Yesterday I did an article about 12 comic-books that should be TV-shows, if you want you can read it here:
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/mr8866/news/?a=108077
Anyway, one of the shows I really want is a Batman show. But I want a rated-R Batman show, with a similar tone from The Dark Knight Retunes and the Arkham games (just a similar vibe and tone, not to be based on them).
I want a show that will be dark, that will take a new look on the Batman, with much more violence and madness in Gotham. I want 10-13 episodes per season (I hate the fact that Arrow has 23 episodes, too much, and this brings too many fillers and some bad episodes).
But here is the twist, what if the show will be set in the late 40’s/early 50’s? Boom, mind blown!
A "Godfather"/"Boardwalk Empire" style show, with lots of crime and violence with Batman in the center.
Out of all the Batman movies and most of the animated shows, Batman is always in the present day, it will be very different and unique if someone like HBO takes Batman to a crazy time, a time just after WWII, with gangsters ruling over Gotham City.
This show will have a very film noir feel (but not black-and-white).
I want a very dark and brutal Batman, who blames the world for his troubles, and goes out and kicks lots of gangster ass, but not just punching, I’m talking about a bone breaking Batman, the kind of Batman that puts criminals in the hospital for a very long time.
I think the show has to be realistic (like the Nolan movies), but it has to be edgier and darker. I think that the focus has to be on the characters and the story; we don’t need a fight scene or a big action scene every episode.
I want Batman to be a detective, who solves crimes with his brain and not his fists. I want this Batman to be the smartest Batman we ever saw, and not somebody who just jumps and fights. This Batman has to stay in the shadows and go stealth mode on the gangsters, because in the real world, the bad guys have guns.
There will be action and fights, but I don’t want it to be too much choreographing and wire stunts, to the point that it takes you out of the show. I like Arrow, but sometimes when there is a fight scene; it feels like somebody says in the background: “Well boys and girls, we came to that part of the show where the hero kicks some ass, oh look how he kicks their sorry butts. Let’s play the Arrow’s theme song while he cleans this ally/warehouse from the bad guys”. I don’t want that, Batman needs to stay in the shadows and take his enemies silently, like a ninja. He needs to use fear to take down the bad guys.
Bruce Wayne will need to learn how to be a hero, and not just a vigilantly, but he also will need to play the role of the playboy. The main thing is not make Bruce the boring character that sometimes movies makes him to be. The actor that will play Batman will actually play 3 different roles. The playboy Bruce Wayne, The Batman and the real Bruce/Batman that only few people really interact with, like: Alfred and Ra's al Ghul.
Batman will have his gadgets and toys, but things that will be appropriate to the time, so no high-tech gear yet. The suit will evolve from season to season, but it will never be the armor suit from the movies. At first Batman will be wearing his League of Assassins (with some mods from Lucius Fox), and the suit will slowly evolve to the Bat suit, but not immediately.
The first season will show the return of Bruce Wayne to Gotham, a city ruled by the mob and corrupt cops. The first episode won’t end with Bruce saving the world, it will take time for Bruce to stop the mob, and he will need to understand that he can’t do it alone.
At first, Bruce will be consumed by anger, so he won’t listen to Alfred, and he will think that just because of his skills he can fight the mob, but he will soon understand that his stubbornness will get him killed.
So he gets some help from Lucius Fox (a much younger version from what we have seen, this Lucius will be a man that suffers from racism, who has brilliant ideas, but he can’t bring those ideas to the light of day because of the color of his skin).
Batman will also get some help from the only honest cop in the city, and that’s young James Gordon, who will also be much younger (he will be older then Bruce only by few years). Gordon fought in WWII, and now he is a cop, but he realizes that the police is a mob with badge.
He can’t trust anyone. He doesn’t want any trouble, since his wife is pregnant, but his morals won’t allow him just to stand and not do anything.
Only in season 2 we will start seeing more classic Batman villains. And since it’s the 40’s, criminals can be little more flamboyant, and not appear silly.
We will see the struggles of Bruce, as he tries to fight his own demons, and the show will also explore why Batman doesn’t kill, and how it affects him, knowing that because he doesn’t kill, he puts others in danger. There will be some flashbacks Bruce’s childhood and also some flashbacks to his odyssey after leaving Gotham.
But I wouldn’t do a flashback every episode like in Arrow, the flashbacks will only serve as ways understand Bruce better (plus this is how we will first see (Ra's al Ghul and Talia).
The relationship between Bruce and Alfred must be one of the centers of the show, because Alfred is the only person who sees and knows the real Bruce Wayne.
In my version we will find out that Alfred has some kind of military past (maybe he was a war hero in WWI), and he has his own demons. In my version Alfred is a former spy that some bad things for his country. He ran away from his dark past, and found sanctuary with the Waynes. He will also have his own trauma after the death of the Waynes.
