Warner Brother’s recent announcement about the Man of Steel sequel has everybody talking, and most people are focusing on the casting choice: Ben Afleck. It has been hard as a comic book movie fan, and even worse as a Batman fan, to avoid the circus. I have to give props to the movie studio of making this announcement so early. It’s done what it was meant to do: it’s gotten everyone wound up into a frenzy, and even though the film isn’t in production, it’s already creating a lot of buzz. Whether or not you like the choice, one thing is clear. You’re going to go see it.
However, it occurred to me that maybe this is all distracting us from what’s really important about a new interpretation of Batman. This is finally a chance to see something we haven’t seen before: a more comic accurate portrayal of the character. With that in mind, let’s put the casting choice aside and think about the positives. There are a few aspects of this new Batman universe that stand a chance to be better than what we saw from the Nolanverse, and I wanted to throw it out there before we all get sick of talking about this. Sorry if it’s too late for some.
GOTHAM CITY
Nolan’s version of Batman was an attempt to place the character in a more realistic world, and for the most part, it was successful. In doing so, however, we were treated to a Gotham that was pieced together from parts of Chicago, Pittsburg, New York and others. We got a very generic and typical interpretation of a large American metropolis. Although this worked well for the last three movies, it deprived us of a dark and gothic Gotham.
The new films might not need to go as far with it as Tim Burton went, and I hope they avoid the neon monstrosity Joel Schumacher used, but we could get the chance to see Gotham as it should be: dark, claustrophobic and intimidating. It might be a chance to see it as a character all in its own and symbolic of the darkness Bruce Wayne fights inwardly and outwardly. They will need to do something like this not just because it’s more accurate to the books, but as a way to differentiate Gotham from Metropolis.
THE COSTUME
This one will definitely be a long shot, but a lot of us have been yearning to see a more comic inspired suit in film. I’m starting to grow tired of the all-black-armor-style that keeps getting regurgitated on screen. Who wouldn’t like to see something that looks a little less like latex or something in shades of gray? Of course the costume has to work on screen, and that will remain to be a large deciding factor for movie makers, but let’s not forget the great work we’ve seen from James Acheson and Deborah Lynn Scott in the Spider-man movies.
Of everything on this list, I am the least optimistic about a drastic costume change. They will most likely go with what audiences have become accustomed to seeing.
THE CHARACTER
I’ll keep this portion brief because it would be easy to write an article on this alone. Batman’s psyche is key to the character, and obviously he will have to be done brilliantly, not only to sell us on a reboot of the character but also to offset Superman and others that he will be interacting with from here on out.
The specific details that a lot of us want to see, and that we have been deprived of thus far, include but are not limited to: Batman’s unflinching ambition to go out and do what he does, his stubborn unwillingness to do things the way others see best and his sharp crime solving abilities.
THE GADGETS
Does anyone else remember when Batman use to throw weapons that weren’t simply bat-shaped throwing stars? Do you remember when he would be defeated by a new villain, would escape, and come back with a device on his belt that would turn the villain’s strength into a weakness and defeat him? Or how about this, does anyone remember Batman using his grappling gun to traverse the skyline of Gotham and not just as a quick getaway?
THE CAVE
Maybe Batman’s cave doesn’t have to have a giant robotic Tyrannosaurus Rex, but so far in film we have yet to see a bat cave that’s done right, and also, one that makes sense. In Batman Begins we get to see Bruce Wayne discover the cave system bellow Wayne Manor with the hope that over the next two films we’ll get to see him develop it into a full functioning base of operations. Then it gets left out completely in the Dark Knight, in favor of a more centralized base in Gotham, and in The Dark Knight Rises we see a cave with a computer in it, much like what we got from Tim Burton.
If Batman doesn’t use the cave as a museum of his triumphs over the years, or as a crime lab, then as we saw in The Dark Knight, he simply doesn’t need to have one. He can park his vehicle somewhere closer to the scene of the crime and use Lucious Fox for everything else. These new movies could be the chance to finally see a full-fledged cave being used by a seasoned vigilante.
THE BATMOBILE
I’m not going to hate on the Tumbler because I actually loved it in Batman Begins. However, much like the cave, we saw it destroyed in the second film, leaving the hope that in a third outing we would finally get to see an actual vehicle designed and built to do everything Batman needs. Instead we got more of the Bat-pod and some kind of upside-down helicopter called the Bat (even though it had no wings?)
This is one aspect that Tim Burton’s version got right. The Batmobile from 1989 was perfectly suited to the character, and a character in its own. What is Batman without the ridiculously cool car? No wonder it was hard for Christain Bale’s Batman to get a date.
Maybe we will see a smaller sports car like we saw in the 1990’s comics or maybe we’ll see a long roadster like we saw in the 1980’s, but we all want to see something new. Ben Afleck can act the hell out of his part if he wants to, and he can rock the cape and cowl, but if he doesn’t get into the most badass black car we’ve ever seen, then who cares?
So what do you guys think? Did I leave anything out that you would like to seen done differently? Comment bellow!