Loosely based on the 2006 Grant Morrison story arc “Batman and Son,” fans are introduced to Damien Wayne, the son of Bruce and Talia. Damien was one of the most interesting DC characters to be created in the last decade, eventually taking on the mantle of Robin. The animated version of this story focuses on the fact that Ra’s had originally planned to have Deathstroke as his eventually successor, and when Slade found out about Damien, he decided to take matters into his own hands. The animated version of the story does manage to incorporate most of the pieces from the comic (Damien, Talia, Man-Bats, etc) but the incorporation of Wilson really feels out of place.

In terms of voice acting, Son of Batman has a solid voice cast, incorporating new and old choices for these roles. Jason O’Mara (Justice League: War) returns for his second outing as the Dark Knight. This is a much more seasoned Batman, and you can tell that O’Mara felt much more comfortable this time around as the Caped Crusader. Newcomer Stuart Allan does a great job as the son of Bruce Wayne, and manages to convey a very intelligent and dangerous Robin. Damien is a character that we have never seen in animated (or live-action) form prior to this release, and fans will be very satisfied with the creative decisions related to his first appearance. Talia is voiced by the amazing Morena Baccarin (Firefly, Stargate SG-1), who takes this character to a brand new level with tenacity and intrigue. The daughter of the Demon’s Head has never sounded this good! I would be amiss if I didn’t talk about the spot-on performance of Sean Maher (Firefly) who gets some memorable quips and scenes as Nightwing (seriously, we really need a Dick Grayson and Damien Wayne animated team-up with these two voice actors). I also enjoyed the performances of Xander Berkeley (FOX’s 24) as Dr. Kirk Langstrom, the inventor of the Man-Bat serum, and Giancarlo Esposito (Revolution) as Ra’s Al Ghoul (a character that should have had more screen time in this movie). The only character that I didn’t enjoy the casting on was Slade Wilson himself, who was voiced by Thomas Gibson (Criminal Minds). For whatever reason, his voice just didn’t feel right for this particular character. It might just be due to having enjoyed Deathstroke on Arrow for the last year, but something just felt off with both the voice work and the inclusion of the character himself.

While this most certainly isn’t the best of the DC Universe Animated Movie series, it still ranks pretty high in terms of overall story, animation, and acting. I would have loved to have seen Tim Drake (the third Robin) incorporated into the story as well, but I can see how it would have made things a bit more convoluted in terms of the narrative. After seeing how well Damien was handled in Son of Batman, I believe we will be seeing this character again very soon.

ComicsOnline gives Son of Batman 4 out of 5 Robin stories.

Grab your cape and cowl and head out into the night with ComicsOnline.com, and be sure to check back for more reviews, news, and everything geek pop culture!