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Some great news for fans of David S. Goyer, DC & Spotify’s Batman Unburied coming out of the “Dive Into The Batman Audio Universe” panel at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. With Dawn Ostroff, Spotify’s Chief Content and Ads Business Officer, moderating, series stars Winston Duke & Hasan Minhaj, and Warner Bros.’ Executive Vice President Warner Bros. Animation and Blue Ribbon Content Peter Girardi confirmed that the audio drama would be back for a second season
“Understanding there was a lot of intention placed in the conversation that they wanted to have with the audience, was incredible. To have Goyer tell me that one of his stipulations was that ‘I want to have a black Batman, I wanted to have a black Batman and won’t do it without it.’ And then the idea of Poison Ivy is a character that’s messing with our perception of the truth, and that to some degree that is the monster of today,” Duke explained during the panel when asked about Goyer’s vision. “We feel that we’re at war with perceptions of the truth – what’s real info vs. fake info, what is artifice vs. reality – that’s what’s being messed with here. And, the idea that our villains aren’t the monsters, they’re not vampires and ghouls and goblins, they’re systems that are impacting our sensibilities and how we perceive things and make decisions.”
The cast includes Winston Duke (Black Panther) as Bruce Wayne aka Batman; Jason Isaacs (“Harry Potter” franchise) as trusted butler Alfred; Hasan Minhaj (The Morning Show) as The Riddler; Lance Reddick (Resident Evil) as Batman’s father, Thomas Wayne; Toks Olagundoye (Shameless) as Batman’s mother, Martha Wayne; John Rhys-Davies (“Lord of the Rings” films) as Dr. Hunter; Ashly Burch (Mythic Quest) as Vicki Vale; Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin, Big Mouth) as Barbara Gordon; Sam Witwer (Supergirl) as The Harvester; Emmy Raver-Lampman (The Umbrella Academy) as Poison Ivy; Jessica Marie Garcia (On My Block) as Renee Montoya; and Jim Pirri (Penguins of Madagascar) as Arnold Flass, a corrupt cop who uses his badge for his own personal gain.
Globally, Batman Unburied boasts impressive and accomplished casts of their own. For example, take a look at the line-up of voice talent on tap for the role of Batman. We have Rocco Pitanga (Brazil), Dali Benssalah (France), Murathan Muslu (Germany), Amit Sadh (India), Ario Bayu (Indonesia), Claudio Santamaria (Italy), Ryohei Otani (Japan), and Alfonso Herrera (Mexico). The audio drama is the first of Spotify and WarnerMedia’s previously-announced expansion of the DC audio drama universe with a total of nine projects focusing on Catwoman, Wonder Woman, the Riddler, Batgirl, the Joker, Superman & Lois Lane, and more. Batman Unburied includes executive producers Goyer, Keith Levine, and Gracie Wheelan for Phantom Four; executive producers Liz Gateley & Elena Blekhter for Spotify; and executive producers Peter Girardi and Shaleen Desai for Blue Ribbon Content. Wolf at the Door will handle physical production, with Alex Kemp directing. Writers include Eric Carrasco (Supergirl), Saladin Ahmed (Foundation), Rebecca Klingel (The Haunting of Hill House), and Stranger Things writers’ assistant Graham Westerson.