All right, since the new movie is now out and I have seen it, I am going to list the top five things I want from the next Batman series (and I will include no spoilers).
1. Don't tell us what we already know. We really, REALLY do not need another Batman origin film, at least any time soon. This has been the big complaint I have heard about Amazing Spider-Man, and it has kept many people, myself (a huge Spider-Man fan and comic book geek) away from seeing the movie. When everyone already know the origin of the character, you don't have to spend a whole movie retelling it. Incredible Hulk, a "requel" did a great job of this by just skimming over it in the opening minutes/credits. If you need to see a different version of Batman's origin that you didn't get in Batman Begins (still my favorite Bat movie), go read Batman: Year One. It's great. Also, with the abundance of Bat villains, try to stay away from the ones Nolan already gave us. Which brings me to...
2. More "fantasy"-based villains. I have LOVED Nolan's "realism" approach, as it has worked extremely well for his films, but now it may be time to branch out again. Don't be scared to include characters like Man-Bat, Killer Croc, and a new personal favorite of mine, the Court of Owls (I feel like that storyline lends itself VERY well to film). Scarecrow was a good start, but let's have some fun and branch out even more.
3. Keep the bar high (for cast and crew). This Batman series gave us a brilliant director and some of the best actors in the world appearing in a COMIC BOOK movie. We had Liam Neeson, Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, etc. I know we may not get that same level of excellence in the next movie/series, but give us a director with real vision, not Brett Ratner or McG. The cast doesn't have to be all A-listers, but keep the actual acting quality high. Think of names like Bryan Cranston for Gordon and Bill Nighy or John Cleese as Alfred.
4. Show some respect to the Bat-Family. I think we are at the point now where we can get a great movie featuring Dick Grayson. Robin is not "silly." Robin is not "gay." Robin is, however, arguably the third most important character in all of the Batman mythology behind Bruce and Alfred. Show the character respect and give him a well thought-out, well-written story arc.
5. Wayne, Bruce Wayne. By this I mean that there is no reason why Batman can't just be an ongoing series like James Bond. The supporting cast and villains are so abundant that you could make many, many movies all within the same loose continuity. In this aspect, I believe that Schumacher and WB did something right in their subpar movies. A change of Batman actor or director does not mean the end of the series. In fact, there should be no end of the series, just the end for whatever movie that filmmaker chooses to tell. Marvel claims they are going to do this with Iron Man, and while I do feel like this approach COULD work for him, it suits Batman (and Spider-Man, IMO) so much better.
That's my rant. Again, this is all just my opinion. And I did my best to not spoil anything about TDKR or express any of the few beefs I had with that film.
