Batman looks super happy in first images from The LEGO Batman Movie

Director Chris McKay promises the animated spin-off film will be "About a Boy as directed by Michael Mann"

"Darkness / No Parents / Continued Darkness / More Darkness / Get it? / The opposite of light!"

The song The LEGO Movie's Batman composed by his own hand, or the pitch for Batfleck's appearance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice? Either way, there's a second caped crusader heading to screens next year; and the first images for The LEGO Batman Movie have been dropped by Warner Bros. to profit off all that bat-fever.

A spin-off title for one of The LEGO Movie's comedic highlights, Will Arnett will once more voice the brick version of the superhero; he'll be joined by Ralph Fiennes (voicing Alfred), Michael Cera (voicing Dick Grayson/Robin), Rosario Dawson (voicing Barbara Gordon/Batgirl), and Zach Galifianakis (voicing The Joker). Mariah Carey will also lend her voice to Gotham's mayor.

Indeed, cameos seem to be a major part of the upcoming animation. "We’re nothing but exhaustive about the cameos and other characters that try to enter Batman’s life," says director Chris McKay, who worked as animation director for The LEGO Movie; which hopefully spells reappearances by superfriends Superman (Channing Tatum), Green Lantern (Jonah Hill), and Wonder Woman (Cobie Smulders).

Though there are a couple of glimpses offered in these new images, we'll be getting a full look at the LEGO Batcave when the trailer drops 23 March. "The Batcave is even better than we remembered it, it’s awesome," Arnett told USA Today. "But I also love getting into the ho-hum day-to-day of being Batman and what it’s like to fight crime each day. Like the idea of Batman oversleeping his alarm clock makes me laugh. It really does humanize him."

"We thought if we can tell a well-rounded, funny story that’s action-packed, we can build a big movie around this character," says McKay. "This is the movie we would want to see. Batman is an island onto himself, the only thing he doesn’t have is relationships. We're making About a Boy as directed by Michael Mann."

The LEGO Batman Movie hits UK cinemas 10 February 2017.