The Next Batman Bad Guy

Done

2011-08-16T08:13:00.002-04:00

Just in case it wasn't obvious from the lack of updates, I'm done here. All the Dark Knight Rises news is too filled with spoilers for me to keep up with. Thanks for reading, and here's hoping we can all stand the wait until July of 2012.

Official Website Live

2011-05-20T12:08:00.004-04:00

The official website for The Dark Knight Rises is now live. Internet detectives put together clues (io9 explains how, vaguely) to get the above picture, which seems to be Tom Hardy as Bane (and I like it).

Also, principal photography has officially started, so there's that too.

Only 14 months to go!

Evil Scientist

2011-05-14T09:14:00.003-04:00

Alon Aboutboul will be playing an "Evil Scientist" in The Dark Knight Rises. This has people speculating it might be Hugo Strange, but there's no real reason to assume that.

You may have also seen some other news about a picture from the set in India that seems to reveal some plot details, but I'm not going to post that, since it's too much of a potential spoiler. In fact, I'm pretty close to checking out of posting entirely, since until the trailer, there won't be much worth posting that isn't a spoiler.

News & Notes

2011-04-30T07:42:00.004-04:00

Here are some odds and ends that didn't seem important enough to post on their own:

Above is the first picture of Tom Hardy on set. I'm sure it will be a while before we see his Bane costume.
Add India to the list of filming locations.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is playing a character named John Blake, who I, and most people, had never heard of. But it turns out there is a John Blake from the comics. He's not exactly a major character, but hey, it's something.
Batman: Year One is coming soon as a direct-to-disc animated film, with Bryan Cranston, Katee Sackhoff, Eliza Dushku and more contributing voices.
After Year One, The Dark Knight Returns will be adapted next. Hopefully it will be as cool as this scene from the 1990s animated series.
And a fan-made trailer combining footage from the Batman movies, Inception, The Machinist, and I think there was an American Psycho shot in there, produces something different and cool. It probably has spoilers for The Machinist, so I'd avoid it if you intend to see that (super skinny Christian Bale is impressive but unsettling). Anyway, here it is.

The Entire Cast of Inception, Eventually

2011-04-20T07:37:00.003-04:00

The casting of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard in The Dark Knight Rises was made official, with the roles announced as names we've never seen before:

Cotillard will appear as Miranda Tate, a Wayne Enterprises board member eager to help a still-grieving Bruce Wayne resume his father’s philanthropic endeavors for Gotham. Gordon-Levitt will play John Blake, a Gotham City beat cop assigned to special duty under the command of Commissioner Gordon.

But remember that going into Batman Begins, we all thought Ken Watanabe was playing Ra's al Ghul and Liam Neeson was Henri Ducard, so the door is still open for Black Mask or Talia al Ghul.

The Cast Grows Larger

2011-04-13T20:33:00.002-04:00

Variety is reporting three new additions to the Dark Knight Rises cast: Daniel Sunjata (pictured) best known for Rescue Me, Diego Klattenoff best known from the short-lived NBC series Mercy, and Burn Gorman from Torchwood. Read Variety's article if you're interested in incredibly vague descriptions of who the cops might be, but there's not much there.

Young Ra's al Ghul

2011-04-09T08:48:00.004-04:00

The Hollywood Reporter has a story that this guy, Josh Pence, has been cast in The Dark Knight Rises as a young Ra's al Ghul. This has lead them to speculate that Marion Cotillard's role in the movie will be Talia al Ghul, which would make a lot of sense (but at the time of posting, THR doesn't have Talia's name spelled right (Thalia), so that kinda makes me want to not trust them).

In site-related news, don't expect a giant Ra's al Ghul post like I had for Bane and Catwoman, because hopefully you are already familiar with Ra's from Batman Begins. I will probably do one for Talia if this rumor is confirmed.

News & Notes

2011-03-31T10:42:00.003-04:00

Superhero Hype reports on the above Gotham police truck spotted in Chicago. Some news:

After The Dark Knight Rises, Warner Bros. plans a Justice League movie and then a reboot of the Batman franchise.

Christopher Nolan has let Gary Oldman read some, but not all, of the Dark Knight Rises script.

Some site called Car Design Fetish hosted a Batmobile design competition, with some pretty cool results. Bleeding Cool has even more of the entries.

Or Maybe Not

2011-03-22T10:39:00.004-04:00

The news that Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be playing Alberto Falcone seemed pretty legit, coming from industry paper Variety and all, but now Entertainment Weekly says it's bunk. They contend that JGL will be in The Dark Knight Rises, but in a different role (though they don't know what that might be). Confusing.

Implausible Rumor of the Day

2011-03-21T14:26:00.004-04:00

Buried in the news about Alberto Falcone was a little item that Juno Temple was believed to be up for a part in The Dark Knight Rises. Blastr.com believes it to be a female Robin, presumably Carrie Kelly from The Dark Knight Returns. Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale have both expressed an aversion to the entire concept of Robin in their movies, so I'm quite confident Juno Temple will not be playing any kind or Robin.

Since original Juno Temple blurb used the phrase "a street-smart Gotham girl," a much more likely part from the comics would be Holly Robinson. She's a long-time friend of Catwoman who first appeared in Batman: Year One as a teenage runaway/prostitute under the protection of Selina Kyle who actually stabs Bruce Wayne in the leg. Much later, Holly would go on to briefly assume the identity of Catwoman. You can read a lot more about Holly at wikipedia.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is Alberto Falcone

2011-03-20T10:55:00.004-04:00

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has long been rumored to be joining the Dark Knight Rises cast, but until today we didn't know who he'd be playing. Now, everyone seems certain that he is playing Alberto Falcone, the son of Carmine Falcone from Batman Begins. Most sources for this news include plenty of spoilers for what happens to Falcone in The Long Halloween comic (like Variety's article). If you want the whole spoiler-filled background on Alberto Falcone, you can click here.

Other news:

Michael Gough, who played Alfred Pennyworth in all the Michael Keaton/Val Kilmer/George Clooney movies has died.

Yale University makes the case that Bruce Wayne went to law school at Yale.

I don't know how I haven't seen this before, but a blogger has undertaken the completely insane challenge of reading/viewing all Batman comics, TV, and film in chronological order. This should take him at least a couple decades, I'd think, since he's actually writing about them all. Comicvine lists Batman as being in 6839 comics to date, and more are constantly coming out (I don't read all the current titles, but looking at what came out I'd guess Batman was in 2 this week and 4 last week, so every year it takes I'd guess he's got 150 new comics to read).

An artist did a really nice rendition of 9 villains from Batman: The Animated Series and put them up on his wall.

Screenjunkies lists 9 Batman villains who should never be in a film, but incorrectly includes the Ventriloquist and Scarface, who I think could be a fine addition to a movie.

For a Batman enthusiast who is in Taiwan and needs a hotel that books hourly (and we all know what that means), this is the place for you.

And a commenter recently mentioned that with the Batmobile destroyed in the last movie, we could be expecting a new one. Which reminded me to link to this site with just about every Batmobile design ever.

News & Notes

2011-03-12T17:23:00.003-05:00

Some non-news rumor-y type things, plus some bookmarks I've had piling up:

While doing press for Red Riding Hood, Gary Oldman implies there's another, as-yet-unknown villain, and that it's someone from the early days of Batman comics. The oldest of the old are Doctor Death, The Monk, and, most likely of the oldies, Hugo Strange.

While doing press for Battle: Los Angeles, Aaron Eckhart, who had previously always made it clear that Harvey Dent died at the end of The Dark Knight, suddenly got coy about that issue. I suspect he's either sick of answering that question and decided to mess with people, or he thought changing his story around would get people to mention Battle: Los Angeles. If it's the latter, then well played, Eckhart.

Scroll past Star Wars and Spider-Man to see Batman & friends dancing.

According to this theory, consider investing in Warren Buffet's company in early 2012. Supposedly, whenever Anne Hathaway is in the news, automated computer traders pick that up and misinterpret it as news about Buffet's company Berkshire Hathaway, then buy it, causing the price to jump.

Batman meets Rocky Horror

Artist Francesco Francavilla is having some fun with the idea of a 1935 version of the Batmobile here and here.

And finally, why make a snowman when you can make a snowBatman?

SPOILERS (if this is reliable)

2011-03-02T20:02:00.004-05:00

We're getting to the point where I may have to quit following all the Dark Knight Rises news, because I want to be surprised by the movie. But the latest out of the rumor mill from a site called Badass Digest is pretty specific. I've never heard of the site, so I have absolutely no idea how reliable it is (which is to say, I don't think very).

Spoilers below, followed by my thoughts:

...by the end of the story Catwoman isn’t a villain but rather an ally of Batman. And who are they teaming up to take out? The League of Shadows. Headed by Talia Al’Ghul. With Bane, who is her muscle/possible love interest. And with Joseph Gordon-Levitt in tow. Is he playing Black Mask? My source didn’t know, but did know that Levitt is certainly an antagonist and involved with the League of Shadows.

