MOVIE NEWS – Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy retake their iconic voice roles as The Joker and Batman in the new animated movie Batman: The Killing Joke.

Some weeks ago, just weeks after it was announced that Batman: The Killing Joke would be Warner Bros.’ next DC Universe Original Movie, we could see the first trailer, which gave us a look at Mark Hamill‘s Joker and Kevin Conroy‘s Batman. This animated film is right now one of the most eagerly awaited movies of the year, even though we still don’t know the exact release date. Today, we can see the second trailer for Batman: The Killing Joke, which features even more exciting new sequences.

Both Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy have become well-known for their voice work since their first worked together on the hit 1990s shows Batman: The Animated Series. They also retook their voice roles on The New Batman Adventures; the Justice League animated series and the best Batman video games so far, including last year’s Batman: Arkham Knight. We know this movie is R-Rated, but the footage below, courtesy of Yahoo! Movies are suitable for all ages.

The Killing Joke is a cherished graphic novel which was written by Alan Moore and drawn by Brian Bolland and published in 1988. The plot presents one of the rare origin stories for The Joker, where he has a theory that only one bad day can drive any man insane, which he tests on James Gordon. The story also includes Barbara Gordon becoming paralyzed, for a period, leading to her retiring as Batgirl. It still isn’t known how faithful this adaptation will be to the source material, or how much will be changed. Executive producer Bruce W. Timm revealed at Comic-Con that the movie will include, “an original 15-minute prolog that helps set up the story, giving even longtime fans something new to look forward to.”

Some weeks ago, we reported that this movie will differ considerably from the original comic book. The 15-minute prolog will focus entirely on Barbara Gordon, who will be seen in her Batgirl costume, something that doesn’t happen in the comic. The prolog will help flesh out Batgirl‘s story before she has to endure torture (and possible rape) of The Joker, which does occur in the iconic graphic novel. This will be the first R-rated movie in the nine-year history of Warner Bros.’ DC Universe Original Movie franchise.

The voice cast will also include Tara Strong as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, with Ray Wise voicing Commissioner Gordon. It hasn’t been announced yet who will write and direct at this time. Sam Liu is listed as the director on the project’s IMDB page, but that hasn’t been confirmed. Warner Bros. hasn’t issued a release date for Batman: The Killing Joke yet, but hopefully, we’ll learn more about this project very soon. Take a look at the trailer below, which features plenty of animated violence.