The World’s Finest presents the latest in a series of studio-conducted interviews, provided by Warner Home Video, for the Batman: Year One direct-to-video animated feature. Continue reading below for an interview with actor Alex Rocco as he discusses the upcoming DC Universe Animated Original Movie title. Click on the thumbnail images below for a closer look at each image.

Alex Rocco, best known for his role as gangster Moe Greene in The Godfather, returns to his mobster roots as Carmine Falcone in Batman: Year One, the next entry in the popular, ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies.

The appearance in a Dark Knight-related project brings Roccos 44-year career full circle. The Massachusetts-born actor, who was once an adjunct member of Bostons Winter Hill Gang, got his first on-screen role in the 1960s Batman television series.

Rocco appeared as the thug Block in the back-to-back episodes A Piece of the Action and Batmans Satisfaction, which premiered on March 1 and 2, 1967. The episodes also featured the first true crossover appearance of Green Hornet and Kato on the Batman series (aside from a cameo popping out a window in the first season).

Since then, Rocco has been seen on primetime in everything from Get Smart, The F.B.I. and Kojak to The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Rockford Files and Baretta. He has had recurring roles on The Facts of Life, The Famous Teddy Z, Sibs, The George Carlin Show and The Division. His voice is easily recognized as Roger Myers Jr., the head of Itchy & Scratchy Studios on The Simpsons.

In feature films, Roccos most notable roles include Moe Greene (and his gruesome demise) in The Godfather, the comically curious police chief in The Stunt Man, and as over-the-top Sol Siler, the head of Playtone Records in That Thing You Do!

Produced by Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, the all-new, PG-13 rated Batman: Year One arrives October 18, 2011 from Warner Home Video as a Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD, On Demand and for Download. Batman: Year One is now also be available in a special download-for-purchase early window (starting October 11) through iTunes, Xbox Live, Zune, VUDU HD Movies and Video Unlimited on the PlayStation Network & Sony Entertainment Network.

Executive producer Bruce Timm and casting/dialogue director Andrea Romano will be at New York Comic Con to discuss Batman: Year One during a panel on Friday, October 14 from 3:00-4:00 p.m. in the IGN Theater. They are joined by Kevin Conroy, the voice of Batman in the upcoming Justice League: Doom.

Rocco, an agreeable and funny man in person, spent a few extra minutes after his initial recording session to chat about mob bosses, Burt Wards whining, Julie Newmars sex appeal, and how to get ahead in Hollywood when your bartending partner takes a bathroom break. Take note Moe Greene, er, Alex Rocco is speaking.

QUESTION: Youre no stranger to gangsters. How did you choose to interpret Falcone?

ALEX ROCCO: I always seem to play everybody’s dad or the gangster. So Falcone to me was like one of the five families from New York, maybe Vito Genovese, somebody like that. He takes his food very seriously, his drink very seriously, his women very seriously. The bottom line is he’s a scumbag, but he thinks he has a lot of class, so I tried to incorporate that.

It’s fun playing gangsters. Where else can you say, Get up against the wall, I’m gonna blow your head away. Well, where else can you say that and not get arrested? I really love playing gangsters.

QUESTION: So you really dont mind being typecast as a gangster?

ALEX ROCCO: Not at all. Whatever pays, thats great. I like comedy and I like gangsters. I always had trouble with love scenes. I’m so insecure. But playing gangsters is great. They usually dress you sharp. And you have a license to pretty much bully anybody. I mean, I wouldnt dare do that at home. My wife will give me a back hander. So doing it at work is a great release it saves you all that money at the shrink.

QUESTION: Is it true you had some real-life experience with gangsters and the mob back in your young days in Boston?

ALEX ROCCO: I come from a place called Winter Hill, and I was kind of a wannabe gangster. I started off running errands for the guys that were always dressed nice in the long collars with their initials. They called me Bobo, and it was always Bobo, go get me a milkshake or Go grab me the newspaper, and theyd throw me a few bucks. Plus I learned a lot from the gangsters. Things like you never look at another guy’s wife, always leave a good tip, never eat meat on Friday but you can kill all during the week.

QUESTION: Did your mob experience help you in the entertainment business?

