The shadow of the bat

[ThePhantasm]

This thread will contain my fan script for a Batman film, "The Shadow of the Bat," based on an idea that I had awhile back. I'll post new fragments of the script as I write them, so this is a work in progress. Feel free to comment or critique.

The idea is that a young Bruce Wayne has just taken up the mantle of the Bat in Gotham City. This Bruce Wayne is a bit more psychologically unhinged... he beats criminals in part because it feels good to him, it feels right. Being Bruce Wayne is painful, a constant reminder of his parents death. Being Batman is like living anew. But over the course of the story he begins to become more and more monstrous. We wonder which mask he will be enveloped by - Batman, or Bruce Wayne?

Meanwhile, Roman Sionis has taken up the mantle of Black Mask to counteract the effect that Batman has had on Gotham's criminals. He's brutal and unpredictable. Like Bruce, he enjoys what he does. His ever-silent lieutenant wears a red mask and is known as the Hood. His identity is mysterious, but his skills as a hitman are second to none. While he's ultimately no match against the Batman, he can hold his own against him better than most. As Batman becomes more and more aggressive in his war on crime, the tension builds until he encounters the Hood at Axis Chemicals, and a tragedy occurs that will haunt Wayne forever.

Matt Hagen is using a new experimental drug that he's acquired from Sionis. It makes his face younger, and fixes the horrific scars he sustained in an awful automobile accident. But when Sionis betrays Hagen and gives him a massive overdose, it turns him into the monstrous, shape-shifting Clayface, a person with no constant identity other than his lust for vengeance.

It is this war between monsters that will determine whether Wayne rises as a hero, or succumbs to the darkness that holds Gotham in its grip.

Scenes 1-3

Scenes 4-5

Scenes 6-8

Scenes 9-11

 

[ThePhantasm]

The OPENING CREDITS are revealed as the camera sweeps through a darkened WAYNE MANOR. An old grandfather clock chimes. CLOSE ZOOM on the clock face. In the reflection in the glass we see a man sitting in the chair.

The camera pans. We see the man in the chair, his face hidden by shadow.

V. O. [Bruce Wayne] Father. Mother.

Smash cut to a graveyard. Nightfall. Raining. A young Bruce Wayne, only eight years old, kneels before a grave. Screaming. Lightning illumines the tombstone, which reads: THOMAS AND MARTHA WAYNE.

V. O. [Bruce Wayne] You are eternally before my eyes.

Smash cut to the old Monarch Theatre in Gotham. The marquee reads THE MASK OF ZORRO. Bruce and his parents exit the theatre, laughing. Happy.

Smash cut to the alleyway. Flashing images. The man with the gun. We can't see his face. He's anonymous. The barrel flashes. Screams. Bruce, alone in the alleyway. His parents dead. His face of one shock, fear, sorrow - - then anger.

V. O. [Bruce Wayne] That final moment. I died with you.

Flashing scenes - the funeral. Bruce in front of the tombstone. Alfred looking out the window, sadly. Bruce running. Older now. Building his strength. Boarding a ship. Fighting a sensei. Climbing a mountain.

Lightning flashes. Smash cut back to Wayne Manor. Back to Bruce in the chair. We can see his face now. See his hand shaking.

V. O. [Bruce Wayne] But you have gone and I have lingered.

Smash cut to Bruce Wayne, adult, twenty-five. Returning to Gotham on an airplane. Greeted by Alfred at the airport. Returning to Wayne Manor.

Training on the lawn, in the snow. Alfred watches, his face betraying the slightest hint of concern.

V. O. [Bruce Wayne] I have lingered to become... what? Is this my purgatory, or my rebirth?

Bruce wanders the streets of Gotham in disguise. Some thugs attacking a woman. He fights them, defeats them... but there's a knife in his side. He's bleeding out.

Back in Wayne manor. He's bleeding out in the chair, in the dark. The moon gleaming through the window. The grandfather clock begins to toll. And then...

A BAT. Smashes through the window. Shrieks as it flutters around the ceiling above Bruce's head. He begins to SMILE.

V. O. [Bruce Wayne] Yes. Father. Mother. I shall become a bat.


TITLE: THE SHADOW OF THE BAT


Cut to Gotham harbor. Caption reads: One Year Later.

