Batman Unlimited

2015 was a year that brought many changes to the world of superheroes, especially where Batman is concerned. We got Jim Gordon running around in a robot suit as the new Batman, a small army of Robins on the streets, Batgirl tearing up Burnside, and Dick Grayson using the overwhelming power of handsomeness to further his career as an international super-spy. But it's also the year that Warner Bros. Animation decided, for whatever reason, to really get behind Batman Unlimited and give us not one, but two animated movies about Batman fighting crime with his robotic animal friends. Despite having what is a genuinely great premise, it doesn't seem like anyone really talked about them, and as we close out the year, it's time to change that. As the World's Foremost Batmanologist, I feel I have a responsibility --- a duty --- to keep up on this sort of thing, so join me now as we watch Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts and see if a movie where Batman teams up with a robot wolf that can turn into a motorcycle is actually as amazing as it sounds.

Somehow, Batman Unlimited just keeps getting weirder. It started as just a line of action figures with an almost infuriatingly off-model bat-symbol, and last week, we told you about the upcoming animated movie based on the toys in which Batman and his pals fight a bunch of animal-themed villains with the help of a robot panther that turns into a motorcycle. I honestly didn't think it could get any stranger than that, but this week at the New York Toy Fair, they went a whole lot further when Mattel introduced plans for this year's line of toys, which include Batman riding CybeRex, a robotic tyrannosaurus that eats criminals.

If you're like me and you make a point of checking for new Batman toys every time you're in a store with a toy aisle, then you may already be familiar with Batman Unlimited. The line's been kicking around for a few years, but now it seems like DC is releasing a new direct-to-video feature that ties in. On the one hand, I'm not a big fan of the designs that they're going with for the movie -- like the figures, they boast a version of the bat-symbol that seems slightly off-model and give Batman's cowl a weird chinstrap that looks like a blue soul patch. On the other hand, this is a movie that has Batman riding around on a robot panther that turns into a motorcycle, and that's basically amazing. Give it a watch for yourself.

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Mattel's DC Universe Classics brand has been relegated from retail to the pricier Mattycollector subscription service, but plenty of compatible 6" superhero figures will continue to roll out in stores via the rebranded DC Unlimited and Batman Unlimited lines in early 2013...