batman: Gotham Knights #43 have nearly identical covers.

One of our Discord s, Gydra, noticed the cover is very similar to Batman: Gotham Knights #43.

the discussion at https://t.co/ATwyDphMKN pic.twitter.com/C4lqCIANde

— Batman Arkham Videos (@ArkhamVideos) August 18, 2020

Finally, in addition to all the Court of Owls imagery building up, there was another reference pointed out by RobinManer34 on Reddit. The reminded people that Court of Owls would say, “You have been chosen by the Court of Owls to die.” The first half of that sentence, the “you have been chosen” portion, has been appearing as part of the ARG.

WB Montreal’s new Batman game full announcement will appear at 10:30am PT/1:30pm ET on August 22, 2020 during DC FanDome 2020.

The post New Batman Game Teases Lead to Batgirl and Gotham Knights Hints appeared first on Siliconera.

Even more teasing for the new Batman game by Warner Bros Montreal arrived. We already know the developer is working on a new project. The DC FanDome 2020 schedule spoiled the surprise. Now, WB Montreal has a video clip and August 18, 2020 reveal date on its new website. Most importantly, it seems all those “Court of Owls” storyline hints are adding up.

First, here’s the video clip. At the 13 second mark, you can see the Court of Owls emblem come up, suggesting that the secret society and its Talons could be the foes Batman will have to face. It also points to a whole new , “r3dakt3d.”

_ _ . _ _ . _ _ . _ _ _ @r3dakt3d pic.twitter.com/AkuasxjP5i

— WB Games Montréal (@WBGamesMTL) August 17, 2020

As for the new official website, it is showing up online at that “r3dakt3d” . At the moment, it only displays the message, “We have been expecting you.” It also offers an August 18, 2020 reveal date for whatever this new Batman game might be.

Rumors online have suggested that this will be a Gotham Knights game. The Batman: Gotham Knights comics focused on not only Batman, but characters like Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Oracle. As for the Court of Owls, its run Gotham City and included characters like R.H. Orchard, Lincoln March, and Sebastian Clark.

WB Montreal’s new Batman game will be revealed on August 18, 2020. It will also appear at DC FanDome on August 22, 2020.

The post New Batman Game Being Teased Again by WB Montreal appeared first on Siliconera.

With more people using video call services to keep in touch with people during shelter-in-place orders during the pandemic, different publishers have been releasing pieces of art folks can use as things like Zoom backgrounds. Sega and DC Comics are two of the latest, releasing Puyo Puyo, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman images people can use as backdrops while they attend meetings, participate in virtual classes, or talk with friends.

Sega has released four Puyo Puyo locations for those looking for video game Zoom backgrounds. While two of them feature Carbuncle, the series’ mascot, the focus for all of them is to showcase places people might have seen throughout the series’ history.

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The DC Comics Zoom background selection is far more extensive. It includes locations people might have seen while reading Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman comics. To start, here are the six Batman Zoom backgrounds.

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These are the four Superman Zoom backgrounds.

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And here we have an array of DC Comics Zoom backgrounds inspired by series like Green Arrow and Wonder Woman.

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To set up these, or any, Zoom backgrounds, to go to your Zoom Rooms Settings and the images you’d like to use. (They need to be at least 960px wide, and to have a 16:9 image if that’s the size you’re using for your meetings.) Green screens aren’t necessary, but they will help to ensure they display properly.

In case you missed them, GKids and Square Enix have also released Promare and Final Fantasy VII Remake Zoom backgrounds.

The post Puyo Puyo, Batman, and Superman Get ‘Official’ Zoom Backgrounds appeared first on Siliconera.

Square Enix has unveiled a black and white paint variant of the Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Play Arts Kai Superman figure today, ahead of its coming debut at New York Comic Con in October. The figure will be sold at Square Enix’s NYCC booth, but it is also now available for pre-order on the Square Enix Online Store.

The Superman figure compliments the Batman variant sold last month at Comic-Con International: San Diego. Only 1,000 units of each figure have been made, and they are being sold for $149.99 each. See images of both collector’s items in the gallery below.

The post See The Play Arts Kai Superman Figure Before It Hits NYCC appeared first on Siliconera.

There’s a new Nendoroid Batman figurine on the way, and the Good Smile Company recently detailed him on their Kahotan blog. This version of Batman is based on The Dark Knight Rises, and uses different textures for different parts of his costume.

GSC point out that the cape is actually made up of two separate pieces. While it doesn’t look quite right from the back, it allows you to move both pieces of the cape individually, so you can do this:

The post This Nendoroid Batman Is Trying Really Hard To Look Menacing appeared first on Siliconera.

Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts director Tetsuya Nomura is working on creating a Variant Play Arts Kai Batman figuring. Its origins are quite surprising, since it comes from a game project, a game concept that perhaps influenced character designs in the Kingdom Hearts series.

Nomura explained this in an interview with Siliconera at the San Diego Comic-Con this week.

Square Enix has been working with DC Comics to create Play Arts Kai figures for quite some time. How did you get involved with creating this Variant Play Arts Kai Batman figure?

Tetsuya Nomura: Many years ago, I worked on a different project and the concept and idea was kind of already there. Unfortunately, that project didn't pan out and it never saw the light of day. When the merchandise team started expanding into the DC Comics Variant figures, they approached me and said, "We you drew a sort of Batman design back then. Would you be able to share that with us?"

Was this project a game?

Yeah, it was game-related. It didn't even start development as a project, it was just a concept and ideas, not a full game. Since the project was canceled, I can't talk much about it.