Thugs are unpacking a shipment of drugs and taking them into a large, old dockhouse. At one point it probably held small boats, nets, fishing material... now it just holds a mount of boxes in the corner, and the rest is cavernous and empty.

The THUG-IN-CHARGE watches, his face marked by disgust. They aren't working fast enough.

THUG-IN-CHARGE: Better get those boxes in here before the boss shows up.

One of the thugs looks up in surprise, having just set down a box.

THUG #1: He's coming here? Himself?

THUG-IN-CHARGE (impatiently): Yeah. There's somethin' special in that shipment. Experimental. Cost a fortune, so I've heard.

The thugs look at each other.

THUG-IN-CHARGE: Nah-ah. Don't think about it. You even touch that stuff he'll flay you alive and add your skull to his collection.

THUG #2 (half joking): I dunno man. I don't get paid enough for this stuff anymore.

THUG-IN-CHARGE (unfazed): Shut the hell up.

THUG #2 (gets serious): Nah man, really, ever since the Bat - -

Suddenly he's interrupted by a deep but refined voice. At times, the way he speaks is almost dignified, cultured... and then his speech is marked by sudden turns of unhinged malice or glee.

V. O. [BLACK MASK] You shouldn't be afraid of the Bat.

Black Mask steps into the dockhouse, followed by two bodyguards. He's got on an expensive suit, looks every bit like one of Gotham's one percenters... except for the lifeless, expressionless black skull mask which covers his face. His bodyguards also wear masks, very simplistic and smooth, with only two eyeholes as features.

BLACK MASK: You should be afraid of me.

THUG #2 (concerned): I didn't mean no disrespect, honest...

BLACK MASK: The Batman has brought in a new era. The old mob bosses and drug dealers got set in their ways. They weren't ready to adapt. The old days were just about flesh and bone and bullets. Our Gotham, at last, is a city of monsters. And I'm loving it!

Black Mask turns to the Thug-in-charge.

BLACK MASK: Make sure I get a box put in the trunk of the car. The rest keep here... until we need it.

Black Mask and his bodyguards walk out to a black sedan. Thug #2 follows apprehensively, carrying one of the boxes. He puts it in the trunk. Black Mask puts a hand on his shoulder.

BLACK MASK: I chose a skull as my motif, the visage of death itself. All skulls are masks, my friend... I enjoy taking the masks off and seeing what's underneath.

Suddenly Black Mask bashes Thug #2's face against the back of the car violently. The thug falls to the ground. Black Mask waves his two bodyguards over.

BLACK MASK: Throw him in the back.

He walks to the passenger side and gets in.

BLACK MASK: Not a great skull, I have to say, but it'll do...

He looks out the windshield into the night sky, at the BAT SIGNAL.

BLACK MASK: Until I get his.

Cut to a Gotham street, just past a bridge. The dead of night. A woman is sitting in her car, trapped, trying desperately to start it, but it won't start. She's surrounded by six thugs on motorcycles, driving around the car and yelling. A seventh gang member sits under the bridge on his bike, watching, lighting up a smoke.

The gang starts to throw bricks and debris at the car, smashing the glass. The woman screams. A thug opens the door and drags her out by the hair. They are all laughing...

Then there's a scream of a different sort. The gang stops and looks under the bridge. The motorcycle sits there, empty, then falls over.

Then the body drops from the darkness above. Unconscious, but for all the other thugs know, dead.

The thugs begin to back away, readying whatever weapons they have - crowbars, 2x4s, tire irons...

From the bridge, a shadow leaps, spreading forth its WINGS. There's the high scream of a sonic weapon that sounds like a BAT...

The shadow lands on one of the thugs, flattening him. Before the rest can even react, Batman is on the move. Throwing them against the car, kicking them across the street, breaking arms and legs with resounding cracks. The final thug falls to his knees, pleading...

GANG MEMBER: Please, don't kill me, don't kill me...

Batman approaches, larger than life, his cape surrounding him like shards of night.

BATMAN: Thieves. Rapists. Murderers. Death would be too light a sentence. I want you to remember this night. I want you to remember your pain.

We cut away to the woman running down an alleyway as the thug screams in the background...

 

[ThePhantasm]

WAYNE MANOR. Early morning.

Alfred is up making tea in the kitchen. He's startled to see Bruce sitting at the breakfast table. He's looking out the window, deep in thought.

ALFRED: You're up early.

BRUCE: Never slept.

