Deadline is reporting that the HBO Max series Titans has cast Vincent Kartheiser as Dr. Jonathan Crane, better known to Batman fans as the fear-inducing supervillain known as The Scarecrow.
Posts tagged #Batman
TITANS Casts Savannah Welch as Barbara Gordon
Dick Grayson is about to be reunited with Barbara Gordon.
Variety has revealed that the HBO Max series Titans has cast Savannah Welch as DC Comics' Barbara Gordon for the show's upcoming third season. Formerly on the DC Universe streaming service, Titans was brought over to HBO Max along with other DC Universe shows Doom Patrol and Harley Quinn.
According to the article, Barbara Gordon will be "Gotham City Police Commissioner. Uses a wheelchair. She used to be Batgirl until she was shot and paralyzed by the Joker. She has a combative relationship with Bruce Wayne. Her life gets more complicated when Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites) returns to Gotham, rekindling their old romance and starting a new crime fighting partnership."
Welch, 36, is an actress and musician who became a leg amputee as a result of an injury accident in 2016. She has appeared on the History Channel series Six, and has appeared in the films Tree of Life, Boyhood, and The Transcendents.
Created in 1967 by William Dozier, Julius Schwartz and Carmine Infantino, Barbara Gordon first appeared as Batgirl in Detective Comics (vol.1) #359, and later that same year on the Batman television series episode "Enter Batgirl, Exit Penguin", as the daughter of Gotham City's Police Commissioner James Gordon. In her debut story in the comics, while driving to a costume ball dressed as a female version of Batman, Barbara Gordon intervened in a kidnapping attempt on Bruce Wayne by the super villain Killer Moth, which gained Batman's attention and led to a crime-fighting career. Although Batman insisted she give up crime-fighting because of her gender, Batgirl disregarded his objections.
In the controversial 1988 graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke, writer Alan Moore had Batman's arch-enemy The Joker shoot and paralyze Barbara in an attempt to drive her father insane, thereby proving to Batman that anyone can be morally compromised. One year later, writers John Ostrander and Kim Yale gave Barbara Gordon new life in Suicide Squad (vol.1) #23 as Oracle, a mysterious computer expert who assisted and supplied information to various DC Comics heroes in their fight against crime. The character's popularity led to the creation of the series Birds of Prey in 1996, where writer Chuck Dixon partnered Oracle with Black Canary and a rotating cast of female DC superheroes.
In 2011, DC Comics rebooted their continuity in The New 52, effectively making the character younger in a modern timeline where she became active again as Batgirl. In the new continuity, the events of The Killing Joke took place three years before current events, but it was established she was paraplegic during that time. Barbara Gordon regained her mobility after undergoing experimental surgery at a South African clinic. In recent months, Barbara has a new life as a PhD student in the hip Gotham borough of Burnside, in between adventures as Batgirl and with the Birds of Prey.
Welch will be the fourth actress to portray the character in live-action, after Yvonne Craig in the Batman TV series, Dina Meyer in Birds of Prey, and Jeté Laurence in Gotham.
Titans Season 3 is expected to be released on HBO Max sometime in 2021.
DRUNK CINEMA 001: "Batman (1989)" Is Up!
"I feel a little drunk...and you're not anything."
"Hey, one drink and I'm flying."
"Why are you afraid of flying?"
-- Vicki Vale and Bruce Wayne, Batman (1989)
Hey there, movie fans! My wonderful Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast co-host Xan Sprouse and I have finally launched our new movie commentary podcast, Drunk Cinema! In this first episode, we open the Drunk Cinema Theatre to discuss Batman, the 1989 superhero film directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Jack Nicholson as The Joker/Jack Napier, Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale, and Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth!
In this debut episode, Xan and I discuss things like the very simple premise for Drunk Cinema, quoting Batman (1989) in our first Ghostwood episode, being allowed to use adult words, Tim Burton becoming the Batman director after Beetlejuice was a hit, what we're drinking while watching Batman, Xan's interesting story about Prince, Bob Kane and Bill Finger, Mark Hamill being our favorite Joker, Casino Night at Hogwarts, Lisa Simpson needing braces, Xan having to wait to see Batman on home video, the Batmobile being ribbed for her pleasure, Batman's homage to Raiders of the Lost Ark, the definitive Batman movie sequence, Xan's 1989 fashion choices, the Batwing being cooler than X-Wings, the one Joker henchman who's worth something, explaining the Laughing Bag novelty gag, how to reach us on the interwebs, Xan and I finally getting to watch Batman together, Xan and I realizing we had mutual friends and mutual interests, teasing our second episode, and more!
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Be sure to come back in two weeks for Episode 002, as Xan and I discuss Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the 1986 teen comedy directed by John Hughes and starring Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller, Mia Sara as Sloane Peterson, Alan Ruck as Cameron Frye, and Jennifer Grey as Jeanie Bueller!
Matt Reeves Debuts THE BATMAN Teaser Trailer at DC FanDome
The Riddler wants to play a game with the Batman.
During the last panel of the DC FanDome: Hall of Heroes online event, Matt Reeves, director of the upcoming Warner Bros/DC Comics film The Batman, unveiled the first teaser trailer and gave us our first good look at star Robert Pattinson as the latest incarnation of Batman/Bruce Wayne.
The two-minute, 23-second trailer opens with the unsettling sound of duct tape, as a mysterious masked figure in black body armor pulls out a strip while he kneels over an unconscious man on the floor. We cut to later, as the murdered man has been placed in a chair with his face completely covered in duct tape and the words "NO MORE LIES" written on the tape with a red marker.
