Keanu Reeves is officially Batman in League of Super-Pets

The trailer features the familiar Batman theme music by Danny Elfman from the 1989 Tim Burton film. Batman's opening line sets up the conversation between the two: So… you are a dog. I am The Batman. The two exchange their origin stories, which literally have parallels, playing with Batman's tragic loss. But apparently, the dog Ace also has suffered losses. And while Batman emphasizes his melancholy and lone wolf attitude as the result of his origins, Ace acts as a good dog would, forming a bond and playfully frolicking with the surprised masked vigilante.

The rest of the trailer shows new footage from the animated movie. More scenes of Keanu's Batman poking fun at the usually serious elements of the Dark Knight's mythos, such as being a loner and yet having a long list of supporting casts like Alfred Pennyworth, Commissioner James Gordon, and the guy Morgan Freeman played (referring to Lucius Fox).

There are also new scenes of Superman (John Krasinski) and Krypto (Dwayne Johnson), including a funny anecdote that Clark rewards Krypto with a Batman chew toy that the dog calls Squeezy Bruce. This shocks The Batman, noting that it had better be a licensed toy or he will freak out.

But despite the more whimsical approach to the Justice League pantheon, DC League of Super-Pets director and scribe, Jared Stern is approaching it as a traditional superhero film. Stern is a veteran producer, writer, and director of many animated and live action projects, including The Lego Batman Movie (2017), The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017), Happy Anniversary (2018), and Green Eggs and Ham (2019).

In an Entertainment Weekly interview from 2021, Stern shared his thoughts on his approach to honor the superhero genre: I wanted it to be a real threat that you felt lived up to not just a goofy movie, but a real serious superhero threat – but also one that uniquely can only be solved by a group of pets. I really wanted people to come away from this movie feeling like animation is a technique and not a genre. I wanted them to feel like, that was a really great superhero movie and it had everything I love in a superhero movie. It had great action, was really fun! This would give DC League of Super-Pets a tone more along the lines of The Incredibles (2004) and Megamind (2010), than Despicable Me (2010) or its spin-off Minions (2015). More Batman in 2022 Reeves brings a more lighthearted feel to the role. Despite the attempt to make his voice sound gruff and husky, Keanu Reeves' Batman sounds less menacing with a funny twist than other portrayals. Although not as comedic as Lego Batman (voiced by Will Arnett), it is also not as menacing as other animated portrayals such as the legendary Kevin Conroy as shown in Batman: The Animated Series, Injustice, the Arkham series of games, and many others.

Batman's popularity is certainly reaching new heights this 2022. With the massive box office and critical success of The Batman starring Robert Pattinson in the role and both Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck reprising their versions of the Caped Crusader in The Flash (as well as Keaton appearing in HBO Max's Batgirl), this year may as well be called the Year of the Bat.

DC League of Super-Pets stars Dwayne Johnson as Krypto, Kevin Hart as Ace The Bat-Hound, John Krasinski as Clark Kent/Superman, Keanu Reeves as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Vanessa Bayer as PB (Wonder Woman's pet pig), Natasha Lyonne as Merton (The Flash's pet turtle), Diego Luna as Chip (Green Lantern's pet squirrel), Marc Maron as Lex Luthor. The film also stars Kate Mckinnon, Thomas Middleditch, Ben Schwartz, and Jameela Jamil in currently undisclosed roles.

Produced by DC Entertainment and Warner Animation Group in partnership with Seven Bucks Productions, the superhero animated film releases to international theaters this May 18, 2022 with a delayed release for the U.S. market on May 20, 2022.