News

Among the slate of movies and TV shows arriving on HBO Max in July, there are titles in every genre. From blockbusters to subtle indie flicks, the content is set to freshen up the platform next month.

In the superhero genre, Batman is taking center stage in multiple animated titles, from Batman: Year One to Assault on Arkham and more.

Tim Story's 2005 version of Fantastic Four, starring Jessica Alba and Chris Evans, is also arriving on HBO Max. Justice League and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider are also imminently dropping. And then there's Superman, starring the late Christopher Reeve.

Quentin Tarantino's Kill ...

Jim Dandy Kirsten Howard Sep 28, 2017

The cogs on the TV adaptation of the much-loved Deadly Class comic have started moving again, over at Syfy...

Rick Remender and Wes Craig's Deadly Class, which was announced as being under development for television at the last San Diego Comic Con by Marvel golden boys the Russo brothers, has been optioned to pilot by Syfy, according to a report in Deadline.

The comic, which follows a group of teenagers as they attend a high school for assassins and make their way through San Francisco's late '80s punk scene, has been published by Image Comics since 2014. The book focuses on Marcus Lopez, a homeless Nicaraguan teen who gets recruited for the school. His first decision as a student is to kill Ronald Reagan, and that's somehow the least bad decision he makes in the entire book.

The newly-ordered pilot will be written by Remender and Miles Feldstott.

The Gotham season 4 premiere saw Bruce Wayne take more steps in his vigilante journey, and they follow Frank Miller's Batman: Year One comics.

Before Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice was even a glint in Zack Snyder’s eye, Darren Aronofsky was plotting to make a big screen version of Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One. Over the years, though, we’ve seen many proposed superhero movies fail to make it past the development stages, and sadly, this was one of those.

Unfortunately, the studio became more enamoured with the idea of a big-budget project featuring both the Caped Crusader and Man of Steel rather than a low-budget Batman solo film. And although Batman V Superman wouldn’t see the light of day (in that form anyway) for quite a while, many of the components of Batman: Year One would find their way into Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. That film ended up being quite different to what Aronofsky had in mind, of course, and as such, many still wonder how things would...

Thanks to the current trend for ‘what if’ comic-book flicks, abandoned concepts from Tim Burton and Darren Aronofsky now look far less bizarre

Hollywood history is littered with the corpses of unmade superhero movies, destined only ever to be mentioned when a franchise slips into decay and is looking for a fresh way to breathe life into Superman, Batman, Spider-Man or whichever masked titan has currently hit the skids. And so it is perhaps inevitable this week that we are once again locked in the DC mortuary, staring at what might have been if Tim Burton and Darren Aronofsky had been allowed to pursue their respective superhero visions in what now seems like another era entirely.

Few would argue that either the caped crusader or the man of steel is currently top of the DC tree, following the meat-headed, convoluted mess that was last year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

There’ve been many scrapped Batman movies over the years, but one of the most fascinating is Darren Aronofsky’s Batman: Year One.

Loosely based on Frank Miller’s seminal comic book, the film would have told a radically different origin story for the Dark Knight than what we’re used to. Notable elements include depicting Bruce Wayne as a street punk with hockey pads and a baton and Alfred the butler being recast as a young African-American car mechanic.

While promoting his latest effort, Jennifer Lawrence vehicle mother!, Aronofsky revealed some new interesting details on what he would have done with the Caped Crusader. It turns out he even had a specific actor in mind to play the part.

“I always wanted Joaquin Phoenix for Batman,” said the director.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Phoenix has been linked with a superhero role. We’ve previously seen...

Had Darren Aronofsky's Batman: Year One movie moved forward, the director had a specific candidate in mind to don the cape and cowl.

Darren Aronofsky has revealed he would have wanted Gladiator star Joaquin Phoenix to star as Bruce Wayne in his planned Batman: Year One film.

Before Christopher Nolan gave Batman a gritty makeover and Zack Snyder doubled down on the grimdark take, there was Darren Aronofsky and his shelved Batman: Year One project. The project, which drew inspiration from Frank Miller‘s similarly-titled comic book, envisioned a Travis Bickle-like Bruce Wayne who grew up an orphan in the crime-ridden streets of Gotham, donning a ski mask, cape, and […]

The post Darren Aronofsky Says the Joker Origin Movie Sounds Similar to His Batman Pitch appeared first on /Film.

Before Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice was even a glint in Zack Snyder’s eye, Darren Aronofsky was plotting to make a big screen version of Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One. Over the years, though, we’ve seen many proposed superhero movies fail to make it past the development stages, and sadly, this is one of those.

