Batman allows Joker and the rest of his rogues gallery to temporarily escape with the confidence that whenever they return, they will be no match for his new alliance with Robin, Batgirl, and Alfred. ProductioneditAfter the success of The Lego Movie, Warner Bros. Lego movies being produced, including The Lego Batman Movie Chris Mc. Kay, who co directed The Lego Movie, was brought on board to direct the film, marking this as his solo directorial debut. In an interview about his work on the film, Mc. Kay stated that working on the film was a very mixed blessing owing partly to the films hectic time schedule for its production, remarking that the two and half years allocated to the film made it difficult to fit in everything that he wanted for the movie, considering his earlier work on The Lego Movie. His work on The Lego Batman Movie was influenced by the comedy portrayed in both The Naked Gun and AirplaneJerry Maguire as directed by Michael Mann. His proposal to combine all the Batman eras featured in the comic book series and various media formats, including movies and comic series, despite a couple of issues the total inconsistency inherent to such a task, and Lego rejecting some of the characters he proposed to include in the film was based on his desire of how to portray Robin within the films setting. In an interview regarding his version of the superhero duo, Mc. Kay stated 2. 4I was thinking that we were basically taking the Burt Ward Robin and sticking him in the Batmobile with the Zack SnyderBen Affleck Batman, or the Frank Miller Batman. And putting these two different energies together. Somebody whos like the grumpiest, dark grittiest, broodiest Batman with the most positive, indefatigable kid. The film was announced in October 2. Will Arnett would be reprising his role as Batman,2. Animal Logic, who had worked on The Lego Movie, were in talks to produce additional movies in the franchise, including The Lego Batman Movie. On July 1. 6, 2. 01. The Hollywood Reporter reported that Arnetts Arrested Development co star Michael Cera was set to voice Robin, while Dan Lin, Roy Lee, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were announced as producers. Additional casting announcements were made over the course of the year Zach Galifianakis was revealed to be assigned the role of Joker, on August 1. Rosario Dawson to voice Barbara Gordon, was announced on October 1. Ralph Fiennes as the voice of Alfred Pennyworth, on November 3. On November 9, 2. Deadline. com incorrectly reported that Mariah Carey, who had been hired as part of the films cast, would be voicing Commissioner Gordon The Hollywood Reporter later revealed this to be falsely claimed, stating that she was instead voicing the character of Mayor Mc. Caskill. 1. 52. In July 2. Jenny Slate would voice Harley Quinn in the movie,1. November 3. 0, it was announced that Billy Dee Williams would reprise his role of Harvey Dent from Tim Burtons Batman film. On February 2, 2. Hctor Elizondo was voicing Commissioner Gordon,1. February 3, it was announced that Conan OBrien, Riki Lindhome, and Zo Kravitz, were amongst a number of actors hired into the cast to round out the voices for the various villians included in the film. Batman and pop culture referenceseditAs part of its production, the movie was designed to make numerous references to previous Batman movies, cartoons and comics.