DC Property into a TV Series

[Ipodman]

I thought Y The Last Man was becoming a motion pic... whats up wit that?

 

[Sawyer]

Shia dropped out. DJ Cotrona hasn't really said anything about it. Probably shelved until they can find a new director.

 

[GL1]

I just don't see WB bringing Batman back to TV anytime soon. He's big in theaters as of now. NIGHTWING, on the other hand, would work perfectly on TV, IMO.

I wouldn't complain if we got a Batman TV series, I think it would be awesome. I just don't see it happening.

Uneven comparisons aside, I don't see either happening. WB will not take any chance of threatening 100s of millions of dollars in BO with a TV series, neither will they take a chance on a different Batman continuity, or a version of a character that no one in the General Audience is familiar with (Nightwing is unproven, and there's nothing like him to draw a benchmark that this can be successful). Nightwing is not any more suited for TV, neither is he any more likely to appear there. WB isn't going to "see the vision."

 

[Jordacar]

**** that, i dont want them to rape Batman. Give them Nightwing or Green Arrow, anyone with a social life (how many events can Bruce go to anyway?). Dick is a lot easier to write and dedicate a tv series to.

So they shouldn't mess with Batman, but they can rape Nightwing or Green Arrow all they want?

 

[Mr. Earle]

So they shouldn't mess with Batman, but they can rape Nightwing or Green Arrow all they want?

It would be true to Nightwing's character! (that story with Tarantula)

I'm just saying that a superhero that is more balanced than Batman would offer so much more in a tv series where they want to attract a female audience as well. Batman is awesome and all but he doesnt have that and maybe people will get tired of his cave and all the dark alleys. Nightwing is like DC's Spiderman. You just fall in love with his charm, "casualness" (is that even a word?) and coolness. He's more mainstream.

 

[TheShah]

Well they were grounded, werent they? I think that because of the gadgets and vehicles, and cave and so on, Batman would need a bigger budget. Not to mention that i dont trust them with the franchise.

Besides, like i said, there isnt much to Batman besides crime fighting and that can only go on for so long. Nightwing is more like DC's spiderman and i think he'll charm the audience, no matter what age or gender group they belong to.

I think this is key for NOT doing a Batman Series.

I mean, think about the hype and backlash alone that will be generated when you start going into considerations like if it'll be in the current film franchise continuity; or if it will have it's own continuity, which source material will be adapted, what does that do for a JUSTICE LEAGUE movie...? etc.
A lot of those things will freak people out if a Batman show is even announced; X-MEN: FIRST CLASS being an example.

Even the current film franchise is unscathed from scrutiny, and those were two 2+ hour features over a span of a few years. Imagine the CONTINUING adaptations necessary for a weekly series.
Since a seasons might get picked up in the future, the writers would have to adapt as they go, and with Series' they're hardly ever able to plan out the entire show in multiple season run. (SUPERNATURAL for example.)

To this day, even after SMALLVILLE has been clarified as being an independant continuity from comic, movies, other shows... there's still issues with 'they're messing up Superman'... so... I just don't see it happening.

 

[TheShah]

Batman isnt just crime fighting, it is also crime solving. The gadgets and cave would be easy. Gadgets wouldnt cost that much to make and cave can just be partially cgi.

Then you run the risk of having the show become gadgety and gimmicky instead of focusing on character developement and emotionally driven storylines.

Network/Cable TV, in comparison to movies, have to continiously worry about commercialism as the costs, sponsors, ratings are constantly changing.
So there's a huge risk of a show ****ing out for commercialism than sticking to the true vision of what was intended.

 

[TheShah]

All three of them are pissed, are they?

I kid. I think the point of this particular line of thinking is that the movies don't explore Batman's full potential. Movies capture the scale, a TV series capture the scope. Neither does the other.

LOL.
Awesome...

 

[TheShah]

Exactly. Y the Last Man. HBO. Do it.

It would be much better suited for television than film, I think.

I agree 100%.
But see, that's the difference between planned long story arc driven shows/comics versus a comic adaptation about ONE 'hero' and his adventures.

Expecially in this age of LOST and other event themed shows, a fresh new adaptation like Y THE LAST MAN could do a lot better than another show featuring a superhero with 50+ years worth of baggage.

 

[TheShah]

Just to throw this in there...

DEUS EX MACHINA anyone...? :| lol.

 

[TheShah]

Emotional spectrum sitcom. Obviously there will be no monsters or superpowers, just people who resemble the characters.

Atrocitus and Larfleeze share an appartment. They have a friend called Hal who lives nearby. Sinestro is the evil landlord. All of a sudden some cool dude and his two hot roommates move in next door. Dude's called St.Walker and the girls are Carol and Indigo 1. He's very chill, and always spouts quotes about peace, hope, etc so his hippy charm probably worked on the hotties.
Atrocitus and Larfleeze hatch plans to hit on the girls and try to avoid getting cockblocked by St.Walker.

Hilarity ensues.

