How would you reboot Batman?

[Airwings]

Llama_Sheperd: You know that Robin is a boy, right? He's not fully grown.
What he lacks in brute strenght will he manage to deliever in speed and agility.
He comes off as "Batman with different suit" in your first picture. He should not look to be on that bad-ass level. I mean, he could still be ruthless - but not have the look of it.
Your second picture is too much in the other direction. Robin is not just some gay boy wearing colorful clothes at a masquerade either. I am sure there is something in-between.

Here's a link:

http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/338/c/d/tim_drake_by_toonikun-d348b8i.jpg

This picture is the way a modern Robin should look like. Just give the suit a more classic Grayson/Todd feeling, and it will be perfect.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

I think Dick Grayson works better as nightwing. it's like with barbara gordon, yeah she was the first bat girl, but a lot of fans would rather see her as oracle. If they had to do Robin, I'd rather they'd do Damien, he has a stronger connection to bat man as well as really interesting origin. I say start it off with Batman already having assembled a team with Nightwing (nightwing having surfaced in bludhaven, then have batman offer him help) and oracle, then have bruce wayne discover the existence of his son, enter robin.

 

[Rockstar]

I think they should only resort to bringing in the sidekicks when Batman alone becomes unprofitable.

At the moment, Batman is a billion dollar franchise.

 

[Llama_Shepherd]

Llama_Sheperd: You know that Robin is a boy, right? He's not fully grown.

Dick Grayson hung up his cape at 17.
Jason was killed at 15.
Tim hung up his cape at 17.

All the Robin had been at least 15 at some point. Richard Grayson is my favourite character, I need no education on him.

What he lacks in brute strenght will he manage to deliever in speed and agility.
He comes off as "Batman with different suit" in your first picture. He should not look to be on that bad-ass level. I mean, he could still be ruthless - but not have the look of it.
Your second picture is too much in the other direction. Robin is not just some gay boy wearing colorful clothes at a masquerade either. I am sure there is something in-between.

I find both of those pictures not quite Robin as I like him. The first is too Damian, grown up. The second is too, "let's reinforce the idea that Batman is a gay paedophike with his gay boyfriend, Robin". But at least the first, although it tries too hard shows that Robin is not the "Gee- Willikers Batman" parody we had in the 60's or the sexually ambiguous character we got in Batman & Robin, which is what you seem to be craving.

Here's a link:

http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/338/c/d/tim_drake_by_toonikun-d348b8i.jpg

This picture is the way a modern Robin should look like. Just give the suit a more classic Grayson/Todd feeling, and it will be perfect.

No it wouldn't. You frequently described a metrosexual Robin. Someone who takes great care in their appearance, which is more applicable to Bruce, Richard is supposed to be naturally handsome, he's the pimp of the DCU. But what you have shown is an androgynous Robin. A Robin who seems to he hovering between genders. It's insulting to the character and would revive the whole "batman is a gay pedophile with his gay boyfriend, Robin!"

These are far more feasible, and in my mind, better:

Spoiler

 

[bubbadoom]

WHY would we reboot BatMan?

 

[Llama_Shepherd]

Because Christopher Nolan is making it necessary. His Batman is over. It's a hypothetical situation, none of us will really reboot Batman, Chris Nolan is doing that when he shepherds a new trilogy, much like he is doing with Superman, geez.

 

[KalMart]

WHY would we reboot BatMan?

Because Nolan, Bale and the rest of the crew that made BB-TDKR what they are are leaving. Better to let a new creative voice start with a blank canvas than have them have to pick up the pieces of a used game. Nolan's crew rebooted and did great...wait a while, and then have another one come in and do their thing too.

 

[Project862006]

now for a reboot do we do origins again or not because everyone knows batmans origins

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

i don't want to see an origin again. if anything, perhaps maybe a flashback to when Bruce's parents were murdered kind of like in Batman '89.

but i want to personally see Bruce as a vet already, in his mid to late 30s. for the new series i'd like to see a little more fantasy, but keeping it grounded in a realistic Gotham; a mix of Nolan films and Arkham Asylum/City games. and start off with villains not yet seen in the Nolan films like Man-Bat, Penguin, Croc, Freeze, Black Mask, etc.

