Batman and Bugs Bunny Will Join Animated NHL Broadcast on TruTV and Max (Exclusive)

Batman, Wonder Woman and Bugs Bunny will lace up and hit the ice while Warner Bros. Discovery, TNT Sports and the NHL are teaming up to create the first-ever animated simulation of a live professional hockey game.

Special game (collaboration between TNT Sports, NHL and Warner Bros. Games) with dubbing MultiVersus NHL matchupwill air on TruTV and stream on B/R Sports Max on April 14 at 3:30 p.m., with the Colorado Avalanche taking on the Las Vegas Golden Knights.

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The fully animated presentation will feature teams made up of characters from Warner Bros. and DC Comics, including Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman (all from DC), Velma and Shaggy (from DC Scooby Doo), Steven Universe and Finn the Human (from Adventure time) and of course Bugs Bunny. The Tasmanian Devil will act as a judge.

Animated characters will play alongside cartoon avatars of some of the Avalanche and Golden Knights’ best players, in virtual environments ripped from MultiVersus game created by WBD game studio, including Space Jam Court, Sky Arena and Adventure Time Tree Fort. The MultiVersus the game will be released on May 28 and features iconic WB characters in a fighting game (similar to the Nintendo game Super Smash Bros. franchise).

TNT will host a “draft” for animated teams during the NHL post-game show on April 7.

Steve Mears will host a special game simulation with color commentary by Colby Armstrong. The regular game, without cartoon characters, will run on TNT and Max.

The MultiVersus NHL Face-Off is the latest example of the league partnering with a media partner to develop a new way to televise games. The NHL has already worked with Disney on animated editions of its games NHL Big City Greens classicaired on Disney Channel and featured characters from Greens of the big city. Last year, the NFL and Disney partnered on The history of toysa tailored edition of the NFL game streaming on Disney+.

The NFL and Paramount have previously collaborated on special Nickelodeon editions of select games, featuring animated characters, slime and special commentary.

Still, MultiVersus NHL is the first step in this space for TNT Sports, which is rebranding TruTV as a sports channel with the goal of adding more simulcasts of NHL, MLB and NBA games.

It also precedes TNT’s coverage of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, which begin April 20.

Below you can watch a video showing what the animated simulator will look like.

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