Although the script was co-written by Miller, the movie would have played fast and loose with the character’s history. It would have seen Bruce made homeless after his parents are killed and taken in by African-American mechanic Little Al (a version of Alfred). Rather than the usual billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne, we would have got a gritty, street-level Batman, who drove around in a souped-up Lincoln Convertible and whose gadgets consisted of throwing acid in people’s faces.

Speaking about what could’ve been a while back, Miller had this...

While one of the core themes of Gotham is undoubtedly that of Bruce Wayne’s journey to becoming Batman, it’s important we not forget that it’s Ben McKenzie, not David Mazouz, who gets top billing on the prequel series. As such, it’s only understandable that we follow the exploits of Jim Gordon for a good amount of time.

Since the very beginning, the man destined to become the metropolis’ top cop has had quite the interesting relationship with the Penguin, to put it mildly. Yes, they’ve each gotten each other out of some jams – in some morally questionable ways, I might add – but it’s undeniable that Gordon has held up his end quite begrudgingly, likely hoping to see Oswald Cobblepot permanently take up residence in a place such as Arkham Asylum or Blackgate Prison.

When recently speaking with DC All Access, executive producer John Stephens...

Fox has released a new promo spot for Gotham Season 4 and it shows us a couple pretty cool things! We get to see young Bruce Wayne get closer to becoming Batman and we see him wearing very early prototype black crime fighting Batman suit with a mask. The trailer also offers us a crazy new glimpse at the Scarecrow, who is being played by Charlie Tahan.

I don't know about you, but I'm excited for the return of Gotham and I'm looking forward to seeing how young Bruce Wayne's journey to becoming Batman continues to play out!

The season premiere of Season 4 of the series is called "A License To Kill" and this is the plot description:

Gordon fears Jonathan Crane (guest star Charlie Tahan) is still alive and back in Gotham, when The Scarecrow’s signature Mo is used in a series of robberies. Meanwhile, Penguin’s “licensing” of...

This week, DC and Warner Bros. made a startling announcement: they are going to begin making films that are not set within the larger DC Extended Universe, instead launching a second, new banner for “elseworld” stories such as the already announced Joker origin film set in the ‘80s. Before this announcement, DC was full steam ahead with a cohesive movie universe not unlike Marvel Studios’ own Marvel Cinematic Universe, meaning every movie from Batman V Superman to Justice League to The Batman would all be part of one larger narrative, the same way the Captain America trilogy, The Avengers, and even Doctor Strange are all connected. It is the age of the movie universe, and DC is second only to Marvel in developing their own, with four movies already released, starting with 2013’s Man of Steel, and two more officially in production, this November’s Justice League and next year’s Aquaman.

Having already generously broadened the series’ scope by adding characters such as the Thinker, Elongated Man and Hazard to the highly anticipated fourth season, the producers of The Flash aren’t wasting any time when it comes to further mining the DC pantheon. What makes their latest addition to the cast especially exciting is that the actress they’ve managed to secure is somebody already well known to the geek community.

Believe it or not, Greg Berlanti and company have managed to lock down none other than Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica, Batman: Year One), who has found herself cast in the role of Amunet Black/Blacksmith. Said to be a recurring character, Entertainment Weekly describes her as “a steely and badass boss of an underground black market for supervillains. Amunet uses every means possible, including the long list of metahumans under her thumb, to ensure her illicit enterprise thrives.”

From that,...

A few weeks ago we learned that Frank Miller was going to be working on a new comic book called Superman: Year One. He explained at the time that this would allow him to finally have a meaningful crack at Superman. He also said that it would tell his origin story.

"It’s telling his beginnings from when Pa Kent discovered him in the cornfield, and the little boy goes to youth, and then to manhood."

According to artist John Romita Jr., though, it's not really an origin story. During a DC Comics Metal Panel, he talked about what he knows of the upcoming comic saying:

"I’ve seen the reactions online about, ‘Oh, my God, here we go, another Superman origin,’ and it’s not really the origin retelling. It’s after the origin, it’s after he lands, what happens between the time he lands and the time he realizes what he is.

Comic book writer and artist Frank Miller believes he’s never had a “meaningful crack at Superman.” He’s now taking his shot with a new Superman project. The author of The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City, and Batman: Year One is revolving his Superman story around the Man of Steel’s younger years. “It’s telling his beginnings from when Pa Kent […]

The post Frank Miller’s ‘Superman: Year One’ Isn’t a Retelling of Supe’s Origin Story appeared first on /Film.

Bruce Wayne made some big leaps towards his transformation into the Dark Knight in Gotham Season 3 and that is going to continue in Season 4. His full transformation isn't going to happen anytime soon, but it will eventually happen.

When talking about Bruce's transformation, showrunner John Stephens had this to say during the Gotham panel at Comic-Con.

