The Batman General News & Discussion Thread - Part 2

[Kirk Langstrom]

Great documentary!

If I had it my way it would be, "Batman created by Bill Finger with Bob Kane."

I’m right there with you, Doc.

 

[JubJub86]

Ah, cool, totally blanked on Riddler goons being in set pics. Nice.

Also, ehh, Oscar's a little young for Hugo methinks.

Kinda digging the Toni Collette-Joker idea, but do kind of think it'd work better and be freakier if she's not playing a non-binary version. Like, he's a dude and identifies that way, but all his look and mannerisms and affectations are as androgynous as they'd be with Toni playing him. That'd be pretty wacky & cool.

Doubt they'd go that way though, much as I don't like the idea I think Reeves'll probably go this "around Pattison's age" approach.

Not so much loving this "escalation" stuff either, if only because it was covered so well in TDK, not sure there's much else to do with that thematically. Also it's like...we know intimidation is a bit thing here, and ostensibly it seems to be working at least partially. He rips through a themed gang, he gets Penguin's head in a bag, the cops seem to at least eventually trust him enough to not arrest him on-sight at a crime scene. I'm all for Batman "softening" post this movie, but it should probably be more that Riddler has legitimate grievances about the city that got through to him, moreso than "Batman's been on the scene for a year or so and regular run-of-the-mill crime's only going up". Why would Gordon put any faith/respect in him in those circumstances? He's just some criminal taking the law into his own hands and it's not even working - get your 30 guys in the Riddler crime scene to draw arms on him.

Even when this guy's more mature & considered "prime" Batman, he's still basically out there using violence as a tool. Year 8-9-10 Batman's still not above breaking legs or holding a mob boss off the side of a building threateningly.

Just have it be more like...intimidation & blunt-force is a tool, but he comes to realize he has to flesh it out with other tools in his war too. Kinda seems like until Riddler shows up Batman should have been having an at-least-moderately positive effect so far. Riddler being the game changer with that.

 

[BatsAndNights]

Saw this in a YouTube comment, thought it was pretty funny lmao

 

[Mani-Man]

Kinda digging the Toni Collette-Joker idea, but do kind of think it'd work better and be freakier if she's not playing a non-binary version. Like, he's a dude and identifies that way, but all his look and mannerisms and affectations are as androgynous as they'd be with Toni playing him. That'd be pretty wacky & cool.

Dude, why have i never thought about Joker being non binary? It would make total sense.
That is a damn cool idea and opens the door for a lot of new and unique ways to approach the Joker, his relationships with other characters etc.

 

[Gothamsknight]

Saw this in a YouTube comment, thought it was pretty funny lmao

View attachment 50047

Haha well they're not wrong.

 

[JubJub86]

Ehh, still seems a little unnecessary to me. Guy's been depicted as effete & androgynous plenty of times before, you can play that up further but not necessarily have him consider himself not male. "Toni Collette playing a dude-dude Joker" is somehow more out-there than "Toni Collette playing a trans Joker".

Just have Toni Collette going all David Bowie-esque with it. That'd certainly be different to any screen interpretation so far.

Still on the "let's try to get something untapped & wild out of Bill Hader" train, though. Something about that dude's unsettling as **** when he's not in lame Saturday Night Live mode, and that's more a fault with SNL (and its overall lameness) than him. Dude's range is bananas on Barry. Guy could be absolutely stone-cold vicious as Joker, and bring all the vocal weirdness for it. He's tall, skinny, you can mess with his face with prosthetics Oswald-style, longer chin and nose or whatever. For classic Joker, that's the way to go. I'll fight ye.

 

[The Lazarus Pit]

Although BTAS is rightly considered the definitive take on Batman, the depiction of Hugo Strange was one of a few things that I thought The Batman animated show handled better than BTAS.



The top rated episode of The Batman on IMDB is ‘Strange New World’, and prominently features Hugo Strange and an army of zombies. It could be argued that he and Joker were the primary villains of that series. Hugo Strange is one of the oldest Batman villains and possesses a skill set that makes him a perfect pick for the main antagonist of a movie.

There are multiple quality comics to choose from featuring Hugo Strange. ‘Prey’, ‘Strange Apparitions’, and ‘The Monster Men’ spring to mind. There’s a lot of room to explore this character. I liked the way The Batman had shades of Jeremiah Arkham in their version of Strange. That could play out nicely on film too.

Who doesn’t want to see this? I’d love to see Hugo in a Batman costume fighting Battinson!



I’ve gotta show some love for Arkham City Hugo Strange too. They really showcased his potential as a main antagonist. That voice!

 

[The Lazarus Pit]

Part of me feels that Hugo Strange should be reserved for Joker 2 in a Nurse Ratched type of role.

 

[BatLobster]

It's probably just a coincidence, but I couldn't help but notice a slight visual parallel to Strange with that shot of Pattinson in the sunglasses (and the fact that he actually looks crazy there).

