Regardless of whether anyone wants it or not, we are going to get a Batman reboot. It may not happen until after the Justice League movie (if that even gets made) or it may come before, which wouldn’t surprise me at all, but it will happen because it’s WB’s cash cow right now. Personally, I don’t want to see Batman in anything but the Justice League movie until at least 2016 and maybe even longer than that, but that isn’t likely to be the case. We might as well prepare for it and start hoping for some things to happen with it.
Let me just start by saying that I like the Christopher Nolan movies. I really do enjoy them, but his movies really leave out some large elements of the Batman character. Most of these can be chalked up to his “realistic” approach to the Batman character. That is okay, but it’s time to move on and get a different approach to the character. With that being said, I would like to present my ideas for what I would like to see done in the new Batman movie series. Here are the Top 5 things I would like to see in the Batman reboot…
5. The New Series of Movies Need to be Part of a Shared DC Universe
I had a hard time figuring out where I wanted to place this one on the list. I think it is very important and something I would really like to see, so I almost put it at number 1. However since it isn’t crucial to the character, I decided to put it at the end of the list. Anyways, this has some importance not only to Batman, but to the DC movies in general. If WB is serious about the Justice League and having a shared universe, then they must connect their movies. Not only could this connect Batman to the other heroes, but it could also allow for Batman to be a sort of bridge to all the other characters. He is after all probably the DC hero with the most connections to the other heroes. WB needs to make this happen.
4. Have Robin and Batgirl, but With Some Changes
Robin and Batgirl were both absent from the Nolan movies, which is understandable, but I would like to see them in the rebooted series. And John Blake does not count at all. These characters provide a nice dynamic for Batman, and really give him some depth as a character. They really are like his son and his daughter, which provides an emotional connection for Batman outside of Alfred or a love interest. I think if Robin and Batgirl are going to be included in the reboot, there needs to be some updates to the characters. Both characters need to be older than their comic counterparts when they started. I would say that both need to be at least 16-18 at the start, but I would prefer closer to college age for both characters. This change is necessary to make Batman seem less like he is saying “Hey kids, there is free candy in the Batmobile!” For Batgirl, I see her as a college age girl who wants to join the GCPD, but her father won’t let her and she decides to model herself after Batman to start fighting crime instead. Soon after, having seen that she can hold her own, Batman decides to take her under his wing and have her as a sidekick. I see Robin slightly differently than Batgirl though. It should be Dick Grayson and he should lose his parents of course, but I again want to see a college age Grayson. This one I see more of a case where after the deaths of his family, Grayson is directionless and turns to crime. However, Batman recognizes him and sees the potential in him after fighting him and decides to mentor him as Robin. The other change I would like to see is an update to Robin’s costume. That classic look would just be a little awkward and, quite frankly, disturbing. Maybe something more akin to the “Arkham City” costume could work.
3. There Needs to be More Fantasy Aspects in the Reboot
Nolan’s “realistic” take precluded the more fantastical aspects of Batman, which is very prominent in the mythos of the character. A good chunk of Batman’s villains are fantastical in nature, including Ra’s al Ghul who Nolan used, but left out the fantastical aspects of. Without these fantasy elements, we can’t have villains like Clayface, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, or Mr. Freeze. I really would like to be able to have those villains in the movies. So obviously from that standpoint, fantasy elements are very important. Another reason this is important is the Justice League. Most of the Justice League and their villains are fantastical in nature, and since Batman is a part of the Justice League he is going to be dealing with fantastical elements there. It really would be stupid and make zero since if Batman was hyper “realistic” in his own series, but dealt with fantasy elements in the Justice League. There would be a really awkward disconnect there. Fantasy elements are a must here.
2. Batman is the World’s Greatest Detective and is Extremely Intelligent, and it Needs to Show
This is one thing that the Nolan movies really screwed the pooch on. At no point in any of those movies did Batman seem like the World’s Greatest Detective, or even a competent one. Even the little bits of detective work he did never seemed “detective-like.” So this is something that obviously needs to be improved in the reboot. One of Batman’s biggest strengths is his intelligence and detective skills. Often times this is how he beat foes like The Riddler, and also how he discovers who is behind something or what a villain’s plans are. He even a lot of times defeats physically superior foes like Killer Croc by just outsmarting them. It is a huge part of his character and is part of what makes him so great. I would really love to see him beat someone in large part due to his detective skills and intelligence, while obviously showing how he used his detective skills to figure it out. This needs to be a large part of his character in the reboot.
1. We Need Some New Villains. Also Some Already Used Villains Could Use Some Proper Treatment…
Batman has probably the largest and most diverse rogues galleries in all of comics. It is time that this is used to its fullest potential. I really would like to see some new villains used from this gallery. These include, but are not limited to, Black Mask, Clayface, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Hugo Strange, Hush, and Killer Croc. There are many others that I wouldn’t mind seeing, but these are the main ones I would like to see. Now I wouldn’t mind seeing some already villains coming back, even though I would prefer the new ones. The Joker is one of my favorite villains of all time and would be necessary for Harley Quinn to be in the mix. Scarecrow would be okay to come back as more of a main villain. There are also some villains who have showed up before, but got the shaft and deserve some better treatment. Poison Ivy, The Riddler, and Mr. Freeze really got screwed and deserve to get another chance in the movies, especially Freeze. I would love to see Mr. Freeze again with a back story like the one he had on “Batman: The Animated Series.” Also I would be cool with Penguin getting another shot, but a little more faithful to the source material this time. Two-Face done right as a main villain would be okay too (he was done well in “The Dark Knight”, but didn’t have enough screen time). To me this category is the most important thing that needs to be done in the Batman reboot.
So that is my list of what I would like to see in the Batman reboot. What do you guys think? Are these things you would like to see? What else would you like to see? Please comment below.