The Phantom, anyone? The original inspiration for Batman

[Dark Prophet]

I was just wondering if anyone who was a fan of The Phantom comic strip (released as a comic book series by certain publishers) enjoyed the film version and on whether or not it should be redone again. Does anyone know how well it did? I'm guessing it did worse than their expectations since it was set up for a sequel and never followed up. It was an amazing faithful movie though from the characters to the costume.
I think it should come back as a hip new franchise taking place in the identifiable present day, something like Ultimate Spider-Man or Smallville about a young Kit Walker who realized he must take his place among a line of Phantoms. Actually a revamped dark treament would fit the Phantom... I mean he already has the 'skull cave' it would so appeal to the emo crowd.

Also for those who don't know, the original Phantom strip was Bob Kane's inspiration for the Batman. I have no idea if the incident was friendly or a blatant rip-off but the Phantom was originally a billionaire who became the Phantom by night and would retire to his skull cave. When the Batman comic was released, Lee Falk (creator of the Phantom) decided he would re-do the Phantom and rip of Tarzan himself and therefore gave the Phantom his jungle as the base of operations.

 

[Dark Phantom]

Did someone say Phantom?

 

[roach]

i think you need to get your information straight.....

Inspired by Falk's lifelong fascination[citation needed] with such myths and legends as that of El Cid and King Arthur, and such modern fictional characters as Zorro, Tarzan, and The Jungle Book 's Mowgli, Falk originally envisioned the Phantom's alias as rich playboy Jimmy Wells,[citation needed] fighting crime by night as the mysterious Phantom, but partway through his first story, "The Singh Brotherhood", he moved the Phantom to the jungle.

 

[Ronny Shade]

Batman was inspired by Zorro and Sherlock Holmes.

 

[Kent Allard]

The creation of Batman was directly inspired by the Shadow - in fact early on the Batman carried a sidearm - which would later be dropped to prevent him from being to similar to The Shadow. Don't be fooled though, the Batman isn't unique in imitating The Shadow. The Shadow was immensely popular and several characters would be introduced with him as the archetype - radio charachters such as The Green Hornet and Green Llama - pulp characters [some even by Street & Smith, the Shadow's owners] like the Avenger, the Spider, and the Whisperer {the alias of police Lt. James Gordon} - and even comic strip characters like the Phantom all took inspiration from The Shadow.

It's important to note that the Phantom did still figure into Batman's creation, from the Phantom came the idea of using a costume [and it's basic look] instead of the 'everyday' type clothing that most pulp characters [and even some early comic characters] wore.

 

[DonnaTroy84]

Well, I really liked the movie. I don't know if it's old enough to be redone, but i guess that's an option. But, yeah, Billy Zane in a skin-tight purple suit can't be a bad thing. :heart:

 

[Peyton Westlake]

Batman was inspired by Zorro and Sherlock Holmes.

Inspirations for Batman's personality, character history, visual design and equipment include movies such as Douglas Fairbanks' The Mark of Zorro, The Bat, and Dracula; characters such as The Shadow, The Phantom, Sherlock Holmes, Dick Tracy, Jimmie Dale, The Green Hornet, Spring Heeled Jack; and Leonardo Da Vinci's drawings of a flying machine.

 

[Boghen_Moghen]

The Phantom deserves a new movie...

 

[The Geek Vault]

I think a new Phantom movie would be cool if done like "sky captain". Also I just read that whole page on Spring Heeled Jack, he's pretty interesting.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

Inspirations for Batman's personality, character history, visual design and equipment include movies such as Douglas Fairbanks' The Mark of Zorro, The Bat, and Dracula; characters such as The Shadow, The Phantom, Sherlock Holmes, Dick Tracy, Jimmie Dale, The Green Hornet, Spring Heeled Jack; and Leonardo Da Vinci's drawings of a flying machine.

Exactly. Batman, like all fictional characters, is inspired by a multitude of sources.

 

[Guyverjay]

Exactly. Batman, like all fictional characters, is inspired by a multitude of sources.

Don't say that to Superman fanboys

 

[Kebab gud]

Don't say that to Superman fanboys

why not? superman Fanboys should know that even superman was inspired by other works of fiction..

 

[Kevin Roegele]

why not? superman Fanboys should know that even superman was inspired by other works of fiction..

Some do, some don't. It's very common to find atleast one fan who simply cannot accept their favourite character/movie/TV show is not completely original and is inspired by others.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

The problem with The Phantom is that you can only enjoy it once you understand the appeal and storytelling dynamics of old fashioned adventure stories.

 

[Seth71]

Batman was inspired by Zorro and Sherlock Holmes.

...and The Shadow and "The Bat" movie and Leonardo DaVinci's drawings and the The Balck Bat Detective and The Green Hornet and The Spider and of course Superman etc. Although I'm a huge fan of Batman, there's barely anything original in it.

 

[sithgoblin]

Any Phantom film needs to find a balance between gritty Batman and adventursome Indiana Jones. The mistake the first film made was that it thought Indiana Jones = cheesy.

 

[rogue trooper]

A new Phantom film, I think, should have the spirit of Batman Begins and the excitement of Pirates of The Carribean.

 

[souloffire]

 

[rogue trooper]

Tom Tyler. An excellent Captain Marvel, an OK Phantom. He is not "Zane"!! Heh, heh!!