I find it hard to believe that a movie would reintroduce the League of Shadows, Talia, Catwoman, Bane, and Black Mask all in the same movie. Especially when this is what Christopher Nolan considers to be the conclusion of the trilogy, so he wouldn't introduce them and leave hanging plot threads. And with all those characters, there's still the matter of Batman being the most wanted man in Gotham left over from The Dark Knight. All that said, I still do trust Christopher Nolan and company completely, and if this is what they want to do, I'm sure they will find a way.

Via Bleeding Cool.

News & Notes

2011-03-01T16:16:00.002-05:00

Batman News grabbed video of Anne Hathaway referring to her part in The Dark Knight Rises as Catwoman, while everyone else connected with the production had always referred to the part as Selina Kyle. So everyone with theories about Selina being just some normal girl is pretty much guaranteed to be wrong at this point.

Also, MTV's Splash Page talked to Christopher Nolan about The Dark Knight Rises at the Oscars, and he basically said nothing. But you can follow the link and watch the video if you want.

News & Notes

2011-02-26T09:53:00.003-05:00

No idea who made the above image (click for a larger version), but it's pretty amusing. As is this, from the How It Should Have Ended people:

And this story talks about the upcoming slate of DC animated features. Expect a version of Batman: Year One accompanied by a Catwoman short. All-Star Superman just came out, and Green Lanern: Emerald Knights is next in July, so maybe we'll see Year One near the end of this year or in early 2012.

News & Notes

2011-02-22T08:53:00.003-05:00

No idea who made the poster above, but it's the best Bane one yet by far. Two bits of news:

Tom Hardy is going to bulk up to play Bane. For those like me who don't know what a stone is, his current weight of 12 stone is 168lbs/76kg, his goal of 14 stone is 196lbs/89kg.
E Online has five things we think we know about The Dark Knight Rises.

News & Notes

2011-02-16T11:07:00.003-05:00

I got sick this week and now I'm behind on a bunch of news that happened:

Above might be the first shot from the production of The Dark Knight Rises.
Marion Cotillard looks like she will be in this too, though nobody seems to have any idea what part she will be playing. If she and Tom Hardy are joined by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, it may turn out that The Dark Knight Rises is actually in an Inception dream world.
Liam Neeson made it clear that he is not reprising Ra's al-Ghul, but he would be open to coming back to the role some time in the future.
And composer Hans Zimmer seems to be confident he can deliver another quality score.

Fake Rumor of the Day

2011-02-10T15:53:00.003-05:00

There was a rumor today that Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be playing Alberto Falcone (a major character in The Long Halloween) in The Dark Knight Rises, but the rumor was started by someone at IGN speculating at a role JGL could play, which people then took to mean that he had inside info (the article at slashfilm has this tidbit as an "update" buried in the middle for some reason).

Early Shooting Starting?

2011-02-09T16:21:00.003-05:00

According to Batman on Film, the first film for The Dark Knight Rises will be taken in New York this week, shot from a helicopter to get snowy city footage.

Two Doubtful Rumors

2011-02-07T17:23:00.002-05:00

I don't really buy into either of these, but here goes:

Ain't It Cool News points to this Michigan news report that claims locations are being scouted in the area for "a hideout for Batman sidekick Robin." I have to doubt this, since we've previously heard that the folks involved don't like the idea of Robin in these movies.
There's also a rumor that Robin Williams is being considered to play Hugo Strange. Considering how well the Bane and Catwoman casting was kept under wraps, I'm pretty much going to doubt everything at this point.

Robin image from here

News & Notes

2011-02-04T17:35:00.004-05:00

A few random things:

As suggested by a commenter, I've watched Bronson, a movie starring soon-to-be-Bane Tom Hardy as a notorious British prisoner. I did not care for it, but Hardy is excellent in it. He's also bulked up and pretty terrifying, so having seen this it's much easier to imagine him as Bane. But he'll have to lose the mustache.
Someone got married with a Joker from The Dark Knight themed wedding cake. It's a cool cake, but I wonder how it reflects on the couple psychologically.
MTV's Splash Page is having some fun with the Joseph Gordon-Levitt rumors by making a gallery of photoshops with him in different roles.

JGL in DKR?

2011-02-02T08:09:00.004-05:00

Deadline is reporting that Joseph Gordon-Levitt (right) is in negotiations to join the cast of The Dark Knight Rises in an unspecified role. He most recently co-starred with Tom Hardy (left) in Inception, and as we know, Christopher Nolan likes to work with familiar actors.

News & Notes

2011-01-31T22:46:00.003-05:00

Springfield Punx, the blog where they make Simpsons-ized versions of everything, had previously made Catwoman, but in honor of Bane's role in The Dark Knight Rises, produced the above Bane.

And in an interview, Wally Pfister, the cinematographer for most of Christopher Nolan's movies, seems to have confirmed that Anne Hathaway is in fact Catwoman and not just Selina Kyle, something some people had lingering doubts about. Pfister also said she looks "great in the wardrobe," but that shouldn't be surprising to anyone who's seen Anne Hathaway before.

Filming Starts in May

2011-01-31T12:11:00.001-05:00

Shooting for The Dark Knight Rises begins in May.

Bane on Young Justice

2011-01-29T17:48:00.003-05:00

I didn't know it was coming, but Bane ended up appearing on the Cartoon Network's Young Justice episode "Drop Zone" that aired yesterday. It was a pretty typical interpretation of Bane, voiced by Machete star Danny Trejo. Io9 has some clips here, or if you live in the USA, it looks like it will be aired again Sunday at 8pm.

(and if you're a fan of Batman in comics, in addition to checking out Bane, you can be confused by the Robin who is apparently named Dick Grayson but has Tim Drake's costume and computer skills)

The Inevitable Photoshops

2011-01-24T09:05:00.009-05:00

It didn't take long for people to start doing art/photo manips/photoshops featuring Tom Hardy as Bane and Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, though for somewhat obvious reasons, people are having a lot more fun with the lovely Ms. Hathaway.

Note: I can't find the original authors for most of these, so if you are or know of the original author, drop me a comment and I'll provide an appropriate credit/link.

Above Hathaway/Catwoman by Fan Art Exhibit.

MTV's Splash Page made the above Catwoman (and one other one, which you can see here).

Some others have taken less serious approaches:

A (not so) Brief History of Catwoman

2011-01-21T17:56:00.015-05:00

Some folks have pointed out that the press release clearly says Anne Hathaway will be playing Selina Kyle but doesn't even mention Catwoman, but I'm happy to assume that Catwoman will be appearing in The Dark Knight Rises. So while a lengthy Bane overview seemed reasonable, everyone knows the basics of Catwoman: she steals stuff, she likes cats, and she's into Batman, but she is a 70 year old character. As you can see above, over the years there have been many different interpretations of Catwoman, most of which will seem pretty unfamiliar to those who only know the character from television and film. So here goes, with almost certainly the longest post I've written here (but lots of pictures to hopefully break up the monotony).

Background

Catwoman first appeared in Batman #1 in 1940 (the same issue that introduced the Joker and Robin, though Batman himself had already been appearing in Detective Comics). Bob Kane and Bill Finger, Batman's creators, also created the character of Catwoman.

DC Comics, the company that publishes Batman comic books, has a long and complicated history. They began publishing Batman comics in 1939, and expanded Batman's universe to include other superheroes. While some titles had their characters grow older, others, like Batman, stayed the same age. Batman would end up fighting alongside the son of a previous teammate even though Bruce Wayne did not appear a day older. Fans began to wonder how this could be, so DC introduced the concept of multiple earths to explain the inconsistency. Then in 198e, they had a major event called Crisis on Infinite Earths which collapsed all the earths into a single world, and started all their titles over with updated origin stories, as if none of the previous 40+ years of stories had ever happened.

Since this gets complicated, I'm going to break this up into a few different sections for different versions of the character that don't take place in the same continuity.

Catwoman in Golden Age/Earth One Comics

First only referred to as the Cat, she is a beautiful thief who is attracted to Batman. Batman is attracted to her as well, but as a crimefighter he can't get involved with a criminal. Still, because of his interest in her, he had a tendency to let her get away more often than his other foes.

After years of plaguing Gotham City with her crimes, it is revealed that Selina used to be a law-abiding stewardess, but she suffered amnesia after being struck on the head. With her memories now recovered, she starts to fight crime at Batman's side. Their team-ups are short lived, however, because it is soon revealed that the amnesia story was a fake and she returned to her life of crime.

In the 50s and 60s, the US government and special interest groups became concerned over the influence of comic books on children, so the publishers adopted the Comics Code which had strict guidelines on content. Catwoman's tight costumes along with her criminal nature and the lack of consequences for many of her crimes were likely in violation of the comics code, so she all but disappeared from the primary, Earth One, universe for many years.

She reappeared in comics in the 1970s, but, despite her success on television, she did not have any notable storylines.

Catwoman in Earth Two

Though Catwoman was no longer allowed to appear in Earth One, DC's alternate Earth Two universe proceeded as if she really had suffered amnesia and reformed her ways. Selina and Bruce fell in love and married. They had a child together, Helena, who would herself become a costumed crimefighter, The Huntress (in modern comics, this character would be reinvented as the daughter of a mobster and renamed Helena Bertinelli). This version of Selina would eventually be blackmailed into going back to being Catwoman, which ultimately lead to her death.