ALEX ROCCO: I tried to use that street energy to get started in this business. A lot of actors just wait for the phone to ring, but youve got to hustle. I dont mean you have to be overbearing, but you have to stay on top of things read the trades, know whats going on in the town. I call it dare to be stupid. The worst thing they can say is We got nothing for you. So I’ve hustled a lot in the 44 years I’ve been doing this.

QUESTION: How did hustling get you that first gig on the Batman television series?

ALEX ROCCO: I’d worked at the Rain Check Room an actor’s hangout for a while. Youd see people in there like Robert Vaughn, Shelley Winters and Rock Hudson, who used to comb his hair the other way to try and be incognito. I was one of the two main bartenders along with an actor named Arch Whiting, who was down the other end (of the bar). He worked on Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea and Batman, just about any series at that time. Mike McLean was a casting guy at 20th, and he used to call for Arch. I knew the routine. Hed call Arch and ask, You available Ive got one line for Bottom Of The Sea. I was a little jealous and I never really loved Arch that much. So one day, Arch goes to the bathroom and the phone rang. Its Mike from 20th and hes looking for Arch. I said, No, he’s on vacation in Mexico. What are you calling for? And he said he had something for him for Batman. And I says, Hey, I did eight Naked Citys for Gold Medal knowing that Gold Medals Studios in New York had burnt down, and they can’t get the footage to check me out. I said, I’m a hell of an actor. And he said, Pay is 150 bucks and it’s two lines. And that was my first gig. I stole the Batman gig and it turned out it was a two-partner where they introduced The Green Hornet and Bruce Lee, who ended up teaching my kids martial arts. So yeah, it was funny when they called and asked if I wanted to be in this picture, I flashed back on 1966. So this is fun.

QUESTION: Do you have any special memories from your Batman TV series experience?

ALEX ROCCO: Adam West was terrific. The kiddo that was a pain in the ass was Robin. The director would say Grab his wrist and hold him up against the wall, and then the kid would whine, He hit my wrist. And Adam looked at me and said He does it to every actor. I remember the villain Roger C. Carmel, and Julie Newmar was on set. Oh man, Julie Newmar — I had such a crush on her. She was in costume in the commissary, and I was just smitten.

QUESTION: Did you ever read comics?

ALEX ROCCO: As a kid, Id go down to Murray’s Drugstore in Boston Id just kind of turn the rack around and around, looking at all the comic books. Id buy them and read them, then me and my buddies would trade them. I never did think of them as a collectors’ item, but I loved buying them. I had great Batmans and Supermans, and I always thought they were better than baseball cards. It was fun getting baseball cards, but a comic book is an adventure.

I liked Captain Marvel and Superman, as well as Batman. Ive got to admit that I learned a lot from reading this script I never really knew Batmans whole backstory with the death of his parents, all of that. I was really drawn in. Now I want to know more about Bruce Wayne in this mythology.

When I was a kid, though, it was Captain Marvel because he was the one that, when he said Shazam, he would change. It was magical. And he’s always looked nice. I’ve always wanted to look like Captain Marvel. So my favorites were Captain Marvel, Superman and Batman. And Ive got a little bit of love for Wonder Woman because, you know, just look at her. Plus shes got an invisible plane. How can you beat that?

Additional content is also available at the The World’s Finest Batman: Year One micro-site. A review of the Batman: Year One Blu-ray release and animated feature can also be found at The World’s Finest.

Details on the home video release of Batman: Year One, including a rundown of Blu-ray extras, can be found here, with additional media available here. Warner Home Video is expected to cross-promote the release of Batman: Year One with Batman: Arkham City, the latest entry in the Batman videogame franchise from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, which is also scheduled for an October 18th, 2011 release.

A co-production of Warner Premiere, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, the direct-to-video Batman: Year One animated feature debuts October 18th, 2011 on Blu-ray, DVD, OnDemand and for Download from Warner Home Video. Stay tuned for further updates here soon at The Worlds Finest.

Discuss this in The DC Animation Forum!

In additional news, The World’s Finest and WaterTower Music have teamed up to give fans the opportunity to receive a free copy of the Batman: Arkham City – The Album CD release from WaterTower Music. Beginning today and for this week only, The World’s Finest will be giving away ten copies in total of the Batman: Arkham City – The Album Soundtrack CD release to ten lucky recipients, courtesy of WaterTower Music.

Batman: Arkham City – The Album is now available on Amazon, iTunes and other digital music retailers. The soundtrack is available as both a digital download (Click here for iTunes!) and an Amazon-exclusive compact disc release (Click here to purchase!).

