DC Universe Goes Full Anime! Joker: Laugh Riot Series Officially Announced!

Move over Suicide Squad, because Gotham City's Crown Prince of Crime is officially breaking into the anime world with his very own solo series!

The anime and comic book worlds have officially collided in the most spectacular way possible! During a massive, joint presentation at the 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, DC Studios Co-CEO Peter Safran and Warner Bros.

Animation officially dropped a bombshell: a brand-new, standalone DC anime series titled Joker: Laugh Riot has been greenlit and is actively in production!

Partnering with the powerhouse animation team at SOLA Entertainment (Tower of God, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim), DC is finally giving the Joker a gritty, high-octane, unhinged solo spotlight.

Directed by the visionary Yasuhiro Aoki (famed for his breathtaking work on Batman: Gotham Knight), this series is aiming to completely rewrite the rules of superhero anime! 🤯✨

Gotham Reimagined Through a Dark Anime Lens

Unlike previous crossovers that featured Western animation styles trying to mimic Japanese art, Joker: Laugh Riot is being built from the ground up as a legitimate, stylized anime production.

The presentation confirmed that the series will deeply explore the chaotic, fractured psyche of the Joker as he wages an escalating, theatrical turf war against Gotham's criminal underworld.

With SOLA Entertainment handling the visual heavy lifting, insiders promise an incredibly fluid, stylized, kinetic action aesthetic that will feel like a visceral psychological thriller colliding with hyper-violent Shonen fight choreography!

Batman Won't Even Be in Season 1—And It’s a Brilliant Move!

While casual fans are already scanning the character sheets looking for a redrawn anime Dark Knight, my absolute prediction is that Batman will not make a physical appearance in the entire first season of Joker: Laugh Riot! 

Think about the narrative genius of this approach: the Joker is at his absolute most terrifying when he is the main character of his own chaotic reality.

If you throw Batman in too early, it immediately shifts into a traditional hero-vs-villain dynamic.

My theory is that Season 1 will focus entirely on the Joker systematically destroying rival mob bosses like Penguin and Black Mask to claim Gotham for himself.

We will see the city falling into complete, uncontainable madness exclusively through the Joker’s warped perspective.

Batman will only be spoken of as a mythical, terrifying urban legend—a shadow creeping in the background that leaves broken criminals in his wake.

By holding Batman back until a massive post-credits finale sequence, the studio will build an unbearable amount of tension and make the eventual Anime Dark Knight reveal an absolute internet-breaking moment!

Get your laugh tracks ready, because Gotham is about to get beautifully chaotic!

What the Fans Are Saying!

The r/anime and r/DC_Cinematic communities are in an absolute frenzy over the surprise Annecy reveal! Here is how the fandom is reacting:

Link - Reddit