Batman: The Long Halloween Part One features a new Batman, Jensen Ackles, of Supernatural fame. The animated movie‘s writer reckons it’s a role the former Dean Winchester was destined for.
Tim Sheridan, writer of The Long Halloween two-parter, told us that working on Batman was “the experience of a lifetime”, and that getting Ackles cast only sweetened the deal. “We’re meeting Batman at an early stage in his career, and bringing in someone like Jensen Ackles to play him [was a] a stroke of genius,” Sheridan explains. “That guy was born to play Batman. I’m so glad to get to see and hear what he had done with the role.”
Having 15 years of demon hunting and detective experience in Supernatural, Ackles is perhaps more qualified than most to dawn the cowl and play Bruce Wayne. As Sheridan points out, The Long Halloween features a younger Bruce Wayne, who’s still figuring out who or what Batman really is. Probably not too unlike Ackles himself, now moving forward from a TV show that’s defined his life for more than a decade.
Supernatural ended in November 2020, and both Ackles and his co-star Jared Padalecki, who played Sam Winchester, are staying in the realm of television. Padalecki is the new Walker, Texas Ranger, and Ackles is Soldier Boy in the upcoming new season of The Boys.
Batman: The Long Halloween adapts the 15-issue arc of the same name written by Jeph Loeb, with art by Tim Sale. It occurs over a stretch of months where Gotham City is haunted by Holiday, a killer who only attacks on specific holiday periods. Ackles is joined in the cast by Troy Baker as Joker, Naya River as Catwoman, Josh Duhamel as Harvey Dent, and many others from across the Batman cast. Chris Palmer has directed both parts.
Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One comes out on digital June 22, and Part Two arrives in July.