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Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 5, 2014 in Comic Books, Videogames 
Reviews of Batman: Arkham Origins were mixed. Some liked the familiar gameplay, while others saw it as a buggy rehash of Batman: Arkham City by Warner Brothers’ b-team. Regardless of your opinion, I think we can all agree that the series belongs in the hands of developer Rocksteady, which is just what is happening. Batman: Arkham Knight will be the final game in Rocksteady’s trilogy and feature the Scarecrow as the main villain (as hinted in Arkham City). Two-Face, the Penguin, and Harley Quinn will be in the mix, with the latter playable if you preorder, though it’s unclear if they’ll be story sections or challenge maps. Batman can also freely ride in the Batmobile, newly redesigned for this game, though reminiscent of the Tumbler from Nolan’s Batman films. Read more…
Tags: Batman, Batman: Arkham Knight, DC Comics
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 14, 2014 in Television 
The latest TV show adaption of the Batman universe, Gotham, is trucking along pretty quickly: Alfred has been cast. Sean Pertwee will play him, who’s described as a “tough-as-nails former marine.” That’s an interesting angle to take, I suppose. Especially if they want to be a bit more action-oriented. Also cast was Robin Taylor as the Penguin, so we’ll definitely be seeing him. We also heard of Erin Richards as Gordon’s fiancee Barbara, Zabryna Guevera as Captain Essen, and Danny Cannon will direct the pilot episode. Now to see how it all turns out, eh? Read more…
Tags: Batman, Gotham
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 12, 2014 in Comic Books 
In hindsight, it was kind of creepy to buy those big packs of branded Valentine’s Day cards and pass them out to your friends in elementary school. But let’s ignore that and look at these Batman Valentines from 1966, found by Mark Anderson. Batman and friends make horrible lovey-dovey puns, the Penguin is “hissable,” Mr. Freeze has apparently cured his wife but left her in ice, and there are naturally hearts everywhere. So print one out and give it to your sweetie this Friday — but tuck it into a better card, because you don’t want to annoy your other half too much. Read more…
Tags: Batman, DC Comics
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 10, 2014 in Television 
The ball is finally rolling on Gotham, the TV series that’ll follow the adventures of Jim Gordon in his early years, before Batman came onto the scene. Ben McKenzie, best known for his roles on Southland and The O.C., will be playing Gordon as he starts his job as a rookie police officer. This series will also rejoin him with Bruno Heller, who was the showrunner on The Mentalist. The current plan is for the show to follow Gordon as he learns about the corruption of the police force, up until the point Batman puts on the cape. A young Bruce Wayne, the Penguin, the Joker, Catwoman, and more from the rogues gallery are expected to appear. Currently there’s no start date on the production, but I imagine it’ll start to gear up later this year. Read more…
Tags: Batman, Gotham
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 1, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Here’s a bizarre turn of events: Jesse Eisenberg, star of such films as The Social Network and Zombieland, will be playing Lex Luthor in the upcoming Man of Steel sequel. The Batman vs. Superman action film will feature one of Superman’s most iconic villains from a very different perspective. While I know a lot of fans might be mad about this, that’s exactly why I’m interested in this casting. A younger, more modern Lex could be the right twist needed to help reestablish the character. Also announced at the same time: Jeremy Irons will be playing Alfred. This is some all-star casting, so I’m more interested than ever before about how this will all turn out. Read more…
Tags: Batman, Man of Steel, Superman
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 26, 2014 in Fandom 
A lot of people have wondered about how crazy Batman really appears to the rest of the world. An insane man dressing up in a bat costume to fight crime? Yeah, it’s more than a little silly, but that’s why we love it. YouTube user OneMinuteGalactica took various clips from the Batman trilogy and arranged them into a trailer that makes them resemble a Judd Apatow movie or any coming-of-age comedy. It’s really clever and just goes to show that editing is everything. You can make even a morbid, serious character like Batman appear goofy and awkward. Read more…
Tags: Batman
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 21, 2014 in Animation 
TV Guide premiered the first trailer for DC’s next animated movie, Son of Batman. This is an adaptation of the 2006 storyline Batman & Son, in which Bruce Wayne learns that he has a son from the boy’s mother, Talia al Ghul, leader of the League of Assassins. Bruce raises him, and soon young Damian is going out with Batman as Robin, though he certainly acts like someone who was raised by the League of Assassins. The animation looks good enough, though Damian seems a bit whinier and less aggressive than he is in the comics. Take a look and see what you think! Read more…