As the sound of the Nirvana song "Something in the Way" begins to play, we gather the man is presumably someone important, as we see dozens of Gotham City police give way to Commissioner James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) as he enters the crime scene. "From your secret friend," he reads in a voiceover.
"Who?" asks Batman as he also enters the room, although we only see his black boots and cape.
"Haven't a clue..." continues Gordon as he shines his flashlight on some taped-up front pages of The Gotham Gazette and The Gotham Times that have the word "LIES" written upon them in large red paint. We then see that Gordon is reading from a greeting card left by the murderer. "...Let's play a game, just me and you."
Gordon stops reading, then asks Batman, "Any of this mean anything to you?" He holds up a green envelope with is labeled "To the Batman". Batman steps into full view as he slowly approaches the envelope Gordon's holding.
We then cut to the police speaking before a group of reporters in the street, while Bruce's eyes, smeared with black makeup, watch intently from the shadows.
Next, we hear the voice of Bruce's mentor and butler Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis) tell Bruce, "You've become quite the celebrity." Bruce enters the Batcave on a motorcycle and removes his helmet.
We glimpse Bruce rescuing a young boy as a car crashes into the inside of a church during what appears to be a funeral service for the victim. A man suddenly appears with a cell phone taped to his hand and a note taped to his chest that reads "To the Batman".
"Why's he writing to you?" asks Alfred in a voiceover.
We then cut to a masked Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz), who slides down a rope from a skylight and begins to break into something.
We hear an electronically distorted voice say "IF YOU ARE JUSTICE, PLEASE DO NOT LIE" as we see Batman shoving some cops until Gordon intervenes, followed by Selina fighting Batman. "WHAT IS THE PRICE FOR YOUR BLIND EYE?" asks the ominous voice, which presumably belongs to The Riddler (Paul Dano).
In another scene, Batman is confronted by a threatening gang wearing Joker-like makeup. "What are you supposed to be?" asks the leader.
Batman begins to brutally pummel the leader several times, knocking him unconscious. "I'm vengeance," he replies.
We see the rear rocket engine of the new version of the Batmobile, which looks like a souped-up muscle car, ignite as the engines rev up. Someone states "Whoa! This guy's crazy!" as Batman evades police by firing a grappling hook line upward.
The official logo for The Batman comes into view in block red letters, followed by a final scene of Bruce taking off his mask in the Batcave. Over a computer, the Riddler's voice tells him, "You're part of this, too."
"How am I part of this?" asks Bruce.
"You'll see," replies the Riddler in an extremely creepy tone.
If you'd like to see the new trailer, you can check it out below thanks to the official Warner Bros. Pictures account on YouTube...
The Batman is currently expected to arrive in theaters on October 1, ?0?1.
HBO Max Orders THE BATMAN Companion TV Series Exploring the GCPD
From Gotham to Gotham Central?
According to Deadline, HBO Max has given a series commitment a new DC Comics drama exploring the Gotham City Police Department and set in the Batman continuity established in Matt Reeves' upcoming film The Batman.
The untitled series will be from Reeves, Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter, The Batman producer Dylan Clark, and Warner Bros. Television. The article claims the new series will be written by Winter and "is set in the world Reeves is creating for The Batman feature and will build upon the film’s examination of the anatomy of corruption in Gotham City, launching a new Batman universe across multiple platforms. The series will extend the world established in the movie and further explore the myriad of complex characters of Gotham."
Reeves remarked, "This is an amazing opportunity, not only to expand the vision of the world I am creating in the film, but to explore it in the kind of depth and detail that only a longform format can afford — and getting to work with the incredibly talented Terence Winter, who has written so insightfully and powerfully about worlds of crime and corruption, is an absolute dream."
Kevin Reilly, chief content officer at HBO Max, president TNT, TBS, and TruTV, teased potential long-term plans for an integrated Batman universe. He stated, "Our collaboration with Warner Bros. and DC allows us to elaborate and grow fan connections across these powerful brands for years to come. This is Batman as most audiences have never seen before, and we know fans will want to spend more time in this new world inspired by the film."
The new series joins a number of DC Comics TV series for HBO Max, including the upcoming Green Lantern and Strange Adventures shows from Greg Berlanti and Justice League Dark from J.J. Abrams. Also, HBO Max currently shares Doom Patrol with DC Universe and is the streaming home for the CW’s Batwoman.
This will be the second TV series set around the GCPD, after the recent Fox series Gotham, which was set in the years prior to Bruce Wayne becoming Batman. At the moment, there's no indication that Robert Pattinson will appear in the upcoming series as Batman or Bruce Wayne, but Jeffrey Wright seems a natural possibility to appear as Commissioner James Gordon.
The Batman is currently scheduled to be released in theaters on October 1, 2021.
Michael Keaton in Talks to Reprise Bruce Wayne for DC Universe Films
You know, Bruce Wayne's life is really complex.
Deadline has confirmed reports that Michael Keaton is in early talks to return to his role of Batman/Bruce Wayne for Warner Bros.' upcoming DC Extended Universe films.
According to the article, Keaton would reprise his version of Bruce Wayne "in a Nick Fury-like role starting with Warner Bros. The Flash starring Ezra Miller, and could continue to play the Dark Knight in other upcoming DC movies like Batgirl. Reportedly, the Keaton Batman won’t impact the mythology being hammered out by Matt Reeves’ reboot The Batman starring Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader, and it will pick up his story line after Batman Returns."
