Arkham Asylum would make for a pretty fascinating (and potentially gruesome) film, would definitely need to tone it down a lot.

I still want to see a Court of Owls film (short version: a secret society in Gotham has been controlling the city since it's inception).

Not sure what I want to see next. I've played all of the Batman games which were pointed out earlier as rightfully badass in their own right.

This will be considered a dumb opinion by most but those are equivalent to movies to me. In that regard, Arkham has been done in my mind and I don't need to see that live action. Frankly don't think a film can even equal what's been done on the games.

So, that pretty much leads to Court of Owls for me.

Court of Owls appear to be the primary story of the new Gotham Knights game

Just thinking out loud…

Nolan went three years between BB (2005) and TDK (2008), then four years between TDK and TDKR (2012).

Reeves managed three years between Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017).

Reeves then planned on taking three years to make The Batman, starting to write in 2018, with the final product originally scheduled for summer 2021, before the pandemic hit.

So, taking all that into account, I'm hoping/assuming it's three, not four years, until we get the sequel. I don't think there's any way we get it in two years, like with the Dune sequel. So summer 2025 is probably the best bet, MAYBE fall/holiday 2024, though.

Just stumbled across this trailer, hadn't seen this before... wow, this looks badass




Note - this is NOT a sequel to the Arkham series and is a different iteration apparently

In trying to think thematically, like a writer/director, there's a way that a Court of Owls story could definitely work in the sequel. Basically, after the flood, the future of Gotham now hangs in the balance. It has the opportunity at a fresh start, can be something new, different, better, etc. So, in a movie in which the FUTURE of Gotham could play a big role, it would make thematic sense to simultaneously dig into its PAST. As in, an examination of sorts as to how it come to be so bad, corrupt, etc, and then reconning with that, not wanting to repeat past mistakes. Plus, you know that in the wake of the flood, when "the system," as secretive and in the shadows as it might be, is being threatened like never before, the Court of Owls would fight tooth and nail to keep their power/influence. But now they're up against an adversary they didn't have to face before; not just Batman... Bruce Wayne. Who is no longer a recluse, but a public figure now hell bent not just on cleaning the streets (via Batman) but rebuilding the them as well, via Bruce.

Sex Panther said:

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Just stumbled across this trailer, hadn't seen this before... wow, this looks badass




Note - this is NOT a sequel to the Arkham series and is a different iteration apparently

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It's sort of the spiritual successor to the Arkham series. Batman is dead, etc. Looks like the gameplay will be very similar.

The Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League game is in the Arkhamverse, though.

TCTTS said:

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In trying to think thematically, like a writer/director, there's a way that a Court of Owls story could definitely work in the sequel. Basically, after the flood, the future of Gotham now hangs in the balance. It has the opportunity at a fresh start, can be something new, different, better, etc. So, in a movie in which the FUTURE of Gotham could play a big role, it would make thematic sense to simultaneously dig into its PAST. As in, an examination of sorts as to how it come to be so bad, corrupt, etc, and then reconning with that, not wanting to repeat past mistakes. Plus, you know that in the wake of the flood, when "the system," as secretive and in the shadows as it might be, is being threatened like never before, the Court of Owls would fight tooth and nail to keep their power/influence. But now they're up against an adversary they didn't have to face before; not just Batman... Bruce Wayne. Who is no longer a recluse, but a public figure now hell bent not just on cleaning the streets (via Batman) but rebuilding the them as well, via Bruce.

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Seems like plagiarism considering we are watching this movie right now in real life.

Didn't we kinda just get a secret and corrupt cabal of powerful people? Like is Court of Owls different enough?

I wouldn't consider the Court of Owls to be corrupt, but I do get your point.

They're definitely nefarious and more of a shadow government that runs Gotham in secret, whereas the villains in The Batman were just part of a corrupt conspiracy with their own self interests.

The line of "Falcone's been mayor for 20 years" by Kenzie gives off too similar of a vibe to a shadow government for sure.

Great point.

