In an interview with Empire, director Chris McKay has been prepping us for the ways in which the awesome new LEGO Batman movie will shake up the Batman legend in hilarious and unexpected ways...

It pokes fun at the Dark Knight himself

"Just the idea of Batman is absurd. A guy who learns karate and dresses up at night to beat people up is ridiculous." You may be forgiven for thinking that comes from an irate hater of Batman but the truth is quite the opposite. Instead, McKay will be investing his movie with a healthy degree of self-aware humour, observing of the Batman legacy that his movie "affectionately comment[s] on all that".

Ralph Fiennes is an amazing new Alfred

With 2014's sensational The Grand Budapest Hotel it became clear that British thesp Fiennes had an unexpected knack for precision-timed, deadpan comedy. He's now set to bring his distinctive vocal chops to his role as Bruce Wayne's loyal butler, and McKay says we can expect something amazing.

"Ralph committed fully to LEGO Alfred," he explains to Empire. "He told me he was inspired by [1935 high-society comedy] Ruggles Of Red Gap. It was amazing seeing him in the booth doing all this space work."

We're getting a hilarious new Joker

Also on vocal duties is Hangover star Zach Galifianakis whose retro baddie owes more to the Caesar Romero incarnation of the Joker from the 1960s Adam West/Burt Ward Batman. He'll be following in the footsteps of Suicide Squad's demented Jared Leto, albeit a lot less intense.

"I wish I had a story about Zach sending us dead rats," says McKay, "but he’s an incredible Joker. I’ve listened to him riff with Will for hours".

Robin could potentially steal the show

Voiced by Scott Pilgrim's Michael Cera, the movie's endearing and wide-eyed incarnation of Robin promises to banish memories of Chris O'Donnell for good.

"Bruce accidentally adopts him at a party," the director explains. "Robin is a Book Of Mormon-esque character, the ray of light to Batman’s brooding, Lord Byronic hero. It’s their dynamic that carries the movie, these polar opposites going head to head".

All of this sounds seriously amazing but we've still got a while to wait: LEGO Batman hits screens on 10th February 2017.