 

[Airwings]

No it wouldn't. You frequently described a metrosexual Robin. Someone who takes great care in their appearance, which is more applicable to Bruce, Richard is supposed to be naturally handsome, he's the pimp of the DCU. But what you have shown is an androgynous Robin. A Robin who seems to he hovering between genders.

I also said something about emo. And at the page I linked to, we clearly see a somewhat emo Robin. It's a different take of him than we're used to.
It may be hard to go all the way for that look and nothing else. I admit that. But it can work with some degrees of that version and mix it up with the classic one.
Would it be wrong with updating the character's personality to our times, just a little bit?
If we look at Dick Grayson and his life both before and after the parents' deaths, he's more likely to be more towards emo than metro. He's travelling with a circus and hasn't taken up the metrosexual way of living. It more connected to urban life.
Anyway, Robin should not be bulky but keep a youthful and boyish appearance. He should not be scarred, but more innocent. It's hard to find an actor that suits the description, but Kodi Smit-McPhee or Logan Lerman a couple of years back come to my mind.

Of your four pics, I like the first and last one best.

 

[Project862006]

mid to late 30's thats basically what bale is now in nolans films

 

[KalMart]

mid to late 30's thats basically what bale is now in nolans films

He's 40 in the next/last one, I believe.

 

[KalMart]

now for a reboot do we do origins again or not because everyone knows batmans origins

I would say no for the next version, but then they can for the next reboot after that.

 

[DCnightwing23]

It all depends on what happens and how things end with The Dark Knight Rises, but i can see a Jon Hamm taking over for a older Bruce Wayne/Batman. I just cant see WB rebooting the series and starting over from scratch again, especially if the report of Nolan staying as producer are true. What would the stories be? I have no idea. But i do think Jon Hamm, who is 40 would be a solid choice to take over the mantle and continue the series and not reboot it.

 

[Llama_Shepherd]

I also said something about emo. And at the page I linked to, we clearly see a somewhat emo Robin. It's a different take of him than we're used to.
It may be hard to go all the way for that look and nothing else. I admit that. But it can work with some degrees of that version and mix it up with the classic one.
Would it be wrong with updating the character's personality to our times, just a little bit?

Yes, if it destroys Richard's characteristics. "Emo's" are stereotypically (and that is how he would be portrayed) angst ridden, depressed and in extreme circumstances suicidal. Richard Grayson is a happy character. He is light hearted and quippy. Updating his story would he to stop portraying his family as Romany gypsies and to show them as the owners of the circus.

If we look at Dick Grayson and his life both before and after the parents' deaths, he's more likely to be more towards emo than metro. He's travelling with a circus and hasn't taken up the metrosexual way of living. It more connected to urban life.

If he was growing up as a Romany gypsy as he was classically portrayed he'd be inclined to neither. He'd more than likely be a poor, ill educated young boy. But he's not. He's the Adonis of comic books. He's supposed to just be naturally handsome.

Anyway, Robin should not be bulky but keep a youthful and boyish appearance. He should not be scarred, but more innocent. It's hard to find an actor that suits the description, but Kodi Smit-McPhee or Logan Lerman a couple of years back come to my mind.

Okay, that's reasonable. A youthful appearance would be fine, he should never be over 20 in live action, but never younger than 16. It'd be kind of ridiculous otherwise.

Of your four pics, I like the first and last one best.

No love for the hood?

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

It all depends on what happens and how things end with The Dark Knight Rises, but i can see a Jon Hamm taking over for a older Bruce Wayne/Batman. I just cant see WB rebooting the series and starting over from scratch again, especially if the report of Nolan staying as producer are true. What would the stories be? I have no idea. But i do think Jon Hamm, who is 40 would be a solid choice to take over the mantle and continue the series and not reboot it.

Jon Hamm would be PERFECT for an older/experienced Bruce

however, i'm sure WB would like for the next series to go on much longer so they will probably cast someone in their late 20s/early 30s. if that's the case, i think Garret Hedlund would be an excellent choice

then again, if there won't be 3-4 year gaps between films and they keep it in 2, then Hamm would do nicely

 

[Project862006]

^ well bale was 30 when he was cast and is 37 now in the 3rd film

 

[Llama_Shepherd]

Jon Hamm is too old and Garret Hedund is too young. I'd rather see Michael Fassbender or Luke Evans.

 

[DaveMoral]

Why is Garret Hedlund all the rage? Tron Legacy wasn't that good and neither was Hedlund.

