Next year we'll be seeing the dark and gritty version of Batman in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, but we'll now be getting a return of the campiness of the original series as well.
According to comicbook.com, Adam West and Burt Ward announced at Mad Monster Con that they will star in a new Batman animated film based on the 1966 TV show. This will be a 90 minute feature coming just in time for the show's 50th anniversary.
Burt Ward said this animated film will be one of possibly two films, but he was unsure if he and West would be featured in both.
According to Slashfilm, 2014 saw something of a resurgence of the original Batman TV show. A deal was reached last year between Warner Bros. and Fox so that the original series could be made available on DVD and blu-ray. Toys and action figures started to become available as well.
This movie will most likely be a Warner Bros. animated film, as that studio has been releasing a huge number of direct to DVD animated films based on DC comics. The most recent was Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, released on home video this past January. The studio will also be releasing a new feature, Batman vs. Robin, on April 14.
The Batman and Robin of the direct to DVD animated universe are totally different from the West and Ward characters, so this feature probably will be in its own bubble and not in that same universe, but it should still be a joy to see these actors back in these classic roles again.
The original Batman TV series ran from 1966 and 1968, airing 120 episodes in that time. Unlike the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight films and the upcoming Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, the original series was campy and ridiculous, featuring scenes like these with Batman fighting a rubber shark.
The new Batman animated film will be released sometime in 2016.
image courtesy of Roger Wong/INFphoto.com