2017 is a massive year for DC. In June there's the big screen solo debut of Wonder Woman, the first female superhero-led film since 2004; then a few months later, Diana will re-team with Batman (as well as Superman, in some form) and get Cyborg, Aquaman and The Flash in on the action for the big screen debut of Justice League. That's a lot of debuts. But before visiting Themyscira and seeing the gang take on Steppenwolf, first audiences are going to visit LEGO Gotham.
The LEGO Batman Movie is now less than a month away. Bringing back Will Arnett's blocky version of the Caped Crusader and his collection of black and very dark grey contraptions, the spinoff from The LEGO Movie is shaping up to be a jokey contrast to the overwhelmingly serious DCEU. So far the marketing for the film has been rather tightly on Bats' home life, his relationship with ward-turned-sidekick Robin and a few hints at a near-symbiotic rivalry with the Joker, but we know there's more to it than that. A number of the teasers for the movie have now included a joke where Alfred references the many previously-released Bat-films, hinting at a very self-aware experience here.
Fittingly, two new TV spots for the film have been released that show off several pieces of new footage and provide a wider range of humour. The first puts focus on the Justice League, who are clearly not too keen on their financially-enabled member, having their anniversary party (complete with Krypto the Superdog as DJ) without Bruce Wayne's knowledge, as well as showing off some of the villains who will be supporting Zach Galifianakis' Joker - Riddler, Scarecrow, Calendar Man and, hilariously, The Condiment King, a parody character from Batman: The Animated Series. The second TV spot (see below) features more of what we've seen in previous trailers for the film, bringing back that cracking franchise gag.
The core plot of LEGO Batman Movie sees Joker threatening Gotham City with the complete Batman rogues gallery, but on a more personal level it will deal with Bruce's increasing isolation and loneliness. There's a stark contrast between his public crime fighting life and his solitary personal one, to which Robin (as well as other Bat-family members) could be the cure.
The new spots both hint at this, but also bring the meta feel and general irreverence we've come to expect from LEGO in the past few years that's not been fully present in the marketing thus far. The early trailers looked sumptuous, but with protracted jokes and a beat-box Batman theme didn't seem quite certain on their intended tone. More recent teasers, and especially these LEGO Batman Movie TV spots, bring things back to what we know of the LEGO Batman character and definitely increase interest.
LEGO is definitely expecting a big hit here too, with over a dozen construction sets based on the film, as well as a whole line of polybag minifigures. If The LEGO Batman Movie is anywhere near as good as the first LEGO movie, then we should be in for a real treat.
NEXT: Comic Book Movies to Watch Out For in 2017
Source: Warner Bros. Animation [via Comic Book]
