Gina Rodriguez,Xolo Maridueña, andTom Kennyare coming to Gotham City. The three have been cast as villains in the upcoming Batman-inspired preschool animated seriesBatwheels. Rodriguez will voice Catwoman in the series. In the series, Catwoman will play on both the good and bad side of the law to get what she wants. Rodriguez is best known for playing Jane Villanueva in The CW’sJane the Virgin. Her other previous work includes this year’sI Want You Back(directed byJason Orley) and 2021’sAwake(directed byMark Raso).
Maridueña will voice Snowy the Snowcrawler, a vehicle used by Mr. Freeze (voiced byRegi Davis). Due to Snowy’s treads, he is the slowest of the villain vehicles. He also thinks about sometimes leaving behind his villain life and joining the Batwheels team. Maridueña’s previous work includes Netflix’sCobra Kaiand NBC’sParenthood. He will also be joining the DC Universe in live action as the star of theupcoming filmBlue Beetle, which will be directed byAngel Manuel Soto. Kenny will voice Crash in the series, a robotic test dummy. He is the assistant to the evil Badcomputer (voiced bySungWon Cho), who brings the evil vehicles to life. Kenny is best known for playing the main character in Nickelodeon’sSpongebob Squareparents. In the DC Universe, he voiced The Penguin in the 2004-2008 animated seriesThe Batmanand the Anti-Monitor inGreen Lantern: The Animated Series.
Both Snowy and Crash will be part of Legion of Zoom, which is led by Badcomputer. The group also includes Prank (voiced byGriffin Burns), the vehicle used by the Joker (voiced byMick Wingert).Alexandra Novellewill voice Jetstah, the souped-up ATV used by Harley Quinn (voiced byChandni Parekh).Josey Montana McCoywill voice Quizz, a helicopter used by the Riddler (also voiced by Cho).Ariyan Kassamwill voice Ducky, the duck boat used by the Penguin (voiced byJess Harnell).Danny DeVito’s version of Penguin used a similar vehicle inTim Burton’s 1992 filmBatman Returns. Toyman, who is traditionally a Superman villain, will also appear in the series voiced byJames Arnold Taylor. The villains join the previously announcedEthan Hawke(Batman),Jacob Bertrand(Bam the Batmobile),AJ Hudson(Robin/Duke Thomas),Madigan Kacmar(Batgirl’s cycle Bibi),Jordan Reed(Robin’s sports car Redbird),Lilimar(Batwing),Noah Bentley(Buff the Bat Truck),Leah Lewis(Batgirl/Cassandra Cain), andKimberly D. Brooks(Batcomputer).
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The series will follow the Bat-Family’s vehicles, who were created by the Batcomputer. Having just been brought to life, the series will follow them through the growing pains of what it is like to be a kid. However, they will also have to learn how to work together as a new team known as the Batwheels. The team will be led by Bam and will work with Batman, Robin, and Batgirl.Simon J. Smithwill be the supervising producer for the series.Sam Registerwill be an executive producer.Michael G. Sternwill be a co-executive producer, and Bang Zoom Ltd.‘sSteven Finkwill be a producer. Batman isn’t the only superhero to star in a preschool animated series. Spider-Man currently stars in the Disney Junior seriesSpidey and His Amazing Friends.
Batwheelsis scheduled to premiere this fall on HBO Max and Cartoon Network as part of the Cartoonito block. Check out more teaser images below:
