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(Spoilers ahead: So if you wanted to watch the movie first, then I suggest you turn off the computer or mobile device, sit in the corner, and wait like a good boy or girl.)

This year DC Entertainment is celebrating Batman’s 75th birthday. “Nice pecs for an old dude,” you might be saying to yourself. Or is that just me? Anyway, aside from this momentous occasion, there are a few things in the works for our favorite caped crusader coming out this year. In October we’ll be seeing a third and final video game for the Batman Arkham franchise (fourth if you count Batman Arkham Origins, which was not done by Rocksteady Studios), and this month we’ll be seeing the release of the animated film Son of Batman. However, this reporter got to see the early screening here at beautiful Wondercon.

Assembled for the exclusive showing of Son of Batman at the Anaheim Wondercon were DC producer James Tucker, director Ethan Spaulding, character designer Phil Bourassa, dialogue director Andrea Romano, Jason O’Mara (his second time voicing the iconic Batman/Bruce Wayne), Stuart Allan (voice of Damian Wayne), Xander Berkeley (voice of Dr. Kirk Langstrom), Sean Maher (voice of Nightwing), and guest moderated by Rich Sands.

For those who aren’t familiar, Son of Batman is a loose adaption of the 2006 comic story arc written by Grant Morrison, which has come to be known as Batman and Son. In this, we discover that Batman had a drugged up tryst with the curvaceous and deadly Talia al Ghul, which leads to the the Dark Knight never knew he had. Being raised by Talia and his grandfather, Ra’s al Ghul, Damian has been trained all his life in the League of Assassins to later become it’s heir. After an attack on the compound which leaves the league in ruins, and leaves Ra’s beyond the help of a Lazarus pit, Talia sends her son to live with the father he’s never met.

The movie’s animation first made me feel like I was watching an episode of Avatar: The Legend of Korra, which would make sense because the director, Ethan Spaulding, worked on its precursor, Avatar: The Last Air Bender. After two minutes in however, when the bodies start hitting the floor, I realized it wasn’t going to be a light hearted cartoon. The movie’s dialogue was comedic at times, but in a good way. It was the action however that kept me going. The fight scenes and violence left nothing to be desired, intense and fully fleshed. And any time you can work in “bat-men” and “bat-guerrillas” into an animated movie, what else do you need?

I think DC Entertainment hit it out of the park with this straight to home animated movie. Batman fan’s who either are or are not familiar with the Grant Morrison comic can appreciate the story and action that went into this feature. Son of Batman will be available for digital download on April 22nd, and available on DVD and Bluray May 6th.

~Nicholas Eskey