I would shift the POV to Grayson. Start the film with his origins, the murder of the FlyingGraysons and Batman's first appearance is in relation to that. I like the All-Star B&R situation actually. Batman rescues Dick Grayson, I just wouldn't make him the psychotic Batman that recruits the kid from the start. Instead I'd have him in an orphanage obsessing about Batman andeventually connecting the dots and figuring out his identity ultimately forcing Bruce to take him in, train him etc.

Basically combine Robin Year One, Dark Victory and All-Star.

And no to the androgyny and Emo crap. Emory is, first of all, extremely played out. It doesn't suit a young vigilantes in training. Anger is the state I'd associate with that vocation rather than self-obsessed melancholia.

Add a healthy dose of Holmes and Watson, and you have a recipe for success.

 

[Ultimatehero]

I agree. No way in hell should Robin ever be emo. And that picture? Way too androgynous. Plus Robin resembling anything close to a feminine gay guy? WTF? Dude! The joke that he and Batman have a "thing" together. We do not want that impression out there. That's what makes Robin a joke to many rather than an actual fleshed out character. You had it right at first with anger and being an outsider - he does fit in right alongside Batman after all - but the rest of it? Robin is not gay nor should he ever be hinted at as gay. That's not who he is, that's a parody of his character.

 

[DCnightwing23]

I dont think Jon Hamm is too old at all for the role, i think he's actually the right age to pull off a Bruce Wayne/Batman after the events in TDKR, if im not mistaken Wayne will be in his late 30's or even something like 40 years old. If WB does want to continue this story with a new director and cast why not go with Jon Hamm? He'd be a perfect fit and can play a very believable Wayne. Hamm's interpretation of Batman/Wayne could very well be along the lines of Arkham Asylum/Arkham City the games. Again it all depends on what happens in TDKR and if WB wants to continue the story or just reboot yet again using Nolan's franchise as a template. I for one want to finally see Gotham and Batman and the characters around him in the future with a well developed background and see what there is there. We've never really had that before on film and i dont understand why, there's alot of massive potential with a older, aged Gotham and Batman. Just continue the current story with the current characters and just get a Jon Hamm or someone along those lines. Iy'd be cool, i just have really had enough of the origin of Bruce Wayne/Batman it's played out for now atleast, maybe take a lot of time off before WB does another one atleast, perhaps in 5-10 years?

 

[DaveMoral]

I think the direction to go is just with an established Batman and the origin of Robin. Aim for a trilogy. Start with a 14-15 year old Dick Grayson losing his parents to a mob hit on the circus, and maybe it could be more of a Cirque du Soleil than a Ringling Bros, he is rescued by the Bat from mobsters trying to eliminate a witness. Batman puts the guys away and Dick goes to an orphanage in the absence of any known relatives. He becomes obsessed with his hero Batman and wants to be just like him. Eventually he deduces Batman's identity and kind of puts Bruce in an awkward position. Because Dick has been sneaoing out of the orphanage and training in mma or boxing and using his acrobatics and a homemade costume to fight petty theives and just getting himself into danger that eventually results in Batman saving his hash and bawling him out. Dick reveals he knows his secret and that he wants to be just like him and why... Bruce decides to take him in and mentor him but that he's not allowed to go out regularly.

Then Dick could disobey orders and as a result save Batman's life ala Tim Drake saving Batman and Nightwing from Two-Face in A Lonely Place of Dying. This shows Bruce that the kid has what it takes. Film 2 has a Grayaon that is older, 17 or 18, and he has brought a deal more humanity to the Batman. Maybe in this film he gets seriously injured or nearly killed and that pavess the way for film 3 wherein Batman is increasingly restrictive on Robin's activities as well as the case involving Zucco and Black Mask in connection to the murder of Dick's parents. Bruce trying to keep him out of danger and away from the case leads to Dick leaving in a rage and abandoning Robin. As his kid persona and one that he could never be himself as an adult with. So he becomes Nightwing and pursues the case without Bruce. Eventually they settle their issues, Bruce accepts Dick is a grown man now and they have mutual respect and admiration as peers, friends and ultimately as a father and grown son.