“He will wear body armor and grappling hooks, but he will not be Batman. It’s a little more of a Batman: Year One in a different setting.”

I always loved the Batman: Year One story arc and I think it's so cool that they are drawing inspiration from that with Gotham. He went on to tease other elements of Bruce Wayne that we'll see in the upcoming season, like how he learned to be a playboy.

“I’d say visually, when you look at what Bruce is going to be doing this season,...

Having aired on Monday nights for its first three seasons, it’s quite understandable that Fox would want to hammer home the point that Gotham is moving to Thursdays this fall. In fact, the new promo that can be viewed above states it so repeatedly that it’s pretty much impossible to forget by now. Unfortunately, they didn’t include the exact date of the premiere, so we’ll again remind you that it was recently moved up to September 21.

In related news, we learned earlier this week which classic comic book story arcs will have the greatest influence on season 4. As it turns out, Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s The Long Halloween will provide generous inspiration for the first half, while Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s Batman: Year One will do so for the second.

To be completely honest, we’re right there with you in wondering...

If enduring Gotham‘s summer hiatus has been especially hard for you, then know that some of the news we’re discussing today should please you. You’re still going to have to wait a while for season 4 to premiere, but Fox has decided to move the Batman prequel series’ returning episode up by one week. In other words, the next leg of Bruce Wayne’s journey will now commence on Thursday, September 21 (via Coming Soon).

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about what’s to come on the show itself. By now, it’s certainly no secret that Gotham is a bold retelling of the Dark Knight’s beginnings – oftentimes its reassembling of the parts is to the chagrin of staunch purists – but the producers do have to look to the source material here and there for inspiration.

Thanks to Cbr, we’re...

While fans of the Dark Knight have certainly had a lot to endure this past week by being pulled in opposite directions when it comes to who to believe regarding Ben Affleck’s involvement in The Batman, all we can really do as moviegoers is sit back and hope for the best film possible – and ponder what may lie beyond.

Now, I’m not one to rule out Affleck hanging around for at least one solo flick in order to truly leave his stamp on the enduring icon, but the fact of the matter is that he’s not getting any younger. Plus, we have to take into account that Reeves is said to be mapping out a trilogy, so, if you figure the two subsequent installments will arrive two or three years apart from each other, that’s quite the commitment for an aging actor to make. Still, it’s not impossible or unwelcome,...

Season 4 of Gotham will be based around The Long Halloween and Batman: Year One, bringing the seminal graphic novels to the small screen.

If you’re a superhero animation junkie just as we are, then you’re likely aware that this is about the time when we learn the names of the next three DC Universe movies set to be released the following year. Usually, all are revealed at San Diego Comic-Con, but sometimes Blu-ray packaging lets the cat out of the bag early when it comes to one of them. As you can guess, such is the case with Batman: Gotham by Gaslight.

When it comes to this particular leak, you have the back cover to the upcoming Batman and Harley Quinn Blu-ray to thank for that. As you can plainly see below, it’ll contain a “sneak peek” featurette that’ll serve as our first look at the adaptation for one of the Dark Knight’s most popular re-imaginings.

For those unfamiliar, Gotham by Gaslight was originally released in 1989 and...

Burbank, CA (June 28, 2017) – Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and DC Entertainment celebrate a decade of heroic animation with the release of the DC Universe Original Movies: 10th Anniversary Collection, a comprehensive box set of all 30 films, 5 animated shorts, new special features and exclusive collectible items coming November 7, 2017 to Blu-ray™. The entire 30-film set will also be available on Digital starting August 15, 2017.

Launched in 2007 with the landmark release of Superman Doomsday, the DC Universe Original Movies are based on or inspired by storylines and/or characters from within the ever-expanding DC library. Produced by DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, the stories range from films based upon iconic DC Super Hero stories (Superman Doomsday, Justice League: The New Frontier, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: The Killing Joke) to films inspired by themes from within DC history (Batman vs. Robin was inspired by “The Court of Owls,” Superman vs. The Elite was...

Warner Bros. is putting together one monumental box set in honor of the 10th Anniversary of the DC Animated Universe! Find out what all is included!

While Wonder Woman may be putting the DC Entertainment Universe back on track, there is DC content that Warner Bros. and DC have never had a problem with, the animated DC Original Movies. In fact, their movies have been touted as being better than Marvel's, which is no small feat.

As a way of honoring the success of the DC Animated films turning 10, this year, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has created a box set the likes we never could've fathomed.

On November 7, 2017, WB will release the DC Universe Original Movies: 10th Anniversary Collection on Blu-Ray. The collection includes all 30 Animated movies, 5 shorts, new special features, and exclusive collectible items. The Digital version will release much earlier on August 15, 2017.

