If the trailers for “The LEGO Batman Movie” didn’t make it clear, the animated comedy will not only embrace the humor of “The LEGO Movie,” but also elements of comic book lore and the 1966 television series. For proof, we need look no further than these new minifigures unveiled this morning by LEGO. RELATED: “LEGO Batman Movie,” “Knight Rider” Head to “LEGO Dimensions” In addition to the Caped Crusader in his mask and robe, the 20 minifigs include a selection of alternate costumes (Caveman and Glam-Bat, among them), Dick Grayson with shark repellent, Batgirl, The Joker, Harley Quinn, Commissioner Gordon, Catman, Orca, King Tut, the Red Hood, the Calculator, Zodiac Master, a couple of henchmen, and someone who may be Livewire. The minifigures will be available in January, ahead of the premiere of “The LEGO Batman Movie.” Directed by Chris McKay from a script by Seth Grahame-Smith, the film stars Will Arnett once again as Batman, who must overcome his fear of being part of a family, take responsibility for his adopted son, and learn the importance of teamwork if he hopes to stop The Joker’s takeover of Gotham City.
Opening Feb. 10, 2017, “The LEGO Batman Movie” also features the voices of Zach Galifianakis as The Joker, Michael Cera as Dick Grayson/Robin, Rosario Dawson as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, Ralph Fiennes as Alfred Pennyworth, Mariah Carey as Mayor McCaskill and Jenny Slate as Dr. Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn.Livewire (née Leslie Willis) is a former shock jock turned into an electrokinetic super villain bent on taking revenge against Superman. Leslie Willis was a popular WLXL shock jock who made a habit of ridiculing Superman. Leslie's outspoken and polarizing style garnered her as many supporters as disputants. People all over Metropolis listened to Leslie, even Superman. Lex Luthor, in particular, enjoyed her radio show. Leslie was interviewed by Lois Lane and Clark Kent about an upcoming party in Centennial Park to celebrate the anniversary of her show. As part of the celebration, there was going to be a concert. During the party, there was an thunderstorm, and police tried to stop the festivities because they were concerned for the crowd's safety.
Leslie disregarded the police's warnings, and went so far as to incite the crowd against the police. The chaos continued until Superman arrived, but he couldn't convince her to stop the party. In fact, she took Superman's appearance as an opportunity to ridicule him in public. While basking in the crowd's reverence, Leslie was shoved aside by Superman to protect her from a bolt of lightning that hit him instead. Leslie made a run for it, but the electricity bounced off Superman and struck her, changing her skin and hair color instantaneously. She was taken to Metropolis Hospital, where she recovered and quickly learned that she now had the power to generate and manipulate electricity. The former radio personality renamed herself "Livewire" and wreaked havoc in Metropolis. She blamed Superman for what happened and vowed to kill him. She used her new abilities to hijack Metropolis and manipulated every medium, including telephones, televisions and billboards. She announced that she would take control of Metropolis's utilities, declaring that if the public wanted to use them they would have to pay her on a regular basis.
However, her power was limited and she needed to recharge her powers regularly, which left her vulnerable. Because of this weakness, Superman was able to track Livewire to a local hydroelectric plant and, in the ensuing battle, she was defeated when exposed to water. After this, she was held under heavy restraint and left in a near catatonic state at . Her medical care while at Stryker's was financed by . Sometime later, she recovered and was kept in a regular cell, although the corridor she was in was cordoned off, banning prison employees from using electrical devices in that area due to her powers. However, a young, inexperienced paid no attention to these rules, listening to a Walkman while cleaning the floors, and Livewire manipulated him into giving her the Walkman (on the basis she wanted to hear music), and drained the device's power to charge herself and blast her way to freedom. Livewire then engaged Superman, but her power was not enough to destroy him. Livewire decided that the best way to defeat him was to team up so she sprung another super villain, , from his cell.
She convinced Parasite to cooperate by promising to let him have a taste of his power, which proved tough as Parasite was addicted to draining. Together, they committed a series of crimes in Metropolis, but eventually Parasite betrayed Livewire by draining her powers. He subsequently used Livewire's powers to attack Superman, all while holding Livewire captive to feed off of her energy. Superman lured Parasite to a wet area, where Parasite thought nothing of it until, too late, he had been electrocuted because he now had Livewire's electrokinesis. After the Parasite was defeated, he and Livewire were delivered to the authorities. Livewire would be moved to a new prison. Some time later, when she was being transported through Gotham City, Livewire escaped again and escaped into the city's underworld. There, she met Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. The three formed an alliance to commit a series of crimes. With Superman unavailable, Supergirl headed to Gotham, where she met Batgirl who informed her about Livewire.
Batgirl and Supergirl teamed up to fight Livewire, Ivy, and Harley at Gotham Park. During this melee, Livewire almost electrocuted Batgirl, but Supergirl saved her and Livewire was defeated. She was later returned to the Metropolis prison system. Years later, Livewire became a member of the Superman Revenge Squad to destroy Superman once and for all. They started a rampage at Daily Planet Plaza, but the Justice League intervened and Livewire was easily knocked out by J'onn J'onzz. After Superman was "killed" by Toyman, Livewire and Kalibak started another rampage at Metropolis. Flash defeated Livewire by running ahead of her and dropping one end of the wire she was traveling along into water, causing her to reappear there and short out. When Superman returned, the remaining villains were taken down. She later joined Grodd's Legion of Doom. After being augmented, Leslie is now a being of pure energy; she had the ability to absorb and project high amounts of electricity. She could also travel through wires and enter machines, forcing them to perform actions according to her will.