To enter, simply send an email to bbeyond@yahoo.com, including your name, full mailing address and phone number by Friday, October 14th, 2011. Please label the email “Batman: Arkham City CD Contest.” Only one entry per person, per household will be accepted. From there, ten entries will be randomly selected to receive a free copy of the Batman: Arkham City – The Album CD release from WaterTower Music. Please note this special giveaway is only available to residents of the United States. Only those randomly chosen to receive a copy of the CD release will be notified via email shortly after the closure of the contest. Please note the terms and conditions of this special giveaway are subject to change without notice.

Batman: Arkham City – The Album is now available on iTunes, Amazon and other digital music retailers. Official details for the Batman: Arkham City – The Album CD release from WaterTower Music are available here.

Click on the image above to view a Quicktime clip from “Green Lantern”

This October 14th, Green Lantern flies onto Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital Download from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group.

Green Lantern will be available on Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, featuring a 3D hi-definition, a hi-definition, a standard definition and an UltraViolet Digital Copy of the standard definition theatrical version of the film, for $40.99; Blu-ray Combo Pack, featuring a hi-definition, a standard definition and an UltraViolet Digital Copy of the standard definition theatrical version of the film, for $35.99; and on single disc DVD with UltraViolet Digital Copy for $28.98. The extended cut will be in hi-definition on the Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack and Blu-ray Combo Pack only.

UltraViolet Digital Copy allows consumers to download the film to a PC or Mac plus instantly stream it from a digital cloud to many computers, tablets or smartphones.

Starring Ryan Reynolds (The Proposal) in the title role, DC Comics legendary super hero soars to the edges of space as Green Lantern, where a war has been raging between those who rule with fear, and those who protect life: the Green Lantern Corps.

Click here to read the Green Lantern 3D Blu-ray Review!

Click here to discuss Green Lantern!

Warner Home Video has released a new video clip from Batman: Year One, the upcoming animated feature based on the acclaimed graphic novel of the same name. The clip below, titled “Playboy,” features Bruce Wayne meeting with James Gordon and his wife. Click on the thumbnail image below to view the clip, available in the High Definition Quicktime format. Press details are also included.

The all-new, PG-13 rated film arrives October 18, 2011 from Warner Home Video as a Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD, On Demand and for Download.

As of today, October 11, Batman: Year One can be downloaded for purchase during an early window through iTunes, Xbox Live, Zune, VUDU HD Movies and Video Unlimited on the PlayStation Network & Sony Entertainment Network.

Warner Home Video will present a DC Universe Animated Original Movie panel at New York Comic Con on Friday, October 14. Among those participating are executive producer Bruce Timm, dialogue/casting director Andrea Romano and the perennial choice of Batman, Kevin Conroy. The panel, slated for 3:00-4:00 p.m. in the IGN, will feature the premiere of both the Paul Dini-scripted Catwoman animated short and the trailer for Justice League: Doom, as well as discussion of those two projects and Batman: Year One.

Batman: Year One is based on the landmark 1987 DC Comics titles from 12-time Eisner Award winner Frank Miller and illustrator David Mazzucchelli. The film depicts young Bruce Waynes return to Gotham City in his first attempts to fight injustice as a costumed vigilante. The playboy billionaire chooses the guise of a giant bat to combat crime, creates an early bond with a young Lieutenant James Gordon (who is already battling corruption from inside the police department), inadvertently plays a role in the birth of Catwoman, and helps to bring down a crooked political system that infests Gotham.

Primetime television stars Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Ben McKenzie (Southland, The O.C.), Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) provide the core voices for Batman: Year One. Three-time Emmy Award winner Cranston gives voice to young Jim Gordon, while McKenzie makes his animated voiceover debut as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Fanboy favorites Dushku and Sackhoff fill the roles of Selina Kyle/Catwoman and Detective Sarah Essen, respectively. Alex Rocco (The Godfather) is the voice of crime lord Carmine Falcone.

Animation master Bruce Timm is executive producer of Batman: Year One. Directors are Lauren Montgomery (Superman/Batman: Apocalypse) and Sam Liu (All-Star Superman) from a script penned by Academy Award nominee Tab Murphy (Gorillas in the Mist, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse).