ALFRED: Ah. Nightmares, sir?

BRUCE: I was the nightmare, Alfred. And when I got back, I just felt so alive, so full of energy... I couldn't sleep.

ALFRED: Perhaps that energy needs an outlet, master Bruce. You did miss your date with Mrs. Madison last evening. I suspect your usual explanations for your absence will soon wear thin, even on a young woman as patient as she.

Alfred pours Bruce some tea, and sits down.

BRUCE: Doesn't really matter. I'm only with her for... appearances.

ALFRED: There's no interest there at all? Pardon me, master Bruce, but are you utterly dead?

BRUCE: Its not - - I don't have time, Alfred.

ALFRED: Don't have time to be Bruce Wayne? You're treating your own name like a mask. And you're worried that if you wear that mask too long you might actually grow to like it.

BRUCE: No. I'm not afraid.

[beat]

BRUCE: All that - it bores me. No, actually - its just - - empty. That life is just a hollow, empty shell.

[beat]

BRUCE: Like this house.

ALFRED: It won't be empty this evening. You've got the Wayne Foundation Dinner, and you'd better be there. And get some bloody sleep before tonight or you'll drop later. I'll have no billionaire playboys snoring on the couch while the ladies are around.

Cut to the high rise penthouse of celebrated movie star, MATT HAGEN.

Interior. The walls are decorated with posters... dozens of them... from blockbuster films. On another wall, framed newspaper articles about the movie star's success. One more framed article, not on the wall... leaning against the wall on the floor... the headline reads MATT HAGEN IN MAJOR CAR ACCIDENT.

V. O. [Matt Hagen]: No, no, no! WHERE IS IT?

Crashing sounds. Objects being overthrown. We pan to a bathroom. Matt is turned away, his back to us as he is sorting through various objects sprawled on the floor. The shower is still running.

He throws open one more cabinet. Inside, a container full of a dark brown, clay-like substance. He grabs a handful and rubs it on his face (which is still turned away from us so that we can't see). Shuts off the shower.

Cut to the living room. Hagen walks out, looking decades younger than he really is. His cell rings, a Western theme from one of his movies. He picks up.

MATT: Hello?

Cut to Morte Anderson, Matt's agent, in a taxi in downtown Gotham.

MORTE: How's my favorite movie star? Getting all ready for the big evening?

MATT (over the phone): I dunno, Morte. This really necessary?

MORTE: Matt, c'mon. All you gotta do is give a little speech at this Wayne Foundation gig, raise some money, and it boosts your profile to boot. And you need that boost Matt. For your comeback.

Cut to Matt's penthouse.

MATT (wearily): Right. For my comeback. (he looks forlornly at some of the film posters)

Cut to Morte's cab.

MORTE: Piece of cake. The crowd will love ya. Give 'em that famous smile.

Cut to Matt's penthouse.

MATT: Alright, Morte. I'll - I'll see you there.

He hangs up. Walks back to the bathroom. Looks in the mirror. Practices that famous smile...

His skin starts to crack and flake. He panics. Rummages around, finds that clay substance again. Scoops out another handful...

 

[ThePhantasm]

WAYNE MANOR. Early evening. The WAYNE FOUNDATION DINNER. Fancy cars are pulling up and dropping off Gotham's most wealthy.

A dark sedan pulls up. The driver looks in the rear view, in which we can see the reflection of ROMAN SIONIS.

ROMAN'S DRIVER: We've arrived, Mr. Sionis.

Sionis says nothing, but exits the vehicle as the door is opened for him. Cameras flash as news reporters and tabloid papparazzi await in front of the door. Sionis seems to enjoy it.

Wayne Manor Interior, the Ballroom. Tables have been set out, and all the guests are sitting, being served by top class waiters. A woman is on stage.

FEMALE ANNOUNCER: And now I'd like to introduce a son of Gotham, an award winning film star and director, the winner of two Academy awards and countless other honors... Matt Hagen!

Everyone applauds. Hagen takes the stage. Makes that famous smile, but there's a hint of fear in his eyes. He hopes his face isn't betraying him.

MATT: It is an honor and a pleasure to be here to support the Wayne Foundation fund for a new children's hospital...

As Matt's voice drones in the background, we cut to a back table where the beautiful Julie Madison sits... alone. Bruce Wayne walks up and sits beside her.

JULIE: You're about... twenty-four hours late to be sitting at a table with me, Mr. Wayne.

