Fans of the film and those who are waiting for it to hit streaming can enjoy Matt Reeves' take on the Caped Crusader. The three-hour run time will be more enjoyable with the magic of a pause button, compared to sitting in the middle of a packed IMAX screening, knowing that a snack or bathroom break is out of the question. Not speaking from experience here. Colin Farrell is getting his own spin-off series starring the Penguin, which will set a precedent for DC films. It could get a bit confusing as the CW is the home of the DC universe of television shows, and there was also Fox'sGotham, which had a dedicated fanbase. DC and Warner Bros. are constantly expanding their slate of DC heroes, most recently announcing an Aqualad series and a Wonder Twins movie, on screens both large. There is a continued evolution at play. WarnerMedia has merged with Discovery and there is chatter about the company rethinking its WB properties. David Zaslav, the CEO of the combined companies, and top leadership have been toying with the idea of turning DC into its own solidified content vertical. With that in mind, we're going to explore a future path that we think really applies to Batman: perhaps he should take up permanent residence on streaming. Batman has more history on TV than the other superheros. The Batman live-action series was a big draw for ABC in the 60s, thanks to all those families watching on their color TVs. Batman was the first show where a lot of people met Batman's famous rogues via the show's villain-of-the-week format; each one hit differently. Everyone wanted more of them. WB knows that it is why the Penguin series is going to streaming soon. If The Batman had taken its style from West and company, what would it look like? David F. Sandberg is the director of Shazam.
Batman ‘66 and Batman: The Animated Series
In the early 1990s, with Batman: The Animated Series, Bruce Timm, Kevin Altieri, Paul Dini, and Alan Burnett proved that animation can be more than just for kids. The characters were treated with care as the storylines were adapted from comic arcs. The show got better and better with every re-introduction of the villains and heroes. The animated series spawned its own film, which many consider to be the best Batman film of all time. In an interview with Premiere France, Robert Pattinson said that The Batman shares more with the animated film than previous live action takes, particularly in regards to the main character. The Batman does not capture the inner bubbling of the character.
When Tim Burton's Batman was released in 1989, the character was well-known in the comic books and the Adam West show, but his profile increased by the time Batman Returns was released in 1992. It was a job and then the next one was a job, which is why Burton and Keaton did not return for a third film. George Clooney would play Batman and Robin, followed by Val Kilmer in Batman and Robin. The films that ended up being stand-alones were the ones that both did.
The mandate of really rooting superheros within their comic book mythology became a requirement in pop culture after Blade, X-Men, and Spider-Man. Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer created a more grounded and true to the character interpretation of Batman. The action in set pieces that were shot to be seen on the biggest screens was heightened by the Dark Knight saga. Nolan's version was followed by a vision for a more mythological approach to Batman with Ben Affleck, who once hoped to bring a bit of James Bond flavor to a Batfleck film.
It was around this time that the meeting took place and the decision was made not to direct the film. He wanted to do something more personal, which is what he eventually got to do, after they waited for him.
We got The Batman in 2022. The biggest release of the year arrived with the return to theatergoing. The three-hour film played well on its screens, even though it wasn't shot on IMAX. We went for repeat viewings, and while we are suggesting that Batman should take up more space on streaming, we are not ruling out getting excited over future movies. We don't think Warner Bros. and DC will either. Since a big critique of the film was its length, with ticket prices for better presentations of the film running around $25 or higher in some cases, your time is money in the theater and needing to leave for the bathroom or snacks can cost you, not to mention paying more for a sitter. The film's box office suggests that Batman will put people in theater seats, but it's only three hours. If it must be a story that needs to be told in the cinema, bring back the interval for any more than two and a half hours or split it in two.
Does Batman need to be a cinematic mainstay? The 60s show and the animated series, which went past the camp, really propelled its own stories in ways that fit a world likeGotham and its rogues versus the Batman. The series fit more of the world ofGotham by not being limited to the character of the Clown Prince of Crime, as the films have been.
It's odd that the show has no official title, which leads me to believe that Batman isn't completely off the table. The noir aspects of the film combined with the pacing really felt closer to how one would enjoy a limited series on streaming. Both feature theatrical names, and both are examples of how contained cinematic arcs can be successfully expanded into stories with longer arcs that work better across multiple episodes.
With a film slate that's positioning itself to give us more Michael Keaton as Batman, and the current obsession with multiverses reaching critical mass, there's no telling who might do the Bat-suit again. The thought of seeing the Batman in action makes me uneasy. I like a Batman who isn't just a strategist, or a General Batman who has to bring the Justice League together. It was more of a thing for the man and maybe he will be moving forward.
Is he as Batman? He should be left with the rogues. We can't wait for the Penguin show to give us a more in depth look at him. Let him get into that build on Hush or more Long Halloween. Let's add more villains for the love of the city. Let's add more to the movie. Let's build a 10-episode series about Batman being an honest-to-goodness detective, and see how much better and more satisfying that will be. We would tune in and then... We would show up for the same films in the same universe. We will not turn down more Batman. With the space that TV allows, a deeper dive into the character could help make him feel more like a real person.
You can create your own series experience, complete with all the snack breaks you need, because The Batman is now streaming.
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