Reportedly, The Flash film, to be directed by Andy Muschietti, will feature elements of the Flashpoint storyline from DC Comics and introduce the concept of the multiverse involving alternate Earths similar to what was recently depicted in the CW Arrowverse crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths. Presumably, Keaton's Batman/Bruce Wayne would come from one of those alternate Earths and be a character that connects various DC Universe superhero films to one another.
Keaton, 68, previously played Batman/Bruce Wayne in the films Batman (1989) and Batman Returns. His other films include Beetlejuice, Birdman, Johnny Dangerously, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Mr. Mom, Night Shift, Robocop (2014), Jackie Brown, Minions, Toy Story 3, Jack Frost, Multiplicity, Pacific Heights, and Clean and Sober. His television appearances include episodes of The Simpsons, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock, Frasier, King of the Hill, and The Mary Tyler Moore Hour.
The Flash is currently expected to arrive in theaters on June 3, 2022.
THE FANDOM ZONE 172: "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Parts 1, 2 & 3" Is Up!
"Keep riding the lightning, son. I know you'll make us all proud."
-- The Flash (Earth-90) to The Flash (Earth-1), The Flash: "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Three"
Hello again, everyone! My co-host Jesse Jackson and I are back with a very special episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast! This time, we're joined by DJ Nik from The Whiskey & Cigarettes Show to discuss the first three parts of "Crisis on Infinite Earths", the sixth annual Arrowverse crossover event, based on the classic 1985-86 DC Comics maxi-series and featured in episodes of Supergirl, Batwoman and The Flash!
In this episode, Jesse, Nik and I talk about things like DJ Nik making his debut on The Fandom Zone Podcast, rereading the original Crisis on Infinite Earths by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, Crisis being adapted for television on The CW, former original TitanTalk member and Supergirl writer Jay Faerber, all the great cameos from previous DC Comics movies and TV shows, the destruction of Argo City and Earth-38 Superman and Lois sending their son Jonathan to Earth in an escape pod, Oliver passing on the Green Arrow mantle to his daughter Mia and his death scene, Kevin Conroy's amazing Batman voice, Brandon Routh reprising Superman, Kevin Conroy playing an older Batman who murdered criminals and Superman, Supergirl and Batwoman as the new Flash and Green Arrow, Heat Wave babysitting Jonathan, Tom Welling and Erica Durance reprising Smallville's Clark Kent and Lois Lane, John Constantine meeting Lucifer Morningstar, Oliver becoming the new Spectre, Black Lightning stepping up after learning his entire family has been destroyed, antimatter cannons being very bad for Flashes, John Wesley Shipp getting a heroic ending as the Flash from Earth-90, the Danny Elfman theme from The Flash, our favorite quotes of all three episodes, listener David K. Proctor being turned on to Watchmen, and more!
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Be sure to come back in a few days, as Jesse and I review "A God Walks into a Bar", the eighth episode of HBO's Watchmen, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!
TITANTALK 049: "Nightwing" Is Up!
"We do not enter the field of battle lightly…neither in heart, nor body, nor mind. Nor do we exit it lightly. We leave a piece of us behind. And sometimes the cost of defending the innocent exceeds what we could ever think to pay. There’s only one word for this – sacrifice. And whether it be recognized in the present, or in some distant time, or never at all, this is the hero’s duty."
-- Bruce Wayne, Titans: "Nightwing"
Hello again, Titans fans! My fellow TitanTalker Jesse Jackson and I are back with another new episode of TitanTalk: The Titans Podcast! This time, we discuss "Nightwing", the Season 2 finale of the DC Universe series Titans, featuring Brenton Thwaites as Nightwing, Conor Leslie as Wonder Girl, Esai Morales as Deathstroke, and Natalie Gumede as Mercy Graves!
In this episode, Jesse and I discuss things like another mixed reaction to a Titans finale, Greg Walker being a bad Titans showrunner, wondering why Dick couldn't announce his new Nightwing identity, Brenton Thwaites in the Nightwing costume, the really short and anticlimactic Deathstroke fight, wondering why the Titans think Deathstroke is dead, more of Dick and Bruce's more mature relationship, Jericho jumping over to Ravager's body, no repercussions for Rose betraying the Titans, why the Cadmus storyline should've been wrapped up before the Season 2 finale, Marv Wolfman and George Pérez telling "The Judas Contract" much better in the comics, Cadmus' plan to create super-soldiers for money, the female Titans not taking Superboy as a serious threat, wondering where Eve was while Superboy was being mind-controlled, no repercussions for Gar killing people or Superboy attacking the police, Dick still being a fugitive, my wife Lori's reaction to Wonder Girl being killed off in a really stupid way, Season 3 featuring "The Blackfire Saga" on Earth and Dark Raven, our favorite quotes of the episode, new Tell It to TitanTalk feedback from Jock, Steven Marshall, and Anne Dieken, wondering when Krypto was rescued from Cadmus, and more!
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Be sure to come back next week for our big 50th episode (!) as Jesse and I are joined once again by special guest DJ Nik to review Titans Season 2 and get Nik's thoughts on the entire season! Look for more of TitanTalk: The Titans Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, YouTube, Libsyn, and the official Southgate Media Group website!
TITANTALK 043: "Bruce Wayne" Is Up!
"More people should drop their problem children off buildings. It clarifies the mind and body."
-- Bruce Wayne to Dick Grayson, Titans: "Bruce Wayne"
Hello again, Titans fans! My fellow TitanTalker Jesse Jackson and I are back with another new episode of TitanTalk: The Titans Podcast! This time, we discuss "Bruce Wayne", the seventh episode from Season 2 of the DC Universe series Titans, featuring Iain Glen as Bruce Wayne, Genevieve Angelson as Dr. Eve Watson, Natalie Gumede as Mercy Graves, and Krypto the Superdog!