Unfortunately, a price point has not been issued yet,...

If you're a fan of Batman and the films that have been made based on the legendary character, I've got a fascinating video for you to watch today. The video comes from Looper, and it takes us through the history of every cancelled Batman movie that never made it to the big screen. There were a few film productions listed here that I didn't know much about and this video filled me in on some interesting information.

The Caped Crusader's ongoing film saga ranks among the top five highest-grossing movie franchises in the United States. But he's also faced his share of setbacks along the way. For every Bat-blockbuster that made its way to theaters, there's a take on the character that unceremoniously died in development. Here's the history behind every one of those canceled Batman movies…

The film project listed in the video include The Batman, Robin's spinoff, Batman: Unchained,...

I don’t keep up with superhero comics anymore — I have to admit that. Astro City was probably the last thing in that vein I read regularly, and even that was only as “regularly” as Astro City itself was…and that’s not very. Eventually, I even soured on that comic.

At some point in your life, you either realize that punching people is not the solution to problems, or you become a full-blown psychopath. For all my flaws, I’m on the first path.

All that is to explain why I never bothered to read the Hawkeye run written by Matt Fraction and mostly drawn by David Aja, despite it being pretty much assumed to be the best superhero comic while it was coming out (2012-15). Even if something is the obvious best sushi in the world, it doesn’t matter if your taste for seafood has gone.

But time marches on, and curiosity keeps building. And there’s always time for one more book, especially one that’s a few years old and no longer the hot new thing. So I finally did get to the hardcover collecting the first half of that Fraction-Aja Hawkeye run — eleven issues of that series, plus a loosely related issue of Young Avengers Presents as a kind of flashback.

(That Young Avengers Presents issue comes off very badly by comparison, even with strong art from long-time expert ink-slinger Alan Davis. It’s very much Yet Another Superhero Story, in the middle of a big stupid story that people didn’t even care that much about at the time, with the bog-standard angst and drama and Whining About the Relationship. It’s everything “good superhero comics” usually are, and a major exemplar of why I stopped reading that crap. In a nutshell, it’s a story about costumes being moved around a chessboard, not about people or real relationships.)

The main Hawkeye story, though, is about people. Mostly Clint Barton, the least of the Avengers, whose origin is a bizarre amalgam of Robin I and Green Arrow and whose “power” is just being good at shooting arrows. And who isn’t actually all that good at the living-normal-life thing, for reasons Fraction wisely doesn’t explore — he just takes Barton as the overgrown boy he is, stumbling through his own life like a bull in a china shop, getting into trouble just because that’s what he does when left to his own devices. The trouble here is mostly about a Brooklyn tenement that he semi-accidentally bought (with stolen money from the Marvel Universe’s biggest gangsters), to drive away a low-rent Russian gang he calls the Tracksuit Draculas. Again, his plans mostly don’t work, or don’t work right, and he needs to be saved repeatedly by the women in his life. Which brings us to….

There’s also a newer, younger, female Hawkeye — always have to have a non-cishet-swm person in the costume these days, and pretend that person will “always” be the “real” holder of the shiny superhero title, as if we haven’t seen a million “always” melt away in a million comics. (I think that’s mostly cynical audience-pandering, but it’s hard to tell in individual cases — and every superhero-universe character gets handled by so many people that they turn into river-stones, rubbed down to an essence that no one person intended.) She’s Kate Bishop, and I have no idea why she’s so good at shooting arrows, or why she went into the superhero game — she seems to have as few powers as Barton, and many more options. (She’s some variety of rich girl, as far as I can tell.)

But this is a superhero universe, so dressing up in tight spandex to jump around rooftops and beat up thugs is just what you do. Apparently no other entertainment media exist in this world, so this is the only thing to do to keep oneself occupied.

These are, as I said, mostly low-level superheroics. Neither Hawkeye saves the world, and the globe-trotting is more spycraft than Galactus-defeating. Aja’s art is perfectly suited for that level, and tells the story brilliantly, well aided by Matt Hollingsworth’s colors. (There’s also a two-issue story by Javier Pulido and a single issue by Francesco Francavilla here — both are good, but flashier than Aja and so they stand out too much for my taste.) Aja reminds me of nothing so much as David Mazzucchelli’s classic superhero period, particularly Daredevil and Batman: Year One. There’s a similar grounded-ness, with thin lines that frame often violent action without rationalizing it — keeping it shocking and unexpected even in the middle of a story designed to showcase violent action. It’s strongly compliments Fraction’s similarly grounded writing: both of them are committed to telling a story about people in a real world, moving through real space, whose actions have consequences and who bleed and feel and curse and laugh and wryly shake their heads.