 

[Chains]

THey should do a movie for Phantom 2040. The cartoons were great and a movie would be amazing. Futuristic Phantom was the only interesting Phantom. The original movie was ok and the Phantom definitely needs a second chance at the big screen.

 

[rogue trooper]

THey should do a movie for Phantom 2040. The cartoons were great and a movie would be amazing. Futuristic Phantom was the only interesting Phantom. The original movie was ok and the Phantom definitely needs a second chance at the big screen.

I'm not sure if the character can maintain his essence if you take him out of the jungle setting and strip him of his pirate enemies. But who knows?

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

I dunno, I don't see much of the connections between Batman and Phantom. This is actually the first I hear of it, to be honest.

Batman is MOSTLY Zorro inspired. The batcave, the grandfather clock interance, having a black speeding vehicle, being a wealthy socialite, acting like a bafoon laides man to conceal his alterego, wearing black, being agile and quick while being smart enough as well as strong.......lots of Zorro is in Batman.

It's why the comics felt compelled to tip they're cap to the Man in Black as the "in story" inspiration for Bruce Wayne.

I actually think the Future Phantom thing might be cool....but, maybe a modern day one would be better?

I think if they could, they should keep the character in his original place and time. They'd have to find a way to make it contempoary enough for audiences, but I kinda look at it as Zorro. Zorro's time is that spanish-western age in old California. Same could be said for The Shadow and The Phantom in they're respective time frame.

Btw, with Hollywood obviously realizing that superheroes are a worthy commodity....I would expect to see the Phantom return. Rami wants to bring back The Shadow, and Zorro has gotten some films lately- and probably will see a restart someday too, and it seems that more classic characters from yesteryear are making comebacks.

Oh yeah, The Phantom is going to return someday soon. Hollywood will eventually go back to him.

 

[rogue trooper]

The Phantom is also very Zorro- inspired as well, with a little touch of Tarzan background. He has his Skull Cave, his servant Guran, his noble steed Hero, and also leaves his mark with his skull ring.

I also believe we will see The Phantom back in the silver screen very soon.

 

[Nepenthes]

^ you forgot his pet wolf, Devil!

I love the Phantom and I've often wondered how he should return in a movie.

First, I don't think he can be put into a modern setting....it would only reveal the absurdity of the Phantom in a harsh light. Think about modern problems in Africa and then the type of adventures the Phantom works best in. Having a spandex hero solve problems like blood diamond trade, poaching, trade inequality, illicit weapons, famine and ethnic war etc will just be preposterous and insulting. It's just not necessary or wise to burden a fun pulp hero film with this kind of baggage when it's for a mainstream audience with so much money at stake. If you've read the DC or mid 90's Marvel series' - which tried to address these issues without fantasy - they were GREAT comics but they wouldn't make very profitable movies.

The other choice is to have him battle the familiar warlocks, pirates, sultans etc like he did in the old comics.....but in a modern setting the more fantastic elements will still seem juvenile and absurd I think. The Phantom is different from other heroes in that his historical and social context makes it difficult to get the mix right. He's a white man 'keeping the peace' in colonial Africa and beating the arses of the sultans over the mountains and Asians from the seas. It's not exactly the same as the Fantastic Four battling Doom in Times Square, Doom would have to be an Arab terrorist for it too take on the same level of social symbolism.

So what I'd do is use the metaphors in a turn of the century setting. I'd have have slavery, corruption, tribal war and so on, all dressed up as it was in the comics books but without the harder fantasy, no magic or sorcery. It would still be relevant to today but just not so unwieldy.


One very interesting thing to consider is that there's a whole lineage of Phantoms to draw on. Why automatically use the 1930s Phantom again? I'd plan for an EPIC trilogy that spans generations - it would truly set the Phantom apart from other heroes. This storyline could effectively run for hundreds of years with the sons finishing their grandfathers battles, and would vividly demonstrate why he is The Ghost Who Walks. Ending the trilogy with the collapse of colonialism after WW1 might be particularly poignant I think.


One big thing I didn't like about the movie is that it wasn't really about Bangalla. It just began there. The comics have a real sense of place and culture and this was lost in the global swashbuckling. I'd have the Phantom travel to African cities but never outside the region, at least for the first movie. Also the problems should be focused around Bangalla as well, not on some pirate who's trying to 'take over the WORLD' by stealing gems from New York. Part of his appeal is that he looks after the small corners of the world...in fact I do not remember one single story where he saves the entire planet.


After the major focus is worked out it should be DAMN EASY to produce an an exciting film.There are so many things to love in the comics. The skull cave, the history, the pygmies, Devil, Hero, Guran, pirates, all the queens who want marry him, desert empires, thieves from all countries, tigers, talking drums etc etc. The movie included most of the details - it was VERY accurate - but there were major problems with it's focus, tone and marketing so it bombed.


I forget where I found that manip but it's by someone called Puggdo. Owen is the perfect type of actor i think, it needs to be someone mums and teenagers both respect. No one could give a damn about Zane when the movie came out - made it alot harder to sell a strange movie about a man in purple tights.

I also think a new franchise will have to wait until POTC seems old hat, which will be a long while. Until then I'd just be happy with some decent comics.

 

[daywalker2007]

i liked the billy zane phantom movie, good actor billy zane,

he should have been lex luthor,

ah well,

time for a new series,