In this episode, Jesse and I discuss things like DJ Nik filling in for Jesse last episode, the bands America and Chicago's album title shtick, Akiva Goldsman being a much better director and executive producer than a screenwriter, Jesse hitting all the cliches, Dick Grayson showing signs of mental illness, Dick's hallucination of Bruce Wayne being Bruce viewed through the Dick Grayson filter, the Bruce hallucination being an expression of Dick's guilt and self-loathing, Dick Grayson going to a burlesque club, the Bruce hallucination doing the Batusi from the Adam West Batman TV series, Jesse's lack of respect for people who criticize Iain Glen and Benedict Cumberbatch's American accents, Jason Todd experiencing the horrible trauma of seeing Superboy shot right after the trauma of falling ten stories, Jason's slot machine eyes and my theory that Jason has been possessed by Jericho, Rose flirting with Jason and making out with him, Jason being ready to commit suicide, Rose freaking out about finding her brother's copy of David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Kory's plan to heal Conner, Rachel seeing Conner naked, Eve rescuing Krypto from Cadmus Labs, geeking out over seeing Krypto fly, Eve finally letting Conner call her "Mom", our favorite quotes of the episode, the rumors about the Titans appearing in the CW's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover, some new Tell It to TitanTalk feedback from Steven Marshall and Anne Dieken, Jesse being on a Farscape podcast with friend of the show Karen Lindsay, looking forward to the Watchmen premiere, our willingness to be whored out for money by sponsors, and more!
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Be sure to come back next week for Episode 044 as Jesse and I discuss "Jericho", the eighth episode from Season 2 of the DC Universe series Titans, featuring Chella Man as Jericho! Look for more of TitanTalk: The Titans Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, YouTube, Libsyn, and the official Southgate Media Group website!
THE BATMAN Casts Paul Dano as The Riddler
Riddle me this, riddle me that -- Who's the new Riddler to face the big, black bat?
The Hollywood Reporter has word that Paul Dano has been cast as DC Comics supervillain The Riddler in Matt Reeves' upcoming Warner Bros. film The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, and Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon.
According to the article, Dano's version of the character will be named Edward Nashton, the name some Batman comic book writers stated is the Riddler's true name before adopting the identity of Edward Nygma.
The Batman is said to be a noir-driven Batman movie, rumored to be based on the popular 13-issue limited series Batman: The Long Halloween, written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Tim Sale.
Dano, 35, is probably best known as David Sweat in the Showtime limited series Escape at Dannemora and as Paul Sunday/Eli Sunday in the 2007 film There Will Be Blood. His other films include Wildlife, Okja, 12 Years a Slave, Looper, Cowboys & Aliens, Knight and Day, Where the Wild Things Are, Little Miss Sunshine, The Ballad of Jack and Rose, and The Girl Next Door. His other television appearances include episodes of The Sopranos and Smart Guy.
Created by Bill Finger and Dick Sprang in 1948's Detective Comics (vol.1) #140, the Riddler first appeared as Edward Nigma (later Nygma), who became fascinated with puzzles at a young age. After a teacher announced that a contest would be held for who could solve a puzzle the fastest, Nigma set on winning the contest, craving the glory and satisfaction that would come with the victory. He broke into the school at night to practice the puzzle until he was able to solve it in under a minute. As a result, he won the contest and was given a book of riddles as a prize. Nigma embraced the mastery of puzzles of all kinds, eventually becoming a carnival employee who excelled at cheating his customers out of their money with his bizarre puzzles and mind games.
Nigma soon found himself longing for greater challenges and donned the disguise of "The Riddler" to challenge Batman, believing him to be a worthy adversary. In his first encounter, the Riddler first tried to confound Batman and Robin with his infamous double-entry Riddle Clues and then tried to kill them both in a booby-trapped glass maze on a pier, sealing the door so they couldn't leave the structure before it exploded. Batman and Robin escaped, however, and the Riddler vanished after getting knocked into the sea by the explosion, leaving only his trademark "?" floating in the water.
In the current DC Comics continuity known as The New 52, a revamped version of the Riddler appeared in the "Zero Year" storyline by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, where his surname was changed from Edward Nigma (or Nashton) to Nygma. The Riddler became Batman's first masked supervillain and not only bested Batman twice, but also took control of Gotham, causing it to become a flooded wasteland where only the intelligent were meant to survive. He was eventually defeated by the combined efforts of Batman, Commissioner James Gordon and Wayne Enterprises CEO Lucius Fox, and moved to Arkham Asylum.
Dano will be the fifth actor to portray the Riddler in live action, after Frank Gorshin and John Astin in the 1960s Batman television series, Jim Carrey in the 1995 film Batman Forever, and Cory Michael Smith in the Fox TV series Gotham.
The Batman is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on June 25, 2021.
THE BATMAN Casts Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman
Robert Pattinson's Batman is about to be hooked on a feline.
The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed actress Zoë Kravitz has been cast as DC Comics superthief Catwoman/Selina Kyle in Matt Reeves' upcoming Warner Bros. film The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon.
According to the article, the decision came down over the weekend after a rigorous testing process that saw saw Kravitz, Ana de Armas, Ella Balinska, and Eiza Gonzalez read with Pattinson. The testing process took place over the first week of the month, and the four were then narrowed down to two late last week.
The Batman is said to be a noir-driven Batman movie, rumored to be based on the popular 13-issue limited series Batman: The Long Halloween, written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Tim Sale.