Tags: Batman, DC Comics, Warner Brothers
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 19, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
A movie with a nebulous future date has gotten pushed back to another nebulous future date! Yes, the sequel to Man of Steel, which will feature Batman facing off against Superman has been moved to May 6th, 2016, which is nearly a year’s delay. Rather than heading off against the rest of Disney’s onslaught in 2015, it’ll instead battle X-Men: Apocalypse and Amazing Spider-Man 3 which come out the same month. Rumor’s have been circulating that Ben Affleck hurt his leg, but studio execs say that’s not the case. So, that means script problems then, eh? Maybe. Read more…
Tags: Batman, Man of Steel
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 16, 2014 in Television 
These days, everyone’s on board with Batman being a dark, gloomy character. The movies have shaken off Schumacher’s stench and gone gritty and realistic. But there was a time when Batman was downright camp: the 60s live-action Batman TV series. DC sometimes revisits this time with things like the Batman: The Brave and the Bold cartoon, but there’s really nothing quite like the original. Through Conan O’Brien (whose show Conan shoots right on the WB lot near my apartment), WB has confirmed that they are releasing Batman — presumably all 120 episodes — in a complete box set later in 2014. Conan tweeted the news with a picture of him and the Batmobile, which was retweeted by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. There are no further details yet, and I’m not sure if the 1966 Batman movie with nearly the same cast from the TV show will be included. Regardless, it’s good that this is finally getting a release so we can see Adam West, Burt Ward, Cesar Romero, and all the other wacky actors. Would a Blu-ray version be asking too much? Read more…
Tags: Batman, Conan, Warner Brothers
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 6, 2014 in Fandom, Hobbies and Collections 
So, did everyone bust on the LEGOs over Christmas break? Because there are a ton of amazing creations popping up this week. Ok, it doesn’t quite apply here because this was uploaded a little bit ago but it didn’t catch my attention until now. This huge model made by LegoBrickbaron looks impressive in pictures, with its bright colors and insane attention to detail, but it looks even better on video. Why? Because it moves and has a bunch of little mechanical moving parts. Check out the entire video to see Batman battling the Joker, Robin struggling to hang on, and the Penguin unleashing his penguin horde. Read more…
Tags: Batman, Joker, Lego
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 2, 2014 in Videogames 
The first bit of “story” DLC in Batman: Arkham Origins wasn’t that impressive, since it was just Bruce Wayne training with ninjas in what are basically just challenge rooms. The next campaign looks more interesting though. We don’t have a name yet, but Warner Brothers is “inviting” gamers to Gotham’s Humanitarian of the Year Awards at Wayne Manor. We’ve got an award statue, a diamond, and a lot of ice, which means Mr. Freeze might be involved. Senior Producer Ben Mattes hints that this DLC “focus on one of the most key relationships in Batman canon,” so maybe it’s Freeze’s relationship with his wife, or his relationship with Batman. Either way, hopefully it’s more interesting than that last DLC. Read more…
Tags: Batman, Batman: Arkham Origins, Warner Brothers
Posted by Ben Huber on Dec 29, 2013 in Hobbies and Collections 
Please, Hot Toys, please. What dark magic do you use to shrink actors’ heads down to figure scale? It’s insane. Also, making a Dark Knight armory replica with Alfred to boot? You’re just killing my wallet here. Both Bruce and Alfred look fantastic, and the cabinet containing all of Batman’s weaponry looks like a great way to store all those extra figure pieces, right? At the very least, if you’re already deep in the Hot Toys pit, this armory is basically the last thing to complete the collection. No word yet on a release date or price, but I bet it’ll be expensive. Check out some more images below. Read more…
Tags: Batman, Hot Toys, The Dark Knight
Posted by Bob Muir on Dec 5, 2013 in Uncategorized 
I feel a little bit for Man of Steel‘s Superman. Henry Cavill did an good job working under Zack Snyder’s weak filmmaking, and we all assumed he’d get to be at the heart of whatever WB was doing to eventually lead into a Justice League movie. But it seems they’re not taking the Marvel path of several origin films, as his next film is Batman vs. Superman (or one of many other poor names for a movie). Now he’ll have even less of the spotlight, as it’s now confirmed that Wonder Woman will be in the movie. WB just announced that Gal Gadot will play the famous female superhero in her first time on the big screen. Read more…
Tags: Batman, DC Comics, Man of Steel, Superman, Warner Brothers, Wonder Woman
