Hour long Batman finale features JLA

This weekend, the two-part series finale of The Batman guest-stars -- for the first and only time on the show -- the entire Justice League of America -- Superman, the Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Hawkman and the Martian Manhunter -- as they battle the Joining, the alien invaders that were first seen in the two-part 4th season finale that concluded with Batman meeting the JLA for the first time.

This new two-parter marks the end of the series. Executive producer Alan Burnett, gave a final interview about the series here, where he talks about how the show evolved:

... the changes in The Batman were pretty organic. The first season he was a complete loner. By the second season he was accepted by the police. The third season added Batgirl. The fourth, Robin. This season, the JLA. The fourth season was probably the darkest, blessedly so. We thought it was going to be the last season. When the network gave us the go-ahead for a fifth season, they wanted us to get a little more kid-friendly again.

While still only a rumor, this is likely not the end of animated televison Batman adventures, as a new series that tfetures Batman teaming up with a different guest hero episode, as the Brave and the Bold comic did in the '60s through the '80s. hiopefully, we'll hear more during hte summer convention season.

In the meantime, we don't have to wait long for new anmated Batman, as the DVD Batman: Gotham Knight debuts on July 8, just a few weeks before the Dark Knight hits theatres. A series of six short stories written by comics and other genre writers, and directed in anime style by famous anime directors, this new animated venture features the return of Kevin Conroy, known as the voice of Batman for over a decade, starting with Batman: the Animated Series in 1992, up through Justice League Unlimited, which ended in 2006. It's not clear if Conroy will be the feature voice of Batman in all six stories, or in fact, if he is even voicing Batman, but his involvement was confirmed during a recent interview at the San Francisco WonderCon while promoting the DVD release of Justice League: The New Frontier.