After Nolan's BATMAN trilogy... - Part 1

[Rodrigo90]

B89 and B:TAS captured Bob's original vision beautifully.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

B89 and B:TAS captured Bob's original vision beautifully.

Maybe it's because I grew up with them... but yeah, I definitely agree.

B:TAS found a decent balance with the fantasy and reality.

 

[ThePowerCosmic]

Absolutely.

It should be a representation of all that's wrong. It should be dark, bad for the good people who have to live there. It should be a city where all those there have given up on it, dirty streets, but luxurious high rise buildings, where the rich and powerful stay out of it. Family Park's being ruled by violent gangs. Every alley tagged with graffiti. A few colorful billboards of neon lighting up the city (not like Shumacer's) in the attempt to advertise and cash in on Gotham's misery. School's having barbed wire on fences. Factories that spew out harmful chemicals in the river. A city that has seemingly no hope.

And it's Batman's mission to clean up that mess.
As Einstein said -
The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.

Wow, you really gave it some thought. I love it and I agree.

 

[mcallima]

B89 and B:TAS captured Bob's original vision beautifully.

You mean Bill Finger's original vision.

 

[Rodrigo90]

You mean Bill Finger's original vision.

Yeah. But I meant with Gotham really. Unless that was Bill too?

 

[Rodrigo90]

Wow, you really gave it some thought. I love it and I agree.

The thing also that should be a factor in Gotham's design is that, yes it should be Gothic, with modern buildings of course. But instead of intentionally making Gotham look creepy as hell, it should have started out gothically beautiful, you know? That could add to the city's tragedy. That this once beautiful, artistic, and amazing looking city has been desecrated by crime and uncaring nature?

Trash and dirt cover the streets. Gotham's oldest buildings are left to wither and crumble. It's skys fill with fumes from many industrial factories, leaving that ironic dark cloud over everyone and everything?

 

[metaphysician]

The thing also that should be a factor in Gotham's design is that, yes it should be Gothic, with modern buildings of course. But instead of intentionally making Gotham look creepy as hell, it should have started out gothically beautiful, you know? That could add to the city's tragedy. That this once beautiful, artistic, and amazing looking city has been desecrated by crime and uncaring nature?

Trash and dirt cover the streets. Gotham's oldest buildings are left to wither and crumble. It's skys fill with fumes from many industrial factories, leaving that ironic dark cloud over everyone and everything?

So, something like this?

 

[The Guard]

The thing also that should be a factor in Gotham's design is that, yes it should be Gothic, with modern buildings of course. But instead of intentionally making Gotham look creepy as hell, it should have started out gothically beautiful, you know? That could add to the city's tragedy. That this once beautiful, artistic, and amazing looking city has been desecrated by crime and uncaring nature?

Exactly.

 

[Rowsdower!]

I'd like a Gotham that's a mix of gothic buildings and modern urban hell. I loved Batman:TAS but I never liked how they made it look like it was set in the 1940s. Same with Burtons films. I don't want to see people in fedoras and police blimps. Gotham's architecture should certainly have that creepy, gothic feel to it but I want the streets to feel like the epitome of urban decay.

The closest thing I can think of is in the movie 12 Monkeys when Bruce Willis' character travels back to 1996 and the world appears overrun by scum and psychopaths.

 

[Rodrigo90]

So, something like this?

Yes. That's a perfect look.

I'd like a Gotham that's a mix of gothic buildings and modern urban hell. I loved Batman:TAS but I never liked how they made it look like it was set in the 1940s. Same with Burtons films. I don't want to see people in fedoras and police blimps. Gotham's architecture should certainly have that creepy, gothic feel to it but I want the streets to feel like the epitome of urban decay.

The closest thing I can think of is in the movie 12 Monkeys when Bruce Willis' character travels back to 1996 and the world appears overrun by scum and psychopaths.

