Unlike the casting announcements for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, there’s a refreshing transparency to reports on the upcoming animated version of Batman: Year One—primarily because the adaptation of Frank Miller’s classic comic doesn’t deviate in the slightest from its source material, so there’s no need for invented aliases or other forms of possible subterfuge. So rest assured that these people are really and truly who they say they are: The film will feature former The O.C. ruffian turned taciturn Southland cop Ben McKenzie as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Breaking Bad-ass Bryan Cranston as James Gordon, perennially kicked-around actress Eliza Dushku as Catwoman, and Battlestar Galactica’s Katee Sackhoff as Gordon’s co-worker and mistress, Detective Sarah Essen. Also on board: Alex Rocco, who will combine both his gangster work in The Godfather with his Simpsons-launched cartoon voiceover career by playing crime boss Carmine Falcone. According to executive producer Bruce Timm, the animated Year One is a “straightforward literal retelling” of Miller’s comic book—and because it wouldn’t be a Batman-related Newswire without rampant speculation, we’d say that certainly bodes well for the rumors that they’re planning on following it with a similar adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns.
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