The above clip is also available at the The World’s Finest Batman: Year One subsite. Additionally, a review of the Batman: Year One Blu-ray release and animated feature can be found here.

Details on the home video release of Batman: Year One, including a rundown of Blu-ray extras, can be found here, along with the official trailer. Warner Home Video is expected to cross-promote the release of Batman: Year One with Batman: Arkham City, the latest entry in the Batman videogame franchise from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, which is also scheduled for an October 18th, 2011 release.

A co-production of Warner Premiere, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, the direct-to-video Batman: Year One animated feature debuts October 18th, 2011 on Blu-ray, DVD, OnDemand and for Download from Warner Home Video. Stay tuned for further updates here soon at The Worlds Finest.

Discuss this in The DC Animation Forum!

In additional news, The World’s Finest and WaterTower Music have teamed up to give fans the opportunity to receive a free copy of the Batman: Arkham City – The Album CD release from WaterTower Music. Beginning today and for this week only, The World’s Finest will be giving away ten copies in total of the Batman: Arkham City – The Album Soundtrack CD release to ten lucky recipients, courtesy of WaterTower Music.

Batman: Arkham City – The Album is now available on Amazon, iTunes and other digital music retailers. The soundtrack is available as both a digital download (Click here for iTunes!) and an Amazon-exclusive compact disc release (Click here to purchase!).

To enter, simply send an email to bbeyond@yahoo.com, including your name, full mailing address and phone number by 12am midnight Friday night, October 14th, 2011. Please label the email “Batman: Arkham City CD Contest.” Only one entry per person, per household will be accepted. From there, ten entries will be randomly selected to receive a free copy of the Batman: Arkham City – The Album CD release from WaterTower Music. Please note this special giveaway is only available to residents of the United States. Only those randomly chosen to receive a copy of the CD release will be notified via email shortly after the closure of the contest. Please note the terms and conditions of this special giveaway are subject to change without notice.

Batman: Arkham City – The Album is now available on iTunes, Amazon and other digital music retailers. Official details for the Batman: Arkham City – The Album CD release from WaterTower Music are available here.

Continuing, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment today released a new image from the upcoming Batman: Arkham City video game. The image provides a first look at Nightwing in the Batman: Arkham Asylum video game. Batman: Arkham City will be available October 18th, 2011 in North America for Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Games for Windows PC and the PlayStation3 computer entertainment system. Click on the thumbnail below to view the image.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment today announced the Nightwing Bundle Pack for Batman: Arkham City will be available November 1. Nightwing comes complete with his own unique gadgets and special moves, and is playable in all challenge maps in the game, as well as two additional challenge maps that are included with the pack: Wayne Manor and Main Hall. The pack also contains a bonus Animated Series Nightwing character skin.

The Robin Bundle Pack is scheduled for availability on November 22 to all owners of the game.

Both download content bundles will be offered on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 560 Microsoft Points and PlayStationNetwork for $6.99.

Published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and developed by Rocksteady Studios, Batman: Arkham City builds upon the intense, atmospheric foundation of Batman: Arkham Asylum, sending players soaring into Arkham City five times larger than the game world in Batman: Arkham Asylum and the new maximum security home for all of Gotham Citys thugs, gangsters and insane criminal masterminds. Set inside the heavily fortified walls of a sprawling district in the heart of Gotham City, this highly anticipated sequel introduces a brand-new story that draws together a new, all-star cast of classic characters and murderous villains from the Batman universe, as well as a vast range of new and enhanced gameplay features to deliver the ultimate experience as the Dark Knight.

Batman: Arkham City is based on DC Comics core Batman license. Fans can visit www.batmanarkhamcity.com to sign up to receive updates regarding the game.

Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprise their respective roles as Batman and Joker in Batman: Arkham City, the highly-anticipated sequel to the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum video game, along with Emmy Award-winning Batman writer Paul Dini again penning the story.

Batman: Arkham City hits PlayStation3, Xbox 360, and Windows PC on October 18th, 2011. Additional content from Batman: Arkham City can be found at The World’s Finest. Stay tuned for further updates.

Discuss this in The Video Games Forum!

Click on the image above to view a Quicktime clip from “Green Lantern”

This October 14th, Green Lantern flies onto Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital Download from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group.