Aja also delights in complex page layouts — or his ability energizes Fraction to create them, either way it’s a strong collaboration — which make the world part of the story, and not just flat backdrops for more punching. An issue told from the Pov of a dog is particularly impressive, and probably hugely well-known by this point.

You don’t need to read Hawkeye. You never need to read any superhero comic, no matter what they tell you. But, if you do want to read about superheroes., this is miles closer to the real world than most.

Reposted from The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

When we think of the great directors that have lent their talents to the Batman film franchise, odds are that either Tim Burton or Christopher Nolan immediately spring to mind. And although Joel Schumacher is a highly competent filmmaker, Batfans the world over never hesitate to spew venom at the man who brought us Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. Well, more so for the latter. The former actually is adored by a decent amount of people.

Now, we’re not here to criticize Batman & Robin because I could probably do that all day (if you’ve read our 20 year retrospective on the film, you’d know that I nearly damn well did just that). What we’re actually here to do is to ponder what could have been had Schumacher been given license to make the movie he wanted to.

Having read that statement, you might be confused, but let it be known that Schumacher was kind of a hired gun that made a couple movies with a family friendly tone that WB thought Burton’s Batman Returns lacked, lest they not move enough toys. The truth, however, is that he always wanted to adapt Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One to the big screen, something that came very close to happening several years later under the watch of Darren Aronofsky.

Still, that hasn’t stopped some from thinking Schumacher had a script ready to go, which he wasn’t afraid to shoot down in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter:

“I remember a few journalists calling me and saying, ‘There’s a rumor that you felt you never got to make your Batman movie and that you had a secret script. And that you were going to shoot that.’ Well that’s all fantasy.”

What’s even more interesting – and something this writer who has a doctorate in Batmanology isn’t afraid to admit he didn’t know – is that Schumacher wanted to make a movie focused squarely on Arkham Asylum. While it’s unclear if he intended to base it on Grant Morrison’s graphic novel of the same name, this is a bit of trivia that I’ll forever mentally file away.

“I always wanted to do a whole Arkham movie, and did a scene at the end of Batman Forever when Jim is in a straitjacket and Nicole [Kidman] comes to see him. And it was just a nod to back to Arkham asylum which I love, and I thought it would be fun to put the other villains up there.”

Although I’ll be eternally grateful to Nolan for giving us The Dark Knight Trilogy, that doesn’t mean I’ll stop wondering what would’ve happened had Schumacher been afforded the opportunity to clear his name after Batman & Robin. Do you think he would have been redeemable? Sound off in the usual place below!

Written by Jeph Loeb | Art by Tim Sale | Colorist Gregory Wright | Published by DC Comics

Synopis: Taking place during Batman’s early days of crime fighting, this new edition of the classic mystery tells the story of a mysterious killer who murders his prey only on holidays. Working with District Attorney Harvey Dent and Lieutenant James Gordon, Batman races against the calendar as he tries to discover who Holiday is before he claims his next victim each month. A mystery that has the reader continually guessing the identity of the killer, this story also ties into the events that transform Harvey Dent into Batman’s deadly enemy, Two-Face.

My Background:

Some may stop reading right now but I have not read a lot of Batman comics. I have read nearly all of Sndyer’s run along with everything Rebirth, but some of his most iconic stories I have yet to fully read in their entirety.

While the larger DC film universe trundles along, fighting guys in wing suits and screaming about its various Marthas, the company’s animation branch continues to pump out new films that hearken back to its earlier, less grime-covered days. Earlier this month, we reported that head DC Animated Universe honcho Bruce Timm was writing a new Batman And Harley movie, with beloved Bats actor Kevin Conroy returning to voice Bruce Wayne, and The Big Bang Theory’s Melissa Rauch playing psychologist-turned-lovestruck supervillain Harleen Quinzel.

Now, Comicbook.com reports that Sam Liu will direct the film, the details of which have so-far been withheld. Liu’s an old hand with DC animation, and while his work on last year’s unnecessarily sexualized take on The Killing Joke—also partially written by Timm—might give us pause, his credits also include films like All-Star Superman, Batman: Year One, and an adaptation of...

Burbank, CA (March 28, 2017) — Return to the realm of Amazonian warriors, Greek gods and mythological creatures – all unleashed on modern civilization – as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment honors the world’s greatest female super hero with the release of Wonder Woman: Commemorative Edition. The feature-length, PG-13 rated animated film, one of the best-reviewed entries in the decade-long history of the DC Universe Original Movies (we liked it when the film was first released in 2009), will be distributed on Digital HD on May 2, 2017 and on Blu-rayTM Combo Pack and DVD on May 16, 2017.