The Batman figure, especially its armor, reminds me of the Kingdom Hearts series and the armor Keyblade s wear [in Birth by Sleep].

Actually, to be honest, the project that never got off the ground was done before Kingdom Hearts was conceived. It might be the opposite—the design from that early project influenced Kingdom Hearts and armor design in that series.

The cape kind of reminds me of wings. Was that your intention?

When it comes to Batman, one of his iconic features is his cape. In my mind, I also wanted to have bat wings and the core concept was the to have bat wings exist with the cape design.

Are you working on more Play Arts Kai figures or more Variant Play Arts Kai figures with DC?

Next to the prototype of the Batman figure at our booth is another display case with a teaser. That's also part of my project. We'd like to stay within the Batman series and we are going to have more figures coming in that line.

For the second item, the design is complete and the sculpting is done. Hopefully, we can reveal that in the near future.

[Editor's note: The animal tracks in this photo are a clue to who it might be.]

As a character designer, what about the Batman universe do you find interesting?

I find the concept of a dark hero intriguing. Rather than having a straightforward hero fighting for justice, an iconic brooding hero with his own inner demons is an appealing part of the Batman series. The story itself isn't a cheerful tale either, it has a dark tone which is also appealing.

How is creating a 3D game character different from deg a figure?

The design process and steps to take for figure creation and character creation in 3D are actually pretty similar. With a game character, you have a backbone and setting for the story. There's a narrative, but for a figure there is just that object someone purchases. Of course, with Batman there is a backstory. That might be the biggest difference between creating a 3D game character and a figure.

When making this Batman figure, every time we had to submit any sort of figure design or concept to the licensor, we had to give an explanation of what the concept is. So, we did have to craft a narrative for this particular Variant Play Arts Kai Batman.

In the end, it wasn't that different. Maybe the largest difference is the wings. If this was a game character, you can show the movement of the wings opening and closing. With a figure, you need to figure out where to place the parts to make that mechanic work when someone is looking at it.

Can you tell us about the back story for the Batman figure?

We haven't announced details yet. We're figuring out how to announce those.

There are a lot of Square Enix figures based on your characters. Which figure is your favorite and what characters did you make that you want to see figures of?

I'd love to have figures of the three lead characters from Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.

And, hmm… it hasn't been released as a figure yet, but it would probably be Batman. For other characters I would just look at a 2D image to review it. For this figure, I worked with the sculptor directly so I have a soft spot for it.

The post Tetsuya Nomura’s Batman Figurine Came From A Canceled Videogame Project appeared first on Siliconera.

Kotobukiya are releasing a limited edition “Bat-Man” statue based on the character’s first appearance in Detective Comics #27. The statue stands at 1/10th scale and will be available exclusively at the San Diego Comic-Con and a limited kotous.com pre-order event. Pre-orders will open on June 27th at 10 AM.

The post Batman’s Very First Appearance Is Getting A Statue From Kotobukiya appeared first on Siliconera.

Batman: Arkham City takes place in a sealed-off section of Gotham City that the inmates of Arkham Asylum are allowed to call home, the catch being that they aren’t allowed to leave its premises. Unfortunately, having a whole bunch of Batman’s criminal gallery all locked in the same cage doesn’t bode well for any of them, so Batman has to step in to intervene.

Arkham City (the locale) is around five times the size of Arkham Asylum from Batman: Arkham Asylum, according to developer, Rocksteady Studios, who say that the game is somewhere in between linear and a “sandbox.” While you’ll play through Arkham City’s story and missions in a specific order, going off-track will allow you to discover character-driven sidequests, such as answering a phone call from Zsasz or coming across an informant who has more information to reveal.

“If you’re just flying around the streets looking for a fight, you’ll pick up bits of information that have been designed to be communicated in an ambient fashion at that particular stage in the game,” says Dax Ginn, marketing game manager at Rocksteady. “There is a vast amount of conversational dialogue that has been a serious job to write and record, but we finally finished it last Wednesday.”

Rocksteady have also added the ability to spend more time in the air, rather than on the ground, in Batman: Arkham City. Like in Arkham Asylum, you’ll be able to use Batman’s cape to glide across distances, but this time, you can also use his grapple in mid-air to latch on to buildings or ing helicopters to give yourself another lift.

Batman: Arkham City also finally has a release date, and yes, it’s still coming this fall. Warner Bros. are releasing the game on October 18th in the U.S., October 21st in Europe, and October 19th in Australia on the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Leading up to the game’s release, DC and Warner Bros. are releasing a six-issue miniseries comic that cover the events between Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. You can find out more in this post.

The post Batman: Arkham City To Swoop Down For Release In October appeared first on Siliconera.

With Batman: Arkham City not due for release until this fall, Warner Bros. and DC are giving fans something to look forward to while they wait, with a six issue mini-series that covers the events between Arkham City and its predecessor, Batman: Arkham Asylum.

The Batman: Arkham City mini-series will be penned by Paul Dini, best known for his work on Batman: The Animated Series as well as the two Arkham games. Art work will be provided by Carlos D’anda, concept artist for the games.

In addition to being available at retail stores, the Arkham City mini-series will also go up for digital , worldwide, day and date with hard copies, for $2.99. In between each issue will be 8-page digital-only interludes, available for $0.99.

DC have also confirmed that the entire Arkham City series (including digital interludes) will be re-published in a collected edition at a later date. The Arkham City series kicks off in May, with the first two issues shipping together for its debut.

The post Batman: Arkham City Comic Mini-Series To Lead Up To Game’s Launch appeared first on Siliconera.