The first trailer for the animated adaptation of Frank Miller’s highly regarded graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns has gone online.  For those unfamiliar, the story takes place a decade after Bruce Wayne gave up being Batman and entered retirement.  The return of Harvey “Two-Face” Dent and a gang of criminals known as The Mutants force Wayne to don the suit once again, and he’s joined by a young girl taking on the persona of Robin in his quest.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 features Peter Weller as the voice of Batman, joined by David Selby as Comissioner Gordon, Ariel Winter as Robin, Wade Williams as Two-Face, and Michael McKean as Dr. Bartholomew Wolper.  Judging by the trailer, it looks like director Jay Oliva has brought the goods, and fans of Miller’s story should be quite pleased.  Hit the jump to watch for yourself.  Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 will be released on Blu-ray on September 25th.

Last year, Warner Premiere released an animated adaptation of Frank Miller‘s popular graphic novel, Batman: Year One.  However, the popularity of that book pales in comparison to one of the most influential comics of all-time, The Dark Knight Returns.  Along with Watchmen, Returns was a major deconstruction of the superhero genre, and pushed it into a more violent and gritty direction.  Miller’s take on the Batman universe showed Dark Knight as more of a fascist than a hero (you can skip Miller’s atrocious sequel series, The Dark Knight Strikes Again).  Although Christopher Nolan has eschewed a comic-book tone with his Batman movies, he has retained the themes of Miller’s 1986 comic.

Today, THR reports that WP is moving forward with an animated adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns, and that they will split the feature into two-parts.  Hit the jump for more including the film’s voice cast.