Wonder Woman: Commemorative Edition will be available on Blu-ray™ Combo Pack ($24.98 Srp) and DVD ($19.98 Srp) starting May 16, 2017. The Blu-rayTM Combo Pack includes copies of the film on Blu-ray Disc, DVD and Digital HD.

On the mystical island of Themyscira, a proud and fierce warrior race of Amazons have raised a princess of untold beauty, grace and strength – Diana.

Marvel has announced another new Star Wars comic that is definitely going to pique the interest of Darth Vader fans. The comic will focus on the young version of Darth Vader and tell the stories of his early years as a Sith Lord. In fact, the story will pick up at the end of Revenge of the Sith, right after Darth Vader joins Emperor Palpatine in viewing the construction of the Death Star.

The comic is called Darth Vader, and it's being written by Charles Soule with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli. During an interview with IGN, Soule compared his approach to the story to Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s Batman: Year One comic, which told the origins of how Batman went from rookie vigilante to the seasoned Dark Knight. The writer said:

“The book begins one second after the end of Revenge of the Sith. Darth Vader is in...

Written by Frank Miller, illustrated by David Mazzucchelli and colored by Richmond Lewis, the comic book Batman: Year One follows the early crime-fighting career of The Dark Knight. Christopher Nolan’s film Batman Begins borrowed elements from that comic to tell the origin of Batman, and now Darth Vader will get a similar treatment in comic […]

The post Darth Vader’s Early Years and the Origins of His Red Lightsaber Will Be Explored in New Comic appeared first on /Film.

If you have not been following all the Star Wars comics published by Marvel, then you are losing out. Some of these comics, and there have been a few series now, have sold better than the regular Marvel superhero books. As Revenge of the Sith comes to an end, a new book about Darth Vader will be arriving, and in the series we learn quite a lot of new information about Anakin, including the origin of his legendary red Lightsaber.

The book is being written by Charles Soule (the goto guy for Star Wars comics and Batman: Year One) and drawn by Giuseppe Camuncoli (best known for his Spider-Man work, and my favorite is his work on Daken related books). This will be the second Vader book, and it is being thought of as Darth Vader: Year One. IGN was able to get a phone interview with Soule and ask...

Simon Brew Brendon Connelly Feb 14, 2017

Michael Uslan and Benjamin Melniker have producer credits on nearly 40 Batman films – but they only really worked on one, it seems…

If you stick around for the end credits of The Lego Batman Movie, you might notice the names of two people credited as executive producers on the picture. They are Michael Uslan and Benjamin Melniker. Nothing odd there, apart from the small matter of them having absolutely nothing to do with the film. To the best of our knowledge, they had no conversation with director Chris McKay and his team at any time before, during or after the production. But they did pick up a cheque and a credit for their troubles.

Having people listed as executive producers who are ‘hands off’ is nothing particularly fresh, and we looked at just what an executive producer does in this article here.

But what’s interesting...

Concept Art for "Superman: Flyby"

[This Was Originally Posted On May 13. It's The Second In A Multi-Part Series That Lead Editor Mario-Francisco Robles Has Been Working On. He's Finally Prepared To Finish The Series. We'll Be Reposting The Previous Entries In Order To Catch You Up For Both The Finale And The Eventual Book]

Welcome back to a special ongoing look at Warner Bros. and how it's handled its DC Comics properties. It's going to be a weekly, ongoing miniseries here at Lrm. This entry will look at what into relaunching the Batman and Superman franchises, and more. We'll explore all of the interesting parallels and forks in the road that brought us to where the Dceu is today.

Last week, we left off in 1997. Batman And Robin came out and was a huge black eye for Warner Bros., effectively turning what was a once promising franchise into a punchline. It was the fourth installment of that series, and it killed Batman almost as definitively as the fourth Superman film had grounded the Man of Steel exactly 10 years earlier.

But before we can look at how Warner Bros. planned to rebound its DC properties post-1997, we have to...

We all know Zack Snyder is a big Frank Miller fan and took a lot of inspiration for Batman v Superman from Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. But what does Miller think of Snyder's work? He was recently asked and gave some ideas on where the Batman franchise should go. Variety did an interview with the famed creator whose latest work includes another Dark Knight installment - The Master Race - and asked him about Snyder's homage. Have you seen the movie “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”? Yes. And what did you think? I’ll just say: ‘Thanks.’ What can I say? — he laughs — no, actually I’ll withdraw that; I’ll say: ‘You’re welcome!’ Was that a burn? It's hard to tell without hearing his voice, but it reads to me as if he had nothing nice to say and therefore said nothing at all. At...