Green Lantern will be available on Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, featuring a 3D hi-definition, a hi-definition, a standard definition and an UltraViolet Digital Copy of the standard definition theatrical version of the film, for $40.99; Blu-ray Combo Pack, featuring a hi-definition, a standard definition and an UltraViolet Digital Copy of the standard definition theatrical version of the film, for $35.99; and on single disc DVD with UltraViolet Digital Copy for $28.98. The extended cut will be in hi-definition on the Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack and Blu-ray Combo Pack only.

UltraViolet Digital Copy allows consumers to download the film to a PC or Mac plus instantly stream it from a digital cloud to many computers, tablets or smartphones.

Starring Ryan Reynolds (The Proposal) in the title role, DC Comics legendary super hero soars to the edges of space as Green Lantern, where a war has been raging between those who rule with fear, and those who protect life: the Green Lantern Corps.

Click here to read the Green Lantern 3D Blu-ray Review!

Click here to discuss Green Lantern!

The World’s Finest presents the latest in a series of studio-conducted interviews, provided by Warner Home Video, for the Batman: Year One direct-to-video animated feature. Continue reading below for an interview with actor Ben McKenzie as he discusses the upcoming DC Universe Animated Original Movie title. Click on the first three thumbnails below, featuring McKenzie, for the interview clips in the Quicktime format. Additionally, click on the thumbnail images for a closer look at each image.

Ben McKenzie plays a wealthy young man on a personal quest for justice in TNTs hit series Southland. Now the actor heads to the streets of Gotham City as the voice of another rich young adult with a need for righteousness in Batman: Year One, the next entry in the popular, ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies.

McKenzie makes his maiden voyage into animation voiceovers as Bruce Wayne/Batman, the title character of comics legend Frank Millers classic retelling of the Dark Knights gritty, formative days.

Produced by Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, the all-new, PG-13 rated Batman: Year One arrives October 18, 2011 from Warner Home Video as a Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD, On Demand and for Download. Batman: Year One will also be available in a special download-for-purchase early window starting October 11 through iTunes, Xbox Live, Zune, VUDU HD Movies and Video Unlimited on the PlayStation Network & Sony Entertainment Network.

Executive producer Bruce Timm and casting/dialogue director Andrea Romano will be at New York Comic Con to discuss the Batman: Year One during a panel on Friday, October 14 from 2:00-3:00 p.m. in the IGN Theater.

Currently in the midst of filming the fourth season of Southland, McKenzie skyrocketed to fame in 92 episodes of The O.C. His film credits include acting opposite Al Pacino in 88 Minutes, and working alongside Amy Adams in Junebug. He also starred in the 2008 adaptation of Dalton Trumbos Johnny Got His Gun.

A true admirer of Millers work, McKenzie embraced the character and the story with great enthusiasm. Following his initial recording session for Batman: Year One, McKenzie took some time to discuss the film, the character, Adam West and his dogs linguistic skills. Read on

QUESTION: What was your initial reaction to being offered the role of Batman?

BEN MCKENZIE: When I got the offer for Batman: Year One, I was very excited because I really like this particular take on Batman. It’s a darker take a Frank Miller take on the origin story. And I think it’s fun to play the character in a way that it is more reminiscent of his being a real vigilante. He’s a tough, tortured soul who is exacting revenge upon a criminal element that took something very important away from him. As an actor, this role gives you a little bit more backstory, so you have the chance to play him as a real person, albeit a person who is a little bit mentally unstable, perhaps, but heroic nonetheless. Its exciting to get to play a character who is so specifically intense and unusual.

QUESTION: And how many times in the last weeks since you’ve known you got the role have you said to anyone, I’m Batman?

BEN MCKENZIE: (laugh) I usually wake up in the morning, go to the mirror and say, I’m Batman. I’ll say it to my dog, and he gives a very confused look, which he always does because he doesn’t speak English. Ive tried to use the I’m Batman line on everyone from the valet to the guy washing my car. You know, anyone who will listen. No one seems to pay any attention. But I know. (laughs)

QUESTION: Did you do any research or prep work going into the recording session?

BEN MCKENZIE: I did actually read the comic again, and it was exactly how I remembered it. Really cool and kind of dark and gritty and very bold in how it approached the source material, which has been carved out into such a revered piece of comic book fiction. It is impressive that someone would do a new take on the story, summoning the courage to just throw away a lot of that traditional stuff and really focus on some of the darker elements, which is what Frank Miller did. I think it’s great. It’s cool, it’s bold, and I think the film lives up to that.

