“Batman: Hush” is a fresh take on an iconic comics story The elements changed for the movie strengthen the story from the comics

Mild spoilers follow.

While I’m not as devoted a fan of Batman and Superman as many other friends of mine are, I’m familiar with most of the “big” story arcs in the comics for both The Bat and Superman.

In the original comics, the story line for “Batman: Hush” covered an entire year, from December 2002 through November 2003 and followed a mysterious stalker targeting Batman by using many of his usual foes as pawns in the bigger game to destroy Batman piece by piece. The movie condenses much of that story line, and changes quite a few elements (including characters involved) to not only make the movie fit better into current DC Animated Universe timeline, but also to streamline the actual story flow.

This story highlights many of the things fans expect from Batman, the World’s Greatest Detective, as he puts together the pieces of why all his foes are coming at him in uncharacteristic ways, and eventually who’s behind the entire scheme.

It’s enough to highlight the differences between the movie and the comics, hopefully without spoiling too much. The biggest ones are Lex Luthor’s appearance replacing Talia Al Ghul at LexCorp (including a snarky callback to Lex now being a member of the Justice League), Batgirl’s appearance replacing Huntress, and Bane replacing Killer Croc, mostly to maintain some continuity with past and future DC Animated appearances by those characters. The role of Bruce Wayne’s childhood friend Thomas Elliott is shifted as well (as is the motivation for targeting Batman). Given what I know of the original threads for that in the comics, it feels like the chosen motivation for our secret villain is far less compelling than the original, but the rest of the story is solid and entertaining.

The movie also showcases a real romantic development between Bruce and Selina Kyle. The push-pull of their interactions as they work together to find out who’s coming after Batman this time, literally living and working together once Bruce Wayne gathers the courage to trust Selina with his secret… and resolves her being torn between her attraction for both Batman AND Bruce Wayne.

Eventually, secrets are uncovered and motives revealed and relationships shift again, reaching a new equilibrium with future paths undetermined.

The extras included are:

DC Showcase: Sgt. Rock (Animated Short) – From executive producer and director Bruce Timm comes the first new DC Showcase animated short since 2011’s Catwoman, bringing DC Comics’ gritty World War II hero to animated life in an all-new adventure.
 
Batman: Love in Time of War (Featurette)– Dangerous. Seductive. Villain. Hero. This is the story of Selina Kyle and the relationship she has forged with the world’s greatest detective.

Audio Commentary – Executive Producer James Tucker, Director Justin Copeland and screenwriter Ernie Altbacker share their thoughts and insights on Batman: Hush.

A Sneak Peek at the next DC Universe Movie, Wonder Woman: Bloodlines

An adaptation of the seminal DC classic tale, “Batman: Hush” centers on a shadowy new villain known only as Hush, who uses Gotham’s Rogues Gallery to destroy Batman’s crime-fighting career, as well as Bruce Wayne’s personal life – which has already been complicated by a relationship with Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman.

Stars: stars Jason O’Mara, Jennifer Morrison, Jerry O’Connell, Rebecca Romijn, Rainn Wilson, Vanessa Williams, Jason Spisak, Peyton List, Geoffrey Arend, Sean Maher, Maury Sterling, Bruce Thomas, Adam Gifford, Sachie Alessio, Stuart Allan, James Garrett, Hynden Walch, Chris Cox, and Tara Strong
Directed by: Justin Copeland
Screenplay by: Ernie Altbacker