With their noir-influenced color palette, brutal fight scenes, and gloomy aesthetic of Gotham City,Batmanstories tend to be pretty visual. But the Caped Crusader’s latest exploits won’t be visual at all, because they’re being chronicled in a podcast. HBO Max is set to release a podcast entitledBatman: The Audio Adventuresthat will offer a comedic take on the Dark Knight. Jeffrey Wright has been cast to voice Bruce Wayne in the curious new project.
Wright is no stranger to the crime-ridden streets of Gotham, as he’s beencast to play Commissioner Gordonin Matt Reeves’The Batman. The multi-part podcast series will be written and directed by Dennis McNicholas, who has been a writer forSaturday Night Livesince the mid-‘90s and served as co-head writer alongside Tina Fey between 2000 and 2004.Batman: The Audio Adventuresis being spearheaded by Blue Ribbon Content, a division of Warner Bros., and it will arrive on HBO Max sometime later this year.
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DC recently signed a major,years-spanning deal with Spotifyto produce podcasts adapted from its iconic library of characters.Batman: The Audio Adventuresis unrelated to this deal, but the project that’s the closest to getting off the ground as part of that deal is also about Batman. Created and executive produced byThe Dark Knighttrilogy’s co-writer David S. Goyer,Batman Unburiedwill be less lighthearted than the comedically drivenAudio Adventures.
On top of writing, directing, and even appearing in the series, McNicholas is attached to produce it, too.Golan the Insatiable’s Angela Petrella is set to co-produce, while Jon Berg – the ex-Warner Bros. executive who left the company to produce his own projects – is on board as an executive producer. Berg has worked onWonder Woman,Justice League, andAquaman, so he’s pretty well-versed intelling stories about DC superheroes.
McNicholas has assembled a star-studded supporting cast to back up Wright’s Batman in the podcast. This includes a bunch of comic performers that McNicholas hasworked with onSNL: Tim Meadows, Fred Armisen, Kenan Thompson, Seth Meyers, Chris Parnell, Melissa Villaseñor, Bobby Moynihan, and Jason Sudeikis. The series will also feature a handful of familiar voices that don’t hail fromSNL, like Rosario Dawson, Brent Spiner, John Leguizamo, Alan Tudyk, and Brooke Shields.
Best known for his role in HBO’sWestworld, Wright will be seen in Wes Anderson’sThe French Dispatchand the next Bond movieNo Time to Die(in which he’ll reprise his role as 007’s CIA contact Felix Leiter) as well asThe Batman, which will usher inRobert Pattinson’s take on the cowled vigilante. Before signing on to star inBatman: The Audio Adventures, Wright has done plenty of voice acting, including a starring role in the upcoming Marvel anthology seriesWhat If…?and a guest spot onRick and Morty.
The Batmanis scheduled to be released in theaters on June 19, 2025.