Anyway, I dunno...l feel there are just too many good characters in this universe for them to all to play in this sandbox without it starting to feel shoehorned. I get that Penguin and Catwoman are just going to be a part of an ongoing ensemble, but then it's still an issue of....Freeze, Two Face, Strange, Joker(?), etc. They can't all have the spotlight.

I still think this iteration of the franchise would be better suited to a streaming show, as much as I'm a believer in the big screen cinematic experience for the character. We're already halfway there with the amount of spinoffs the show seems likely to spawn. It just seems like worldbuilding is really at the center of what is being attempted here. And you can't tell me the audience isn't already there for it and ready to consume a Batman story in a longform way, especially after Game of Thrones being the biggest thing ever and the massive success of the MCU and Star Wars streaming stuff.

 

[AndyTrevino]

Idk why, I just prefer a younger Joker. Probably because even though his schtick feels older, he just acts very youthful and I think that's more appealing than a 50-something year old acting that way.

 

[OnLeatherWings]

I have no doubt this film will be huge - but I'm a little let down at the reaction to the new trailer. Many comments I've seen are making Twilight jokes, people saying they're just not feeling it, not being able to take Pattinson seriously, that he's too small and not intimidating at all, people saying that Reeves is copying Nolan, etc.

People do NOT want to give up the 'sparkle Batman' and Twilight jokes, at all. Like they want to make Pattinson into a joke indefinitely. It's clearly NOT a wimpy Batman - but they want to paint him as such anyway because the jokes are 'so fun'.

It's going to be an uphill battle in some ways, with Rob as the lead.

And I'm so tired of hearing about Nolan. "Bring back Nolan!" or "They're copying Nolan!"

There is nothing in that trailer that smacks of Nolan.

 

[Gothamsknight]

With the amount of live action Batman interpretations out there, I think it was always gonna be an uphill battle for this movie no matter how amazing it does look or how incredible the talent is that is involved. Batman is in a lot of forms of media currently, and there's also people that are burnt out on the character. we're hot off the heels of a divisive take on the character with Snyders version, and a critically acclaimed trilogy from Nolan that redefined the genre before that. From what I can see, the overall response to the trailer has been very positive and I'm seeing even less negativity than I did after the first teaser. I think once people see this movie, they'll realize how different it is from anything that has come before and they'll be like "wow, we haven't see this before". The question of "is it worth getting excited for another live action version?" is one that I even used to ask myself. But Matt Reeves, so far, has continued to prove that he only makes things that he believes in, and that has come through in every frame of both trailers so far and everything he has said as well.

I don't get hyped for comic book movies anywhere near like I used to because I've seen everything I've wanted to see, and the ones hold most dear have come and gone. TDK trilogy, the Raimi trilogy, etc. If Reeves can give me one last amazing trilogy for this character, and one that I can comfortably say was worth sticking around for, I'll be so happy. He seems to be starting off doing just that, and it's why this is truly the most hyped I've been for a comic book movie in 10 years. 5 months to go!

 

[chintai80]

I have no doubt this film will be huge - but I'm a little let down at the reaction to the new trailer. Most comments are making Twilight jokes, people saying they're just not feeling it, not being able to take Pattinson seriously, that he's too small and not intimidating at all, people saying that Reeves is copying Nolan, etc.

People do NOT want to give up the 'sparkle Batman' and Twilight jokes, at all. Like they want to make Pattinson into a joke indefinitely. Like, it's clearly NOT a wimpy Batman - but they want to paint him as such anyway because the jokes are 'so fun'.

It's going to be an uphill battle in some ways, with Rob as the lead.

And I'm so tired of hearing about Nolan. "Bring back Nolan!" or "They're copying Nolan!"

There is nothing in that trailer that smacks of Nolan.

there's always going to be people who like to nitpick and complain.

like my friend maintains that pattinson is not a good actor, but his only reference is the twilight movies.

and you got people who say he's not gonna be as good as bale or affleck (lol).

it's willful ignorance.

as i said before, batman is like america's james bond.
it cycles through different actors ever couple of years and each actor will bring his own thing to it.

lot of the general audience have been sleeping on pattinson.
they just don't know!

 

[TheSmoothKnight]

I don’t know, i think the reaction has been positive as hell. Trailer on WB’s YouTube channel is already getting close to million likes with a awesome ratio. Ahead of the pace of last year’s trailer.

 

[BatLobster]

And I'm so tired of hearing about Nolan. "Bring back Nolan!" or "They're copying Nolan!"

There is nothing in that trailer that smacks of Nolan.

I think it realllly depends what sort of bubble your algorithm has you in. In my experience it's been the complete opposite reaction, with everyone blown away by the trailer and already proclaiming Rob to be the best Batman and saying this is going to be the greatest Batman film ever. Look at the Youtube numbers. There's legit hype building. Just youtube search "The Batman trailer reaction" and you'll have endless hours of people losing their crap to the trailer (and the last one).