HAHAHA!!!
Perfect!

Best pitch of the thread.

 

[Mr. Earle]

Thanks mate!

 

[JBElliott]

But there isnt much to it other than crime, is there? Robin and Catwoman can only go so far, unless they turn it into a teen drama like Smallville.
I think you need the character to have a social life if you re going to do a tv series.

I'd hope it wouldn't be a teen drama (a Nightwing series lends itself much more to a teen drama than does a Batman series), but Batman is a lot more than just crime and that's what made Year One so good. The characters were three dimensional. Gordon's character was great and necessary to show why Wayne had to become Batman. A Batman series should have a heavy focus on the characters and how they develop through the shows just as Lost had a heavy emphasis on the characters.

There are so many great, multi-facetted characters in Batman. Wayne himself being only one. Alfred's dedication and fatherly nature would make for great episodes, imagine the kind of interactions Bale and Caine had briefly in the movies through the course of the series. we could see how Alfred deals with Wayne as he becomes Batman and the effects of watching his "son" go down that path. Selina Kyle would be a great character. I'm not sure the hooker/dominatrix part would translate perfectly to television, but I'm sure something along those lines could be played up showing her as good and bad. Harvey Dent's descent to Two-Face could take a few seasons; one season he's good Harvey and the audience grows to love him as an alley to Batman and Gordon and another season you see the slow gradual decline culminating with acid in the face as the last straw. We could see Gordon's struggle to ascend in the dirty GPD and his troubles at home. Batman/Wayne would be the main character, but there would be several very strong supporting characters which is a formula that worked very well on Lost for example.

On the crime side, we could see episodes from the the view point of cops a la Gotham Central and see all those characters and how they feel about Batman. We could see how they deal with Gotham's transformation from a town run essentially by the mob to one where the "freaks" come out even as Batman, Gordon and Dent take down the mob and begin to clean things up. We could see characters like Flass struggling to hold on to their power and the new additions like Montoya, Allen and Bullock deal with coming up in a crooked system and the choices they have to make as their careers progress.

And so on and so on.

 

[JBElliott]

All three of them are pissed, are they?

I kid. I think the point of this particular line of thinking is that the movies don't explore Batman's full potential. Movies capture the scale, a TV series capture the scope. Neither does the other.

That's a good point. But just because there's a TV series doesn't mean there can't be summer movies every so often. As I mentioned above, some of Batman's "bigger" adventures could appear in movies, e.g. the Ra's al Guhl stories from O'Neil and Adams.

 

[JBElliott]

They do have a point though.
You mean because a TV series has more time in its hands?
Thats a blessing and a curse. Somehow i dont trust them, sooner or later they ll turn batman into a chickflick like they did with Smallville. See how horribly writen it is even to this day. Lois and Clark have just hooked up and yet they are all "you are the love of my life", and of course Ollie pops up in every episode to cry about Chloe in front of Tess.

**** that, i dont want them to rape Batman. Give them Nightwing or Green Arrow, anyone with a social life (how many events can Bruce go to anyway?). Dick is a lot easier to write and dedicate a tv series to.

That's a fair point. I wouldn't want to see Batman played for camp with something like nipples on his costume and a bat-credit card or set up in a completely neo-gothic setting with a slightly built comedian playing Bruce Wayne as Batman in rubber muscle suit where it was the Joker who killed his parents. We're lucky that kind of thing never happens in the movies.

 

[Mr. Earle]

I'd hope it wouldn't be a teen drama (a Nightwing series lends itself much more to a teen drama than does a Batman series), but Batman is a lot more than just crime and that's what made Year One so good. The characters were three dimensional. Gordon's character was great and necessary to show why Wayne had to become Batman. A Batman series should have a heavy focus on the characters and how they develop through the shows just as Lost had a heavy emphasis on the characters.

There are so many great, multi-facetted characters in Batman. Wayne himself being only one. Alfred's dedication and fatherly nature would make for great episodes, imagine the kind of interactions Bale and Caine had briefly in the movies through the course of the series. we could see how Alfred deals with Wayne as he becomes Batman and the effects of watching his "son" go down that path. Selina Kyle would be a great character. I'm not sure the hooker/dominatrix part would translate perfectly to television, but I'm sure something along those lines could be played up showing her as good and bad. Harvey Dent's descent to Two-Face could take a few seasons; one season he's good Harvey and the audience grows to love him as an alley to Batman and Gordon and another season you see the slow gradual decline culminating with acid in the face as the last straw. We could see Gordon's struggle to ascend in the dirty GPD and his troubles at home. Batman/Wayne would be the main character, but there would be several very strong supporting characters which is a formula that worked very well on Lost for example.

On the crime side, we could see episodes from the the view point of cops a la Gotham Central and see all those characters and how they feel about Batman. We could see how they deal with Gotham's transformation from a town run essentially by the mob to one where the "freaks" come out even as Batman, Gordon and Dent take down the mob and begin to clean things up. We could see characters like Flass struggling to hold on to their power and the new additions like Montoya, Allen and Bullock deal with coming up in a crooked system and the choices they have to make as their careers progress.

