Director Matt Reeves’ picture The Batman is coming out in theaters next March. Robert Pattinson heads an impressive cast including Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, Andy Serkis as Alfred, and even Colin Farrell as… the Penguin? Okay, most of that sounds solid, and the trailers so far have looked good, yada, yada, yada.
I’m a *fairly* big Batman fan. One of the first two comics I ever picked up featured the caped crusader, and before that, I enjoyed the Adam West tv show in the ’60’s. In 1989, after initially disregarding Michael Keaton as being physically all wrong for the part, he proved me wrong by delivering the best live action Batman to this day. His “Battitude” won the day and won me over.
Batman the animated series featured the voice of a Kevin Conroy, regarded by many to be THE version of Batman. Val Kilmer and George Clooney also stepped in to play the live action role.
In the 21st century, Christian Bale took over the role, fleshing out a compelling version of Bruce Wayne, with a barky voiced Bats. Then just a few years later, yet another Batman sprung up via Ben Affleck, proving critics wrong, presenting a quality portrayal of both Bruce Wayne and Batman. Yes, we’ve had a lot of Batman. TONS of Batman.
In the past 32 years, we’ve had live action films featuring Batman in: Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight rises, Batman V Superman, Justice League, and a cameo in Suicide Squad, plus the Snyder Cut.
In those films, we’ve seen Bats go up against three Jokers, two Catwomen, two Banes, two Two-faces, the Riddler, Penguin, Scarecrow, Ras Al Ghul, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, Plant master, Victor Zzazz, Harley Quinn, Lex Luthor, and gobs and gobs of thugs, mobsters, you name it. Oh, and Superman. Totally kicked his ass.
We’ve seen his origin (a few times), seen Batman at the beginning of his career, seen him in his prime, and even a Batman at the end of his run, a twenty year veteran. We’ve seen multiple Gordon’s, Alfred’s, and a Robin. And a Batgirl. We’ve seen… a lot.
So I find myself mostly unmoved by the impending arrival of The Batman. Although I have to say kudos on grabbing the one Bat title no one had the imagination or initiative to use yet. I also hear that there’ll be more of a detective angle in this one. This would be welcome, as there’s been precious little in past films to indicate that the character IS the World’s Greatest Detective. Such a huge part of the mythos, yet largely unexplored.
The trailers usually focus on a more film noir take of the proceedings, and Batman kicking ass. But that’s nothing new, nor is the tortured soul of the character, or the interplay between he and Gordon or Alfred. Now, this film might be amazing. It might be a fresh take on the character. It might WOW me. It’s got some big shoes to fill, considering some of the past entries.
Currently, I’m not the least bit excited about it. If I’m honest, I’m far more excited about the Flash film coming out later next year, *only* because Keaton is reprising the role of Batman. And I hear Affleck makes an appearance too. I can’t tell you how jazzed I am about that.
But I do hope that The Batman is good. There is, of course, a trilogy planned, because there’s always a trilogy planned. And when that’s done in seven or eight years, there’ll be another Batman… again. Actually, with how the current DC extended cinematic universe is set up, there may be any number of other Batmans popping up in their multiverse.
Yeah, multiverses are a thing. I’ll delve into that next time. For now, just waiting on the next Bat-signal.
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