Catwoman in Modern Comics

Earth One and Earth Two stories now set aside, Catwoman received the first of several major overhauls.

Batman: Year One

Batman's revised origin also provided a radically new take on Catwoman. Selina Kyle is a dominatrix/prostitute who, after seeing her pimp abuse her sister, trains herself to fight in order to break away her pimp. She is often accompanied by Holly, a young runaway who Selina cares for like a daughter. Shortly before she escapes from him, her pimp gives her a skin-tight catsuit, which she decides to use as a disguise when she changes careers and becomes a burglar.

Subsequent comics have largely re-written the prostitute angle, but no matter the interpretation she lived a rough life, her sister endured abuse, young Holly is her constant companion, and then she begins to steal professionally. Elements added to her backstory include an interest in gymnastics during her childhood, her mother's love of cats and eventual suicide, and spending much of the rest of her youth in an orphanage.

Dark Victory/When In Rome

As a young and skilled thief, Catwoman frequently crossed paths with both Batman and the Gotham's criminal underworld. She comes to believe that Carmine Falcone, one of the most powerful men in the local mob, had an affair with her mother, and that she may be Falcone's daughter. She sets out to confirm her suspicions, and though she finds plenty of supporting evidence, she is unable to prove it.

Catwoman: the Series

Catwoman got her own comic series in the 1990s, and the character underwent further changes. Though she remained a criminal, she became much more sympathetic. Her love for cats expanded to a general concern for the environment. She teamed up with computer hackers and environmentalists to find polluting corporations, and steal from them as punishment. She also, at this time, got a little... shall we say "top heavy" as you can see above, presumably to appeal to the comic book audience which now consisted more of adolescent boys and men than young children.

She eventually moves to New York, schemes her way into running a corrupt corporation, and makes an ultimately unsuccessful run for mayor.
After failing in her campaign for mayor, Selina returned to Gotham after an earthquake devastated the city. She helped Batman put the pieces of Gotham back together, but then is believed dead at the hands of Deathstroke.

Though this series ran for quite a while, the only addition to her character that really stuck was the idea that she had been trained to fight and generally mentored by Ted Grant, aka Wildcat, one of the members of the Justice Society of America.

Catwoman: The Series, Take Two

Private detective Slam Bradley becomes convinced that Catwoman is still alive and tries to hunt her down. Eventually he does, but rather than turn her over to the police, they become close friends. Selina and her old friend Holly, now about 20 years old, settle in Gotham's East End where Selina grew up. It's a run down neighborhood, and as Catwoman Selina becomes its unofficial protector. She still commits crimes but her primary motivation is to keep the East End safe.

This new development came with a new design as well, and the almost pornographic design was replaced by a still sexy but much more practical design, as you can see above. Gone were the skin tight purple suit, tail, high-heeled boots, and long flowing locks of hair, replaced with a more reasonable black outfit, boots appropriate for running, and the kind of haircut a woman would have if she doesn't want a combatant to be able to grab onto it. Additionally, her body returned to more normal proportions, and she began to wear goggles which could be switched to night vision.

Hush

Hush would not only introduce a new villain that would eventually become important in Catwoman's life, but it rekindled the long dormant romance between Batman and Catwoman. They began dating in earnest, and for the first time (hard to believe, given how long the character had been around), Batman revealed to her that he is, in fact, Bruce Wayne.

Unfortunately, the events of Hush lead Batman to believe he has been manipulated by the eponymous villain and by The Riddler, so he breaks things off with Selina.

Zatanna

Selina's criminal activities were by this point basically nonexistant, most of her time was spent either helping Batman or protecting the East End. How she went from a career criminal to a hero seemed strange until it was revealed that the magician Zatanna (I can't believe I never made a post on Zatanna) had performed a partial mindwipe on Selina, which removed her criminal urges. Selina was justifiably angry, and went through an extended period where she didn't trust herself or her memories.

Black Mask

Black Mask was the kingpin of his own little criminal empire in Gotham by this point, and he had it out for Catwoman in a bad way. Selina grew up in her orphanage with a girl named Sylvia, who fell into a life of crime and eventually associated with Black Mask. Sylvia told him that Selina was Catwoman, so Black Mask kidnapped Selina's sister Maggie and forced Maggie to watch as Black Mask removed her husband's eyeballs, then Black Mask forced her to eat them, driving her insane. Black Mask also threatened Slam Bradley and Holly, so in a fit of rage Catwoman killed him, despite never having killed anyone before.

One Year Later

"One Year Later" was a gimmick in which all the comics skipped ahead a year, with many radical changes happening, and the events that lead to those changes would slowly be revealed. In "One Year Later," Catwoman is still wanted for the murder of Black Mask. Though Selina is nowhere to be found, Catwoman keeps making appearances. It's eventually revealed that Selina's longtime friend Holly has taken up the role of the East End's protector.

Selina, in the missing year, had rebuffed the advances of her much older friend Slam Bradley, but instead had a brief affair with Slam's son. Selina became pregnant, and left Gotham knowing how badly her actions would hurt Slam, and how much a pregnant woman shouldn't be leaping from rooftop to rooftop. She kept the baby and named her Helena. For a time, Selena enjoyed motherhood, but after careful consideration, she decided she would be unable to escape her past. Despite living under an alias, the daughter of Catwoman would never be safe, and Selina herself could never live a normal life, so she felt Helena deserved a real mother. With Bruce's help, Selina fakes the death of her alias and her daughter, then gives Helena up for adoption, but is heartbroken over the whole thing. She even asks Zatanna to erase her memories of Helena, deeming them too painful, but Zatanna refuses.

Heart of Hush

After Hush's initial failure to take down Batman, he decides on a different tact for his second major assault on Bruce Wayne's life. After learning of Catwoman's feelings for Batman, Hush abducts her and removes her heart, attempting to affect Batman emotionally as well as forcing him to confront Hush to recover her heart. Obviously Batman prevails, but Selena is once again left emotionally scarred.

Post-Heart of Hush

Since the cancellation of her own series, Catwoman's appearances have been less frequent and her characterization varied. She briefly enters into another relationship with Batman, but then he is lost in time after a confrontation with Darkseid. She joins The Network, a group of Gotham City heroes combining forces to keep order in Batman's absence. She takes on a sidekick in Kitrina Falcone, who wears a hideous black and pink costume and takes on the name Catgirl. She's visited by a resurrected Black Mask when the events of Blackest Night cause the dead to rise from their graves. And, most notably, she takes on two roommates: Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, and their adventures together are told in the Gotham City Sirens series.

Reception

Catwoman is obviously one of comics' best-known villains, but her film and TV appearances have been much better received than her time in comics. Many of her stories either cast her as a damsel in distress, a femme-fatale without any real danger, or a pin-up girl in largely pointless adventures mostly designed to show her in skin tight and/or minimal clothing.

However, the work of Ed Brubaker, Darwyn Cooke, Cameron Stewart, Will Pfeifer, and others in the version of her solo series that ran from 2001 to 2008 was incredibly well received by critics. It was a time when comics sales were shrinking after the boom of the 1990s, so it was never a tremendous commercial success but it is beloved amongst Catwoman fans.

Outside of Comics

In the 1960s Batman series, Catwoman was initially played by Julie Newmar, and was one of the series' most popular villains. Though the show tended to be campy, a sexy actress in a tight costume added a new dimension. Newmar eventually left and was replaced by Eartha Kitt. In the subsequent motion picture, the role was again recast, with Lee Merriwether taking over.

In 1992's Batman Returns, Michelle Pfeiffer played Catwoman. Selina Kyle was re-imagined as a secretary to a corrupt businessman, who survives a murder only to be revived by a cat. This version of Catwoman is notable for her hand-sewn vinyl cat suit, whip, and possibly supernatural ability to survive treacherous situations thanks to her "nine lives."

Catwoman was involved in the backstory of the short-lived WB Network series Birds of Prey, very loosely based on the comic book of the same name. The Huntress in this series is, in fact, the child of Batman and Catwoman, but Catwoman only appears briefly in flashbacks.

Every animated version of Batman (that I'm aware of) has had its own take on Catwoman. The 1990s animated series made Selina a blonde to stay close to Michelle Pfeiffer's movie depiction, but recast Selina as a socialite commuting crimes to fund her efforts to care for lions and tigers and other large cats whose habitats were in danger. In The Batman, she was similar to the earlier series' depiction, but had gone back to black hair. On Batman: The Brave and the Bold, she wears one of the golden age costumes, a purple dress/green cape combo, and is merely a thief with a love/hate attitude towards Batman.

Catwoman has also appeared in a number of video games, most of which I haven't played, but she's featured prominently in the promotional artwork for the upcoming Batman: Arkham City, which looks pretty good.

Halle Berry played Catwoman in the 2004 movie, which looked so bad I didn't bother to see it. The movie had nothing to do with Batman or most anything previously established about the character in any medium, and was a commercial and critical disaster. Though Ms. Berry did look very good in that otherwise ridiculous costume.

Recommended Reading

Catwoman suffered from infrequent appearances, poor writing, and cheesecake art for much of her career in comics, but here are some times where she came out ok.

Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli is the definitive origin of Batman and one of the finest superhero comics ever. Though its depiction of Catwoman is controversial and a little odd, it's still a fantastic read.

