Merry Little Batman Trailer is like Getting Socks for Christmas

Movies

This Christmas, DC Animation is giving us a gift that will make us wish for coal. Amazon has released a trailer for Merry Little Batman, an upcoming animated Christmas movie set in the DC Universe. Merry Little Batman finds Damian Wayne left alone at Christmastime while Batman responds to a Justice League emergency, only to stumble upon the Joker’s plot to steal Christmas and put on his own Batsuit to save the day. Merry Little Batman stars Yonas Kibreab as Damian Wayne, Luke Wilson as Batman, James Cromwell as Alfred, Cynthia Kaye McWilliams as Vicki Vale, David Hornsby as the Joker, and Chris Sullivan as Bane. Directed by Mike Roth, Merry Little Batman arrives on Amazon Prime Video on December 8, 2023, and you can see the trailer below:

Is there anyone above the age of maybe eight who thinks this looks anything but excruciating? The trailer is stuffed with awful humor for the kids and half-assed references for the adults (Mr. Freeze  makes ice puns and sounds like Arnold Schwarzenegger; GET IT!?), with a Batman who doesn’t look, act, or sound like Batman. The same is true of Damian Wayne; I don’t like that character, but this is nothing like the Damian of the comics. The excuse that this is for kids only works so far; Batman: The Animated Series was for kids, and it took Batman seriously. I’m not against a silly Batman special for kids, but they could at least try to make him feel like Batman. Apparently, this is a sort of pilot for an animated series called Bat-Family, and it doesn’t bode well for the show. DC Animation is a roller coaster ride; they’ve done some of the very best DC Comics adaptations ever, and they also do stuff like this. Give me Batman Returns and “Christmas with the Joker” for my Yuletide Dark Knight fix.