These days if you launch a successful version of, well almost anything, there will be sequels, spin-offs, and much more. Warner Bros. wasted no time mounting its own Lego Cinematic Universe after the enormous success of “The Lego Movie.” That meant a regular sequel, but also a spin-off for one of its most popular characters, Batman, as voiced by Will Arnett.
So, it’s basically a two-fer of brands, both Lego and Batman, both of which WB owns. You’ll note, Sony took note of this idea quickly, that you can make animated and live-action versions of different characters with wildly different tones, so a live-action “Spider-Man” is coming as well as an animated version (not coincidentally being produced by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who directed “The Lego Movie” and turned it into a smash hit).
READ MORE: ‘The Lego Batman Movie’ Gets On The Fast Track At Warner Bros.
Meanwhile, development continues on “The Lego Batman Movie," due in 2017. Presuming it follows the adventures of Batman in the Lego-verse rather than the one presented in the original movie, the movie will include friends and foes of the world. Director Chris McKay has now hired actor Michael Cera to voice the character or Robin. You can probably expect announcements on the Joker and similar Batman characters and villains. So it’s a little “Arrested Development” reunion as Arnett will be back of course to voice Batman. “The Lego Batman Movie” is due February 10, 2017. Let’s hope if they include every Batman villain and character it still retains its own distinctive flavor apart from the current Batman movies, and I mean more than just a comedic PG-version. [The Wrap]