Catwoman: When in Rome by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale follows Catwoman in her pursuit of the truth about her real father. It does feature the cheesecake art that I dismiss above, but with Tim Sale handling the art, it's really good cheesecake art.

Catwoman: Selina's Big Score by Darwyn Cooke places Selina in an old fashioned heist story, and it's incredibly well-done. Darwyn Cooke is one of the finest artists in comics, and if you're a fan of a retro-cool style or heist movies, this should be right up your alley.

Any book from the Catwoman series written by either Ed Brubaker or Will Pfeifer. Here's volume one. Reading them in order is best, but the paperback volumes' stories are relatively self-contained. Some of the volumes are out of print, but they're recent enough that they can be found used fairly cheaply. This series was top notch from start to finish.

A (not so) Brief History of Bane

2011-01-20T13:42:00.001-05:00

Since Bane is the lesser-known of the two confirmed villains in The Dark Knight Rises, I thought it might be good idea to get a little more detailed about the character than I did in my original post. Some spoilers for Bane's comic book appearances will follow, which may turn out to be in the movie, so proceed with caution.

Background

Legendary Batman writer Dennis O'Neil laid the groundwork for Bane in his work on The Question and in the Batman: Venom storyline in the Legends of the Dark Knight comic series. He created the fictional island of Santa Prisca and the highly addictive, steroid-like drug Venom. He also served as the editor of all the Batman-related comics when Chuck Dixon, Doug Monech, and Graham Nolan (no relation to Christopher, as far as I know) created the character of Bane in the highly popular 1993 storyline Knightfall.

Bane in Comics

Bane was born in the fictional Caribbean island nation of Santa Prisca, son of a revolutionary who sought to overthrow the government. His father escaped capture, so the corrupt government decided Bane, at a very young age, would be punished for his father's crime. He grew up in the notorious prison Peña Dura. Being surrounded by prisoners and corrupt guards, he was never taught any moral behavior, but he was a voracious reader and spent hours in the prison gym. As he grows up, his intelligence, strength, and ruthlessness lead him to a position of authority among the prison population. The prison authorities, beginning to fear him, forced him to be a test subject for the experimental drug Venom. Though it killed previous subjects, Bane manages to survive. It makes him preternaturally strong, but he is immediately addicted to the drug. He requires regular doses of Venom, or he suffers severe withdrawal.

Knightfall

While in prison, Bane heard tales of Gotham City's legendary crime fighter, Batman. Like Batman, Bane is an ordinary man with an relentless drive for excellence, so he sees Batman as the ultimate challenge of his worth. Bane escapes from prison with a small group of followers and heads straight for Gotham. Bane dons the mask of a luchador, a Mexican wrestler, and has a steady supply of Venom pumped directly into his bloodstream.

At first merely observing Batman in action, Bane believes the secret to defeating him is through careful planning rather than simply challenging the Bat to a fight. So Bane decides to break in to Arkham Asylum and release dozens of prisoners, including some of Batman's most dangerous foes.

Batman spends months rounding up the escapees, and by the time he captures the last of them, he is completely exhausted. Which, of course, was Bane's plan all along. When Bane finally challenges Batman directly, pumped full of Venom, he is able to take down the Dark Knight without much trouble. In one of the more recognizable panels in Batman comics history, Bane lifts Batman high over his head, and drops him on his knee, breaking Batman's back. Bane declares himself king of Gotham's criminal underworld.

Bruce Wayne is left paralyzed from the waist down, and is forced to hand over the title of Batman to Jean-Paul Valley, aka Azrael. Azrael gradually becomes more and more violent, and Batman's costume becomes armored and full of weapons. Though Bruce ordered him to avoid taking on Bane directly, Jean-Paul does, and actually defeats Bane by cutting the lines that feed him his Venom. Bane is taken to Blackgate Prison, where he overcomes his Venom addiction.

Post-Knightfall

He eventually escapes and helps Bruce (now back to being the one and only Batman) take out a drug ring dealing in Venom. Bane now believes that Venom was responsible for his criminal acts, and sets off to find his father. Bane discovers that the revolutionary for whom he served a prison sentence may have not been his real father.

Bane of the Demon and Legacy

Soon, he meets Talia al-Ghul and her father Ra's. Much as he had been with Batman, Ra's is impressed with Bane's intellect and after some time working together, believes Bane to be a suitable heir for his empire and wants him to marry Talia (an idea that, as seen above, Bane is totally cool with). He and Talia have a brief affair, but she ultimately rejects him, seeing him as a poor substitute for Bruce. Bane and Ra's conspire to release a bioweapon in Gotham City, but Batman puts a stop to their plans and defeats Bane in a rematch of their earlier contest. Bane and Ra's end their partnership and Bane vows revenge, traveling to Ra's Lazarus Pits and destroying them.

Tabula Rasa

Bane then returns to his quest to find his father, and discovers that Thomas Wayne visited Santa Prisca and knew Bane's mother around the time of his conception. Having previously deduced Batman's identity, and maintaining a great respect for Bruce's abilities, he thinks its only natural their similar strength, cunning, and dedication come from being half brothers. Informing Bruce of what he learns, and awaiting a blood test to determine their relation, Bane lives in Wayne Manor, fighting crime alongside Batman for a time. When the blood tests come out negative, Bane leaves vowing to find his true father.

Eventually, he does find his father. King Snake, a British martial artist and mercenary who became a drug kingpin in Asia. Bane confronted him, but at the same time Batman and Robin appeared to stop King Snake. Though briefly conflicted, Bane sided with the dynamic duo, eventually taking a bullet to save Batman's life. Near death, Batman decides to take Bane to one of the few remaining Lazarus Pits, restoring Bane's health and giving him a fresh start.

Post-Tabula Rasa

Bane then returns to Santa Prisca. Claiming to be again addicted to Venom, he infiltrates the government, deeply entangled in the Venom trade. He tries to end the Venom production, take down the corrupt government, and give his homeland free democratic elections. He is ultimately unsuccessful, and for a time joins Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad.

Secret Six

His time in the Suicide Squad is short-lived, and he eventually joins the villains-for-hire group The Secret Six, alongside, among others, Deadshot, Catman, and Scandal Savage (pictured). Bane feels an instant bond with Scandal, the troubled daughter of the immortal Vandal Savage. He remains in the Secret Six today, and his time there is noted by a fatherly concern for Scandal's well-being.

Reception

Bane's first appearance in Knightfall as the man who broke the Bat was well-received and Knightfall was an extremely popular comic. Fans eventually soured on the storyline as it focused more on Jean-Paul Valley/Azrael than on Batman and Bane, but it is still Bane's most popular and recognizable appearance.

His subsequent appearances have been a mixed bag. Though his initial battle with Batman was notable for his unusual and effective strategy, most of his appearances since have portrayed him as simply a fighter, occasionally mentioning his intellect but rarely putting it to use.

However, since resurfacing in Secret Six, Bane has gained some new fans. Though it's nowhere near as popular as Knightfall, Secret Six has been well-received by critics and fans have praised writer Gail Simone's treatment of the character.

Outside of Comics

Unfortunately, Bane's most recognizable appearance was in 1997's Batman & Robin, where Bane, played by wrestler Robert Swenson (pictured), was re-imagined as a plant monster created by Poison Ivy. Both Batman & Robin and its treatment of Bane are pretty much universally hated.

He also appeared in Batman: The Animated Series voiced by Henry Silva. He did not appear until very late in the series. Reportedly, the producers did not feel that he fit well in their vision of Gotham City, but eventually decided to take a stab at him. They re-imagined Bane as an assassin hired by a local Gotham mobster to take out Batman. He retained the luchador mask and the venom habit, but though he posed a real threat, Batman is eventually victorious.

Bane has made further animated appearances in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, The Batman, Batman Beyond, and will reportedly make an appearance on the new series Young Justice. He also showed up in the popular video game Batman Arkham Asylum.

Recommended reading

Many of Bane's appearances from the 90s have not been collected in trade paperbacks, and some that were are no longer in print. The popularity the character will presumably gain from appearing in The Dark Knight Rises may result in DC reprinting more comics featuring Bane.

Batman: Venom by Dennis O'Neil, among others, doesn't actually feature Bane, but introduced the concept of Venom.

Knightfall, Part One, Part Two, and Part Three, by Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, Jo Duffy, Alan Grant, Dennis O'Neil, Graham Nolan, Jim Balent, Jim Aparo, Norm Breyfogle, Klaus Jansen, and many many others. This is Bane's first major storyline and still his most famous.

Batman: Legacy, by Alan Grant, Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon, Jim Aparo, and Graham Nolan.

Secret Six Vol. 1: Unhinged, Vol. 2: Depths, Vol. 3: Danse Macabre, and Vol. 4: Cats in the Cradle, by Gail Simone and various artist with occasional guest writer John Ostrander. Bane joins a villains for hire group. Though technically not a "mature readers" title, Secret Six is not for kids.

Anne Hathaway is Catwoman, Tom Hardy is Bane

2011-01-19T13:09:00.002-05:00

This is not a rumor.