I agree with that. Gotham should be a city full of Gothic buildings. But they shouldn't be conceived as creepy. Gothic is creepy of course, but they should be amazing, the highlight of Gotham City is it's amazing arcitecture, the most European looking city in America. But the feeling of it's beauty changes once the crime and decay starts to hit it. The city is considered by many to be hellish now for it's Gothic look, that was loved and praised before, and it's rampant crime. Once the attraction for tourists from all over the world, it's now the hotspot for psychopath's. Gotham is creepy because of what the people in it have done to it. Once something innocent, it's now a product of crime and corruption from every sort of evil...as is Batman. Batman is a product of the same affliction that took Gotham's innocense, but instead of succumbing to that cesspit, Batman is Gotham's Crusader, so he can fight for the innocense that he lost and Gotham lost to crime and corruption. He won't allow himself or Gotham to be the victim's, and fights back.

And that means we need to see Batman hanging around the rooftops along with the stone Gargoyles. It's a symbolism of his connection to the city, he is one with it.

 

[Mr. Thing]

I think Glasgow has some very good locations that could be used for Gotham. Lots of urban decay but with an abundance of gothic-style architecture.

The old Royal Infirmary is perfect for Arkham.

 

[Rodrigo90]

That would be awesome to include. And that's how Gotham should look like

Nolan's style was too modern. Burton's looked really good in B89, then went too much his own taste with BR. Shumacer's was too futuristic.

Those buildings demonstrated above is pure BTAS in live action form if you ask me, without even trying to base it on it. Those buildings spread across Gotham in the next film would give us that more fantastical and faithful look we've been asking for, while also feeling like it could be a real city.

 

[Karem-Knight]

I was wondering about directors and while this may come as an odd choice but in terms of directors what do people think of Paul Thomas Anderson to direct the next Batman franchise, he was attached to a Metal Gear Solid movie so he might be willing to do Batman and I think his style would work perfectly for a film focusing more on the Bat family.

Note: I'm talking about the director of Magnolia and There Will Be Blood. Not Paul W.S. Anderson of D.O.A and Resident Evil.

 

[Shikamaru]

That's pretty cool. Yeah, one of the things I didn't like about TDKR and TDK is that Gotham doesn't really feel like it's own city (especially in TDK, where it just looks like Chicago). BB got it really right... not sure why they moved away from that look in the sequels. I loved the train, Wayne Tower and the Narrows.

I'm guessing it's because they wanted to show that Gotham has gotten cleaner in between BB and TDK due to Batman and Harvey putting away hundreds and hundreds of criminals over the course of 1 year and making the streets safer (separately, of course).


I love the idea of Gotham having Gothic tones but I wouldn't want it to look like it's in the 1940s especially if they're doing a DC cinematic universe. As good as Batman TAS looked, it never made sense that the show looked like it was set in the 1950s while everything else in every other show in the DCAU looked like it was set in modern times (with the exception of Batman Beyond, which was set in the future). It seriously doesn't make sense if you think about it, even if it is a cartoon and you have to suspend your disbelief. You have greedy guys like Roland Daggett and Rupert Thorne constantly talking about how they want power and money to be above everyone yet won't even bother to get a color TV and a modern car like 99% of all other Americans (LOL). Arkham City and Long Halloween did a good job of having an old, gothic, decayed-looking Gotham set in modern times with modern technology. I want something like that .


Also, Warner Bros should learn from Marvel Studios and hire comic book writers as writers for their future projects. If writers from DC get that opportunity, then I would want to see Scott Snyder as the writer for the reboot. As for the director, I can't think of anyone yet but it would have to be someone that is as hands-on as Nolan and Zack Snyder are.

 

[Destructus86]

To me...what Nolan did with Batman was basically gut all the characters of what made them interesting in order to make them more down to Earth. Which I really didn't like...I can't WAIT to see the route they take with future Batman movies now that Nolan is done doing his own thing.

 

[MarvelKnight]

I'd like a Gotham that's a mix of gothic buildings and modern urban hell. I loved Batman:TAS but I never liked how they made it look like it was set in the 1940s. Same with Burtons films. I don't want to see people in fedoras and police blimps. Gotham's architecture should certainly have that creepy, gothic feel to it but I want the streets to feel like the epitome of urban decay.

The closest thing I can think of is in the movie 12 Monkeys when Bruce Willis' character travels back to 1996 and the world appears overrun by scum and psychopaths.

But Fedora's are awesome.. I could do without the blimps though I thought they were cool on BTAS..

I'd love to see some old run-down large scale cathedrals with the statues/gargoyles on the ledges and the high peaks and stuff. Thould would add some atmosphere. Perfect for Batman to be perched on waiting for the next scumbag to try something.

