Over the years, the DC animation division has specialized in adapting some major Batman storylines. It’s no surprise that with the Dark Knight’s long history, there have been scores of famous tales that have lent well to animated adaptations: The Dark Knight Returns, Gotham By Gaslight, Hush, The Killing Joke, and more.
Now, finally, one of the biggest Batman epics ever is hitting the animated block. At the 2025 New York Comic Con, Warner Bros Animation announced that Batman: Knightfall, a multi-movie series based on the 1990s crossover, is coming in 2026.
Directed by Jess Wamster and written by Jeremy Adams, the movie is produced by Rick Morales, Jim Kieg, Kimberly S. Moreau, Sam Register, and Michael Uslan. There’s no word on the cast yet, although DC has a good track record of casting the right voices for these movies.
It helps that they have one hell of a story to tell, that’s one of the biggest (in terms of length) Batman tales ever.
Batman: Knightfall is one of the all-time great Dark Knight stories
Stretching from 1993 to 1994, Knightfall is really three story arcs that link together into an epic that kicked off DC’s obsession with Batman “event” crossovers.
The storyline introduced Bane, the genius warrior obsessed with proving himself as Batman’s superior. He begins his crusade by staging a massive breakout of Arkham Asylum, running Batman ragged facing off against scores of his enemies. With Batman at his weakest point, Bane strikes in a brutal beatdown culminating in him breaking Baman’s back.
With Bruce Wayne incapacitated, Jean-Paul Valley, a.k.a. Azrael, steps in as the new Batman. This leads into the “Knight Quest” portion as Azrael turns into a more brutal, armored Batman, crossing the line, savaging criminals. It culminates in “Knights End” as Bruce recovers to take back the mantle of the Bat.
The story has never been fully adapted before, although there have been allusions to it in past Batman media. Batman: The Animated Series used Bane, and The Dark Knight Rises used several aspects of the story - particularly with Bane (Tom Hardy) breaking Batman (Christian Bale) and taking Gotham City away from him, eventually setting the stage for the Caped Crusader to rise up and stop him once more.
The upcoming animated movie adaptation will likely be at least two parts, which would fit given how huge the original storyline was. The first will probably follow the main Knightfall tale of Bane’s plan, Bruce broken and Azrael taking over. The second would then show Jean-Paul’s fall and Bruce fighting to return as Batman.
Again, the announcement is just about the movie itself without any word on the casting as of yet. It was inevitable that this was a Batman epic that would get the animated treatment and finally give this classic story its due. We're so glad that it's finally going to arrive on our screens in the near-future.
Batman: Knightfall Part 1 premieres in 2026.