Kravitz, 30, is the daughter of musician Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet, and is best known as Leta Lestrange in the films Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. She previously voiced Catwoman in The Lego Batman Movie, and has appeared in the comic book movies X-Men: First Class as Angel Salvadore and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse as the voice of Mary Jane Watson. Her other films include Mad Max: Fury Road, After Earth, Divergent, Gemini, Rough Night, and Kin. In addition, she's appeared on the television seies Big Little Lies, Portlandia, and Californication.
In 1987, writer Frank Miller and artist David Mazzucchelli revised Catwoman's origin in the storyline "Batman: Year One", itself a revision of Batman's origin. Selina worked as a dominatrix in order to survive and wanted to break away from her malevolent pimp and former boyfriend. She witnessed his crimes and, because of an event that occurs to her sister, feared for her sister's life. She began to study self-defense and her instructor inspired her to realize that prostitution was no life for her or her protege, Holly Robinson, a young runaway who idolized her. As the story progressed, Selina drawn into a burglary, donning a catsuit costume so she wouldn't be be revealed. She developed a taste for burglary and began to do it in a Robin Hood-like fashion than an actual thief. After her initial confrontation with Batman, she was inspired to stay in her costume and become the "Catwoman", realizing that if there was a "bat", there could also be a "cat".
Stories involving the current incarnation of Catwoman have revealed that Selina's parents died when she was young, and she hardly remembers them. She was sent to the Thomas and Martha Wayne Home For the Boys and Girls of Gotham, and even after being placed in various foster, Selina escaped to return to the orphanage. After developing a romantic relationship with Bruce Wayne, he proposed to Selina, only for Selina to not show at the wedding because she feared that Bruce couldn't be Batman if he was truly happy. The two separated for some time, but recently rekindled their relationship.
Kravitz will be the fifth actress to portray Catwoman in film, after Lee Meriweather in Batman (1966), Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns, Halle Berry in Catwoman (as an alternate version named Patience Phillips), and Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises.
The Batman is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on June 25, 2021.
DAMN Good Movies -- JOKER
That's right, I'm back once again with another movie take, this time on the film Joker, the controversial psychological thriller based on the classic DC Comics supervillain. As always, if you haven't seen the movie yet and you don't want it spoiled for you, then please step back from your computer or whatever electronic device you're reading this on and stop reading now. If, however, you're wise enough to know that movie reviews with spoilers are always more interesting than the ones without them...well...put on a happy face!
In 2016, director Todd Phillips pitched the idea for Joker to Warner Bros., wanting to create a more grounded comic book film. He proposed that DC Films distinguish itself from Marvel Studios' by producing low-budget, standalone films, and after the success of Wonder Woman, DC Films decided to de-emphasize the shared nature of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). A year later, Warner Bros. and DC Films revealed their plans for Joker, with Phillips directing and co-writing with Scott Silver, and Martin Scorsese co-producing with Phillips.
Warner Bros. considered casting Leonardo DiCaprio as the Joker, hoping to use his frequent involvement with Scorcese to persuade him, but Scorcese ultimately left the project due to other commitments. By February 2018, Joaquin Phoenix was Phillips' top pick for the role, who eventually signed on because the film was a standalone project, unlike the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which would require him to appear in multiple movies.
While the film's premise was inspired by The Joker being a failed stand-up comedian in the 1988 graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke, written by Alan Moore and drawn by Brian Bolland, Phillips and Silver chose to create their own original story that wasn't based on the comics. Instead, the film is heavily influenced by Scorcese's films Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, right down to the casting of Robert De Niro.
Joker opens in 1981 Gotham City, riddled with crime and unemployment (because hey, no Batman), leaving segments of the population disenfranchised and impoverished. We're introduced to Arthur Fleck, a long-haired nobody who struggles to get by working as a clown for hire and is beaten up by a gang of young punks in an alley. The film's unsettling, cynical tone is quickly established here, with Hildur Guðnadóttir's score haunting the entire film.
We learn Arthur leads a lonely, pathetic existence, taking care of his elderly mother Penny in a shitty apartment and depending on a social services worker for medication for his severe mental illness. In addition to suffering from a neurological disorder that causes him to uncontrollably laugh at inappropriate times, Arthur is disturbingly thin (Phoenix reportedly lost over 50 pounds for the role) and keeps a "joke book" filled with chaotic scribblings and dark thoughts in the hopes of a career in stand-up comedy. Arthur idolizes a late-night talk show host named Murray Franklin, whose show he and Penny watch together every night.
After the gang attack, Randall, Arthur's co-worker at the clown rental agency, loans him a handgun for protection, even though he's not supposed to have one. In a random elevator encounter, Arthur meets Sophie, a single mother who lives in his apartment building and smiles at one of Arthur's goofy facial expressions. Arthur invites Sophie to his scheduled stand-up comedy performance, and they begin dating. Looks like Arthur's life might be picking up, right?
Wrong. The film becomes even more unsettling and tense when Arthur's gun falls out of his pocket while he entertains at a children's hospital, but doesn't go off. Arthur is still fired, of course, and Randall lies that Arthur bought the gun himself. On the subway home, still in his clown makeup, Arthur is beaten once again, this time by three drunk Wayne Enterprises businessmen who pretty much deserve what's coming to them. He shoots two in self-defense, then chases after the third, murdering him to prevent a surviving witness. The murders are condemned by billionaire mayoral candidate Thomas Wayne (That's right, Batdad himself), who labels those envious of more successful people "clowns". Demonstrations against Gotham's rich begin, straight out of The Dark Knight Rises, with protesters donning plastic clown masks similar to Arthur's image.