Bane is an interesting choice. Well known to comics fans, but barely known by everyone else, he was the main villain in a major crossover Batman event in the 1990s, then no one seemed to know what to do with him after that, until very recently when Gail Simone's Secret Six found a home for him.

Catwoman is, of course, one of the most iconic characters out there.

Anne Hathaway is a fairly safe choice for Catwoman, since she fits the bill of a sexy brunette. Tom Hardy is strange for Bane, since he is neither Hispanic, nor a hulking wrestler type, so that might imply a pretty different take on the character.

This is very exciting.

More on the Rumor About Two Women

2011-01-11T23:51:00.003-05:00

A while back, the big rumor was that two female roles needed to be cast for The Dark Knight Rises. That rumor returns today from the Hollywood Reporter, with the roles reported to be Vicki Vale and Talia al Ghul. Contenders include Jessica Biel, Kate Mara (pictured), Anne Hathaway, Keira Knightley, Gemma Arterton, and Charlotte Riley (who I don't think I've ever seen in anything).

Leaked Script?

2011-01-10T12:35:00.003-05:00

Io9 points to a supposedly leaked script that claims to be an early draft of The Dark Knight Rises. I call shenanigans on it, because it has too many villains and the synopsis doesn't have the same feel as the previous two movies.

News & Notes

2011-01-09T08:06:00.002-05:00

Merry New Year, and all that. Jeff and Celeste present an awesome (but sadly failed) pitch for Gotham High featuring teenage versions of Batman, Batgirl, Catwoman, Joker, and others. In actual The Dark Knight Rises news:

Filming is scheduled for LA, the UK, and another location. Previous reports had listed New Orleans as a location (which tied in with Killer Croc rumors), but both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight used Chicago extensively for Gotham City, so it would be somewhat surprising if the third movie stayed out of the windy city entirely.
An interview response from Anne Hathaway has some thinking she's confirmed that she's up for a Dark Knight Rises role, but it seems like a stretch.

Nevermind about that Joker cameo

2010-12-01T15:14:00.003-05:00

So, yeah, apparently that Heath Ledger will not be edited/CGI-ed into The Dark Knight Rises. That's probably a good thing, because I'm not sure it would've added much to the movie, other than to make people wonder what could have been had Heath Ledger lived.

Separately, Christopher Nolan confirmed what a lot of people expected, that this will be his last Batman film. And Christian Bale seems to have no interest in making one without Nolan. Presumably, Warner Bros. will keep making them as long as they're profitable, let's just hope we don't get another Joel Schumacher.

Joker Cameo?

2010-11-30T15:09:00.003-05:00

The latest rumor about The Dark Knight Rises is that they will combine Dark Knight footage and CGI to bring back Heath Ledger's Joker for a brief appearance. The article does note that it would only be done with his family's consent, which is good, because some might find it to be in poor taste otherwise.

Or Maybe Talia's the Villain?

2010-11-21T11:58:00.005-05:00

Teresa Palmer was at one point cast to play Talia al-Ghul in a Justice League movie that was scrapped partly because of the Writers' Guild strike a few years back. Now, she wants to play Talia in The Dark Knight Rises, and to add to the conflicting rumors floating around for the past few weeks, the way she phrases things makes it sound like she has reason to believe Talia will be a character in the film. Or at least Bleeding Cool thinks so.

The Dark Knight Rises Based on Prey?

2010-11-19T17:12:00.003-05:00

Last rumor for the week, I think. Io9 has the rundown (which has what may end up being spoilers) on a rumor that The Dark Knight Rises will be based on Doeg Moench's Prey. That's not a story I've read personally, Moench does good work but I'm not a big fan of the gothic horror interpretation of Batman that he tends to go for. But the storyline matches with the rumors about Hugo Strange, a female villain, and another female character. So who knows? I agree completely, though, with Io9's take that if it is based on Prey, The Dark Knight Rises will bear only a passing resemblance to the source.

Hardy is Strange?

2010-11-17T18:23:00.001-05:00

Yet another rumor: Tom Hardy will be playing Hugo Strange.

Casting the Women of Gotham City

2010-11-17T11:57:00.006-05:00

In what might be a contradiction of previous rumors about Julie Madison and Sarah Essen, Christopher Nolan is supposedly meeting with six actresses for two roles in The Dark Knight Rises: Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts, Blake Lively, Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway and Keira Knightley. One role is a love interest for Bruce Wayne, the other a villain. I would be perfectly comfortable with any of those actresses except for Blake Lively. She's extremely attractive, but I've yet to see her show off any kind of acting ability. Plus she's already in a DC movie as Carol Ferris in Green Lantern.

Julie Madison could certainly be the love interest, but a subplot about Gordon and Sarah Essen, the theorized Clayface/Julie Madison story, a detour to New Orleans for a Killer Croc plot, and a female villain (Catwoman, Talia al-Ghul, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn being the only likely possibilities) would make for a crowded movie. So at least some of these rumors are wrong.

In non-news, the above picture is BattGuano's entry into a contest to design a steampunk Batman on Warren Ellis' Whitechapel boards. There are many quality entries in it, so it's worth browsing through.

More Rumors

2010-11-02T14:59:00.003-04:00

These latest rumors (not looking like the most iron clad of sources) concern the ladies in Gotham City. Supposedly, Charlize Theron is up for the role of Sarah Essen and Vera Farmiga (from The Departed and Up In The Air) and Kacie Thomas (from nothing that even sounds familiar) are being looked at for Julie Madison.

Sarah Essen (pictured) first appeared in the comics in Batman: Year One in 1987. She's a detective in the Gotham City PD and Jim Gordon's partner, but soon they develop a romantic relationship. Gordon was already married, so he breaks it off and Sarah accepts a transfer out of Gotham. Comics being what they are, they love to bring characters back, so eventually Gordon's marriage falls apart, Sarah comes back, and they ended up married. Then Gotham had an earthquake and the Joker killed her. I suspect most of that stuff would not happen in a movie, but if she is a character in The Dark Knight Rises, she'll be a cop and there will be some sexual tension with Gordon.

Julie Madison goes back to 1941, and is the first of Batman's major love interests. She's a socialite and aspiring actress who was engaged to Bruce Wayne for some time. She was involved in early stories of both The Monk and Clayface. She then basically disappeared for 60 years (though Elle MacPherson played her in a very small part in Batman & Robin (the George Clooney one)) before being resurrected by writer/artist Matt Wagner in Batman and the Monster Men and Batman and the Mad Monk.

More on Julie Madison and Sarah Essen at wikipedia.

The Dark Knight Rises

2010-10-27T11:48:00.002-04:00

That's your title right there. The LA Times blog Hero Complex has a teaser for an upcoming interview where Christopher Nolan reveals three big pieces of information:

The Riddler is not in the film (despite me declaring, a few posts ago, that it was looking like the Riddler was sure to be the villain).
Warner Bros. has agreed to let him make the film not 3D (good news for people like me and Roger Ebert that hate 3D).
And, as mentioned above, The Dark Knight Rises is your title.

He implies that we'll see new characters (see below) and also more of the characters we've seen in the previous movies. Obviously, Bruce, Alfred, Lucius Fox, and Jim Gordon can be expected to return, but will the Scarecrow pop up again? Are Harvey Dent and Ra's al-Ghul really dead? Time will tell.

There are also rumors that casting for a female lead has begun. People will obviously freak out about Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy (and maybe Talia al-Ghul, but maybe that's just me), but there's no reason to assume they're casting a villain. There are a lot of women in Bruce Wayne's life. So again, time will tell.

Maybe not Joseph Gordon-Levitt? And maybe Killer Croc?

2010-10-13T16:18:00.004-04:00

Tom Hardy, who you may remember as the clone of Picard from the terrible Star Trek: Nemesis but hopefully remember as the forger from the not-at-all-terrible Inception, is reportedly taking on a major role in Batman 3. No word on who he'll be playing or if it's a villain, but everyone is jumping to the conclusion that he'll play the Riddler. I'm not sure about that.

Earlier rumors about Joseph Gordon-Levitt were based on some word that an Inception cast member would be following Christopher Nolan to the next Batman movie. So it sounds like Joseph-Gordon Levitt is out and Tom Hardy is in.

I've been lazy about posting here lately, but there's also been word that Mark Millar, shameless self-promoter/comic book writer/person often later found out to be wrong, claims to know who the villains are and that one is one of his favorites. Word of some filming in New Orleans combined with Millar's preference for things big and dumb would point to Killer Croc. But who knows.

None of this is concrete, but I'd say Tom Hardy being in the movie is very likely at this point. Joseph Gordon-Levitt could be involved or not, Killer Croc could be the main villain or a minor villain or not in it at all.

Riddler Poll Results

2010-08-27T20:48:00.002-04:00

Michael Emerson won the Riddler poll, narrowly defeating Johnny Depp. Crispin Glover, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Edward Norton, and Guy Pearce tied for a distant third. I think Emerson would be my preference, but I'm still surprised by the results.

Riddler Poll: Final Round

2010-08-09T01:48:00.013-04:00

My original intent was to take the winners of the 9 rounds (Guy Pearce won round 9, if you didn't catch that) plus the top scoring second place finisher, but Joseph Gordon-Levitt emerged as a major contender for the part of the Riddler after I started all this, so I threw him in as well. Sorry, Paul Bettany fans. Here are the 10 finalists, vote, as usual, over to the right of the page.

