Batman: Knightfall (film)

Batman: Knightfall
Trilogy logo
Directed by	Jeff Wamester
Screenplay by	Jeremy Adams
Based on	Characters from DC
Produced by	Jim Krieg Kimberly S. Moreau
Starring	Anson Mount Michael Mando Pablo Schreiber
Music by	John Jennings Boyd Eric V. Hachikian
Production companies	Warner Bros. Animation DC Entertainment
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Release dates	June 23, 2026 (2026-06-23) (Annecy; Part 1) August 25, 2026 (2026-08-25) (Part 1) 2026 (2026) (Part 2) 2027 (2027) (Part 3)
Running time	79 minutes (Part 1)
Country	United States
Language	English

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.

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 Bane. It premiered at the 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, and was released digitally on August 25, 2026.

Plot

Part 1: Knightfall

At a dock in Gotham City, members of the Kobra cult looking over their gathering of potential sacrifices with their leader promising the trafficker that he may be forgiven for his last failure. However, a mysterious figure confronts them: Azrael, who brutally murders them before Batman arrives to save the trafficker. When the trafficker is ran over by a truck and Azrael realizes he's trying to kill Batman, he snaps out of his murderous rage and reveals himself as Jean-Paul Valley, begging Batman to help him.

Decades prior, in Pena Duro prison of Santa Prisca, a mother gives birth to a baby boy and she tearfully apologizes for giving birth to him in the hellscape he's in. The warden later tells her that they must serve the sentence of the father and they're taken away. Years later, the boy has become a sneaky thief, stealing a biscuit for his ailing mother, but she slaps him for trying to care for her, telling him that things like that are a weakness and he must be strong. A janitor passes by and gives him a copy of Gotham Gazette showing a picture of Thomas Wayne and the book talking about the great things he did for Gotham. When the boy's mother passes, the janitor enters his cell and attempts to take advantage of him, only for the boy to beat him to death with a book. The guards attempted to restrain him, but the boy broke free and even attacked the warden, biting off his ear. As punishment, the boy was tossed into a pit where years would pass and he would grow stronger. Removed from the pit, he was used as a guinea pig to transform him into a super-soldier using a mysterious drug. The drug would transform him and he would break free, killing the guards and the warden before making his escape, now known as Bane.

In the present day, Bruce Wayne is seeing psychiatrist Sondra Kinsolving. Despite Bruce's attempts to use his playboy charm, Sondra is able to get through to the heart of the matter with his lingering feelings towards his estrangement with Dick Grayson and the death of Jason Todd. At Arkham Asylum, Bane breaks in and sets up a bomb in the asylum's boiler room, which causes a massive explosion, releasing the inmates. Two days later, Batman and Robin confront the Mad Hatter, who is intending on killing the jury who put him in Arkham. The two are able to save them, 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 that his actions were imprinted on him by his father. When Batman and Robin return, Batman just grabs a spare utility belt and heads back out, leading Robin to recruit Jean-Paul so they can investigate Arkham's destruction.

At an all-girls school, Commissioner Gordon tries to keep his officers of the Gotham City Police Department from running in and threaten the lives of the girls being held hostage by serial killer Mr. Zsasz. Renee Montoya scolds him for waiting for Batman and charges in herself. Zsasz captures Renee, only for Batman to arrive to save her and begin pummeling Zsasz nearly to death before Renee stops him. At Arkham, Robin and Jean-Paul discover evidence of the bomb that destroyed Arkham, deducing that the police had no time to investigate before they had to go to other emergencies, all while Bane watches. At his hideout, the Riddler realizes something bigger is happening before his henchmen is murdered by Bane and Riddler himself is injected with the same drug he was. A montage of Batman capturing the Ventriloquist and Scarface, Mr. Freeze, Catman, Firefly and the Scarecrow happens, all showing Batman slowly falling apart physically and mentally. At a clock tower, Batman confronts the strengthened Riddler, the latter realizing that whatever the drug did stole his ability to feel physical things, frightening him and causing him to run off. Gordon confronts Batman, but the latter rejects his help.

