Warner Bros. Animation has announced the voice cast of its upcoming animated feature Batman: Soul of the Dragon. The film takes the Dark Knight in a 1970s-set adventure and is based on an original storyline, although according to reports, it is allegedly inspired by Dennis O’ Neil’s comic book series Richard Dragon: Kung-Fu Fighter.
The story sees Bruce Wayne face a deadly menace from his past with the help of three former classmates: world-renowned martial artists Richard Dragon, Ben Turner and Lady Shiva.
The voice cast is all-new. David Giuntoli (Grimm) takes on the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne. He was most recently seen on the ABC series A Million Little Things.
Mark Dacascos is the voice of Richard Dragon. Dacascos is a martial artist and actor, most recently seen in One Night in Bangkok. He also starred in the Netflix action series Wu Assassins, on Hawaii Five-O and in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. He has also been the host of Top Chef America.
Kelly Hu voices Lady Shiva. Hu has already voiced Lady Shiva in the video game Batman: Arkham Origins. She also played Lady Deathstrike in X2: X-Men United. Some of her other voice credits are in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Archer, Stretch Armstrong & the Flex Fighters, Young Justice, and the upcoming Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe. She has also played another DC character, China White in Arrow.
Michael Jai White reprises his role the voice of Ben Turner/Bronze Tiger, which he played in live-action on Arrow. He has also voiced Doomsday on Justice League, Green Lantern (John Stewart) in the video game Justice League Heroes, and Tattooed Man on Batman: The Brave and the Bold. He also starred in the live-action movie, Black Dynamite. The cast also includes James Hong as O-Sensei and Josh Keaton as Jeffrey Burr.
Bruce Timm is the executive producer for the film along with Sam Liu, who is also directing it. Jeremy Adams is the screenwriter. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, DC and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, the movie is set to release in early 2021.