When the first trailer of DC League of Super-Pets was released in late 2021, it included Keanu Reeves (The Matrix Resurrections) as part of the voice cast, but his role was unspecified. Speculation of his role included Brainiac or Joker. But with the newest teaser, Reeves is confirmed to be playing the Dark Knight Detective himself. How does Keanu Reeves’s portrayal stack up as Gotham’s shadowy guardian? Read on for more.
Batman and Ace
The new trailer for DC League of Super-Pets mainly focuses on Batman (Keanu Reeves) and his soon-to-be pet hound, Ace (voiced by Kevin Hart). The trailer features the familiar Batman theme music by Danny Elfman from the 1989 Tim Burton film. Batman’s opening line sets up the conversation between the two: The two exchange their origin stories, which literally have parallels, playing with Batman’s tragic loss. But apparently, the dog Ace also has suffered losses. And while Batman emphasizes his melancholy and lone wolf attitude as the result of his origins, Ace acts as a good dog would, forming a bond and playfully frolicking with the surprised masked vigilante.
— DC (@DCComics) March 6, 2022 The rest of the trailer shows new footage from the animated movie. More scenes of Keanu’s Batman poking fun at the usually serious elements of the Dark Knight’s mythos, such as being a loner and yet having a long list of supporting casts like Alfred Pennyworth, Commissioner James Gordon, and the guy Morgan Freeman played (referring to Lucius Fox). There are also new scenes of Superman (John Krasinski) and Krypto (Dwayne Johnson), including a funny anecdote that Clark rewards Krypto with a Batman chew toy that the dog calls Squeezy Bruce. This shocks The Batman, noting that it had better be a licensed toy or he will freak out. But despite the more whimsical approach to the Justice League pantheon, DC League of Super-Pets director and scribe, Jared Stern is approaching it as a traditional superhero film. Stern is a veteran producer, writer, and director of many animated and live action projects, including The Lego Batman Movie (2017), The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017), Happy Anniversary (2018), and Green Eggs and Ham (2019).
— Jared Stern (@jaredstern) November 17, 2021 In an Entertainment Weekly interview from 2021, Stern shared his thoughts on his approach to honor the superhero genre: This would give DC League of Super-Pets a tone more along the lines of The Incredibles (2004) and Megamind (2010), than Despicable Me (2010) or its spin-off Minions (2015).
More Batman in 2022
Reeves brings a more lighthearted feel to the role. Despite the attempt to make his voice sound gruff and husky, Keanu Reeves’ Batman sounds less menacing with a funny twist than other portrayals. Although not as comedic as Lego Batman (voiced by Will Arnett), it is also not as menacing as other animated portrayals such as the legendary Kevin Conroy as shown in Batman: The Animated Series, Injustice, the Arkham series of games, and many others. Batman’s popularity is certainly reaching new heights this 2022. With the massive box office and critical success of The Batman starring Robert Pattinson in the role and both Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck reprising their versions of the Caped Crusader in The Flash (as well as Keaton appearing in HBO Max’s Batgirl), this year may as well be called the Year of the Bat. DC League of Super-Pets stars Dwayne Johnson as Krypto, Kevin Hart as Ace The Bat-Hound, John Krasinski as Clark Kent/Superman, Keanu Reeves as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Vanessa Bayer as PB (Wonder Woman’s pet pig), Natasha Lyonne as Merton (The Flash’s pet turtle), Diego Luna as Chip (Green Lantern’s pet squirrel), Marc Maron as Lex Luthor. The film also stars Kate Mckinnon, Thomas Middleditch, Ben Schwartz, and Jameela Jamil in currently undisclosed roles. Produced by DC Entertainment and Warner Animation Group in partnership with Seven Bucks Productions, the superhero animated film releases to international theaters this May 18, 2022 with a delayed release for the U.S. market on May 20, 2022.
