The Luke Skywalker actor has a new film due later this year that is direct to video!

Mark Hamill is well known as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise. He was seen at the end of The Force Awakens in December and will be back for Star Wars VIII next December, 2017...something like eighteen months from now. (I kid.)

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He does have a new movie coming out sometime later this year. A release date hasn't been set, but it will premiere in San Diego at the annual Comic Con there. He will be returning as a character that he is also famous for: The Joker.

Hamill first voiced The Joker in 1992 on Batman: The Animated Series. They're not called cartoons anymore, they're animated series. He's played the character for something like twenty-five years or so. A few years ago, he actually "retired" from the role. Only to be lured back.

He will be starring opposite voice actor Kevin Conroy as Batman. Conroy has been playing Batman as long as Hamill has been playing The Joker. The two will be back together in the adaptation of the 1988 Batman: The Killing Joke graphic novel. The film will be previewed at the annual San Diego Comic-Con. There's no release date yet.

Graphic, is right. The story, written by Alan Moore - whose work has been adapted into films starring Johnny Depp and Sean Connery - is controversial for its violence. On The Joker's latest madcap spree, he shoots and paralyzes Barbara Gordon, ending her career as Batgirl. He also takes Commissioner Gordon hostage and tortures him, using images and video of what he's done to the Commissioner's daughter. The story has an open ending where it is left to the reader's imagination what Batman does to bring "The Clown Prince of Crime" to justice.

There's been some question about what rating the film will get. It's not for little kids. That seems to be the trend for iconic characters like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. As a parent, you'll want to either watch it before your kids do or watch it with them.

The one upside is that following her tragically graphic crippling, Barbara Gordon did become a strong role model for the handicapped. Confined to a wheelchair, she created a new identity as the mysterious information hub, Oracle. A few years ago the character was part of a short-lived WB series called Birds of Prey.

Hamill is a celebrity geek, having played The Trickster on both the '90's and current version of The Flash. He also wrote, directed and starred in a parody/homage to Batman called Comic Book: The Movie.

You can find out who will be providing the voice of Barbara Gordon and Commissioner Gordon in The Killing Joke from the story here.

Are you more a fan of movies like Iron Man and the upcoming Captain America: Civil War? Or are you a fan of movies like next week's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice?

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