Batman: The Animated Series Coming To Blu-Ray

It's been a rocky couple of years for the Caped Crusader. Between the less-than-stellar critical and commercial response to Batman v. Superman and the continuing production drama on a potential solo follow-up, the Batman has been at his best of late when he's away from the big screen, in exciting new animated projects or video games. 

While big-screen development for the Dark Knight continues, fans have at least one known quantity to look forward next year to as the classic Batman: The Animated Series will be remastered for release on Blu-Ray, according to an announcement from Warner Bros. at the New York Comic-Con.

An article in Polygon reported that a representative from Warner Bros. confirmed that the series would be released on the HD format "later in the year" in 2018.

It's not currently known if the new remaster will only be released on Blu-Ray, or if it will also come to DVD, streaming sites, and 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray. 

One major sticking point for fans will surely involve the inclusion of the 24 episodes of The New Batman Adventures, a spiritual sequel to Batman: The Animated Series that featured much of the same style and voice cast; in DVD sets of the series, the sequel series was released as "Volume 4" of the original show. It's not clear if these episodes will be included in the remaster, but it is certain that fans would be unhappy if they weren't.

Batman: The Animated Series premiered on Fox in 1992, running for 85 episodes before being followed by The New Batman Adventures in 1997. It was highly influential in the world of animation and in the broader world of Batman, with many essential stories across its seasons that helped to define the characters of Bruce Wayne and Batman in the popular consciousness. The series was also the birthplace of the character Harley Quinn, who has continued to have an outsized influence on the franchise to this day.

However many episodes end up being included, you can look for the new Blu-Ray set sometime late next year. Stay tuned for more info—we'll have more from New York Comic-Con as the news comes out.