Batman Ninja English Trailer Takes The Dark Knight To Feudal Japan

Another country has taken a crack at the Batman mythos.

Batman Ninja, the Elseworlds-style anime adventure for the Dark Knight, is on its way to Bruce Wayne's country of origin this spring, and you can watch the English-language trailer for the feature up above.

The trailer sees the Dark Knight trapped in feudal Japan without his gadgets or gear, forced to rely on only his wits in a battle against the Demon King, Lord Joker. Which, well — man, that's great. Look at that Joker costume. This movie looks like a bonkers cross between Final Fantasy, Samurai Champloo, and, uh, Batman.

The movie will focus on the aftermath of a massive time displacement event that occurs to Gotham's heroes and villains as a result of Gorilla Grodd's mad science. Blown back through space and time and facing villains who seek to change history, Batman will have to reunite with allies like Catwoman, Nightwing, Red Hood, and Red Robin to overthrow the new feudal lords of bygone Japan and return back home to Gotham. 

In addition to the Joker, the group will face off against the likes of Deathstroke, the Penguin, Two-Face, and Poison Ivy — all in beautifully distinctive Japanese animation.

The anime's release was preceded by a Japanese trailer two months ago, prior to the reveal of the English voice cast. That lineup of talent includes Roger Craig Smith of Batman: Arkham Origins as the Caped Crusader and Arrested Development's Tony Hale as the Joker, with Tara Strong, Will Friedle, and Tom Kenny also performing multiple roles.

The movie, a production of Warner Bros. Japan and DC Entertainment, was directed by Jumpei Mizusaki, who is known for Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, and written by Kazuki Nakashima, with character designs by Afro Samurai's Takashi Okazaki. The original script for the movie was translated into English by Leo Chu and Eric Garcia, who also worked as writers and producers on Afro Samurai.

Batman Ninja will be available digitally on April 2014, with a steelbook Blu-ray and DVD release available on May 8.