We head into the film's second act, where Arthur learns that budget cuts are ending the social service program, leaving Arthur without medication to control his mental illness. Yeah, this'll turn out well. Arthur's stand-up comedy performance goes about as well as you might expect, as he experiences an uncontrollable laughing fit and has difficulty delivering any of his jokes. Murray Franklin mocks Arthur by showing clips of his bad comedy club routine on his show.
And hey, just to throw more gasoline on the fire, Arthur intercepts a letter written by Penny to Thomas, alleging that he's Thomas' illegitimate son, and yells angrily at his mother for hiding the truth. Arthur travels to stately Wayne Manor and talks all kinds of creepy to Thomas' young son, Bruce, Arthur's alleged half-brother, but runs off after being confronted by bearded (!!!) butler Alfred Pennyworth. Following a visit from two terrible Gotham City Police Department detectives investigating Arthur's involvement in the train murders, Penny suffers a severe stroke and is hospitalized.
As Alan Moore wrote in Batman: The Killing Joke, "All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man to lunacy." And here, at last, we see Arthur's one bad day.
At a public event, Arthur confronts Thomas, who explains that Penny is delusional and was a patient at Arkham State Hospital (I guess "Asylum" is a little too obvious these days). In denial over Penny's mental illness, Arthur visits Arkham and steals Penny's case file, which shows that Penny adopted Arthur as a baby and allowed her abusive boyfriend to harm them both. Penny alleged that Thomas used his powerful influence to fake the adoption and commit her to Arkham as a way to conceal their affair.
The deliberate ambiguity of which story to believe is a clever creative decision by Phillips, leaving things up to the audience to decide the truth they prefer while throwing out the possibility that Batman's dad cheated on his wife Martha and had another son, making the Joker Batman's half-brother. Arthur, as you might expect, doesn't take this information well and goes to the hospital, smothering Penny with her bed pillow.
He enters Sophie's apartment unannounced and a visibly frightened Sophie tells him to leave, revealing another twist -- Arthur's "relationship" with Sophie never happened and was just one of his delusions. We see Arthur exiting her apartment, but what happened right before that is also left intentionally ambiguous. Sophie doesn't appear in any subsequent scenes, so did Arthur murder her and her daughter before leaving? Did he spare them? That's left for the audience to decide.
In the film's third act, Arthur is invited to appear on Murray's show due to the unexpected popularity of his routine clips. As he prepares by painting his face white, symbolizing his final evolution into the Joker, he's visited by his former co-workers Gary and Randall. Arthur brutally murders Randall with a pair of scissors, but allows Gary to leave unharmed because Gary was the only one who was nice to him. Leaving his apartment for the TV studio, Arthur steps out in full Joker purple-suit regalia, fully embracing and celebrating who he has become, or perhaps who he's always been. He's quickly spotted by the two GCPD detectives, who pursue him onto a train filled with clown protesters heading for a protest rally. One detective accidentally shoots a protester and incites a riot, letting Arthur escape in the chaos.
He makes it to the TV studio and requests that Murray introduce him as Joker, a reference to what Murray called him during his mockery. The Joker walks out to a warm reception, but begins telling morbid, unfunny jokes, confesses that he killed the men on the train, and finally unloads in a rant about how society abandons the disfranchised and how Murray mocked him. Instead of killing himself on the show as originally planned, the Joker instead kills Murray on live TV and is soon arrested as riots break out across Gotham.
One rioter, presumably named Joe Chill, confronts the Wayne family in an alley as they leave a movie theater showing Zorro, the Gay Blade starring George Hamilton, a period accurate nod to the Wayne family seeing The Mark of Zorro in various versions of Batman's origin story. Wearing a clown mask, Chill predictably murders Thomas and his wife Martha, sparing Bruce and making the Joker indirectly responsible for creating Batman. Meanwhile, some other rioters driving an ambulance crash into the police car transporting the Joker and free him from the wreckage. Finding acceptance at last, the Joker dances to the cheers of the clown-masked rioters and notices that he is bleeding from his mouth, which he smears to paint a bloody red smile across his face.
In the film's closing scene, we find Arthur (or is it The Joker?) in Arkham State Hospital, where he's being evaluated by a psychiatrist about what happened. He laughs to himself, telling his psychiatrist that she wouldn't understand the joke. The last thing we see is him leaving a trail of bloodied footprints and being chased back and forth by orderlies. Did Arthur murder the psychiatrist? Was The Joker another delusion? Or was the entire movie one big joke played on the audience by Phillips?
Even though there's only one performance in this film that truly matters, here are the major characters and actors that stood out:
We learn Arthur leads a lonely, pathetic existence, taking care of his elderly mother Penny in a shitty apartment and depending on a social services worker for medication for his severe mental illness. In addition to suffering from a neurological disorder that causes him to uncontrollably laugh at inappropriate times, Arthur is disturbingly thin (Phoenix reportedly lost over 50 pounds for the role) and keeps a "joke book" filled with chaotic scribblings and dark thoughts in the hopes of a career in stand-up comedy. Arthur idolizes a late-night talk show host named Murray Franklin, whose show he and Penny watch together every night.
After the gang attack, Randall, Arthur's co-worker at the clown rental agency, loans him a handgun for protection, even though he's not supposed to have one. In a random elevator encounter, Arthur meets Sophie, a single mother who lives in his apartment building and smiles at one of Arthur's goofy facial expressions. Arthur invites Sophie to his scheduled stand-up comedy performance, and they begin dating. Looks like Arthur's life might be picking up, right?
