A few weeks ago Warner Bros. and DC Comics Premiere Movies formerly announced the voice cast for their upcoming two-part direct-to-video animated adaptation of the classic 1986 DC miniseries Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, one of the most popular and influential Batman stories ever created and a cornerstone of the revisionist superhero comic movement that took shape in the late 1980s.

Warner and DC have included a special 13-minute preview of The Dark Knight Returns in the supplementary features on their latest DTV animated offering Superman Vs. The Elite. You can check out the preview here below.

The featurette includes interviews with key members of the movie’s creative personnel as well as DC Comics staff as they discuss the original comic miniseries’ place in popular culture and what we can expect from this ambitious animated project. Throughout the preview we’re also treated to glimpses of unfinished animated sequences. I love how the style of animation closely resembles Frank Miller‘s artwork from the comic.

Peter Weller (RoboCop) will be providing the voice of Bruce Wayne/Batman and is being joined in the cast by Ariel Winter (Modern Family), Wade Williams (Prison Break), Michael McKean (This is Spinal Tap), and David Selby (The Social Network). Jay Oliva, a storyboard artist on Zack Snyder’s upcoming Man of Steel as well as a segment director on the recent DC animated feature Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, directs from a screenplay by Bob Goodman (Warehouse 13). The movies are being executive produced by DC animation veteran Bruce Timm.

There is still no release date set for the Dark Knight Returns movie, but Part One looks to be hitting stores sometime this Fall with an early 2013 bow likely for Part Two.

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[Source via Geek Tyrant]