Casey Affleck
(is it me, or does his head look huge in that picture?)

Johnny Depp

Michael Emerson

Crispin Glover

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Michael C. Hall

Hugh Laurie

Edward Norton

Guy Pearce

Lance Reddick

Voting, as usual, will close in a week.

it's looking like the Riddler

2010-07-21T21:59:00.004-04:00

Firstshowing has news that there's a studio casting grid (basically a document listing the roles in an upcoming project) with the Riddler listed. If true, this means the Riddler is the villain. According to the source, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is listed as 'interested.' Again, if true, this does not guarantee that he'll do it. Just that he's a leading candidate.

News & Notes

2010-07-19T21:05:00.003-04:00

Batman above by Jamie Roberts.

So Inception, Christopher Nolan's new non-Batman movie came out, and it's pretty darn good. So sure, it delayed Batman 3, but at least we got a good one out of it.
Batman 3 is aiming for a July 2012 release
Michael Caine, who has been wrong about stuff before, says Batman 3 will start filming in April.
A few commenters have pointed out this new web series about Jason Bard.
A Batman-themed porn movie came out recently, and the Village Voice looks the history of Batman in porn (which is NSFW).
Artist Dennis Culver has a big gallery of his versions of Batman villains.
Comic writer Warren Ellis invites artists on his forums to redesign classic characters from time to time, and they recently took a stab at Batgirl. Some of them are pretty cool.
MTV's Splash Page has a clip from from DC's newest animated movie, the direct-to-DVD Batman: Under the Red Hood.
Somebody made a golf cart version of Batman's tumbler.
Batman: Black and White was a series of short stories in black and white that ran in the backs of Batman comics in the 90s. Apparently, they're making motion comics (a hybrid comic/video thing) out of them. Check one out here.

News & Notes

2010-06-21T20:07:00.007-04:00

Above is Batman from a set of vintage style DC posters [edit: the link to which seems to be dead or something, my sincerest apologies]. I'm back from a long break, here's the news since last time:

Christopher Nolan says the Joker will definitely NOT be in Batman 3, if he had his way he would not make it in 3d (but he still might have to), and he shares a little on his involvement with Superman.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who will appear in this summer's Nolan-directed Inception, has emerged as a popular rumor for the Riddler.

In honor of this month's Batman #700 comic, there were some people celebrating Batman by listing their favorite Batman panels and recapping the previous 100 issues.

And the internet is abuzz about this lengthy fan film, which I haven't watched yet, but the production values are pretty impressive for a $27,000 budget.

News & Notes

2010-05-27T08:23:00.003-04:00

Image from here.

Newsarama discusses (at great length) the history of the Batman costume. Highly recommended.
DC is doing 75th anniversary covers that pay homage to classic covers, starting with this one by Mike Mignola. Comics Alliance has a list of 10 other covers they'd like to see him tackle
Topless Robot lists the 5 coolest and 5 strangest Batman crossovers. I think the Planetary one was one of the best.
Io9 has a feature on the bootleg Batman art of Asia and a NSFW article on the history of Batman-themed pornography.
Here is a mashup of Toy Story 2 and The Dark Knight
Neal Adams, one of the great Batman artists ever, is doing a new Batman book. Here are some images from it.
A couple of Batman-related webcomics: here and here.

The next Riddler poll will be a while, as I'm on vacation with spotty internet access. But it's coming eventually!

Riddler Poll #9

2010-05-10T04:11:00.004-04:00

Way too long since the last one of these, but Hugh Laurie edged out Paul Bettany last time, with no one else getting more than 2 votes. Bettany's in the lead for the top spot among 2nd place finishers, so he may be back. And now, the last round before the finals, voting will be open for a week:

Jim Carrey
You might know him from: All sorts of stuff, including as the Riddler in Batman Returns
This is a terrible idea, so I'm not going to give it much thought. He already did it, he wasn't terrible or anything, but I don't see why this series of Batman films would want to call back to the earlier series.

James Franco
You might know him from: Freaks and Geeks, the Spider-Man series, a great 30 Rock cameo
I like James Franco as an actor, just not for this role. Also, considering his recent "performance art" stint on a soap opera, I feel like his interests aren't in the area of big budget comic book movies.

James McAvoy
You might know him from: The Last King of Scotland, Wanted
Another actor I like. But in the parts I've seen him in, he's the character that... we identify with. I don't think the Riddler, in any variation, has been someone we're supposed to completely understand or sympathize with.

Ewan McGregor
You might know him from: Star Wars (the crappy ones), Trainspotting
I just can't see it. No idea why. I was going to guess that he might be done with big budget franchises too, but he did do Angels and Demons just last year, so there goes that theory.

Guy Pearce (pictured)
You might know him from: Memento, The Hurt Locker, L.A. Confidential
He's worked with Christopher Nolan before, he has a definite edge, he can pull off intellectual/nerdy, and... I just like the idea.

News & Notes

2010-05-06T00:47:00.003-04:00

July 12th, 2012. I don't think theaters are taking orders for tickets just yet, but keep an eye out.

Above is a fan-made poster featuring Neil Patrick Harris as the Riddler. No idea of the source, but if anyone knows, let me know in the comments. The voters here didn't think too highly of NPH as the Riddler, but he'd still be an interesting choice.

Topless Robot has a list of 10 most badass Batman comic moments.

They also have the trailer for Under the Red Hood, the Batman-centric upcoming direct-to-disc animated feature.

Apparently there are plans for a Batman stage show.

And the folks at SMBC theater have a video (with some NSFW language) that's pretty funny.

News & Notes

2010-04-19T11:01:00.003-04:00

I haven't done one of these in a while:

Batman on Film reports that Emily Blunt turned down a part in Captain America because she wants to be Catwoman. Blunt lost to Marion Cotillard in an early round of voting in our Catwoman polls here, but I don't think she'd be a bad choice.

Kevin Conroy, the voice of many animated versions of Batman, spoke to a crowd at C2E2 about Christian Bale's weird Batman voice.

Project Rooftop, the superhero costume redesign site, had a whole week of Batwoman pinups after news that Greg Rucka, who'd written every Batwoman story to date, was leaving DC, leaving most to believe the character would more or less disappear. But then it was announced that Batwoman artist JH Williams III would be the writer and artist on an upcoming Batwoman series. Anyway, check out all the Batwoman art here, including the above image by J. Estacado (I actually liked Mike Maihack's best, but Estacado's is pretty striking).

DC and Bill Sienkiewicz are trying to find some lost pages of art from a Detective Comics issue that was never published.

And here's Dick Sprang's detailed Batcave drawing analyzed by Comics Alliance's resident Batmanologist, Chris Sims.

Riddler Poll #8

2010-04-08T09:58:00.004-04:00

Edward Norton got over half the vote last time, no one else was even close. On to #8:

Paul Bettany
You might know him from: A Beautiful Mind, A Knight's Tale, The Da Vinci Code

If you saw A Knight's Tale, you know Paul Bettany is excellent at yelling and making a big spectacle, which made him a popular fan choice back when they were casting the Joker. Obviously, Heath Ledger was the right choice, but Bettany could bring the same energy to the Riddler, if that's the kind of thing you want.

Macaulay Culkin
You might know him from: Home Alone, but he's still acting, honest!

There was a TV series called Kings last year where Culkin played an innocent-looking sociopath, and he was quite good at it. The big obstacle with him is that people see him and go "oh, that kid from Home Alone," so it's hard to see him being cast in villainous role in a major movie.

Brendan Fraser
You might know him from: Dudley Do-Right, Encino Man, or his weird clappy thing

I do not care for Brendan Fraser at all, but a regular commenter here seems to be a fan, so let me try to give the guy a fair shake. His strengths as an actor are... he's a pretty big guy, and he has sort of an innocence about him that's occasionally charming when he plays a man child (like in The Scout or George of the Jungle). Neither of these applies to the Riddler.

Hugh Laurie (pictured)
You might know him from: House, M.D., various British comedy TV shows, but probably just House

His character of Gregory House could work almost unchanged as the Riddler. He's a genius, loves a good mystery, has a definite mean streak, he even already has a cane. He'd have to start wearing green and being more into stealing than healing, but that's a minor change.

Jude Law
You might know him from: Sherlock Holmes, A.I., The Road to Perdition

He's a fine actor, and he could pull off an excellent version of a certain kind of Riddler, but not really the one I want.

Voting will be up on the right side of the page in just a minute, and will stay open for a week.

News & Notes

2010-03-31T19:06:00.003-04:00

I don't understand this picture at all, nor do I know where it came from. But here's some news:

Dark Knight and Batman Begins composer Hans Zimmer would like to write music for the Riddler.

Remember how a copy of the comic where Batman debuted set the record for the most ever paid for a comic? Superman has the record back

Superman vs Batman arguments endanger friendships

Adrien Brody was up for the Joker in The Dark Knight

It's ok to like Batman a lot. It's kinda ok to name your daughters HarleyQuinn and Bat Girl. It is not ok, however, to stalk Law & Order: CI actress Kathryn Erbe. Just thought I'd make that clear to everyone.