If you haven't read the Arkham Asylum graphic novel it's definitely worth a read.

For one the artwork is beautiful (it ranges in style and has a lot of panels with a hand painted feel), but it's also a brutal and fascinating story. It really doesn't feel like it's happening all in one location the way the story progresses.

If you do a movie that takes place entirely in Arkham, you are essentially making a horror movie at that point. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it's a risky move.

A couple panels...

YouBet said:

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If you do a movie that takes place entirely in Arkham, you are essentially making a horror movie at that point. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it's a risky move.

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Shutter Island with Batman Dicaprio

Could be you start in Gotham, then Batman's investigation takes him into Arkham and he gets trapped there when the inmates take over the prison, a la The Raid.

Arkham looked kind of spare in The Batman though - was it on an island, or look big? I can't really remember.

Don't disagree, though The Batman was definitely a darker (and more accurate) take on the character to start with. It would actually be sort of refreshing to have a superhero film be really dark for an actual reason other than "not Marvel".

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Damn, that's pretty good actually.

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I would love it, but it might be a better title for the end of this current rendition. First one is all about who is the Batman to Gotham, and then you end the series with who is Bruce Wayne to Gotham.

At this point I'm convinced it has to be "The Batman: [Whatever]." Like helloimustbegoing said, gotta stick with brand recognition at this point.

YouBet said:

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If you do a movie that takes place entirely in Arkham, you are essentially making a horror movie at that point. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it's a risky move.

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God, that is such a badass movie.

I was thinking the exact same thing, when the Arkham idea was mentioned.

Quad Dog said:

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YouBet said:

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If you do a movie that takes place entirely in Arkham, you are essentially making a horror movie at that point. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it's a risky move.

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I'm interested...

You guys touched on it earlier with the discussion if the slow walk was to mask awkward armor

But can we talk about the batsuit? I like that it seemed more armor than ninja garb (I never saw him toss a smoke bomb) and somewhat prototype-ish.

We had the taserfist (not to be confused with taserface), detachable batarang on his chest (but never thrown, IIRC), the wingsuit, the grapple gun, camera contact lenses, and of course, the bullet proof armor. Did I miss anything?

It was a very nice batsuit and I liked that the bat ears were taller

In complete agreement. This bat suit really grew on me. There's also a picture going around that I can't find right now, comparing all the cinematic bat cowls, and I really love how this one opened up his face/jawline more, and allowed a lot more expression by default. I get the need to want to hide his face/identity as much as possible, but it makes a world of different when it's more open, like this one is. It just looks a lot cooler too.

I just watched it on HBO over the last 3 days (too long.. had to watch it in spurts).

As a guy who is not a Batman fanboy, I thought it was okay. I would rank it here (haven't seen the Ben Affleck movies):

1) TDK
2) BB
3) this one
4) TDKR
....
5) All the pre-Nolan batman movies. (order doesn't matter.. they all sucked)


The good:

1) Cinematography
2) Better batman than Christian Bale (Bale's voice was ridiculous)
3) The car sounded amazing (I still like the Nolan car better in general)

The bad:

1) Way too long
2) As Bruce Wayne, Patterson was worse than Christian Bale. Bale bulked up and looked like he really could be batman. Robert Patterson still looked like an emo vampire.
3) James Gordon was forgettable
4) Unlike the Nolan movies that did a good job of was explain how Batman got all his cool stuff without having a bunch of people knowing about it, this fails in that aspect
5) Bad guy (Riddler) was too clairvoyant.
6) racial wokism already discussed
7) Catwoman is too powerful (true of every every movie she is in.. she'd get her ass kicked IRL)
8) Michael Caine was a better Alfred
9) All the best scenes were in the trailer

A big deal was made of him not "bulking up", which translates to not using anabolic steroids, and people were mostly supportive. I agree though, him looking average didn't seem to fit. You'd think he'd be able to to channel all that angst into lifting some weights.

Not necessarily a body builder, but at least look like he could kick MY ass. I'm not convinced of that, and I'm a ~50 dude with a dad bod.