And so on and so on.

I didnt think about the cops over at GCPD, but Batman, Alfred and the villains would soon become tiresome. Yeah, Harvey fell from grace and joker this and Joker that, but you need a break from all that because a whole tv series cant be shot in dark alleys and caves. Frankly BW doesnt have a real social life to provide this break from the main plot. That's why i proposed a superhero with a real social life, with some light to break all the darkness of superheroing.

 

[JBElliott]

I didnt think about the cops over at GCPD, but Batman, Alfred and the villains would soon become tiresome. Yeah, Harvey fell from grace and joker this and Joker that, but you need a break from all that because a whole tv series cant be shot in dark alleys and caves. Frankly BW doesnt have a real social life to provide this break from the main plot. That's why i proposed a superhero with a real social life, with some light to break all the darkness of superheroing.

The Wayne/Batman with no social life is a more "recent" occurrence in the history of Batman. Even in the 1970's and 1980's Wayne had some life apart from Batman, a series could mark a return to the best of those times. In a TV series, I could see some emphasis placed on Wayne's efforts using the Wayne Foundation and Wayne Industries to clean up Gotham. In many ways, those much more powerful weapons that anything else Wayne/Batman uses.

 

[batlovescatDC]

I think instead of a Suicide Squad movie they could do a tv show... that could definitely work. Or I would absolutely love to see The Question on a series.

 

[Hellion]

Batwoman?

 

[Karelia]

Uneven comparisons aside, I don't see either happening. WB will not take any chance of threatening 100s of millions of dollars in BO with a TV series, neither will they take a chance on a different Batman continuity, or a version of a character that no one in the General Audience is familiar with (Nightwing is unproven, and there's nothing like him to draw a benchmark that this can be successful). Nightwing is not any more suited for TV, neither is he any more likely to appear there. WB isn't going to "see the vision."

Isn't DC/WB in progress of making a Blue Beetle show though? I don't think the general audience has any idea who that is either.

Weren't they planning on making a show about Dick Greyson awhile back? t:

 

[GL1]

That's a good point. But just because there's a TV series doesn't mean there can't be summer movies every so often. As I mentioned above, some of Batman's "bigger" adventures could appear in movies, e.g. the Ra's al Guhl stories from O'Neil and Adams.

I don't think you'll see WB put out two continuities for a single character in live action. They did it for SR and Smallville, and as far as they're concerned, it hurt both.

^


Yes, they were thinking of doing the Smallville formula with Robin. The actual Smallville formula. "Grayson" was the working title, and it would have been, in a word, bad.

Blue Beetle doesn't require the public appreciate two simultaneous Batman continuities. Neither does he draw on Batman's history or popularity. It's a different story altogether.

I didnt think about the cops over at GCPD, but Batman, Alfred and the villains would soon become tiresome. Yeah, Harvey fell from grace and joker this and Joker that, but you need a break from all that because a whole tv series cant be shot in dark alleys and caves. Frankly BW doesnt have a real social life to provide this break from the main plot. That's why i proposed a superhero with a real social life, with some light to break all the darkness of superheroing.

That sounds good, but it's much easier to expand Batman's social life, which already doesn't occur exclusively in dark alleys and caves, than to try and introduce the public the concept of multiple simultaneous continuities. If they take it from a CSI angle, where he has a team, he's not going to meet in Dark Alleys with Leslie Thompkins, Lucious Fox, Alfred or any of guest stars. If they take it from a "the Bruce Wayne cover is more demanding than it is in comics" then Bruce is your 'average' rich guy and can and will be just about anywhere. Even if they choose option C, people won't be any more tired of Bruce Alley's than they are House's Hospital. A Nightwing show would definitely be more fun, and preferable for a number of creative reasons, but it wouldn't necessarily be any more social.

 

[JBElliott]

I'm sure WB won't do a Batman TV series anytime soon. I'm pretty sure that WB won't make any DC superhero series any time soon, the rumored WW series will probably never make it to air and if it does, it's a good bet that it will be bad. Sure I'm pessimistic and I'd love to be wrong.

That said, a Batman TV series could be great.

 

[Jordacar]

Assuming TDKR is awesome (which I think is a pretty safe bet, wouldn't you?), the Batman franchise will be at a point that I don't think any superhero franchise has really reached; a completed film series, three great films in a row, all from the same director, etc. Since Nolan has stated he only wants to make the three, WB will have some options to consider.

The easy route will of course be to get another director and continue the film franchise. They'll probably just do that. BUT [dramatic pause] depending on how well Ron Howard's little film/tv Dark Tower adaptation does, might WB consider moving the franchise to prime time TV, with the occasional summer feature film in between seasons? Probably not, but I can dream can't I?

 

[Mr. Earle]

Hasnt Spiderman already done that?

 

[Mr. Earle]

TV series? DO NOT WANT.