It shouldn’t be a shock to anyone but Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has accepted an “R” rating from the MPAA for their upcoming animated film, Batman: The Killing Joke. I say it shouldn’t be a shock since the original source material graphic novel is what I’d consider an “R” rating as well. This is the first non-PG/PG-13 rated movie in the nine-year and 26-film history of the DC Universe Original Movie franchise.

Batman: The Killing Joke, one of the best-selling graphic novels in history, tells the tale of The Joker’s origin story – from his humble beginnings as a struggling comic, to his fateful encounter with Batman that changes both of their lives forever. It also contains some of the most controversial material in comics history. The graphic novel won two Eisner Awards and was written by Alan Moore 28  years ago. It is consistently a top selling graphic novel, with this film being greenlit in 2013 and announced in July 2015.

Actors Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprise their Batman: The Animated Series roles as Batman and The Joker, respectively.

Animation visionary Bruce Timm guided the DC Universe Original Movie franchise for its initial 16 films, then returned last summer with his own original story, Justice League: Gods & Monsters. Timm takes the reigns once again for Batman: The Killing Joke, reuniting a trio of actors (Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill & Tara Strong) from the game-changing Batman: The Animated Series cast to add even greater reverence to this heralded tale. Recognizing the fans’ dedication to the highly acclaimed graphic novel, Timm has worked meticulously to accurately maintain the intense adult content of The Killing Joke.

At this time, there are no plans for an edited, PG-13 version of the film according to Warner Bros. announcement.

Batman: The Killing Joke also features the voices of Tara Strong, as Barbara Gordon and Ray Wise as Commissioner Gordon.

The film’s World Premiere will take place at Comic-Con International this summer, and see a subsequent release in 2016 on Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital HD. Tat relase date will be announced at a later time along with what other content we can expect.