DC’s ‘Batman: Gotham by Gaslight’ Gets R-Rating

Imagine the most persistent detective from fiction taking on one of history’s most devious criminals. Sounds pretty good, right? DC certainly thinks so, which is why they’re bringing us an animated version of Batman: Gotham by Gaslight early next year. Based on the 1989 one-shot of the same name, Gaslight will feature a Victorian version of Batman hunting down Jack the Ripper – and we’ve just learnt that it’s going to be rated R!

The rating has been confirmed on the MPAA’s official website and also listed in a new trailer. This makes Gaslight the second R-rated animated Batman feature, following on from 2016’s The Killing Joke. In that particular outing, an R-rating gave director Sam Liu and writer Brian Assarello the chance to go to some pretty ugly places, which caused plenty of controversy. Criticism mainly focused on the depiction of Barbara Gordon/Batgirl and her torture at the hands of The Joker.

In Gaslight, Sam Liu returns as director with James Krieg (Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox) writing the screenplay. Its rating is attributed to ‘some violence’ on the MPAA website. Frankly, a movie featuring the Cape Crusader and Jack the Ripper should have a fair amount of violence, so we’re pretty thrilled to hear this news. However, that being said, we hope Liu manages to avoid sparking any contentious debates this time around.

Gotham by Gaslight will feature Bruce Greenwood (Kingsman: The Golden Circle) as the voice of Batman, marking his second appearance as the character after Under the Red Hood (2010). The supporting cast includes names that should be familiar to Vampire Squid readers, including Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter, The Exorcism of Emily Rose) as Selina Kyle and Anthony Head (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as Alfred.

A release date is TBC but fans can already preorder a digital copy at Amazon.com.