 

[VM1138]

Looking at that picture makes me think Detroit would be a great location for some Gotham location shooting. At least some. But I doubt they'd want to take the risks of filming at night in some of the areas.

 

[Maximus One]

I've been getting more and more into the comics lately, I always have been into them but mostly just trades and graphic novels but I always thought Robin was such a useless character. I never liked him I dunno why but I just always liked Batman working solo. It wasn't until after I discovered that Dick grew up to be Nightwing and Jason Todd was murdered and then Tim and Damien and I seriously had to rethink my stance on Robin. I love the idea of the Robin costume being one of service and passed down like the cowl. I never knew Robin had such depth and I just love Jason Todd. I seriously want to see the next two movies deal with Jason's story and introducing him in the second (maybe third?) as Red Hood. I just love that whole story, Joker killing him and the way it tore Bruce up and then finally him coming back. It's just been brilliant over the years and I really think that Batman movies are going to be stale until they decide to move on and expand the universe in the films. They need elements like Jason's murder and resurrection, Barbara's shooting, Bruce and Talia having a son, Tim Drake being introduced etc. We need to see Nightwing and a full fledged Batman family at some point. The next film should definitely take place years into Bats career no doubt about that

 

[shauner111]

I think Zack Snyder will still be able to pull off his "Dark Knight Returns" adaptation. It wont be in the same continuity as Nolans, as he originally thought, it would be in the Man Of Steel/Justice League/Bat Reboot universe. When his MOS trilogy is up, the JL movies are done. He can use the next Batman, the next Joker and Two-Face and Henry Cavill as Superman who will be older. I was thinking Jon Hamm for Dent, unless Snyder decides to use a 50 something year old Hamm for Bruce Wayne.

I'd like to see the Batman Beyond story mutated a bit so it can work with JGL's character for Nolans series. I know the chances are slim but i would like to see them continue this on film or on paper at least. John Blake is a version of the 3 Robins: Grayson, Todd, Drake. They didnt want to show favortism over any 1 version of Robin. (If they made him Dick, fans would question why he's so old and they would expect Nightwing. If he was Jason, the Grayson fans would be mad and expectations of his death at the hands of the Joker + the Red Hood would be pretty large. Naming him Tim Drake would upset the Dick Grayson and Jason Todd fans lol) Don't think that was the point Nolan was trying to make.

Blake was also hinted at being the successor to Batman, an original character created just for that trilogy. Very much like Terry McGinnis was created for Batman Beyond and not the comics. So i think Batman Beyond is in his future, but far-distant and not immediate. It makes sense that he would try to be his own identity first since the death of Batman is still fresh in everybodys minds. And the city DOES need somebody for now...the cops wont be able to rack up every released prisoner on their own. For his immediate future i do believe that he becomes a version of Nightwing much like he's a version of Robin, but without the name/alias "Nightwing". It's a kryptonian name that originates from the Superman mythology & that world doesn't coincide with Nolans. The name would be too out of the blue here. So it makes sense that Blake would go out as 1 thing, expecting to handle it on his own and then go through a learning curve. Realizing that he needs to leave to do some training so he can turn it up a notch & become the Batman years later, either because of a threat that he can't handle, or cuz of an injury he sustains out of inexperience. And then i would go into the 'Beyond' concept.

This is what i would do post Bat reboot, post MOS, post JL, etc. The reboot will be sure to have the comic book accurate Robin who becomes Nightwing. Nolans world is a mutation of that. Dark Knight Returns represents the comics and lives in a world where many Robins have come & gone, male or female. A world where Superman exists and more fantastical rogues. Batman Beyond always felt like a seperate Bruce Wayne and it could lend itself to Nolans story but maybe with a new visual flare. Why not have Rian Johnson (Looper with JGL) carry it on?

 

[TheWatcher]

Nolans Batman universe is over. Let's move on.

 

[Rodrigo90]

Gone, but never forgotten.

 

[TheWatcher]

Of course not. But we should focus on the new universe.

 

[Rodrigo90]

Yup. So can we PLEASE stop going on about continuing with JGL as Batman? Pweety Pwease?

 

[TheWatcher]

Yes seriously people. It's over. Write some fan fic or something.

 

[shauner111]

will do.