I think fandom is having a lot of the wrong conversations sometimes. It's not an issue of copying Nolan. It's also not an issue of "These movies are going to do right what Nolan TRIED but couldn't!", because that's not accurate either. Nolan's films were a different pace altogether and would never have included something like an 8 second shot slowly revealing a coffee cup. TDK Trilogy weaved a texture of realism into the fabric of the genre in a way that hadn't been done before and it left an imprint on the character, like it or not. Now it's part of what people tend to associate with it. So this movie chooses to embrace it, while at the same time shifting back towards the pulpy noir roots of the character and something that feels a bit more dream-like.

More than anything, what I get from this trailer is that it seems to be an attempt to fuse a lot of what has come before. Burton, Nolan, BTAS, Snyder, heck even Schumacher. I catch glimpses of all of it in that trailer.

 

[chintai80]

i see alot of the comics from the trailer too.
lot of the 90s-2000s batman. but also some of the pulp, noir roots of the character.

 

[The Batman]

I have no doubt this film will be huge - but I'm a little let down at the reaction to the new trailer. Many comments I've seen are making Twilight jokes, people saying they're just not feeling it, not being able to take Pattinson seriously, that he's too small and not intimidating at all, people saying that Reeves is copying Nolan, etc.

People do NOT want to give up the 'sparkle Batman' and Twilight jokes, at all. Like they want to make Pattinson into a joke indefinitely. It's clearly NOT a wimpy Batman - but they want to paint him as such anyway because the jokes are 'so fun'.

It's going to be an uphill battle in some ways, with Rob as the lead.

And I'm so tired of hearing about Nolan. "Bring back Nolan!" or "They're copying Nolan!"

There is nothing in that trailer that smacks of Nolan.

People bring up Nolan when it's not necessary, whether it's claiming this movie is a Nolan copy or, for example praising this movie's gotham or batvoice because it's not what Nolan did.

 

[BatLobster]

i see alot of the comics from the trailer too.
lot of the 90s-2000s batman. but also some of the pulp, noir roots of the character.

The comics too of course, but I figure that's just implied.

I also have to say, is it just me or does it seem like Reeves is genuinely a pretty big fan of Snyder? In a lot of ways... if you told me this movie WAS about Batfleck's early years, I would absolutely be able to believe it.

The overall visual style and tone kind of reminds me of a Batman movie in the vein of Watchmen, too.

 

[Gothamsknight]

One of my favorite things about Reeves Batman world so far is how there's layers to so much of the surroundings. I think this is a great example of what @BatLobster was saying when he said it felt like a combo of everything. You got Bruce living in what looks like a gothic/decaying Wayne Manor, that almost has a dracula esque feel, but you also have the city with nightclubs, such as the Iceberg Lounge, that seems to look grounded, and the mafia and all that. I feel like amidst all the rain and darkness, there's so much variety here.

 

[Doctor Jones]

To me this is the most comic book accurate Gotham so far. I know it has that more grounded way about it, but it still feels like a Batman comic.

 

[chintai80]

The comics too of course, but I figure that's just implied.

I also have to say, is it just me or does it seem like Reeves is genuinely a pretty big fan of Snyder? In a lot of ways... if you told me this movie WAS about Batfleck's early years, I would absolutely be able to believe it.

The overall visual style and tone kind of reminds me of a Batman movie in the vein of Watchmen, too.

it does.
lot of the colors used reminds me of snyder's watchmen now that you mention it.
also the few instances of slo-mo too.
reeves uses lot less slo-mo then snyder here tho. lol

 

[Mrs. Wayne]

Some people still use The Dark Knight as the blueprint for a really good comic book movie, even if said comic book movie looks and feels nothing like Nolan's Batman movies. So it's not a surprise (and probably more appropriate) that The Batman is being compared to Nolan's Batman movies.

Also, with RP, I haven't seen that many Twilight jokes. Those decreased significantly since the teaser.

 

[The Lazarus Pit]

If Reeves gives us a good Robin origin story, then he can do whatever else he wants to do. That’s number 1 for me.

 

[OnLeatherWings]

I think a lot of people make the mistake of "Oh, Batman is dark in this one? Ugh, why they gotta copy Nolan!"

As if the only 'dark' version of Batman came from Nolan rather than Batman being a dark character necessitates dark versions in media and pushed Nolan/Reeves in that direction.

Reminds me of how Batman fans act like Batman was never dark before Frank Miller, as if his early years and the era from '69-'80 didn't exist, too.

 

[OnLeatherWings]

I think it realllly depends what sort of bubble your algorithm has you in.

I'm just reading comments from social media pages, news pages and stuff that posts about entertainment. A pretty broad amount.

But I hope I'm wrong and that most people ARE looking forward to this one.