"...as everyone knows, Batman doesn't kill. Or does he?"

Batman has a drinking problem

Riddler Poll #7

2010-03-21T12:45:00.005-04:00

Crispin Glover won the last round pretty handily. I mentioned being clueless about Jim Parsons, and he finished in a respectable 2nd place. Full results on the right sidebar near the bottom. On to round 7:

Matt Damon
You might know him from: Bourne/Ocean's movies, getting bumped from Jimmy Kimmel Live

He's a really good actor, and was supposedly considered for Harvey Dent, but I don't think he's right for the Riddler at all. He's kind of a handsome alpha male, the Riddler is a cowardly nerd.

Paul Dano (pictured)
You might know him from: Little Miss Sunshine, There Will Be Blood

He's got the look for a cowardly nerd. But he might be a tad too young, I'm not sure.

Jake Gyllenhaal
You might know him from: Brokeback Mountain, Zodiac, Donnie Darko

Most of what I wrote about Matt Damon above pretty much applies here too.

Damian Lewis
You might know him from: the TV series Life, Band of Brothers

I had no idea he was English until just now. Anyway, the characters I've seen him play have all been fairly calm. Almost serene, even in chaotic circumstances. Which would be odd for the Riddler. Does he have the range to take on something different from what I've seen? I have no idea.

Edward Norton
You might know him from: Fight Club, The Incredible Hulk, Rounders

Edward Norton's one of my favorite actors, and I think in theory he could do an excellent Riddler. I only have two concerns. First, two of my least favorite of his performances (in Red Dragon and The Italian Job) he played the villain, and the Riddler would of course be another one. Second, he certainly has comic book cred, but from his performance as the Hulk and basing his character in The Painted Veil on Dr. Strange, he might be a Marvel guy and not that into DC comics.

Vote over on the right side of the page near the top. Voting will be open for a week.

News & Notes

2010-03-16T13:24:00.003-04:00

The above is from here. And here are some other things, generally less awesome than Batman with a lightsaber.

A while back, before Batman Begins, Warner Bros. was considering making a Superman vs Batman movie, and apparently Christian Bale was supposedly in the running to play Superman.

EW's Popwatch addresses the issue of Superman vs. Batman in a fight.

Io9 has a list of comic book costumes that actually look good in movies, but somehow leaves Batman off the list.

Io9 also explains how Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths got the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle all wrong.

And if you ever wondered whether former Attorney General Janet Reno thinks the Terminator is a better crime fighter than Batman, this is the book for you.

Real, Actual News

2010-03-10T16:15:00.004-05:00

Mr. Freeze is out.

I post a lot of news updates and things, but they're usually generic Batman links or unfounded rumors. Here's some actual news, straight from Christopher Nolan:

"It won’t be Mr. Freeze"

Nolan also confirms that the third Batman script is being worked on, and seems to indicate that it will be his last Batman movie. He also talks a lot about Superman. Read all about it here

Riddler Poll #6

2010-03-05T20:20:00.004-05:00

Michael Emerson ran away with the last poll. Kevin Spacey and Neil Patrick Harris tied for a distant second. Here are this week's contenders:

Willem Dafoe
You might know him from: Spider-Man, Speed 2: Cruise Control
Dafoe is intense, which is good. But he's already done the comic book villain thing in a very popular movie, so I'm not sure they want to invite the comparison.

Crispin Glover
You might know him from: Back to the Future, Charlie's Angels
Crispin Glover is a weird guy. I think if I was going to be on set, he wouldn't be my first choice of a guy to spend my days with, but he might be the right guy to play a completely weird Riddler. If anyone can figure out a way to be unsettling in an intellectual way, Glover can.

Eddie Murphy
You might know him from: Beverly Hills Cop, Coming to America
This was one of those rumors from The Sun, which likes to make ridiculous things up and cite "unnamed sources." Never going to happen.

Jim Parsons (pictured)
You might know him from: The Big Bang Theory
I don't watch this show, but from the commercials I gather that he's nerdy and awkward. You'll have to tell me if he's right for the Riddler, I honestly don't know.

Sean Penn
You might know him from: Mystic River, Milk, Fast Times at Ridgemont High
The only movies he's done for a while are ones with a political agenda and Oscar bait. Heath Ledger's award notwithstanding, Batman movies aren't where you go to win Oscars, so I doubt he'd ever do it. Even if he would, I'm not sure I'd want him to. He does brooding and he does quiet intensity and he does vulnerable, all of these very well, but even though I don't really favor the boisterously crazed Riddler that some do, he should still like the sound of his own voice and enjoy the challenge of facing Batman, two things that I don't picture Penn capturing as well as others.

Vote over to the right. Scroll down on the sidebar to see the full results from round 5.

News & Notes

2010-03-04T08:30:00.002-05:00

Comic writer Warren Ellis points to the above spiffy image by Eliza Gauger.

Over at the blog Springfield Punx, which makes Simpsons versions of other characters, it's Christopher Nolan Bat week. Check out all the Batman-themed pictures he's done here.

Some burlesque dancers did a Batman-themed show, including some weird re-enactment of the Joker shooting Barbara Gordon in The Killing Joke. See a slideshow of the action (some of which is not safe for work) here

Expect a new Riddler poll shortly.

News & Notes

2010-03-01T10:10:00.003-05:00

IESB is claming that Christopher Nolan's involvement with the next Superman movie is two-fold: Nolan's brother (and Dark Knight co-writer) Jonah will direct the Superman film which will lead to Christopher Nolan directing a Justice League film after the third Batman. I find this hard to believe for two reasons: it would be a giant risk to hand a major franchise like Superman to a first time director, and Nolan and others have said that the Batman of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight exists in a world with no other superheroes, so doing a Justice League movie would seem off. But we'll see, I guess.

Speaking of Superman, a high quality issue of his first appearance, Action Comics #1, sold for $1 million recently. But, proving once again that Batman is superior, a copy of Detective Comics #27, Batman's first appearance, sold for $1.075 million.

Topless Robot has a list of crazy foreign knock-off movies, including a pretty terrible Turkish Batman one.

Io9 lists 75 DC comics you should own for DC's 75th anniversary. I disagree about A Death in the Family (I'd get Arkham Asylum or The Long Halloween or a second copy of Year One instead) but the rest of the Batman stuff (and the rest of the list in general) is pretty good.

News & Notes

2010-02-25T13:15:00.003-05:00

Batman On Film points to some potentially great news that Batman 3 is rumored to be scouting locations, an early step that, if true, means filming probably starts this year.

ComicsAlliance has the strangest moments from golden age Batman, including the housecat wrestling pictured above.

Cracked has a comic about what it'd be like if Bruce Wayne had a more typical childhood.

Bleeding Cool reports on Warner Brothers acquiring the company that made the Arkham Asylum video game.

Bleeding Cool also has some safe-for-work images from the Batman porn parody film here.

Buzzfeed has a really poorly translated Batman Begins synopsis here. I don't know if that's supposed to be from a bootleg DVD or what, but somehow I feel like it might be fake.

Riddler Poll #5

2010-02-24T07:36:00.006-05:00

As expected, Johnny Depp ran away with the last poll, taking 56% of the vote, compared to Jeff Goldblum's 20% for second place. Full results are to the right, bumped down to the bottom of the sidebar. This week ought to be closer, with an Oscar winner and four nerd-favorite actors:

Michael Emerson (pictured)
You might know him from: Lost, and apparently he was in Saw

His character on Lost, Benjamin Linus, is very Riddler-like. He's intelligent, manipulative, and creepy as hell. The creepy thing is as much Emerson as it is Ben Linus, as demonstrated by his ability to make even nursery rhymes frightening, which I think means he'd make a great Mad Hatter as well.

Neil Patrick Harris
You might know him from: Doogie Howser, MD, Harold & Kumar, How I Met Your Mother, Dr. Horrible

Technically no stranger to Batman, having voiced the Music Meister on an episode of Batman: the Brave and the Bold, NPH is in pretty high demand these days. And I like him a lot, he's a high energy performer, very talented, but he's not a guy who you could ever imagine posing a threat to Batman. Maybe it's just me, I don't know.

Viggo Mortensen
You might know him from: The Lord of the Rings, other stuff

Viggo Mortensen is kind of the opposite of the Riddler in every way I can think of. He's in good shape, handsome, seems like he'd hold his own in a fight, and has a commanding voice. He's Aragorn, not Eddie Nygma.

Kevin Spacey
You might know him from: The Usual Suspects, Seven, American Beauty, Superman Returns

I have no doubt that he'd figure out a way to do the Riddler well, but I seriously doubt he'd actually want to do it. He played Lex Luthor, and I think he'd do it again if the circumstances were right, but I think that's going to be it for him and superhero movies.

Elijah Wood
You might know him from The Lord of the Rings, and he was apparently that little kid in Back to the Future II who didn't like the idea of video games where you have to use your hands

A much better fit, physically, than Mortensen, and he had some nice moments of kind of evilness in Lord of the Rings, so I could see this. Far from my first choice, but I wouldn't hate the idea.

The poll will be up for a week, vote on the right side of the page.

