DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran want the DCU to be comprised of lots of different stories, and that means a greater variety of genres and ratings.
So, while we have an R-rated animated TV series like Creature Commandos on the one hand, we'll soon get a family-friendly animated movie on the other courtesy of Swaybox's Dynamic Duo. Announced last October, the movie is expected to be as big a game-changer for DC in animation as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was for Marvel and Sony.
Recently, Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, a writing team best known for penning Marc Webb's (500) Days of Summer, were tapped to take a crack at the screenplay.
Dynamic Duo, a combination of miniatures, models, puppetry, animatronics and computer animation, will revolve around Dick Grayson and Jason Todd, who have both taken on the mantle of Robin as Batman's sidekick in this story. Today, we can add another impressive name who is lending their talents to the project.
Comic book artist Jock has lent his immense talents to titles like Batman, Detective Comics, and The Batman Who Laughs. In an interview with Popverse, he revealed that he's been enlisted to help imagine the Caped Crusader's world in this upcoming animated feature.
"I'm currently working on Dynamic Duo for DC," Jock confirmed. "I actually came to New Orleans so that I could visit [Swaybox Studios]. They've got studios down there, so I've been designing stuff for them. Those guys are geniuses. I cannot wait to share what they've been up to."
"Visual development basically. I'd love to tell you what I've been doing, but I guess I've got to be a little bit careful. But it's very exciting and it's right in my wheelhouse. Let's put it that way. I heard from them out of the blue. The title of the email was 'Batman puppet film.' And I thought, 'Oh, okay. What's this?' But then there was a link to their showreel, which you can see on [Swaybox’s] website. I was blown away."
"Seeing what they're doing, applying what they do to the world of Gotham is a sight to behold," he added. "I'm lucky to have worked on a lot of things, but I'm really excited about this. I think it could be really, really special. That's why I was in New Orleans a couple of weeks ago. I had the week with them."
DC Studios clearly wants to develop something special with Dynamic Duo, and it's easy to imagine the goal being to deliver a movie that's as groundbreaking and acclaimed as that Spider-Verse franchise. The addition of someone like Jock is a great start in achieving that.
Dynamic Duo is set to be released in theaters on June 30, 2028.