Batman: Knightfall (film)
Animated superhero film trilogy
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Batman: Knightfall is an American adult animated superhero film trilogy featuring Batman, and based on the DC Comics arc "Knightfall" (1993–1994) itself consisting of three storylines. The films were directed by Jeff Wamester from a script by Jeremy Adams and stars Anson Mount, Michael Mando and Pablo Schreiber. They are installments of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series.
- Jim Krieg
- Kimberly S. Moreau
| Batman: Knightfall | |
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Trilogy logo | |
| Directed by | Jeff Wamester |
| Written by | Jeremy Adams |
| Based on | |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Music by |
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Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment |
Release dates |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The first installment, Batman: Knightfall – Part 1: Knightfall, follows Batman as he exhausts himself in confronting the escaped inmates of Arkham Asylum who were freed by a Caribbean prison escapee, Bane. It premiered at the 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, and was released digitally on August 25, 2026.
Plot
Part 1: Knightfall
In Gotham City, Azrael preys on members of the Kobra Cult to punish them for their sins, but Batman intervenes at the last moment to save a human trafficker from his lethal wrath. After dueling Batman, Azrael snaps out of his murderous rage when the trafficker is struck and killed by a tank truck. Revealing his true identity as Jean-Paul Valley, he begs Batman for help.
Years earlier in the Caribbean island nation of Santa Prisca, a young boy and his mother are forced to serve out his rebel father's term at Peña Duro Prison. Under his mother's intense indoctrination, a young Bane learns to despise weakness and educates himself assiduously. After seeing Thomas Wayne and his family in a tattered Gotham Today, he dreams of ruling Gotham City, noting that the Waynes' son, Bruce, was about his age on the cover. Following his mother's death, the boy kills a pedophilic janitor while defending himself, and violently resists the prison guards and warden who attempt to restrain him. After being branded an abomination, he is cast into a subterranean pit and left to die; however, he survives by refining his body, feeding on vermin, and descending into a feral state due to his brutal isolation. After reaching adulthood, his peak physical condition allows him to survive experiments with Venom, a volatile super-steroid. Armed with superhuman strength, he slaughters the guards and warden before the terrified doctors, escaping the facility with the inmates' awe and the name Bane.
In the present, Dr. Shondra Kinsolving questions Bruce Wayne about the successive tragedies in his life. Her inquiry covers the murders of his parents, his estrangement from Dick Grayson, and the death of Jason Todd. Acknowledging their pasts as Robin, she warns the secretly masked Batman to seek help before their successor, Tim Drake, suffers a similar fate. Simultaneously, the plot escalates as Bane breaches Arkham Asylum and detonates an explosion that frees the inmates.
Two days later, Batman and Robin confront the escaped Mad Hatter. The two can save the Mad Hatter's captives, but Batman reprimands Robin for not staying in the Batmobile as ordered. In the Batcave, Jean-Paul continues his recovery and training, revealing to Alfred Pennyworth that his actions resulted from his father's conditioning. After returning to the Batcave, Batman orders Robin to investigate the destruction of Arkham and immediately heads back out, ignoring Alfred and Tim's concerns about his crippling fatigue.
At an all-girls boarding school, Batman saves hostages and one of Commissioner Gordon's detectives, Renee Montoya, who entered against orders, from serial killer Victor Zsasz. Batman pummels Zsasz nearly to death before Renee stops him. As the night goes on, Batman becomes increasingly debilitated while apprehending the Ventriloquist and Scarface, Mr. Freeze, Catman, and Firefly. After hallucinating Jason due to Scarecrow's fear gas, he reaches out to Shondra but is called away by the Bat-Signal. At a clock tower, Batman confronts the Riddler, whom Bane forcibly injected with Venom to attack and completely exhaust Batman. Riddler plants a bomb and flees, but Batman disposes of it. Gordon confronts Batman about his stress-induced breakdown, but Batman rejects the lifeline. Bruce visits Shondra's office, where she tends to his wounds while he sleeps. In doing so, she reveals her secret metahuman healing ability, though the exertion leaves her exhausted.
After tracing the asylum's explosive residue to the Bertinelli Cartel, Robin and Jean-Paul confront its leader, Franco Bertinelli. They discover that before Arkham's destruction, Bane had ambushed the syndicate and seized their arsenal. However, when Franco's security detail opens fire, the sudden violence triggers Jean-Paul's deep-seated brainwashing, forcing him to retreat in a blind panic. While Robin investigates the stolen bombs, Bane ambushes him. Awakening to captivity, Robin learns the depth of Bane's obsession with the Waynes. Armed with a meticulous knowledge of Batman and his protégés, Bane schemes to conquer Gotham City by systematically breaking Thomas Wayne's son. Robin breaks free and narrowly escapes after being unable to defeat Bane. In a church, Jean-Paul confesses, but he hallucinates a priest and a Knights Templar who instruct him to listen to the Order of St. Dumas and embrace his role as Azrael.