QUESTION: As this was your first animated voiceover project, what were you expecting and how did find the experience?

BEN MCKENZIE: It’s always fun to do something that you’re not particularly experienced in, something that’s a little bit of a new skill to learn. Regina King has done a lot of voiceover stuff for The Boondocks with Andrea (Romano) and she loves it. So it was really nice to feel like I was in good hands and that I’d be well treated. I think any job where you can stay indoors, work a couple of hours, say a few things and get paid is a good job to have. It beats Southland, where you’re out in the streets and the heat in the wool uniforms. Nobody needs that. (laughs)

QUESTION: Were there any outside influences on your performance before working on the booth?

BEN MCKENZIE: I’d like to say I was influenced mainly by Adam West’s performance as Batman more than anyone else but its not quite the same take. There’s something in the way that Frank Miller wrote the comics that lends itself to a darker gravelly-voiced kind of intensity. You cant help but go there. So maybe it’s sort of similar to the live-action version that Christian Bale is doing, but maybe not quite as much in that direction.

QUESTION: How did your familiarity with the original Frank Miller comics help formulate your approach to the acting?

BEN MCKENZIE: This Frank Miller world is an amazing place with a wonderfully dark aesthetic it has the kind of noir-ish world of moral ambiguity that I really respond to. And I think if youre going to play it sincerely, you have to realize that its written like a piece of noir with real characters and real emotional takes. This isnt some fantasy. Bruce Wayne is damaged, hes emotionally scarred, and hes trying to make sense of justice in the world. So he creates an alter ego to keep some normalcy in his daily life. Thats the way he tries to make some sense of the world. Hes battered and scarred, but that sort of makes him stronger, because hes ultimately unafraid of putting it all on the line. Hes very human. Thats the great thing about Batman he has no super powers. He is a flawed man.

QUESTION: How did you differentiate the voice or the attitude for Batman versus Bruce Wayne?

BEN MCKENZIE: We worked on distinguishing between Bruce, who is an introvert perhaps, but is forced through his position in society to be affable to a certain degree, and then Batman himself, who is really sort of the devil within. He can really take on a whole another vocal inflection and demeanor. So we sort of wanted to play with that and make Bruce almost overcompensate in order to hide his identity, to be even more affable and agreeable than he would otherwise in order to hide the fact that he is Batman.

It’s hard to do because when you’re going through the script in the sessions, you’ll just jump back and forth. One page, you’ll be doing Bruce Wayne, and the next page, you’ll be doing Batman. So it is hard to kind of keep them separate in your mind. It requires a few takes to sort of relax into it and to switch it up. I’m sure tonight I’ll be dreaming of being Batman. (laughs)

QUESTION: Was there a focal point for you to stay on target throughout the recording session?

BEN MCKENZIE: I think the acting is really just trying to imagine being 12 again and seeing Batman in this animated form and thinking What would you like to see? What would you really geek out on? If you can bring that passion across on the screen, then that’s your job. I think if you were going to do anything acting-wise that got any methody, you’d be a little scary. I think it’s better to just try and have fun with it.

QUESTION: Do you have a favorite line or scene?

BEN MCKENZIE: There’s a fun scene with one of the young thuggish guys where (Batman) says something like I know pain. Sometimes I like to share it, maybe with somebody like you. I like that moment. The adrenaline and the testosterone really flows through you. It’s fun. It’s really fun. If you were ever picked on in high school and you just wanted to grab the bully and say, I’m gonna beat the living heck out of you, that’s exactly what you get to do as Batman.

QUESTION: Did this experience give you a new perspective on Batman?

BEN MCKENZIE: Yes, absolutely. This experience has definitely reinvigorated my interest again for Batman. I’ve seen the Christopher Nolan films, and I think they’re great. When you get a chance to actually be a part of something based on the same source material, it’s really exciting. It allows you to sort of experience what that character is experiencing, which is a darkly fun take on what it would be like if you could actually fight crime, if you could actually get revenge on all of the people that you think are bad people in this world, if you could exact justice out of an unjust world. Its kind of thrilling even to be an actor playing that part.

QUESTION: Do you see any parallels to your character on Southland?