Wrong. The film becomes even more unsettling and tense when Arthur's gun falls out of his pocket while he entertains at a children's hospital, but doesn't go off. Arthur is still fired, of course, and Randall lies that Arthur bought the gun himself. On the subway home, still in his clown makeup, Arthur is beaten once again, this time by three drunk Wayne Enterprises businessmen who pretty much deserve what's coming to them. He shoots two in self-defense, then chases after the third, murdering him to prevent a surviving witness. The murders are condemned by billionaire mayoral candidate Thomas Wayne (That's right, Batdad himself), who labels those envious of more successful people "clowns". Demonstrations against Gotham's rich begin, straight out of The Dark Knight Rises, with protesters donning plastic clown masks similar to Arthur's image.
We head into the film's second act, where Arthur learns that budget cuts are ending the social service program, leaving Arthur without medication to control his mental illness. Yeah, this'll turn out well. Arthur's stand-up comedy performance goes about as well as you might expect, as he experiences an uncontrollable laughing fit and has difficulty delivering any of his jokes. Murray Franklin mocks Arthur by showing clips of his bad comedy club routine on his show.
And hey, just to throw more gasoline on the fire, Arthur intercepts a letter written by Penny to Thomas, alleging that he's Thomas' illegitimate son, and yells angrily at his mother for hiding the truth. Arthur travels to stately Wayne Manor and talks all kinds of creepy to Thomas' young son, Bruce, Arthur's alleged half-brother, but runs off after being confronted by bearded (!!!) butler Alfred Pennyworth. Following a visit from two terrible Gotham City Police Department detectives investigating Arthur's involvement in the train murders, Penny suffers a severe stroke and is hospitalized.
As Alan Moore wrote in Batman: The Killing Joke, "All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man to lunacy." And here, at last, we see Arthur's one bad day.
At a public event, Arthur confronts Thomas, who explains that Penny is delusional and was a patient at Arkham State Hospital (I guess "Asylum" is a little too obvious these days). In denial over Penny's mental illness, Arthur visits Arkham and steals Penny's case file, which shows that Penny adopted Arthur as a baby and allowed her abusive boyfriend to harm them both. Penny alleged that Thomas used his powerful influence to fake the adoption and commit her to Arkham as a way to conceal their affair.
The deliberate ambiguity of which story to believe is a clever creative decision by Phillips, leaving things up to the audience to decide the truth they prefer while throwing out the possibility that Batman's dad cheated on his wife Martha and had another son, making the Joker Batman's half-brother. Arthur, as you might expect, doesn't take this information well and goes to the hospital, smothering Penny with her bed pillow.
He enters Sophie's apartment unannounced and a visibly frightened Sophie tells him to leave, revealing another twist -- Arthur's "relationship" with Sophie never happened and was just one of his delusions. We see Arthur exiting her apartment, but what happened right before that is also left intentionally ambiguous. Sophie doesn't appear in any subsequent scenes, so did Arthur murder her and her daughter before leaving? Did he spare them? That's left for the audience to decide.
In the film's third act, Arthur is invited to appear on Murray's show due to the unexpected popularity of his routine clips. As he prepares by painting his face white, symbolizing his final evolution into the Joker, he's visited by his former co-workers Gary and Randall. Arthur brutally murders Randall with a pair of scissors, but allows Gary to leave unharmed because Gary was the only one who was nice to him. Leaving his apartment for the TV studio, Arthur steps out in full Joker purple-suit regalia, fully embracing and celebrating who he has become, or perhaps who he's always been. He's quickly spotted by the two GCPD detectives, who pursue him onto a train filled with clown protesters heading for a protest rally. One detective accidentally shoots a protester and incites a riot, letting Arthur escape in the chaos.
He makes it to the TV studio and requests that Murray introduce him as Joker, a reference to what Murray called him during his mockery. The Joker walks out to a warm reception, but begins telling morbid, unfunny jokes, confesses that he killed the men on the train, and finally unloads in a rant about how society abandons the disfranchised and how Murray mocked him. Instead of killing himself on the show as originally planned, the Joker instead kills Murray on live TV and is soon arrested as riots break out across Gotham.
One rioter, presumably named Joe Chill, confronts the Wayne family in an alley as they leave a movie theater showing Zorro, the Gay Blade starring George Hamilton, a period accurate nod to the Wayne family seeing The Mark of Zorro in various versions of Batman's origin story. Wearing a clown mask, Chill predictably murders Thomas and his wife Martha, sparing Bruce and making the Joker indirectly responsible for creating Batman. Meanwhile, some other rioters driving an ambulance crash into the police car transporting the Joker and free him from the wreckage. Finding acceptance at last, the Joker dances to the cheers of the clown-masked rioters and notices that he is bleeding from his mouth, which he smears to paint a bloody red smile across his face.
In the film's closing scene, we find Arthur (or is it The Joker?) in Arkham State Hospital, where he's being evaluated by a psychiatrist about what happened. He laughs to himself, telling his psychiatrist that she wouldn't understand the joke. The last thing we see is him leaving a trail of bloodied footprints and being chased back and forth by orderlies. Did Arthur murder the psychiatrist? Was The Joker another delusion? Or was the entire movie one big joke played on the audience by Phillips?
Even though there's only one performance in this film that truly matters, here are the major characters and actors that stood out:
THE JOKER/ARTHUR FLECK -- Joaquin Phoenix proves once again that he's one of the finest actors we have right now. Everything in this film hinges on him, and after iconic Jokers played by Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger, it's amazing how Phoenix brings something completely unique and equally iconic to the role. His strong portrayal should be remembered for decades to come and while I'm not certain that Joker will get a Best Picture nomination, Joaquin Phoenix damn well deserves a Best Actor nom.
