New 'Batman' Podcast Will Be Exclusive To HBO Max, John Leguizamo And Rosario Dawson On Board

Riddle me this: which distinguished actor is set to play both Batman and Commissioner Gordon in two separate upcoming DC projects?

If you answered Jeffrey Wright, then "that's a bingo," as Hans Landa would say. The Riddler will also be making an appearance in Batman: The Audio Adventures, a new exclusive podcast bound for HBO Max. This time, the voice of John Leguizamo will bring the character to life. He'll be joined by Rosario Dawson as Catwoman along with a murderer's row of current and former Saturday Night Live players.

You've seen Batman: The Animated Series; get ready to hear Batman: The Audio Adventures.

THR reports that Leguizamo and Dawson will join Wright on the scripted podcast "in a cast that also includes Saturday Night Live alums like Jason Sudeikis, Seth Meyers, Bobby Moynihan, Kenan Thompson, Heidi Gardner, and Fred Armisen."

Unless you're some improbable Batman fan who's been living under a rock (formed out of a petrified Clayface), you should hopefully be aware that there's a new movie, The Batman, coming out next year. Wright will play Commissioner Gordon in that movie, opposite Robert Pattinson as Batman, Paul Dano as the Riddler, and Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman.

Leguizamo already played a kind of Joker in Spawn. Remember that early comic book movie, starring Michael Jai White? It came out all the way back in 1997 when the superhero movie millennium was barely a twinkle in Kevin Feige's eye.

It will be interesting to hear Commissioner Gordon (Wright) voice Batman, Clown/Violator (Leguizamo) voice the Riddler, and Claire Temple of the MCU (Dawson) voice Catwoman...presuming you have access to the streaming service where they're all doing it, that is. Accessing this podcast, you see, might be something of a riddle in and of itself for anyone who lives outside a certain region.

HBO Max has been in the podcast business since 2019, but as THR notes, it is "experimenting with adding more podcasts to its in-app experience." Call me a jealous, homesick ex-pat, but the thing I wonder is how international fans will be able to access Batman: The Audio Adventures?

HBO Max doesn't have the same robust global presence that Netflix does. And while the long-term goal is for it to be available in 190 countries, it's currently only available in the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Nor will it be available in the U.K., Germany, or Italy before 2025. The almighty Wikipedia notes:

In other countries, HBO and/or HBO Max original programs are licensed to third-party networks and streaming services under long-term deals. The extent and lengths of the deals vary by country.

In Japan, for instance, an HBO Max Original like Zack Snyder's Justice League can be found with a rental or purchase option on Amazon Prime. It's different from the States where subscribers can only stream it on HBO Max. Podcasts like our own /Film Daily aren't usually such exclusive content that you can only hear them on one side of the earth, so here's hoping HBO and its partners find some way, sooner rather than later, to solve the riddle of distribution and make Batman: The Audio Adventures available to any earthling who wants to listen (and is willing to pay, I guess).