When Bruce returns to the Batcave and learns of Tim's disobedience, he furiously fires him, completely ignoring Tim's warnings about Bane. He later attempts to apologize to Tim and Alfred but instead finds them unconscious and is confronted by Bane. Although a fatigued Batman attempts to resist, he is no match for a Venom-enhanced Bane, who beats him through Wayne Manor and the Batcave while mocking his failures. Driven by frustration at Batman's defiance, Bane fractures his spine, choosing the torment of paraplegia over the mercy of death.
While Commissioner Gordon, Detective Montoya, and Jean-Paul witness the event firsthand—with Tim, Alfred, and Shondra watching via a live television broadcast—Bane hurls Batman's incapacitated body from the roof of Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) headquarters, declaring that the city must now fend for itself. Detective Harvey Bullock subsequently warns Gordon that Bane's actions will plunge Gotham into chaos.
Part 2: Knightquest
Part 3: KnightsEnd
Voice cast
Appearing in Part 1
- Anson Mount as Bruce Wayne / Batman[3]
- Michael Mando as Bane[3]
- Noah Mendes as young Bane
- Pablo Schreiber as Jean-Paul Valley / Azrael[3]
- Jeff Bennett as Arnold Wesker / Ventriloquist and Scarface
- Luis Bermudez as Thomas Blake / Catman
- Bruce Boxleitner as Commissioner Gordon[4]
- Jessica Camacho as Renee Montoya
- Anthony Crivello as Franco Bertinelli, Priest, Prisoner
- David Dastmalchian as Edward Nygma / Riddler[5]
- Jason Flemyng as Jervis Tetch / Mad Hatter
- Jack Griffo as Tim Drake / Robin[4]
- Adriana Isabel as Bane's mother
- Max Mittelman as Jason Todd / Robin
- Andrew Morgado as Victor Zsasz
- Bayardo de Murguia as the Peña Duro prison warden
- Toks Olagundoye as Shondra Kinsolving
- Simon Templeman as Alfred Pennyworth
- Mick Wingert as Harvey Bullock
Production
In October 2025, during New York Comic Con, it was announced that a series of animated films based on the Batman three-part story arc "Knightfall" (1993–1994) was in development. The first installment, Batman: Knightfall – Part 1: Knightfall, is directed by Jeff Wamester from a screenplay written by Jeremy Adams, with Jim Krieg and Kimberly S. Moreau serving as producers, while Sam Register and Michael Uslan serve as executive producers.[6][7] Warner Bros. Animation and DC Studios will produce the film, with Studio Mir providing the animation services.[8][9] When production on the film started, supervising producer Rick Morales and his fellow crew members worked around the parameters that the film had to be rated as "PG-13" due to being a Batman film despite Morales' experience in Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (2022) "forming part of his DNA", so their first set of storyboards were based on that toned down level of violence until they showed them to the executives and they said that they could show a little bit more, to which a surprised Morales started asking his colleagues to push the limits to be a "little bit more" violent and crazy to earn an "R rating", like a scene that according to producer Jim Krieg, involved characters burning to death but it was originally offscreen, so they doubled down to show it more explicitly.[10] At the premiere of Part 1: Knightfall in the 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the voice cast—which includes Anson Mount, who previously voiced Batman in Injustice, Michael Mando, and Pablo Schreiber—was unveiled.[11] John Jennings Boyd & Eric V. Hachikian composed the music.[12]
Release
Part 1: Knightfall premiered at the 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 23, 2026.[11] The film was released digitally on August 25, while a physical release on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD is set for September 8; Part 2: Knightquest is planned to release later in 2026, while Part 3 is expected to release in 2027.[13][14]
The official trailer for Part 2: Knightquest was released on September 19, 2026, coinciding with Batman Day.[15]
Reception
Swara Ahmed of The Nerds of Color declared Part 1 as a "Superb Adaptation" of Knightfall, calling it the best animated Batman film since Mask of the Phantasm and one of the best overall Batman films.[16]
Other reviews were also positive. Alex Zalben of Comic Book Club praised the adaptation for condensing the lengthy comic-book storyline while retaining its major narrative beats.[17] Jeffrey Lyles of Lyles Movie Files called it a “fantastic adaptation” and praised its animation design and final act, awarding it 9.5 out of 10.[18] Writing for Get Your Comic On, Neil Vagg gave the film five stars and praised the adaptation's changes and faithfulness to its source material.[19]
Jessie Schedeen of IGN praised the film, saying "The first part of this animated trilogy succeeds in cutting through the fat and adapting the essential core of a classic Batman crossover. It paints a vivid psychological portrait of both Batman and his latest arch-nemesis."[4]
Variety reported that Part 1: Knightfall received applause at its premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, noting its graphic violence and portrayal of an exhausted Batman.[20] TheWrap described the film as a faithful adaptation of the comic storyline.[21]
Daniel Kurland of Dread Central praised the film's portrayal of Bane and Pablo Schreiber's performance as Jean-Paul Valley, but criticised its occasional rushed pacing and felt that it told only part of a story.[22]
