BATMAN
K N I G H T H O O D
Old wounds are reopened when the Red Hood, a mysterious vigilante from Batman's past, begins cleaning up Gotham City more efficiently than the Dark Knight himself, but doesn't follow the same ethical code. When The Joker falls in the balance between the two, once buried memories come to light.
When Roman Sionis aka Black Mask is arrested for being a major drug supplier within Gotham, Oswald Cobblepot aka The Penguin, becomes the undisputed crime lord of Gotham City. However, a vigilante that goes by the name of the Red Hood starts sabotaging The Penguin’s operations. The Penguin recruits Victor Fries aka Mister Freeze, to help him maintain his leadership of organized crime in Gotham. In exchange, The Penguin builds Mister Freeze a new, high-tech cryo-suit.
Batman, with the help of Nightwing, strikes against a shipment of The Penguin's, but are confronted by Mister Freeze. They manage to defeat him, ending with his arrest, although Nightwing is critically wounded in the fight. Batman spots the Red Hood seizing The Penguin’s shipment and gives chase. He informs Alfred of the situation and has the Batmobile transport Nightwing to the Batcave so Alfred can provide him with medical attention. During the chase, the Red Hood performs maneuvers similar to Batman's and Nightwing’s, cutting one of Batman's cables with a knife he escapes.
Back at the Batcave, Batman reviews the footage from the chase, recalling Jason Todd (the second Robin) performing similar manoeuvres. In a flashback it's revealed that when Jason Todd was Robin, he was brutally murdered at the hands of The Joker and Harley Quinn. The Penguin sets up a meeting with the Red Hood. He attempts to make him a deal, offering a him a generous percentage of his earnings if he stays out of his way. The Red Hood declines and kills all of The Penguin’s henchman.
Commissioner Gordon meets with Batman and tells him they apprehended Mister Freeze at the docks and he’s being put in Arkham as they speak. They conclude that with The Penguin’s right hand man now locked up in Arkham and the majority of his crew killed by the Red Hood, he’s vulnerable and an all out gang-war could break out.
The Penguin hires Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke to assassinate the Red Hood. Deathstroke tracks down the Red Hood and attacks him. Clearly the better fighter, Deathstroke manages to overpower the Red Hood but before he can finish him Batman intervenes. Working together, both Batman and the Red Hood are able to defeat Deathstroke, although he manages to escape. Batman argues with the Red Hood about his crime-fighting methods and offers to help him, but the Red Hood rebuffs his attempts to help and leaves.
Batman gathers a sample of the Red Hood’s blood off of Deathstroke’s sword and takes it to the Batcave for analysis. After his DNA comes back with a match to Jason Todd, a shocked Bruce digs up Jason’s grave, finding his coffin empty. He leaves to seek answers from Talia al Ghul.
Travelling to Arabia, Batman confronts Talia demanding answers about Todd’s resurrection. Talia admits that she and her father felt responsible for what happened to Jason as the two had collaborated with The Joker and Harley Quinn at the time. However, Jason’s death was not part of their arrangement. Talia and her father, Ra’s al Ghul, revived Jason using the Lazarus Pit. However, when Jason discovered that The Joker was still loose and Batman hadn’t avenged his death it drives him crazy.
The Penguin calls a meeting with other Gotham criminals, consisting of Harvey Dent aka Two-Face, Arnold Wesker aka The Ventriloquist and The Joker and Harley Quinn. He hopes to form a truce between them until the Red Hood is dealt with. Arriving back in Gotham City, Alfred informs Batman of The Penguin's meeting location, where Nightwing has the place staked out. Figuring out the Red Hood’s next move, Batman contact’s Commissioner Gordon alerting him to where the meeting is taking place.
While Two-Face, The Ventriloquist agree to a truce, The Joker and Harley do not and attack the others. The Joker puts a bullet in Wesker's head and Harley shoots The Penguin. Deathstroke steps in to save his employer from the shootout. Batman and Nightwing burst in disarming The Joker and Harley while Two-Face makes escape. Working together, Batman and Nightwing are eventually able to take down Deathstroke. However, during the fight, the Red Hood captures The Joker and heads to Ace Chemicals.
Gordon has his GCPD unit move in on the remaining criminals. Nightwing stays back to ensure none of them manage to escape before their arrest, especially Deathstroke, while Batman takes off in pursuit of the Red Hood and The Joker. Batman finds the Red Hood at Ace Chemicals brutally beating The Joker with a crowbar, like The Joker did to him. Batman fights the Red Hood to stop him from beating The Joker to death and in the scuffle he removes his helmet, confirming that he truly is Jason Todd.
Jason holds Batman at gunpoint and tells him that he forgives him for not saving him, but can’t forgive him for allowing the Joker to live. Batman confesses to Jason that he’s always wanted to kill the Joker, but will not allow himself the pleasure out of fear of fully succumbing to it.