When it comes to telling Batman stories, comic book writer and artist Frank Miller knows his shit. This guy has written some insanely incredible Batman comics in his day. After all these years of seeing Batman bring to the big screen, have you ever wondered what his take on a Batman film would be? Well, Miller recently sat down with Variety for an interview, and they talked about how Batman: The Dark Knight Returns has influenced the films and asked where he would take the Batman movie franchise if he had a say in the matter. This is what he said:

"My dream would be to make it much smaller. To lose the toys and to focus more on the mission, and to use the city a great deal more. Because he’s got a loving relationship with the city he’s protecting. And unlike Superman his connection to crime...

Frank Miller, who wrote the “Dark Knight” series of comics that helped shape Christopher Nolan’s three Batman movies, was asked about his thoughts on the current state of the character — and how he might alter it — in a new Variety interview. “My dream would be to make it much smaller,” he said, “to lose the toys and to focus more on the mission, and to use the city a great deal more.”

Read More: Joe Manganiello Cast as Deathstroke in Affleck’s ‘Batman’ Film

The city in question is Gotham, which Miller said Batman has “a loving relationship with.” This strikes a contrast to Superman, as the Caped Crusader’s “connection to crime is intimate; it has been ever since his parents were murdered. And he defeats criminals with his hands. So it would be a different take. But it will never be in my hands, because it would...

Starting Nov. 1, HBO subscribers can watch nearly every modern Batman movie leading up to “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” which becomes available on Nov. 26. Fans of the famous Caped Crusader can watch in sequential order, starting with 1989’s “Batman,” starring Michael Keaton as Gotham’s disguised crime fighter. Or, if you want to follow the story sequence, start with the animated “Batman: Year One” — as 2005’s “Batman Begins” isn’t in HBO’s new suite of Bat-tastic offerings. Also Read: Evan Rachel Wood Says 'Westworld' Finale Will Leave 'Your Heart Broken and Your Mind Blown' Here is the list of Batman films.

Mike Cecchini Oct 30, 2016

The man who brought us Dark Knight Returns has some smart thoughts on what Batman movies should be like.

Frank Miller's status as a legendary comic creator was locked in stone 30 years ago, with character-defining work on Daredevil and his industry changing The Dark Knight Returns (with Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley). So much so that the mixed reactions to his more recent work on Batman, such as the possibly unnecessary sequels to The Dark Knight Returns or the unintentionally hilarious All-Star Batman and Robin (not to mention the tone deaf Holy Terror, which was bizarrely intended to be a post-9/11 Batman story before thankfully becoming something else) will never be able to tarnish that.

But make no mistake, Miller still knows his Batman, and he recently revealed where he thinks the Batman franchise should go in order to evolve and set itself apart from the pack.

With Batman now having endured continuous publication since 1939, it comes as no surprise that so many different interpretations exist. I mean, just look at how many directors and actors have brought a different slant to the character in movies alone, the medium from which most people likely know The Dark Knight. And here’s the thing, not one take has actually been “wrong.” Few icons prove to be so malleable while also managing not to stray from their intrinsic characteristics, something that no doubt contributes to the character’s longevity.

One of the most influential creators to ever touch The Batman is undoubtedly Frank Miller, who not only shifted the paradigm for the Caped Crusader in the mid-1980’s with his seminal work The Dark Knight Returns, but also turned an entire industry on its head in one fell swoop.

Even if you haven’t read that graphic novel or any others related to it,...

Image via DC Comics

Fans all have their own opinions on which Batman film is their favorite, or which interpretation of the Caped Crusader is the strongest. Many like Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy, but there's whole lot of love for the Tim Burton original, and don't even get me started on the fans who think Kevin Conroy can do no wrong as the voice of Bruce Wayne. Of course, no fan is wrong. All storytelling and film is ultimately subjective, so something that works for one person may not work for someone else. Any interpretation of Batman -- or any other DC hero -- should be perceived in a similar fashion.

The amazing thing about all these comic book characters, however -- especially on the DC side of things -- is the sheer number of interpretations we've been given. Take a look at the CW interpretation of Superman and put...

DC in the 80s is a Webzine for the DC Comics Fans with an affinity for 80s comics. It’s fun, upbeat and engaging. Justin Francoeur and Mark Belkin keep the fan fires burning with wit and a great degree of nostalgic professionalism. I’m fascinated by the their endeavor, so I reached out to discuss it with them.

Ed Catto: Can you tell me a little bit about the site and how it came about?

Justin Francoeur: My formative years of comic book reading were during the early 80s to the early-to-mid 90s. Roughly six years ago, there wasn’t much on the Internet about DC Comics from the 80s (or it was scattered all over the place and not easy to find) so I decided to make a tumblr blog specifically spotlighting the house ads of that era. There were a lot of ‘buried gems’ in that time...