BEN MCKENZIE: I think there is sort of a broad parallel between Bruce Wayne/Batman and my character on Southland in the sense that they’re both wealthy and they’re both fighting crime in the broadest sense. Bruce Wayne and, really, Batman is just the extreme version. Instead of becoming a patrol officer, he spends his money creating an alter ego and going out and doing it himself. So Bruce Wayne/Batman is just the fantastical version of what Ben Sherman is doing on Southland. He’s just doing it to a more extreme level. So, yeah, there’s definitely a comparison to be made for sure.

The above content is also available at the The World’s Finest Batman: Year One micro-site.

Details on the home video release of Batman: Year One, including a rundown of Blu-ray extras, can be found here, with additional media available here. Warner Home Video is expected to cross-promote the release of Batman: Year One with Batman: Arkham City, the latest entry in the Batman videogame franchise from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, which is also scheduled for an October 18th, 2011 release.

A co-production of Warner Premiere, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, the direct-to-video Batman: Year One animated feature debuts October 18th, 2011 on Blu-ray, DVD, OnDemand and for Download from Warner Home Video. Stay tuned for further updates here soon at The Worlds Finest.

Discuss this in The DC Animation Forum!

In additional news, The World’s Finest and WaterTower Music have teamed up to give fans the opportunity to receive a free copy of the Batman: Arkham City – The Album CD release from WaterTower Music. Beginning today and for this week only, The World’s Finest will be giving away ten copies in total of the Batman: Arkham City – The Album Soundtrack CD release to ten lucky recipients, courtesy of WaterTower Music.

Batman: Arkham City – The Album is now available on Amazon, iTunes and other digital music retailers. The soundtrack is available as both a digital download (Click here for iTunes!) and an Amazon-exclusive compact disc release (Click here to purchase!).

To enter, simply send an email to bbeyond@yahoo.com, including your name, full mailing address and phone number by Friday, October 14th, 2011. Please label the email “Batman: Arkham City CD Contest.” Only one entry per person, per household will be accepted. From there, ten entries will be randomly selected to receive a free copy of the Batman: Arkham City – The Album CD release from WaterTower Music. Please note this special giveaway is only available to residents of the United States. Only those randomly chosen to receive a copy of the CD release will be notified via email shortly after the closure of the contest. Please note the terms and conditions of this special giveaway are subject to change without notice.

Batman: Arkham City – The Album is now available on iTunes, Amazon and other digital music retailers. Official details for the Batman: Arkham City – The Album CD release from WaterTower Music are available here.

Click on the image above to view a Quicktime clip from “Green Lantern”

This October 14th, Green Lantern flies onto Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital Download from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group.

Green Lantern will be available on Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, featuring a 3D hi-definition, a hi-definition, a standard definition and an UltraViolet Digital Copy of the standard definition theatrical version of the film, for $40.99; Blu-ray Combo Pack, featuring a hi-definition, a standard definition and an UltraViolet Digital Copy of the standard definition theatrical version of the film, for $35.99; and on single disc DVD with UltraViolet Digital Copy for $28.98. The extended cut will be in hi-definition on the Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack and Blu-ray Combo Pack only.

UltraViolet Digital Copy allows consumers to download the film to a PC or Mac plus instantly stream it from a digital cloud to many computers, tablets or smartphones.

Starring Ryan Reynolds (The Proposal) in the title role, DC Comics legendary super hero soars to the edges of space as Green Lantern, where a war has been raging between those who rule with fear, and those who protect life: the Green Lantern Corps.

Click here to read the Green Lantern 3D Blu-ray Review!

Click here to discuss Green Lantern!

The World’s Finest has a first look at four new images from the upcoming Batman: Year One animated feature, the next installment in the DC Universe Animated Original Movie line set for release on October 18th, 2011. The four images have been provided to The World’s Finest first from Warner Home Video. Please note that while the images are of large size, they are not in high-definition quality. Click on the thumbnail images before for a closer look at each image.

The above images are also available at the The World’s Finest Batman: Year One micro-site.

Details on the home video release of Batman: Year One, including a rundown of Blu-ray extras, can be found here, with additional media available here. Warner Home Video is expected to cross-promote the release of Batman: Year One with Batman: Arkham City, the latest entry in the Batman videogame franchise from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, which is also scheduled for an October 18th, 2011 release.

