Julian Day (get it?) is crazy, obsessed with dates, and commits crimes with calendar/holiday/date themes.
Pros: Christopher Nolan and friends have cited Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's The Long Halloween (pictured above) as a major influence, and the Calendar Man is one of the featured villains in that series.
Cons: Uh... read the description again, that's one giant con. Not long ago, IGN rated him as the worst Batman villain of all time. Venture Bros. fans may remember Mister Monday from early in season two, who helped show just how ridiculous the calendar theme is ("Oh, this is going to be so Mondaylicious!").
How I'd do it: I wouldn't.
Casting Guesses: I'd hate to inflict an awful role on anyone, but I think if you did someone like Calendar Man, you'd have to play it over the top, with lengthy, calendar-infused proclamations of Julian Day's criminal genius in a classic comic book villain style. And anyone who's ever seen A Knight's Tale knows that Paul Bettany can ham up a monologue better than anyone.
Verdict: Not a chance.
4 comments:
To me what is cool about the Calendar Man is that he offers a look into the wide range of personalities that Batman must deal with. The population of Arkham contains all sorts of folks, from the totally unhinged to the merely neurotic. I think an interesting element of the new film was the idea that Batman's extremism and theatricality helps drive various criminals to develop their own tics and gimmicks. I'd really like to see a movie that explored these various mental health themes.
I think it could be done, but it's tough. They've established the escape of mental patients in Batman Begins and the fact that Scarecrow is still pushing his fear drugs in The Dark Knight.
It's not a huge leap from that to an even higher level of craziness from the villains, but turning the more gimmicky ones (like Calendar Man) into someone that the audience can perceive as a real threat is a challenge.
Seriously, this guy was ranked as the WORST Batman villain of ALL TIME. He has NO chance of appearing in a Batman movie.
If you made him the new version, rather than the old dude in the weird suit, it may work in physical appearance aspects. But there's a large chance he could just turn out being a ridiculous villain that can't be taken seriously, like Jim Carrey's Riddler. The concept of him performing crimes linked to the day could work well, as long as it isn't ridiculous and over-done.
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