Comic Books 101: DC Comics-Reading Batman Pt 2

Previously I wrote an article helping new readers figure out the best places to pick up Batman from DC Comics . For those confused or still uncertain about major events in DC Comics (which connect to various “jumping on” points for Batman) I wrote an article detailing the big company altering stories in my history of the DC Universe article. This time around I am going to open up a bit more on the adventures of The Dark Knight, and take a look at some of the bigger, and in my opinion, best stories for potential Batman readers. This will include small and big story lines that exist in various continuities within the DC Comics publication history for the character. There won’t be any set “this is better than that” to the stories listed, simply moments in the characters publication where a...

So, you want to start reading Batman but are completely lost due to the character being around for over seventy-five years, and hundreds of issues and iterations on the character.

Where do you start? What If you only like some of the movie versions? Or maybe the video games?

What’s the New 52? What’s Rebirth?

It can be daunting if you are completely new to the world of comic books or maybe a returning fan that’s been away for a long time. While hardcore fans have probably stuck around for all the various Bat books, most maybe only keep up via Wiki or maybe random postings on sites like Cbr or IGN. Well, fear not, as I will be doing my best to give some insight on iconic Batman storylines essential to the character, along with a brief update on the current state of the character!

So without further ado,...

When they were crafting a screenplay for 2005’s franchise-rebooting Batman Begins, writer David S. Goyer and director Christopher Nolan drew heavily on such DC-published titles as Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One as well as Batman: The Long Halloween and “The Man Who Falls” from Secret Origins. But a new YouTube video suggests that maybe the blockbuster’s biggest inspiration was something else entirely, something completely outside of the canon: 1994’s Richie Rich, directed by journeyman Donald Petrie and starring Macaulay Culkin as an impossibly wealthy child.

The video, “24 Reasons Batman Begins & Richie Rich Are The Same Movie,” comes to us courtesy the YouTube channel Couch Tomato, which specializes in comparing films point by point and discussing their similarities and differences. Its series 24 Reasons is devoted to the former. “All movies are the same,” the channel claims, “so you can’t hate a movie for ...

Ever since his comic book debut in 1939, Batman has emerged as one of the most culturally relevant and beloved superhero characters of all time. His adventures have spanned films, animated series, video games and assorted other multimedia platforms that have expanded his popularity to virtually every demographic, and accordingly, Gotham City has been reimagined as everything from the “Bam! Pow!” campiness of the 1960s TV series to the brooding Dark Knight trilogy. Yet, despite the Caped Crusader’s ubiquity across popular culture, few of his stories have become as controversial as Batman: The Killing Joke.

The 1988 one-shot graphic novel — written by Watchmen genius Alan Moore and illustrated by Brian Bolland — attempts to shed some light on the Joker’s mysterious past, exploring the very concept of what could lead a person to madness. For years, the possibility of an animated adaptation seemed like nothing short of a pipe dream, especially...

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Let me preface by saying that I really did like Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice when I saw it in theaters. Never one to be influenced by the opinions of others, I found myself pleased with Zack Snyder’s uniting of three of DC’s most iconic characters for the first time in live action. But despite my affinity for the film, I fully admit it had its flaws, chief among which was its editing. Fortunately for us though, the newly released Ultimate Edition remedies many of those problems.

Now, we all have our stance on this movie, which was quite divisive amongst critics and general moviegoers; some said it was great, some really hated it, and even fewer seemed to be lukewarm. That’s kind of an issue with today’s landscape: it...

In 1988, DC Comics released the one-shot graphic novel “Batman: The Killing Joke,” written by the legendary Alan Moore and illustrated by Brian Bolland. “The Killing Joke” provided an origin story for The Joker and had an enormous influence on the Batman franchise. Now, there’s a new R-rated animated adaptation of “The Killing Joke” coming soon, and we have our first look at the masked avenger and his psychotic foe. In the clip below (starting at 3:57), Batman meets Joker in the Arkham Asylum to reason with him, only to be faced with stony silence.

Read More: ‘Batman: The Killing Joke’ Trailer: First Look At The R-Rated Animated Film Of The Iconic Graphic Novel

The film is directed by Sam Liu, best known for directing animated films and showsG for both Marvel and Warner Bros. Some of these include “Green Lantern: The Animated Series,” “Justice League: Gods and Monsters,” and “Batman: Year One.

An R-rated, animated adaptation of Alan Moore and artist Brian Bolland‘s “Batman: The Killing Joke” is almost here. Towards the end of the month, Sam Liu‘s (co-director of Batman: Year One) film will play in theaters for one night only, before it hits DVD and Blu-Ray the following week. The first clip released for the feature doesn’t show us […]

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