Jason tosses Batman his other gun and gives him an ultimatum: Jason is going to kill The Joker, and the only way Batman can stop him is by fatally shooting Jason himself. Batman refuses, dropping the gun and walking away. Angered, Jason shoots at Batman, but he dodges the bullet and throws a batarang into the barrel of his gun, causing a small explosion that critically injuries Jason's gun hand.
Wanting them all to die together, the Joker lunges for the dropped gun and starts shooting up the place, in hopes of causing an explosion so they all die together. Batman attempts to save Jason before the building explodes, but The Joker stops him. The building blows and Batman and The Joker make it out alive but there is no trace of Jason.
The Joker is taken into custody and returned to Arkham Asylum while The Penguin and Deathstroke are arrested and imprisoned in Blackgate Penitentiary. Back at the Batcave, Alfred asks Bruce if he should remove the memorial display case containing Jason's Robin uniform. Batman replies that nothing has changed and he departs in the Batmobile. The film ends with a flashback of Jason's first day as Robin, eagerly climbing into the Batmobile and declaring that it's the best day of his life.
S T A R R I N G
BEN AFFLECK … BATMAN
JARED LETO … THE JOKER
MARGOT ROBBIE … HARLEY QUINN
EMORY COHEN … JASON TODD
JOHN GOODMAN … THE PENGUIN
JOE MANGANIELLO … DEATHSTROKE
INDIRA VARMA … TALIA AL GHUL
J.K. SIMMONS … COMMISSIONER GORDON
KIT HARINGTON … NIGHTWING
ZELJKO IVANEK … MISTER FREEZE
JEREMY IRONS … ALFRED PENNYWORTH
F E A T U R I N G
JON HAMM … TWO-FACE
DAVID COSTABILE … THE VENTRILOQUIST
TITUS WELLIVER … BLACK MASK
C A S T I N G N O T E S
-
Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne aka Batman
Affleck reprises his role from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League.
-
Jared Leto as The Joker
Leto reprises his role from Suicide Squad.
-
Margot Robbie as Dr. Harleen Quinzel aka Harley Quinn
Robbie reprises her role from Suicide Squad.
-
Emory Cohen as Jason Todd aka Red Hood
After seeing his performances in The Place Beyond the Pines, Beneath the Harvest Sky and Stealing Cars Cohen was an obvious choice for the role of Jason Todd.
-
John Goodman as Oswald Cobblepot aka The Penguin
Goodman has proved time and time again that he can play a large assortment of roles, but it’s his work in The Big Lebowski, The Gambler and 10 Cloverfield Lane that makes believe he’d be able to breathe new life into this character.
-
Joe Manganiello as Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke
Manganiello keeps himself in very good physical shape, a key aspect for a character such as Deathstroke. I’d check him out in True Blood and Sabotage to get an idea of what he’d bring to the role.
-
Indira Varma as Talia al Ghul
Varma stars in HBO’s Game of Thrones as Ellaria Sand, a character with similar traits to Talia al Ghul. Her performance here is enough to convince me she would be an ideal choice.
-
J.K. Simmons as Commissioner James Gordon
J.K. Simmons reprises his role from Justice League.
-
Kit Harington as Dick Grayson aka Nightwing
Harington’s heroic role as Jon Snow in HBO’s Game of Thrones makes me believe he’d be a great addition to the DCEU as Nightwing. His roles in Pompeii, Seventh Son and MI-5 show that he can handle action roles. Coming off of Game of Thrones, he also has enough star power for a potential lead role in a Nightwing spin-off / stand alone film
-
Zeljko Ivanek as Victor Fries aka Mister Freeze
Ivanek’s minor role in The Bourne Legacy was all I needed to see for me to believe he’d be able to give us a chilling new take on Mister Freeze. He also had a role in Ben Affleck’s Argo too, so brownie points for that.
-
Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth
Jeremy Irons reprises his role from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League.
-
Jon Hamm … Harvey Dent aka Two-Face
Hamm’s role as Don Draper in Mad Men and as FBI Agent Adam Frawley in The Town are all the convincing I need. Although this role wouldn’t be much more than an extended cameo, it keeps the option open for him to return in a later instalment in a more substantial role.
-
David Costabile as Arnold Wesker aka The Ventriloquist
Costabile’s turn as Gale in AMC’s Breaking Bad helps me envision him as Wesker. In the film he has a very minor role and serves more as a nod / easter egg to the fans.
-
Titus Welliver as Roman Sionis aka Black Mask
Welliver is a frequent collaborator of Affleck’s having appeared in The Town, Argo and soon to be Live by Night. But it’s his role in Transformers: Age of Extinction that makes me believe he’s a good fit for Black Mask. While the film itself is terrible, Welliver’s plays a great bad guy.