moviefan2k4

I hope Bill Finger finally gets proper credit for co-creating Batman in the credits of the new film. Bob Kane came up with the basic idea, but Finger came up with things like the cowl, cape, and gloves. He also co-created the Joker, and used the names of Scotsman Robert Bruce and 18th-century U.S. Army general "Mad" Anthony Wayne for Batman's playboy persona.

Mike86

I could actually see Timberlake as The Riddler. The only thing is I think a villain like that would be used in a solo Batman film and not this.

taffer

You can wish in one hand and crap in the other, and see which gets filled first.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/RV-p51fvYLc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The Valeyard

Yeah. That'll never happen. Kane made sure of that.

Why So Blu?

http://thenoisingmachine.wordpress.c...s-of-batman-1/

Never.

bluetoast

That very issue was the first Batman comic I got as a kid. Batman performed a tracheotomy on a baby, but being about 5 at the time, I thought Batman was slitting the baby's throat. Yeah I wasn't expecting that. Riddler had placed a golf ball in the baby's throat as well, so that was also pretty messed up.

taffer

Same here. I was about 10 years old when I read that comic, and the tracheotomy really confused me as well.

I started reading comics about a year prior to this with Batman #442 (part of the A Lonely Place of Dying storyarc that introduced Tim Drake as the third Robin). My only exposure to Batman before this was watching re-runs of the Adam West series. I hadn't yet seen Tim Burton's Batman. So reading my first Batman comic was a major shocker at how different in tone the comic was with Dick Grayson all grown up as Nightwing and all the talk about how the second Robin (Jason Todd) had been recently murdered by Joker. I still loved that comic, and I read it cover to cover three times the same day I bought it, and that's where my comic addiction began.

PenguinJoe

Remember when Ben Affleck took over as Jack Ryan? I think that's what's going to happen with hos Bruce Wayne portrayal not great but not terrible just "Sure I'll watch this on the USA network at 1pm on a Saturday" good.

brayzie

I started reading Batman roughly the same time. I had started seeing the commercials for the '89 film and thought it looked awesome so next time I went to the drug store I got this comic:



Even though the tone of the Batman film was darker than that silly "POW! BIFF! BAM!" TV show, I was surprised when the comic showed flashbacks of Joker beating someone with a crowbar, and then a facially disfigured Robin tied to a chair and a ticking time bomb. The panels of the Flying Grayson's death was also a little disturbing at the time.

Dark City Dark Knight was a great story. Those 4-issue stories from 89-91 were pretty good.

Josh-da-man

I think it's safe to assume that we'll be getting some solo Batman films out of this.

Warners/DC is trying to spin JLA and the related characters into a franchise like Marvel did with The Avengers. Affleck is being poised to be their RDJ, so I'm guessing some JLA movies, some Batman movies, and a couple of cameos at the least.

I'm not sure about introducing Batman Mark III in a Superman/Batman film instead of his own film, but whatevah...

Solid Snake

Am I the only one who thinks this funny?

Seriously though. As much as I loved having Bane done by Nolan, flawed movie but I really enjoy it. I think a Riddler done by Nolan would have been awesome. When the hell are you going to get Pearce again, Nolan?!

Mike86

Yeah I know there's going to be solo Batman films but it's probably a ways off. With Superman and Batman not coming out until 2015 it'll probably be around 2017 at the earliest that we get a new solo film.

Josh-da-man

Marvel/Disney manages to crank out about two per year, though.

But this is Warners we're talking about... so all bets are off...

I do wonder what their plan is with Superman, Batman, Justice League, and any other franchise characters. They do have some kind of master plan in place, don't they?

Michael Corvin

PhantomStranger

All WB wants from DC is one successful tentpole picture a year grossing over $500 million in global box office. That is why they were so disappointed with Green Lantern and seriously hesitant now to produce a Wonder Woman film.

WB is quite aware they could produce a string of secondary characters' solo films and gross $200 million each, but that doesn't fit their current business model. The economics of the Hollywood studios are working against them.

taffer

DC doesn't even have a master plan in place for their comics. They rebooted their comics back in 2011, but its just been an enormous mess with tons and tons of inconsistencies. DC has been a mess for a long time actually, really ever since the early 2000s.

DaveyJoe

I was seriously pulling for Pearce as Harvey Dent in the Dark Knight. Eckhart was great, but I am disappointed that we didn't see Pearce at all in the trilogy.

The Valeyard

The worse thing to happen to DC was Warner Bros. noticing them after the Harry Potter series was wrapping up. They realized they had a whole universe of IPs under their roof that they weren't exploiting. Now DC has to keep up with a Time-Warner spreadsheet and prove their worth every quarter. Half a decade ago, they were okay with the #2 spot (waaaay behind Marvel sometimes). Now they have to do something drastic to show they can take the #1 spot occasionally. Two years ago, it was the reboot. Last year, it was Zero issues. This year it's 3D covers. All in-between that is a ton of crossover events (Night of Owls, Death of the Family, H'El on Earth, Rise of the Third Army, Wrath of the First Lantern, etc).

Everything they do seems like they're scampering to catch up.

Solid Snake

Yeah. Really wish they could've only introduced Two-Face in TDK. Would have been awesome if Dent used his information from what he did to to kind of become a top dog in the crime underworld, this being the third film. Like there could have had awesome emotional drama with the conflicts Gordon and Bats would have with this. Their little trinity shattered and whatnot.

We were so close to properly getting Bullock and Montoya. I love those two.

RocShemp

To be fair, DC has been pulling retcon/event stunts for decades. Crisis on Infinite Earths, Zero Hour, Hypertime, Birthright, Infinite Crisis, 52, Flashpoint, and the New 52.

And there were a boatload other retcons and reboots in the DC universe.

I love the DCU but their continuity has always been an amorphous mess. I'm none too fond of Marvel but I do prefer their sliding scale timeline (assuming they still use that method).

Guru Askew

1: they just got out of a legal battle with their heirs of Siegel and Shuster. Crediting Finger would merely provide ammunition for a similar lawsuit.

2: it basically downgrades Bob Kane's legally-recognized creator credit. Demote him to one of two co-creators and you have more potential litigation.

The stakes are far too high for Warner to EVER give Finger any official recognition willingly as any sort of act of goodwill. It's actually kind of hilarious that you think a major corporation is going to willingly give up any part of their billion-dollar property just because its the right thing to do. They'd sooner screw Kane's heirs out of what they already have than willingly show respect to Finger.

devilshalo

Sounds more like Wolfen.

JumpCutz

This was brought up on AICN talkbacks. Anyone want to address this? Does Batman actually have a "no guns credo?"

I always found it odd that Batman won't carry a gun, but he has a jet, car, and helicopter all fitted with heavy machine guns. Not much of a "no guns credo", is it?

devilshalo

I think it's one thing to have it on your car and another to have it on your person.

If you go with the films, his ninjitsu training with the League proved he didn't need it on him in hand to hand combat.

On his vehicles, up against other armed/armored vehicles, it makes sense.

JumpCutz

That's my thinking also devilshalo.