Robin and Jean-Paul go off to confront the Berntinelli mob family, learning that Bane had confronted them and demanded their explosives. However, when other mobsters confront them, Jean-Paul's brainwashing kicks in, brutally attacking them and forcing him to retreat in panic. Bruce makes his way to Sondra's home, where she tends to his wounds, using her healing ability and causing her to rest on Bruce's shoulder while he rests. When Robin goes to investigate the stolen bombs, Bane ambushes and captures him. When he awakes, Bane reveals that he already knows who he is. As Robin attempts to escape, Bane reveals he intends on breaking Batman, believing that Bruce had squandered the good Thomas Wayne had brought and to force Gotham to become stronger. Robin escapes and ends up falling into the sewers after being beaten by Bane. In a church, Jean-Paul confesses his sins to a priest, only to realize that he was a member of the Order of Saint Dumas telling him to embrace his role as Azrael before hallucinating the namesake himself.

When Bruce wakes up in the morning, he learns of Tim being hurt and returns to the Batcave. Tim attempts to tell Bruce about Bane and his role in the madness, but Bruce, furious that Tim disobeyed him, fires him then hurts him emotionally by telling him that he's not Jason Todd. Realizing what he's said, he attempts to confront them and apologize before seeing their unconscious bodies and being confronted by Bane. Despite his weakened state and Bane's desire to break him, Bruce dons his cowl and fights him. However, Bane's monstrous physique is more than a match for Batman's weakened state and he pummels him through Wayne Manor and the Batcave. After taunting him for all of his failures, Batman attempts a second attack but Bane ferociously pummels him. Tired of his defiance, Bane holds him over his head, then slams him against his back, shattering his spine, then drags him out of the Batcave.

At GCPD headquarters, Gordon arrives to have Harvey Bullock tell him about the explosion there. At the manor, Tim and Alfred have awoken and found no sign of Bruce, only to see Bane on the rooftop through the TV. As a floodlight is shined on him, Bane roars out that Gotham must now fend for themselves as he lifts Batman's broken body and, to the horror of everything there and everyone watching, tosses him onto the floodlight. Infuriated, Gordon orders the officers to take Bane down, but their bullets do nothing to him as he walks away. As frightened onlookers watch, Bullock warns Gordon that Gotham is about to become a hell on Earth as, in the sky, Batman's broken body on the damaged floodlight is shown as a makeshift broken Bat-Signal.

Voice cast

Appearing in Part 1

• Anson Mount as Bruce Wayne / Batman
• Michael Mando as Bane
  • Noah Mendes as young Bane
• Pablo Schreiber as Jean-Paul Valley / Azrael
• Jack Griffo as Tim Drake / Robin
• Bruce Boxleitner as Commissioner Gordon
• David Dastmalchian as Edward Nygma / Riddler
• Simon Templeman as Alfred Pennyworth
• Toks Olagundoye as Shondra Kinsolving
• Jason Flemyng as Jervis Tetch / Mad Hatter
• Jessica Camacho as Renee Montoya
• Mick Wingert as Harvey Bullock
• Andrew Morgado as Victor Zsasz
• Jeff Bennett as Arnold Wesker / Ventriloquist and Scarface
• Luis Bermudez as Thomas Blake / Catman
• Max Mittelman as Jason Todd / Robin
• Adriana Isabel as Bane's mother
• Bayardo de Murgula as the Pena Duro warden

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. Warner Bros. Animation and DC Studios will produce the film, with Studio Mir providing the animation services. 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. 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. John Jennings Boyd & Eric V. Hachikian composed the music.

Release

Part 1: Knightfall premiered at Annecy on June 23, 2026. 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 is planned to release later in 2026, while Part 3 is expected to release in 2027.

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.

External links

• Official website (Part 1)
• Batman: Knightfall – Part 1: Knightfall at IMDb