 

[Airwings]

DaveMoral and UltimateHero:
Robin could have that haircut. That is what I like in that pic. You keep confuses my suggestions with wanting Robin to be all-scale emo and open gay. I just want him to have a more modern update. A lots of boys these days have a haircuts like that. I see the pic just as inspiration. It would be difficult, even impossible, to have Robin to look like that. It's a drawing and not a photo.
I have found a real person who could have worked as a modern Robin when the photo was taken. Does he still have too much of an androgynous appearance?
http://images.allmoviephoto.com/200...009_angus_thongs_and_perfect_snogging_001.jpg


I have to ask you, about your real-day life and your opinions:
HOW do you view a boy who's into ballet dancing? Do you suspect him to be interested in boys (even if he isn't at all)? Does he appear to be feminine?
And how would you have viewed him when you were a kid yourself?
A boy who hasn't grown enough to get a masculine look and who's into a graceful kind of dancing would always come off as feminine, which is disturbing to some people. And acrobatics and ballet dancing are both about graceful moves, and both give agile bodies.
The question is how far from that kind of boy you want Dick Grayson to be. Well, this is fiction so naturally he wouldn't be anything like how a real boy would be, living like a circus performer.

 

[Cannikin]

Yup, he's also frequently depicted as having kevlar underneath too. Moreover, it's rather silly the way Nolan (and many other filmakers) depict bulletproof costumes in their attempts to be "realistic". Just like the fact that silencers aren't really silent by any stretch, kevlar doesn't imply that you can idly run through gunfire carefree. Bullets travel at a certain velocity and so when it hits a target wearing armor that velocity still will transfer to the target and it'll turn what would've been a mortal wound into broken ribs and or blunt trauma. The magical, mystical kevlar depicted by Nolan is insanely unrealistic. If he was anywhere close to accurate Batman wouldn't have been able to walk after being shot by Two-Face, let alone tackle him over a ledge.

Dude, you're way off on that. Look up videos of people taking bullets while wearing armor. Happens in Afghanistan/Iraq all the time. They get right back up and keep on fighting. Not in all cases, of course, but its not at all unbelievable that Batman could have made that tackle.

Here's one of a soldier taking a sniper bullet to the heart. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRTwqV0ybwc

Believing you could pack that kind of armor into a spandex suit like Spiderman or Superman (who also have supernatural powers) , however, is ridiculous.

I'm trying to imagine a world where a single billionaire could adopt a boy who'd recently lost his parents, at the same time the Batman suddenly has a sidekick of similar build, and the media and intelligence agencies not being all over that. In the comics, it's just a given that big glasses can hide your secret identity and fool everyone, and as a reader, I accept it
, but in a live action movie there is a point where suspension of disbelief crosses over into an insult to ones intelligence.

 

[Llama_Shepherd]

DaveMoral and UltimateHero:
Robin could have that haircut. That is what I like in that pic. You keep confuses my suggestions with wanting Robin to be all-scale emo and open gay. I just want him to have a more modern update. A lots of boys these days have a haircuts like that. I see the pic just as inspiration. It would be difficult, even impossible, to have Robin to look like that. It's a drawing and not a photo.

More boys don't have that haircut than don't. I think I've realised what the problem is, you're a Justin Bieber fan. Y'know, the person who is made fun of by half the Internet for being a girl.

I have found a real person who could have worked as a modern Robin when the photo was taken. Does he still have too much of an androgynous appearance?
http://images.allmoviephoto.com/200...009_angus_thongs_and_perfect_snogging_001.jpg

Definitely much better, as you've got someone who is clearly a male. But, if you really must go for someone with the sideswept fringe, at least choose someone who is rather handsome and can act, might I suggest Douglas Booth.

I have to ask you, about your real-day life and your opinions:
HOW do you view a boy who's into ballet dancing? Do you suspect him to be interested in boys (even if he isn't at all)? Does he appear to be feminine?
And how would you have viewed him when you were a kid yourself?
A boy who hasn't grown enough to get a masculine look and who's into a graceful kind of dancing would always come off as feminine, which is disturbing to some people. And acrobatics and ballet dancing are both about graceful moves, and both give agile bodies.
The question is how far from that kind of boy you want Dick Grayson to be. Well, this is fiction so naturally he wouldn't be anything like how a real boy would be, living like a circus performer.

I don't consider those men gay. Just like I don't consider male nurses gay. It's just not average. And Grayson should have matured, as well. Nobody here would like a prepubescent boy as Robin.