Posted by Ben Huber on Nov 10, 2013 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Looks like it’s time to start up the rumor mill for Superman vs. Batman! After Zack Snyder announced that Man of Steel 2 would be a crossover feature with Batman (who was then announced to be played by Ben Affleck), fan’s minds ran wild. Would anyone else show up? Could this film set up the Justice League? There were tons of possibilities. Well, the rumors are starting to leak in and the first two are that Wonder Woman and Nightwing will also feature in the movie. Adam Driver is rumored to be up for the part of Nightwing, while the studio is choosing between Gal Gadot, Elodie Yung, and Olga Kurylenko for Wonder Woman. It could definitely broaden the scope of the movie a lot, and Warner Bros. has been looking for a way to utilize Wonder Woman correctly, so this may be the way! Read more…
Tags: Batman, Man of Steel, Superman
Posted by Ben Huber on Oct 20, 2013 in Fandom 
Is Batman really that great of a superhero? Or is he better than Superman? Sure he might not have any special powers, but at least he’s not wearing his underwear on the outside, right? Well, Zack Snyder ditched those anyway, so no worries! Anyway, Pete Holmes’ Batman is a little bit of a jerk. Ok, maybe he’s a really big jerk. His Batman parody videos are the only ones I’ve really enjoyed, but maybe it’s just the dumb voice and lip movements he does. If you want to see how “Badman” behaves when he meets the Man of Steel, just click through. Read more…
Tags: Batman, Comedy, Superman
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 15, 2013 in Comic Books, Videogames 
Despite being a prequel and switching developers away from Rocksteady, Batman: Arkham Origins is actually shaping up to be an awesome entry in the Arkham series of videogames. One major cause for concern was Mark Hamill retiring from the role of the Joker, but Troy Baker sounded pretty good in recent trailers. If you want to completely erase your concerns, watch this clip from New York Comic-Con of Baker reading aloud a monologue from Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke, one of the best Joker-focused comics. Baker sounds right on the money, sounding natural and evoking Hamill’s performance. I’d say we have a worthy successor of voice actors here. Read more…
Tags: Batman, Batman: Arkham Origins, DC Comics, PS3, Warner Brothers, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on Sep 26, 2013 in Comic Books, Television 
With the success of Arrow, the upcoming Flash series, and the continuing popularity of the Batman franchise, it was only a matter of time before some sort of Batman TV series was made. The only wrinkle is that like 2002’s Birds of Prey, this series will have no Batman. Yes, Warner Bros. is making Gotham, a police procedural centered on a younger Commissioner Jim Gordon before he meets Batman. And despite WB making it, Fox has won a bidding war for the series, committing to the series without even asking for a pilot. Gotham is being created by Bruno Heller, who has also created The Mentalist for CBS. Read more…
Tags: Batman, DC Comics, Fox, Warner Brothers
Posted by Bob Muir on Sep 25, 2013 in Comic Books, Videogames 
Okay, the costume you see above isn’t literally Adam West. The Batman in Batman: Arkham Origins is still being voiced by Roger Craig Smith, and the costume won’t change that. But it’s definitely Adam West’s Batman outfit from the ’60s live-action TV show. And though this Batman is bigger and more ripped than Adam West was, I think it’s cool how the outfit makes him look slightly pudgy and soft, just like the TV series. But if this alternate costume doesn’t tickle your fancy, how about Azrael’s Batman outfit from the Knightfall storyline? It looks positively demonic, and perhaps almost too badass for my first playthrough of a game that’s supposed to be about Batman’s early days. If you’re liking these outfits, you may want to consider buying Batman: Arkham Origins on PS3, as they’ll be exclusive to that console. You also get five challenge maps, but aside from people with an unhealthy obsession for this game’s combat like me, the main thing I’d be worried about missing out on is these awesome costumes. Read more…
Tags: Batman, Batman: Arkham Origins, PS3, Warner Brothers, Xbox 360
Posted by Ben Huber on Aug 24, 2013 in Cinema, Comic Books 
I’m sure most of you have heard the news by now: Ben Affleck will play Batman in the upcoming Man of Steel sequel. Henry Cavill will duke it out with Affleck and then presumably become fast friends who fight evil together. Now, a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth has been happening over this choice, and this is the internet, so we need to make an extra big deal out of it. People are crying foul, and most especially, bring up Affleck’s previous comic book endeavor, Daredevil. Yes, Daredevil sucked. It was also made by a completely different team of people at a completely different point in time. Affleck is an acclaimed director now with two Oscars. I’m not saying I have the utmost faith in Zack Snyder (I don’t), but this silly collection of overbearing complaints and petitions to change actors is getting ridiculous. This is just a movie. Read more…
Tags: Batman, Man of Steel
Posted by Bob Muir on Aug 21, 2013 in Comic Books, Videogames 
