After teasing that they were planning the movie with an R rating in mind, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has confirmed that the upcoming animated film Batman: The Killing Joke has officially been rated R by the MPAA.

Sam Register, president of Warner Bros. Animation, told Entertainment Weekly in a statement:

The Killing Joke is revered by the fans, particularly for its blunt, often-shocking adult themes and situations. We felt it was our responsibility to present our core audience — the comics-loving community — with an animated film that authentically represented the tale they know all too well.

While neither the MPAA nor Warner Bros. has released the details of why Batman: The Killing Joke was rated R, it shouldn’t be entirely surprising to fans who’ve read the graphic novel. Alan Moore’s seminal Batman tale involves The Joker paralyzes Barbara Gordon with a bullet to the spine, later kidnapping Commissioner Gordon, stripping him naked and showing him photos of Barbara’s bloody, naked body in an attempt to drive him insane.

According to the studio there are currently no plans to release a PG-13 version of the film.

This is not the first DC Universe film, nor the first Batman film, to get an R-rating by the MPAA. Zack Snyder’s “Ultimate Edition” extended cut of Batman vs. Superman will arrive on DVD and Blu-ray this summer with 30 extra minutes of footage and extra “sequences of violence” that earned an R.

Batman: The Killing Joke, which stars classic Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill as The Joker, will debut at Comic-Con this summer before hitting DVD and Blu-ray later in the year.

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