SOPHIE DUMOND -- As Arthur's love interest that turns out to be anything but, Zazie Beetz definitely steps up her game from last year's Deadpool 2. It doesn't make much sense that a woman like Sophie would fall for such a creeptacular incel like Arthur, finding him charming and quickly having sex with him, but once the delusion twist is revealed, everything falls into place. I would've liked to have seen more of Sophie, but I get the decision to make her fate vague and uncertain.
SOPHIE DUMOND -- As Arthur's love interest that turns out to be anything but, Zazie Beetz definitely steps up her game from last year's Deadpool 2. It doesn't make much sense that a woman like Sophie would fall for such a creeptacular incel like Arthur, finding him charming and quickly having sex with him, but once the delusion twist is revealed, everything falls into place. I would've liked to have seen more of Sophie, but I get the decision to make her fate vague and uncertain.
MURRAY FRANKLIN -- Robert De Niro, who starred The King of Comedy as Rupert Pupkin, an aspiring mentally unstable failed comedian who longs to appear on a talk show, gets to experience the flip side as Joker's talk show host who makes fun of Phoenix's aspiring mentally unstable failed comedian. This is the closest you'll ever see of Bobby D starring in a superhero movie, so I hope you enjoyed it as I did.
PENNY FLECK -- Frances Conroy first made my radar as the creepy older Moira O'Hara in American Horror Story: Murder House, so I was intrigued when her casting was announced. As the Joker's mom, or perhaps adopted mom, she first appears to suffer from some sort of dementia, but the implication of her being severely mentally ill gives weight to Arthur being her natural son and passing that illness onto him genetically.
THOMAS WAYNE -- As the newest Thomas Wayne, Brett Cullen's big scene is when Arthur confronts him in a restroom about being his father. For the first time, Thomas Wayne is depicted in an unsympathetic manner as a rich elitist looking to achieve power as Gotham's mayor instead of a rich doctor using his fortune to make Gotham a better place. Dirtying up Thomas' character helped to sell the ambiguity of whether Arthur is his son, but might come off as horribly out of character to diehard Batfans.
ALFRED PENNYWORTH -- Douglas Hodge turns up as the latest Alfred in the unnerving scene where Arthur shows up at Wayne Manor and meets young Bruce. Unfortunately, because Hodge looks nothing like Alfred, especially with his full beard, you can easily mistake the character for a random security guy protecting the front gate.
BRUCE WAYNE -- We have another Batman, or at least another young Bruce Wayne, this time in Dante Pereira-Olson. In the scene noted above, this still-innocent Bruce gets lured to the front gate by Arthur, and then in a really disturbing moment, forcibly made to smile when Arthur insert his fingers into the corners of Bruce's mouth. Comic book writers and artists are going to love recycling that imagery when creating future Batman comics.
MARTHA WAYNE -- Carrie Louise Putrello becomes the latest Martha to be shot dead in Crime Alley and have her pearl necklace ripped from her neck. That's it. Even though this is a film about the Joker and not Batman, would it have killed Phillips to make Martha as much of a character as Thomas?
All in all, Joker isn't a film for everyone, certainly not for young Batman fans, but it's one that gives a good look at extreme mental illness, represented by the classic DC Comics supervillain who embodies it so well. After so many comic book movies, Joker is that far-too-rare standalone comic book film that transcends shared cinematic universes and instead delivers art and a good amount of social commentary. Even better, it makes you stop and think about what you just watched, as opposed to waiting impatiently for the post-credits bonus scene that sets up the next superhero movie.
ALFRED PENNYWORTH -- Douglas Hodge turns up as the latest Alfred in the unnerving scene where Arthur shows up at Wayne Manor and meets young Bruce. Unfortunately, because Hodge looks nothing like Alfred, especially with his full beard, you can easily mistake the character for a random security guy protecting the front gate.
BRUCE WAYNE -- We have another Batman, or at least another young Bruce Wayne, this time in Dante Pereira-Olson. In the scene noted above, this still-innocent Bruce gets lured to the front gate by Arthur, and then in a really disturbing moment, forcibly made to smile when Arthur insert his fingers into the corners of Bruce's mouth. Comic book writers and artists are going to love recycling that imagery when creating future Batman comics.
MARTHA WAYNE -- Carrie Louise Putrello becomes the latest Martha to be shot dead in Crime Alley and have her pearl necklace ripped from her neck. That's it. Even though this is a film about the Joker and not Batman, would it have killed Phillips to make Martha as much of a character as Thomas?
All in all, Joker isn't a film for everyone, certainly not for young Batman fans, but it's one that gives a good look at extreme mental illness, represented by the classic DC Comics supervillain who embodies it so well. After so many comic book movies, Joker is that far-too-rare standalone comic book film that transcends shared cinematic universes and instead delivers art and a good amount of social commentary. Even better, it makes you stop and think about what you just watched, as opposed to waiting impatiently for the post-credits bonus scene that sets up the next superhero movie.
And for those who may be wondering, here's the updated list of my Top 20 Comic Book Films:
1. Superman (1978)
2. The Dark Knight (2008)
3. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
4. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
5. The Avengers (2012)
6. Batman Begins (2005)
7. Joker (2019)
7. Joker (2019)
8. Logan (2017)
9. Black Panther (2018)
9. Black Panther (2018)
10. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
11. Man of Steel (2013)
12. Captain America: Civil War (2016)
13. Doctor Strange (2016)
14. Wonder Woman (2017)
15. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
16. Spider-Man (2002)
17. Aquaman (2018)
18. Iron Man (2008)
19. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
20. Watchmen (2009)
20. Watchmen (2009)