BRUCE: Julie...

She looks at him as if daring him to come up with an excuse. He's a bit taken aback.

BRUCE: I'm sorry. I wanted to be with you, I did. Business came up.

[a beat]

BRUCE: Forgive me?

Julie's expression softens a bit.

JULIE: I don't know why I should any more. Some days I don't even know who you are, Bruce.

BRUCE: I'm not entirely sure either.

She looks at him, questioning.

BRUCE: I only came back to Gotham about a year ago. Before that, my only memories here are my parents, and then six years of grief before I left this city and tried to move on. I'm back because I want to do some good. To change things. Like tonight. But sometimes - - I just don't know - -

JULIE: Oh Bruce. Its not about who you are. Its about who you can be. Your parents wouldn't want you to live in the past, but to hope for the future.

BRUCE: Is there hope for our future?

JULIE: Oh, I'll keep you for now - - but only because you're rich.

She's teasing, of course. Bruce smiles in spite of himself, and kisses her. But then his hand starts tapping, a bit anxiously, and almost involuntarily he glances out the window toward the night sky. No bat signal. Just the lights and smog of Gotham.

Before he can start brooding, Norman Madison, Julie's father, joins them at the table. He, too, seems distracted, preoccupied... maybe a bit stressed. He takes a swig of wine, clearly not drinking for the flavor.

JULIE: Easy, Dad. Bruce, this is my father, Norman Madison.

NORMAN: Bruce Wayne? A pleasure.

Bruce and Norman shake hands.

NORMAN: I hear you stood my daughter up, Mr. Wayne.

JULIE: Daddy...

BRUCE: It was inexcusable. I apologize, Mr. Madison. Business came up, but I'm going to make sure it doesn't happen again.

NORMAN: Business. Chases us everywhere, doesn't it? This is a generous thing you're doing here tonight... I'm sure your parents would be proud.

Everyone applauds. Hagen is walking off stage. Time for Bruce to address the party. He makes his approach.

Hagen, rattled, walks down a hallway and finds a mirror, staring into it, making sure his face is still intact. It is. He's relieved.

Suddenly a hand is on his shoulder. He turns to face BRUNO, Black Mask's towering enforcer.

MATT: What're you doing here?

BRUNO: What, Matt, you don't think I'm high society enough for this kinda thing? You'd be surprised at my connections.

MATT: Look, I'm gonna pay up. Honest. Tell Black Mask... I'm getting paid for this, and then I pay him.

BRUNO: Oh, we have no doubt you'll make good on your promises. Because if you don't, the whole world'll see you for what you really are. And then you're film career is gone, unless you're into zombie flicks.

In the ballroom, Bruce is finishing his speech. The audience applauds.

As he steps down, he's met by Roman Sionis. They shake hands.

SIONIS: Inspiring. Only back in Gotham for a year and already you're making the city a better place.

BRUCE: Not on my own. This is an opportunity for all of us.

SIONIS: Oh, I'll be making a donation, Bruce. I hope you've reconsidered my offer.

BRUCE: I'm not up for talking business tonight, Roman. Run it by Lucius, but I'm sure the answer will be the same. Until Sionis Industries proves that all - I mean all - their operations are legitimate, there will be no business deals.

SIONIS: Why the distrust? I'm not my father. I don't try to be.

[a beat]

SIONIS: But you're right, business is a bore. Sheer drudgery. Men like us, we need to take up hobbies, something to pass the time.

Julie walks up and kisses Bruce.

SIONIS (half to himself): Some nicer than others.

BRUCE: Julie, this is Roman Sionis, of Sionis Industries.

JULIE: Julie Madison.

SIONIS: Ah, Norman's daughter. A pleasure. I've been looking for Norman. We've got some business to settle. (He flashes a deaths-head grin at Bruce.) Not everyone shares the high standards of Wayne Enterprises.

Sionis makes his way through the crowd.

JULIE: So Bruce, what are your plans for the rest of the evening?

BRUCE: Not tonight, Julie. I'll - - I'll meet you for breakfast in the morning.

In a quick flashback, we see that when Bruce shook Sionis' hand, he planted a small recording device on Sionis' watch. In Bruce's ear is a small transmitter.

Sionis approaches Norman, who is still sitting at the table, drinking... heavily.

