DC‘s Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is getting an unofficial commentary track to coincide with the film’s upcoming 4K release.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm releases on 4K on September 12, 2023. While the 4K release features special features such as a documentary about the late Kevin Conroy and a bonus episode of Justice League: Unlimited, YouTuber Serum Lake noted there was sadly no commentary track included.
Taking matters into their own hands, Serum Lake assembled Dan Riba, Brad Rader, and Kevin Altieri to record their own, unofficial Batman: Mask of the Phantasm commentary.
Riba directed several episodes of Batman: The Animated Series and is credited as a sequence director for Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, while Brad Rader was a storyboard artist for both the series and the film. Altieri was a sequence director and storyboard artist for the movie.
The commentary track won’t include the full Batman: Mask of the Phantasm movie due to copyright laws, meaning fans will have to sync the track’s audio to a copy of the film. It will, however, include never-before-seen illustrations, draft storyboards, and a cut sequence that has never been publicly seen.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is celebrating its 30th anniversary
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm’s 4K release comes just in time for the movie’s 30th anniversary, as it was released in theaters on December 25, 1993. Originally planned as a direct-to-video release, it was the first movie to spin out of Batman: The Animated Series.
“When a woman from Bruce Wayne’s past, Andrea Beaumont, comes back into his life, Bruce questions whether he should continue protecting Gotham City as Batman,” the official synopsis of the film reads. “But his introspection is short-lived when the city’s most notorious crime bosses are killed, and the Caped Crusader is blamed for their murders. The Dark Knight sets out to clear his name, revealing a new masked vigilante: the Phantasm.”
The unofficial Batman: Mask of the Phantasm commentary track will be posted to Serum Lake’s YouTube channel on September 12, 2023.