I don’t want the show to follow the formula of many superhero shows (Arrow, Smallville), and do the “criminal of the week”. I want each season to have few story arcs, with stories developing over time. I know it will be hard, but a smart writing team could overcome this problem.
Now as far as the Batsuit, Batmobile, the gadgets and all other things, I want it to stay grounded. For us, all of this will look little weird and simple, but for the characters on the show Batman’s gadgets will be wonders.
Like I said, I want the Batsuit to evolve thought the show. At first it will be a very simple suit, then Lucius Fox will add his personal touch to it, and the suit will keep getting more advanced as the show goes. Until eventually it will have the Batsuit look, but still something that fits the era. Same goes to the gadgets, and the Batmobile.
Here are some possible cast that might appear on the show, I took many of them from shows that already on, but if this show actually happens, I want to see some unknowns. I’m not doing a full fan cast to all the Batman character, just some that jump to my head. Plus this is just my opinions, so I would like to hear you fan-cast to this type of show.
Bruce Wayne/Batman - Taylor Kitsch
This is a very hard role to cast. I spend hours trying to find the right actor. But since this is a fan-cast for a “not-real” show, I can put someone who I think could do a good job. I think people give this guy too much shit. He has been in some bad movies, but he himself was pretty good there. I think that this guy is a good actor, and his voice can be a great Batman voice. Plus he can fit into a 40’s TV-Show. I know many people will say no to Taylor Kitsch as Batman, and I’m OK with it. I’m not fully committed to this casting, since he looks so small compared to Ben Affleck. There are probably some better choices for Batman, but I was looking for someone in his late 20’s-early 30’s (he is 33), so I guess that this is my choice. Casting iconic roles like this is very hard.
Alfred Pennyworth - Liam Cunningham
Like I said, going for a little different Alfred, similar to the way that they did in “Gotham”. I really like this guy in Game of Thrones, and he can be a great Alfred.
James Gordon - Jon Bernthal
It will be a very different Gordon then we are used to. Jon was amazing in The Walking Dead, and he was also great in Mob City. Hell, if he was about 10 year younger, I would have casted him as Batman. But I think he can be a cool young Gordon.
Lucius Fox - Andre Holland
The Knick is my new favorite show (you must watch it), and I really like this kid.
Vicki Vale - Alexandra Daddario
Tell me you didn’t search for “Alexandra Daddario True Detective scene”. She is hot and beautiful. Plus she is a good young actress. She can be Bruce’s love interns in the first few seasons.
Selina Kyle/Catwoman - Lauren Cohan
Love her in The Walking Dead, and I remember that she was on “Supernatural”, playing a sexy thief, so she can be Catwoman any day of the week for me.
Harvey Bullock - Shea Whigham
This guy is a really amazing actor, and he is already playing a similar role in “Boardwalk Empire”
Thomas Wayne - Timothy Olyphant
Love him on “Justified”, and he can be a great Thomas Wayne. We can see him in few flashback scenes.
Harvey Dent/Two-Face - Vincent Piazza
I won’t explain all the castings, but I want Harvey to show up in season 2, and become Two-Face in the season 4.
Carmine Falcone - Powers Boothe
Powers Boothe! Anything else? Falcone can be the main bad guy of the first season.
Gillian B. Loeb - Christopher Meloni
Sal Maroni - Bobby Cannavale
Black Mask - Michael K. Williams
Ra's al Ghul - David Morrissey
I like Ra’s as a British dude.
Talia al Ghul - Odette Annable
Just watch “Banshee”, you will know why.
Joe Chill - Mark Pellegrino
Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin - Stephen Graham
I want Penguin to show up in season 2. He will be a gangster that tries to take over Gotham after the Falcone family will be taking down by Batman. But he will be a smart crime boss, that will try to take over the city using a legitimate way.
Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow - Noah Taylor
Edward Nigma /Riddler - Anatol Yusef
The Joker - Michael Pitt
Watch him on “Hannibal”, and you will agree that this guy can be one hell of a Joker.
Pamela Isley/
Poison Ivy - Evan Rachel Wood
Harley Quinn - Lili Simmons
If you watched “Banshee”, you know that she isn’t just a pretty face.
Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze - Jackie Earle Haley
Jervis Tetch/The Mad Hatter - Eddie Marsan
Floyd Lawton/Deadshot - Walton Goggins
Love this guy on “Justified”, “Sons of Anarchy” and “the Shield”, a really great actor. He could also be a great Joker, but Michael Pitt works better for me.
Bane - Geno Segers
Just watch “Banshee”, you will know why.
Victor Zsasz - Garret Dillahunt
Hugo Strange - Jared Harris
Hope you enjoyed this one.