Batman 3: July 20, 2012

8:36 am EST May 1st, 2010 | Comic Books, Movies | 10 Comments

Batman

The release date, and not much more, has come out. The Christopher Nolan era Batman movies have benefitted from not having too many villians creep in to ruin them, even Two Face’s presence didn’t pile on too much. But comic book movies seem to always hit this bump, just look at the mess that was Spider-Man 3, and I have my fears about Iron Man 2.

The next Batman movie should focus on one major villain from Batman’s rogues gallery – someone like Mr Freeze, Penguin, etc. (Riddler’s probably a little too goofy to carry a movie).

Also: No Robin, please.

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10 Responses to “Batman 3: July 20, 2012”

  1. Jay says:
    May 1, 2010 at 9:14 am

    That’s what I am concerned about. ‘The Dark Night’ captured the essence of Batman like none of the other movies (Tim Burton’s vision was pretty good, but he still mixed in some of the 60′s camp). My fear is whoever does it this time will determine Nolan’s depiction was “too dark” and they’ll try and lighten up a bit.

    I still have yet to see ‘Batman Forever’ (When I saw Val Kilmer’s Batman say, “Chicks dig the car” I said “No way”) or “Batman and Robin.” And never will.

    So hopefully the crew working on this one doesn’t screw things up the way Joel Schumacher did.

  2. Luv says:
    May 1, 2010 at 9:22 am

    My two cents. It’ll be a HUGE mistake not to have Robin. But NOT in costume. NEVER show him in costume. Have Dick Grayson become Bruce Wayne’s ward and begin his regimented training. But he never becomes part of the Dynamic Duo until the very END of the movie. I mean right before the end credits.

    The Penguin and Catwoman should be the villians. Not the cartoony Penguin like in Batman Returns, but he should be a short-fat criminal genius. He doesn’t have to actually LOOK like a penguin and like cold temperatures, etc.

    And Catwoman would be an awesome villain because she’s an awesome character. The whole “is she good or bad” vibe would be great. And then you can add Deadshot, or Deathstroke as Penguin’s hired assassin that is Batman’s actual physical threat.

    The plot can be the obligatory “Penguin tries to solidify the underworld after Joker’s arrest”, but it’ll give Nolan the chance to really flesh out all of the other underworld characters and the GCPD.

    And I always imagined at the end of the 3rd movie having Batman go to Arkham and confront Joker (the real brains behind the movie’s events) and have Matt Damon have the cameo as the Joker.

    And at the VERY end you see Bruce Wayne open a case to show Dick Grayson his Robin outfit *cut to end credits*

  3. aidan says:
    May 1, 2010 at 10:36 am

    wait, a guy who writes riddles is goofier than a guy with a gun that freezes things? Oliver, would love to hear your two cents on what your interpretation would be for Mr. Freeze in Nolan’s world – there’s gonna have to be some re-imagining there.

    Even Catwoman is a little far fetched in the gritty, realistic setting these Batman movies are in; my two cents would be Penguin as a mob boss, possibly getting into politics as a grab to run the city — I know, Batman Returns had the same concept, but the Penguin doesn’t need any crazy makeup or fish-eating to be a great villain, just power and a pretty badass nickname. As this franchise has shown, all you need is the right actor.

  4. SpiderJ says:
    May 1, 2010 at 10:55 am

    Jay – Nolan is doing the third. Same writing team, too. I have the utmost confidence in this.

    Important to remember–Nolan isn’t building a franchise, he’s building a trilogy, centered, I would argue, around the questions “What does it cost to be Batman? What does it mean to make yourself more than a man?”

    The Dark Knight ended with the city in upheaval, its crusading DA dead and Batman considered a menace to be hunted and brought to justice. The third film will likely be about what it takes to continue living such an unnatural lifestyle…how one fights injustice when one also has to fight the rule of law.

    Catwoman, particularly Frank Miller’s version, is ideal for the third film–Batman’s dark mirror; somebody who lives a double life and trained herself to the peak of condition but chooses to be a thief until it suits her not to. Plus, with Rachel out of the picture and the possibility of returning to a normal life as Bruce Wayne all but lost, she’s a representation of what it means to go deeper into his own mythos. Alas, I think Nolan’s not interested.

    Penguin and Riddler are goofy only when they’re written goofy. A reimagining of either would highlight Penguin’s sense of upper-class snobbery combined with his utter lack of morals, and examine Riddler’s frustrated genius (he, after all, commits the crimes because everything else bores him).

    But Oliver…Mr. Freeze? For shame.

  5. Pryme says:
    May 1, 2010 at 4:51 pm

    It’s the studio, or more to the point Warner Bros., that should be the concern. They ruined the last Batman franchise because they wanted to push toys to the kids and Burton’s vision wasn’t that compatible to that demographic. They hyped and mislead the audience on the last Superman movie because “Smallville” was starting to tank. They’ve teased fans with vague promises of Wonder Woman and Justice League movies, only to panic and backtrack.

    But I don’t think this Batman is any any real trouble. Warner Bros. was willing to wreck the “Justice League” cartoon with their damn “Bat Embargo” to pacify Nolan, so they have his back. The question is what he plans on doing with Superman.

  6. Rhys says:
    May 1, 2010 at 5:28 pm

    Please let it be Catwoman.

    My feeling is that the city is going to backslide heavily – the good citizens used to just look the other way about the criminal element until Batman showed up. After Dent’s death, they’ll backslide heavily into pre-Batman mode. The criminals will take advantage of this, and further spread misinformation about Batman until he is literally the demon incarnate to the citizens.

    Then, during a heist gone wrong, Catwoman has a moment of weakness and saves a few innocents from being killed. The Gotham tabloids blow this out of proportion and she becomes an unlikely overnight hero. The citizens of Gotham then set her on Batman to avenge Dent, figuring to fight vigilante fire with fire.

    The ensuing battle tears the city apart, redeems Batman in the citizens eyes, but leaves both Batman and Catwoman seriously scarred – they now only make sense to each other. Cue romantic music, etc. ;-)

    However, I think Nolan will throw us all a curveball. Rather than Penguin solidifying the criminal intent, I’d go with Harley Quinn as the natural successor to the Joker. Catwoman and Quinn – two girls tearing up the town.

  7. Todd B. says:
    May 1, 2010 at 6:00 pm

    Batman 3? Hasn’t there been like five Batman movies not counting the original?

    That must be more of the fuzzy math that George Bush loves so much.

  8. Jody says:
    May 1, 2010 at 6:23 pm

    So help me god I am so sick of Batman in all his relentless iterations that I could puke. Please, please, PLEASE let him go away for a generation or so.

  9. Sean D. Martin says:
    May 1, 2010 at 7:21 pm

    1989 – Batman (Michael Keaton)
    1992 – Batman Returns (Keaton)
    1995 – Batman Forever (Val Kilmer)
    1997 – Batman and Robin (George Clooney)

    2005 – Batman Begins (Christian Bale)
    2008 – The Dark Knight (Bale)
    2012 – “Batman 3″ (Bale (presumably))

    Of course, before those there were movies in 1943 and 1966 along with several serials, etc.

    But even in the “modern age” Batman 3 would be the seventh Batman movie in the last 20+ years.

  10. Mal Carne says:
    May 3, 2010 at 8:20 am

    I think that a Riddler that never gets “in costume”, rather like Harvey Dent, would be great considering where the series now. Envision a ruthless investigator who’s determined to uncover the riddle of Batman… and drag him back to justice. It’s a strong choice.