Get ready for a new Batman series coming to HBO Max. Except this series isn’t a live-action or even animated story: it’s a ten-episode podcast series that will debut on the streaming service September 18th (Batman Day).
Batman: The Audio Adventures features a stacked cast of actors: Rosario Dawson voices Catwoman, John Leguizamo will be the Riddler, and Jeffrey Wright will give life to the show’s titular character. They’ll be joined by Fred Armisen, Ike Barinholtz, Heidi Gardner, Tim Meadows, Seth Meyers, Bobby Moynihan, Chris Parnell, Paul Scheer, Brooke Shields, Brent Spiner, Jason Sudeikis, Kenan Thompson, Alan Tudyk, Melissa Villaseñor, and Ray Wise.
The streaming service announced the series last month, written and directed by Saturday Night Live‘s Dennis McNicholas, who is drawing some influence from the classic 1960s live action Batman series, as well as Batman: The Animated Series. The trailer hints at those influences, featuring a noir-ish, art-deco-radio drama vibe as it teases some of the characters from Dawson, Leguizamo, Thompson, and Wright.
HBO has been experimenting a bit with podcasts in recent years: It’s released a number of companion shows to projects like Chernobyl, Watchmen, and Lovecraft Country, and this marks a renewed effort into the medium that sees it using its streaming service in a way that goes beyond just video content. While the network’s other podcasts are available on other platforms, this one will be an exclusive on HBO Max.
This is also not the only Batman project in the works: DC teamed up with Spotify last year to announce an original Batman podcast called Batman Unburied, which will be written by The Dark Knight screenwriter David Goyer. That project hasn’t been released yet, although Spotify says that that will also debut at some point this year.
