After the recent release of the trailer for Matt Reeves' upcoming film The Batman, many Batman fans are surely revisiting their favorite Batman films in anticipation for it's October 2021 release. While many of these films are live-action, you really shouldn't turn your nose up to The Caped Crusader's animated adventures.
Among those animated films, Batman: Under The Red Hood, based on the comic arc of a similar name by the film's eventual writer Judd Winick, is one of the best Batman films of all time. However, in order to make the film, Winick had to trim some of the fat.
The Title
This is a rather light alteration, but still one of note. This major comic arc drew its plot from the epic story that ran through the pages of Batman comics in the mid-2000's, looking to resurrect the long-dead Jason Todd to hopefully make his legacy more expansive than being just an empty suit in The Batcave.
With that in mind, the title of the arc is actually different from its movie adaptation. The comic arc's title is "Under The Hood" as opposed to the movie that's labeled Batman: Under The Red Hood. The former rolls off the tongue a tad bit smoother, but the added word helps the latter stand out.
The Movie Has No Superhero Cameos
Being a DC story and not a stand-alone event, it's unsurprising that quite a few other DC heroes make cameos as Batman investigates Jason Todd's revival. Most of the cameos have to do with either magical heroes, as well as those who have returned from the dead. These include Zatanna, Green Arrow, Jason Blood, and Superman.
These cameos weren't in the movie, which helps maintain its pacing. Also, Batman's interactions with Zatanna and Green Arrow showcase his contempt towards them due to their involvement in Identity Crisis, a controversial DC story that won't be getting an animated film anytime soon.
A Death In The Family's Context Was Changed
While the movie is fairly faithful to it's source material, its changes expand to a story that predates its source material. "A Death In The Family" is the story that saw Jason Todd get bumped off, leading to the events of Under the Red Hood. However, in the movie, the context of the story is altered.
In the comics, Jason is killed after the woman who turned out to be his mother, Sheila Haywood, ratted him out to The Joker. She's also killed in the explosion that took Jason's life. In the film, Ra's Al Ghul hires Joker to get The Dynamic Duo off of his trail, only for Joker to than takes things too far by brutally murdering Jason Todd instead of just scaring him off.
Onyx Teamed Up With Red Hood
Who? Good question! Onyx was a fairly minor Batman and Green Arrow character who has long since been forgotten about. However, she made a fairly substantial appearance in the comics where she ended up teaming with Red Hood to fight a band of criminals.
Ultimately, Onyx turns on Red Hood after he brutally slaughters the criminals, leading to the former Robin non-lethally stabbing her in the shoulder. Onyx was dropped from the movie and her part in the story was completely excised.
Chemo's Attack On Blüdhaven
Though the comic is often seen as an emotional battle between Batman and one of his greatest failures, it somewhat loses focus during the latter portion of the story, due to it taking place during the epic crossover Infinite Crisis. This loss of focus lies at the feet of the villain Chemo.
In Infinite Crisis, Chemo is set loose on Blüdhaven, which the city's resident hero Nightwing thankfully manages to survive. Batman and Red Hood witness Chemo land in Blüdhaven from afar, with Red Hood oddly taking credit for it. Thankfully, none of this is seen in the film.
Joker's Small But Significant Role
Despite both stories hinging on his actions and the fact that he's probably the most popular supervillain ever created, The Joker's role here is actually fairly small. While Joker still has Jason Todd's blood on his hands, he doesn't really show up for long in either version of the story.
In the comics, Jason tracks The Joker down and beats him to a pulp with a crowbar. Meanwhile, the movie gives The Joker a little more to do by having Black Mask hire him to kill Todd, which is a job that another Batman villain got in the source material. Both versions of the story end with Joker being more of a plot device for the finale, as Jason Todd's return really boils down to a tragic confrontation between the previously dead Robin and Batman.
Deathstroke Offered To Help Black Mask
Black Mask plays a key role in both versions of The Red Hood's debut, but an offer made to him isn't featured. The comic sees Deathstroke offer Black Mask membership in The Secret Society and they team up to deal with Red Hood. However, Deathstroke delegates the task to Captain Nazi, Hyena, and Count Vertigo, who are all beaten by Batman and Red Hood.
The film sees the group of villains' roles were taken by The Fearsome Hand of Four, an original villain team created for the movie. Deathstroke and the Society are never mentioned as well.
Black Mask Hired Mr. Freeze To Kill Red Hood
Early on in the comics, Black Mask decides to responds to Red Hood making moves in Gotham's criminal underworld by hiring Mr. Freeze to deal with him. While he actually receives a suit that calls back to Batman: The Animated Series, Mr. Freeze is nowhere near as sympathetic as he is in there.
After killing a lab tech who criticizes his past tech and freezing one of Black Mask's men who gave him lip, Mr. Freeze unsuccessfully attacks Red Hood before escaping Batman. Mr. Freeze does not appear at all in the movie.
Ra's Al Ghul Is Nicer In The Film
Ra's Al Ghul has an important role to play in both the film and the comics, however his main role plays out in different ways. In the comics, Ra's appears in a flashback, which details how Jason got his motivation and Ra's shows a degree of dismissiveness towards the former Robin's plight.
Whereas in the film, Ra's is remorseful of being involved with Jason's death so after choosing to retire his feud with Batman, he steals Todd's body and places it in The Lazarus Pit. The film sees Ra's play a far more active and sympathetic role in the conflict, which he simply didn't do in the comics.
Jason Todd's Means Of Resurrection
The big selling point of both the comic and movie is seeing the return of Batman's deceased Robin, Jason Todd. What's worth noting is how he comes back, as each story has its own take. The comics version is more complex and ludicrous, even by DC's standards. Here, Superboy Prime quite literally punches reality so hard that it causes ripple effects throughout the multiverse, including Jason Todd coming back to life.
The movie's version of Todd's return is far more straightforward and simpler. Instead of being punched back to life, Todd resurrects after Ra's Al Ghul dips him into The Lazarus Pit in a misguided attempt to redeem himself. The problem is that Jason's mind comes back warped due to a combination of the Pit's effects and the trauma he already endured.