SIONIS: Lovely daughter you have, Norman. She's got a bright future - - if you continue to invest in it.

NORMAN: You'll get your money back, Roman. Its just -- been a difficult quarter.

SIONIS: You've got two weeks, Norman.

NORMAN: That's -- I can't -- I need more time.

SIONIS: Two weeks, Norman. In two weeks my boys will be paying a visit. To you... and to your daughter.

Cut to Bruce, who looks out the window again. In the sky, the BAT SIGNAL.

 

[ThePhantasm]

GOTHAM MCU BUILDING. Rooftop.

Captain Jim Gordon lights up a smoke. Beside him, the BAT SIGNAL shines upward, its beam pronounced in the thin haze of the evening air.

V. O. [Batman]: Jim.

Jim starts, drops his cigarette on the ground. Turns. Batman is standing there, just past the signal, in the shadows.

JIM: Dammit, smokes aren't cheap.

BATMAN: Those are.

JIM (with half-a-smile): Nothing slips by you, huh?

Batman waits silently.

JIM: Two very suspicious deaths in the past week. Apparent drug overdose, each one. Both Gotham fatcats, rich. Middle-aged. We think they were using this stuff - -

Jim tosses Batman a plastic bag containing the clayface formula.

JIM: -- to make themselves look years younger.

Jim starts lighting another cigarette.

JIM: But the stuff is toxic when used over long periods of time.

Jim suddenly feels self-conscious, looks at his cigarette...

JIM (under his breath): Dammit. (throws the cigarette away)

BATMAN: Its a cosmetic enhancer known as clayform. Dagget Industries was working on it. But never took it to production - - because of the health risks. And then they were bought out, by Sionis Industries.

JIM: You still got that hunch that Sionis is Black Mask? Or financing that madman?

BATMAN: If he is - - and he's selling this to interested buyers - - we may finally have a trail right to him.

JIM: Like father, like son.

Jim bends over and picks up the cigarette.

JIM: I booked his old man back when I was just a beat cop. Psycho.

Jim looks up. Batman is gone.

JIM: Hope you nail 'em.

Cut to Gotham city traffic. Roman Sionis is in his sedan, accompanied by a beautiful but somewhat drunk woman. They start making out in the back seat. Then Sionis notices the small transmitter attached to his watchband.

For a moment, his face flashes anger. Then, just as quickly, amusement. He speaks into the transmitter.

SIONIS: Hello, hello, hello. Hear anything interesting?

Cut to - - above the traffic, perched on a gargoyle, Batman is listening.

Cut back to Sionis in the sedan.

SIONIS: You shook my hand tonight, didn't you? I must have shaken hands with over thirty people. But who would want to hear my conversations?

TIPSY WOMAN: Roman, what're you doing?

SIONIS: You think you can play games with ME? Who is this? Norman? Francis? Bruce? Andrew? Tommy? I'LL - - I'll - - I'll figure it out. I'll find out who you are.

He tosses the transmitter out the sedan window.

Up above, the gargoyle is empty. Batman is gone.

Cut to the Gotham docks. The THUG-IN-CHARGE from the earlier scene is walking along the shoreline, having a smoke.

Suddenly Batman lands in front of him. Slams him against a lamppost.

THUG-IN-CHARGE: Jeez!

BATMAN: You used to work for Falcone. Who do you work for now?

THUG-IN-CHARGE: I don't do that no more. I'm clean.

There's a crack as Batman breaks one of the thug's fingers. The thug screams.

BATMAN: Go ahead. Lie to me again.

THUG-IN-CHARGE: Alright, alright, I work for Black Mask, okay? I'm just the middle man, I don't know nothin'.

BATMAN: Running drugs?

THUG-IN-CHARGE: Uh-huh.

BATMAN: This?

Batman holds up the plastic bag with the clayface formula.

THUG-IN-CHARGE: I didn't get a good look at it but yeah - I think?

BATMAN: Where's it coming from?

THUG-IN-CHARGE: I dunno - - honest! I - I - I know where its going, though!

BATMAN: Where?

THUG-IN-CHARGE: The old Axis Chemicals plant. I heard Black Mask is going to reverse engineer the drug. Produce it on a large scale. Listen. He'll kill me for tellin' you this. I don't know how, but he'll know. He'll flay me alive!

BATMAN: Saves me the trouble.

Batman shoots his grapnel to the roof of a building and flies upward.