Batman Confirms New Official Crossover With 55-Year-Old Japanese Legend

Published Sep 19, 2026, 2:00 PM EDT An experienced Editor representing Canada via ScreenRant's Team Anime, J.R. has been reading manga since the first printing of Shonen Jump in North America. This passion drove him to write about anime, manga, and manhwa since 2022, having recently served as Lead Anime Editor for ComicBook.com. His favorite moments in media coverage include reviewing the series premieres of Zom 100 and Bleach: TYBW Part 2 back-to-back and briefly meeting Junji Ito at a VIZ gallery event in 2023. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Being one of Western pop culture's most iconic characters for over 87 years, Batman has had his fair share of fascinating crossover opportunities since the start. It's led to collaborations from within the same parent company like the case of the Batman/Elmer Fudd Special, tonal matchups from the competition like Spawn/Batman, and even iconic film franchise crossovers like with the Alien or Predator series. But this time around, the latest icon Batman is joining forces with comes from overseas out of the Kamen Rider franchise, with Batman x Kamen Rider Zero-One. Confirmed via DC Comics' Japanese X account, the new Batman and Kamen Rider crossover was announced for Batman Day 2026 as the latest new project alongside the launch of Batman of Two Worlds and a fun variety of other events internationally. Public stunts such as at the Sydney Opera House, and fan-favorite screening events like that of 1989's Batman film in Japan proved appropriate for the occasion, as the world celebrated one of its most beloved comic book characters of all time. No official release date has been set for this comic, or how long the series will be, so it's best to follow @dc_jp for all the latest news and stay tuned here. Batman Crosses Over With Legendary Tokusatsu Series For Brand-New Comic Batman x Kamen Rider Zero-One is an interesting collaboration choice in the present day, given the latter's original 2019 series featured it fighting a malignant AI known as Ark. But beyond specifics on which iteration of the legendary franchise is joining forces with Batman, the bigger deal to focus on is the sheer fact that this is a collaboration between DC's single most popular character and one of the Big Three of Tokusatsu. With Ultraman having partnered with Marvel for years at this point, it's a thrilling development for DC, especially as it continues to partner with international pop culture powerhouses like Japan. This crossover is as big an opportunity for Kamen Rider producer Toei Company as it is for DC, with their previous work famously bringing the 1978 Spider-Man series to life in Japan for the competition. But as the announcement tweet confirms, "project details will be revealed gradually," so the plot, project duration, and exact specifics, such as what Batman's latest new suit can do, and who they'll be fighting together, will be revealed at a later date. Batman x Kamen Rider Zero-One Set To Release Merchandise Alongside the core announcement, DC also confirmed Bandai merchandise is in the works. Whether this simply means action figures or model kits under their Figure-rise lineup featuring world-class model kits, it inevitably means Batman fans in particular will want to keep their eyes out for upcoming merch drops. With this all falling under Kamen Rider's 55th Anniversary, it's clearly a momentous occasion celebrated alongside DC Comics as they bring a stunning new project to adoring fans around the world, all while Batman continues to reign supreme on the comic sales charts.