A co-production of Warner Premiere, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, the direct-to-video Batman: Year One animated feature debuts October 18th, 2011 on Blu-ray, DVD, OnDemand and for Download from Warner Home Video. Stay tuned for further updates here soon at The Worlds Finest.

Discuss this in The DC Animation Forum!

Click on the image above to view a Quicktime clip from “Green Lantern”

This October 14th, Green Lantern flies onto Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital Download from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group.

Green Lantern will be available on Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, featuring a 3D hi-definition, a hi-definition, a standard definition and an UltraViolet Digital Copy of the standard definition theatrical version of the film, for $40.99; Blu-ray Combo Pack, featuring a hi-definition, a standard definition and an UltraViolet Digital Copy of the standard definition theatrical version of the film, for $35.99; and on single disc DVD with UltraViolet Digital Copy for $28.98. The extended cut will be in hi-definition on the Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack and Blu-ray Combo Pack only.

UltraViolet Digital Copy allows consumers to download the film to a PC or Mac plus instantly stream it from a digital cloud to many computers, tablets or smartphones.

Starring Ryan Reynolds (The Proposal) in the title role, DC Comics legendary super hero soars to the edges of space as Green Lantern, where a war has been raging between those who rule with fear, and those who protect life: the Green Lantern Corps.

Click here to read the Green Lantern 3D Blu-ray Review!

Click here to discuss Green Lantern!

Warner Home Video has released a new video clip from Batman: Year One, the upcoming animated feature based on the acclaimed graphic novel of the same name. The clip below features Batman trying to avoid capture by the Gotham City Police. Click on the thumbnail image below to view the clip, available in the High Definition Quicktime format. Press details are also included.

The all-new, PG-13 rated film arrives October 18, 2011 from Warner Home Video as a Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD ($19.98 SRP), On Demand and for Download.

There is also an opportunity to download-for-purchase in an early window starting October 11 through iTunes, Xbox Live, Zune, VUDU HD Movies and Video Unlimited on the PlayStation Network & Sony Entertainment Network.

Warner Home Video will present a DC Universe Animated Original Movie panel at New York Comic Con on Friday, October 14. Among those participating are executive producer Bruce Timm, dialogue/casting director Andrea Romano and the perennial choice of Batman, Kevin Conroy. The panel, slated for 3:00-4:00 p.m. in the IGN, will feature the premiere of both the Paul Dini-scripted Catwoman animated short and the trailer for Justice League: Doom, as well as discussion of those two projects and Batman: Year One.

Batman: Year One is based on the landmark 1987 DC Comics titles from 12-time Eisner Award winner Frank Miller and illustrator David Mazzucchelli. The film depicts young Bruce Waynes return to Gotham City in his first attempts to fight injustice as a costumed vigilante. The playboy billionaire chooses the guise of a giant bat to combat crime, creates an early bond with a young Lieutenant James Gordon (who is already battling corruption from inside the police department), inadvertently plays a role in the birth of Catwoman, and helps to bring down a crooked political system that infests Gotham.

Primetime television stars Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Ben McKenzie (Southland, The O.C.), Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) provide the core voices for Batman: Year One. Three-time Emmy Award winner Cranston gives voice to young Jim Gordon, while McKenzie makes his animated voiceover debut as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Fanboy favorites Dushku and Sackhoff fill the roles of Selina Kyle/Catwoman and Detective Sarah Essen, respectively. Alex Rocco (The Godfather) is the voice of crime lord Carmine Falcone.

Animation master Bruce Timm is executive producer of Batman: Year One. Directors are Lauren Montgomery (Superman/Batman: Apocalypse) and Sam Liu (All-Star Superman) from a script penned by Academy Award nominee Tab Murphy (Gorillas in the Mist, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse).

The above clip is also available at the The World’s Finest Batman: Year One subsite.

Details on the home video release of Batman: Year One, including a rundown of Blu-ray extras, can be found here, along with the official trailer. Warner Home Video is expected to cross-promote the release of Batman: Year One with Batman: Arkham City, the latest entry in the Batman videogame franchise from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, which is also scheduled for an October 18th, 2011 release.

A co-production of Warner Premiere, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, the direct-to-video Batman: Year One animated feature debuts October 18th, 2011 on Blu-ray, DVD, OnDemand and for Download from Warner Home Video. Stay tuned for further updates here soon at The Worlds Finest.

Discuss this in The DC Animation Forum!