I’ll admit to being quite nervous about how Batman: Arkham Origins would turn out. It’s not being made by Rocksteady, who made the last two critically-acclaimed games. It’s missing Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill (Batman and the Joker). It’s a prequel, not following up on the tantalizing threads left by Arkham City. And it’s adding a multiplayer mode. But the latest trailer is the trailer that made me put down money for a preorder. It looks like a Gotham I want to explore and a story I want to experience. They even took Firefly, one of Batman’s b-list villains, and made him look kind of awesome and menacing! Plus, it helps that not only does Roger Craig Smith sound like a competent young Batman, but Troy Baker is doing an excellent job at emulating Hamill’s Joker, which is no easy task. Read more…
Tags: Batman, Batman: Arkham Origins, DC Comics, Warner Brothers
Posted by Bob Muir on Aug 1, 2013 in Comic Books, Videogames 
It seems like you can’t get to the third game of a series without multiplayer being thrown in along the way. As rumored, Batman: Arkham Origins will have a multiplayer mode called “Invisible Predator.” It’s an eight-player mode that pits two three-person gangs against Batman and Robin. Basically, Bane’s gang and Joker’s gangs play a game of territories against each other. Along the way, they need to fend off Batman and Robin, who are using stealth tactics to take out the gangs. If certain gang members meet up at the right place, one of them can become Bane or Joker themselves, which grants bonuses and paints a bigger target on their backs. Read more…
Tags: Batman, Batman: Arkham Origins, DC Comics, Warner Brothers
Posted by Ben Huber on Jul 22, 2013 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Yes, by now you’ve heard the screaming of the fans – Superman and Batman will star in a film together. Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel sequel will include the Dark Knight himself, and will be loosely inspired by Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. It’s planned to arrive in summer 2015, Henry Cavill is confirmed to return, and (as expected) Zack Snyder will direct. However, with all this commotion and excitement, people have one question: who will be Batman? Not to be too presumptuous, but I have a few suggestions of my own below. Read more…
Tags: Batman, Man of Steel, Superman
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 13, 2013 in Comic Books, Hobbies and Collections, Television 
The groovy vintage ad below from the swinging sixties showcases the Colorforms Batman Cartoon Kit: Read more…
Tags: Batman
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 3, 2013 in Cinema, Comic Books 
We had already heard that Christian Bale wasn’t returning to the role of Batman after The Dark Knight Rises. He doesn’t want to play Batman again unless it’s under Christopher Nolan’s direction, and Man of Steel screenwriter/Dark Knight trilogy co-story writer David S. Goyer has said that the Batman appearing in the nebulous Justice League film will be a rebooted character. But on the other hand, Man of Steel, co-produced by Christopher Nolan, did pretty well for Warner Brothers, and rumors began to swirl. So what does Bale have to say on the matter?
As you’d expect, he’s made up his mind on the matter. “We were incredibly fortunate to get to make three [Batman films]. That’s enough. Let’s not get greedy,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “Chris [Nolan] always said he wanted to make it one film at a time. And we ended up sitting there looking at each other, saying ‘We’re about to make the third.’ We never really knew if we were going to get to be there, but if that was how it was going to be, this was where it should end as well.” Well put!
To dispel rumors even further, Bale stated that he hasn’t even been involved in any talks about a Justice League movie. “I have no information, no knowledge about anything. I’ve literally not had a conversation with a living soul. I understand that they may be making a Justice League movie, that’s it.” Since he’s completely done with Batman, Bale has no issue with anyone else playing the role. “It’s a torch that should be handed from one actor to another. So I enjoy looking forward to what somebody else will come up with.”
It was a good run, but I think it’s fine to let Bale retire his cowl. Besides, if he returned, it would tie Nolan’s more realistic Batman to a most likely hyper-realistic Justice League film. For all that was said about making a more realistic Superman, it would be very hard to fit Nolan’s Batman into the world of Man of Steel. Did you see the end of that movie? While Green Lantern or Wonder Woman or even the Flash would work in this world, a Batman film would be rather boring and ordinary compared to what is going on around him. (Disclaimer: I believe Batman works best alone and don’t really like the dynamics of the Justice League due to power disparities. I think what Marvel did with the Avengers, making every team member viable in some way, works far better than a team with nigh-invincible characters like Superman. The only reason Batman is in the Justice League is because he was popular, but he’s basically relegated to “the brains.” In short, I think Marvel’s shared universe and prominent headliners work better together than DC’s.)
Source: Entertainment Weekly
Tags: Batman, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Warner Brothers
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