News & Notes

2010-02-15T08:01:00.004-05:00

With the follow-up to The Dark Knight actually being worked on, we have our first rumor that may actually be more than speculation:

This post on comicbookmovie.com claims that, among other things, The Riddler will be the main villain. Technically that link could contain some spoilers. I find parts of this to be far-fetched, so I don't think it's legitimate, but it's possible, I guess.

Christopher Nolan explains his philosophy on comic book movies.

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths isn't released until next week, but details are already emerging about the next DC direct-to-disc animated feature, Batman: Under The Hood.

Quiz site sporcle.com challenges you to name the actors and actresses from the Batman films. Just '89-present, no need to worry about 1966's Batman: The Movie.

And I'm a day late here, but Comics Alliance posts some Batman valentine cards from the 60s.

Don't forget to vote in the Riddler poll over to the right, there are still three days left.

Riddler Poll #4

2010-02-11T11:59:00.001-05:00

Last week's poll was the first one that was actually close, with Lance Reddick edging out Jackie Earle Haley by a single vote. Here are this week's actors:

Steve Carell
You might know him from: The Office, The Daily Show, The 40 Year Old Virgin

He's a very funny man who should never play the Riddler.

Johnny Depp
You might know him from: 21 Jump Street, Nick of Time, The Astronaut's Wife

Obviously he's a really good actor, and one of the most popular choices. I suspect that if the Riddler is in the next movie, and Depp wants to do it, there'd be tremendous pressure to cast him, even if Nolan and company want someone else.

Lee Evans (pictured)
You might know him from: He's a comedian, but I know him as the guy on crutches from There's Something About Mary, and the timid guy from The Fifth Element

If you remember him in The Fifth Element, you know he can capture the cowardly aspects of the character. I can see him playing an intellectual, slightly goofy Riddler, somewhere in between Frank Gorshin and the John Glover version from Batman: The Animated Series. However, he is basically an unknown to American audiences, and I'm not sure it's very likely that his name would even come up in casting discussions.

James Franco
You might know him from: Spider-Man, Freaks and Geeks, Pineapple Express

He looks stoned all the time, and seems to be making unusual career choices lately (General Hospital), but I still like him as an actor. However, he has absolutely none of the qualities I'd expect for the part.

Jeff Goldblum

You might know him from:

The Fly, Independence Day, Jurassic Park

Simpsons

Planet of the Apes

Voting will be open for a week.

News & Notes

2010-02-09T13:50:00.003-05:00

Buried in the news that Christopher Nolan will be involved in a reboot of the Superman franchise is this:
This does not in any way replace the third installment of Nolan’s Batman movies, which his brother Jonah Nolan and just-left-FlashForward David Goyer, are working on right now.
Goyer co-wrote Batman Begins and received a story credit for The Dark Knight, but had been serving as showrunner on the ABC series FlashForward (which started off interesting but got boring quickly, IMO). He recently stepped down citing the "ramping up" of work on movies. So even though we're still without official confirmation, it really seems like Christopher Nolan will be back.

Morgan Freeman expects a third Batman movie shortly, if only because of the billions the studio would stand to make.

MTV's Splash Page has some suggestions for actresses should DC ever include Zatanna in one of their movies (don't bother with the video, btw, it's terrible). I can't imagine Zatanna in a Batman movie any time soon, though she has been an occasional love interest for Bruce Wayne, just because the character would involve the wackier aspects of Batman mythology.

Comic writer Kurt Busiek writes a thoughtful piece on why Batman isn't a green lantern, more from a writer's point of view than an elaborate in-universe explanation.

The Hurting lists the 5 worst Batman villains, surely in an effort to irritate me by picking some of my favorites.

I don't know what you call this thing, it's sort of like a motorcycle rickshaw, but whatever it is, this Cambodian guy has made it awesome.

DC's The Source Blog has been showing preview images of The Return of Bruce Wayne like the Pilgrim Batman one above. See here and here for more.

Expect another Riddler poll soon.

Riddler Poll #3

2010-01-31T10:36:00.004-05:00

Casey Affleck dominated the second poll, with three other candidates getting 2 votes a piece. And somewhat late, here are the candidates for the third round:

Jeremy Davies
You might know him from: Saving Private Ryan (Upham), Lost (Faraday)
I can't see Davies, who's a pretty good actor, as the Riddler, just because he has a sympathetic quality. Even the version of Riddler in the comics now, a private detective who's given up crime entirely, is not the least bit likable. And there's just something about Jeremy Davies' face that makes him seem vulnerable and friendly.

Brian Austin Green
You might know him from: Beverly Hills: 90210, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
This is one of the few guys on the list who has publicly expressed interest in the role. And I may be alone in this, but I thought he was actually the best part of The Sarah Connor Chronicles towards the end of the show (well either him, or the incredibly hot Stephanie Jacobsen. And I hear he was ok as Metallo on Smallville, too. But he's still Brian Austin Green from 90210, so there's no way a studio signs off on him in a major part. People would hear he was in it and think the movie was a joke. The lesson here is that things like this will haunt you for the rest of your life.

Jackie Earle Haley
You might know him from: The Bad News Bears, Watchmen (Rorschach), Human Target
He was great in Watchmen, and since then he's been a fan-favorite candidate for all kinds of comic book roles, most notably Sinestro in Green Lantern (who should totally be played by Hugh Laurie from House, but that's not important here). A month ago I'd have said he was all wrong for this part, but his character on Human Target isn't too far off the Riddler, and he gives the most interesting performance on the show. I'm still not sold on him, but he wouldn't be a disaster.

Vincent Kartheiser
You might know him from: Mad Men, Angel (he was Angel's son)
One of the aspects of the Riddler is that he's usually pretty weaselly. He's a genius, but clearly not Batman's equal in a fight, so once the dark knight's jumped through his intellectual hoops, Riddler is quick to run, hide, or anything else cowardly he can do. That's an aspect Kartheiser can capture perfectly, based on his Pete Campbell character on Mad Men, and probably exactly why he was suggested. I'm not 100% sold on his ability to play the wicked and cunning aspects Riddler, though.

Lance Reddick (pictured)
You might know him from: The Wire, Fringe, and he was briefly on Lost
Reddick is mostly memorable for his almost disturbing eyes and intense voice. Both of which would be great for the Riddler. Eddie Nygma has, as far as I know, never been portrayed as black, so that might be jarring to some fans, but I think he'd be an excellent choice.

If I had photoshop skills, I'd have made Reddick's jacket and tie green in the photo above, and I think it'd look pretty classy. Voting closes in a week.

News & Notes

2010-01-28T12:19:00.005-05:00

Artist Ted Naifeh reimagines various Batman characters like the Joker above (but caution, a couple appear to be NSFW).

MTV's Splash Page has the trailer to Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, which arrives next month.

Topless Robot lists the 12 coolest Batmobile toys ever.

And webcomic Amazing Super Powers has an amusing strip today and I think most of us will agree with how it plays out.

I'm incredibly slow on the Riddler polls, but the third one should be up soon. Or soonish.

Riddler Poll #2

2010-01-18T08:39:00.004-05:00

The first poll finished a while back, and Michael C. Hall ran away with it. David Tennant was a distant second. This week, five more:

Casey Affleck
You might know him from: Gone Baby Gone, the Ocean's Eleven series
In my opinion, a much better actor than his brother, so don't hold Daredevil against this guy. He was really impressive in Gone Baby Gone, which is the main reason I can see him as the Riddler. He would be a contemplative, cerebral Riddler, and not the Jim Carrey/Frank Gorshin type.

Eric Bana
You might know him from: The Hulk, Munich, Star Trek
I never saw what the big deal was about him, but I recently saw Chopper, and he was amazing in it. That said, I don't think he's a great fit for the Riddler. He's a big guy, and no matter what incarnation of the Riddler, he's not physically imposing.

Michael Fassbender
You might know him from: Inglourious Basterds, 300, Band of Brothers
I barely remember this guy from any of his movies. Seeing his picture, I guess he looks ok-ish for the part. But he wouldn't be one of my top choices.

Tobey Maguire
You might know him from: Spider-Man, some other stuff
I might be a terrible person, but in the first Spider-Man, when (spoiler alert) Uncle Ben was dying and he started crying, I laughed. I didn't find the scene believable, and he seemed more like a kid crying because of some perceived high school slight than someone seeing a loved one die. The point being, I'm not a fan. Many people disagree with me, so go ahead and vote for him if you want.

Andy Serkis
You might know him from: The Lord of the Rings
He was great as Gollum, which inspired some kind of crazy geek adoration that make them suggest him for every part. Which is fine, but I don't know if I've ever seen him like actually physically there in a movie. Not a great resume for the main villain in a huge movie.

This poll will be open for a week, hopefully the third one will be along more promptly than this one. Also, finding images for the Riddler isn't nearly as fun as Catwoman, but boy is that Eric Bana dreamy.

News & Notes

2010-01-15T09:36:00.004-05:00

I fall behind on everything over Christmas, so I'm just now getting caught up. I'll have another Riddler poll up over the weekend, I hope, but here's some news since the last time I updated:

There's a teaser trailer and a list of likely villains for the sequel to the Arkham Asylum videogame.

After the upcoming Crisis on Two Earths, the next direct-to-DVD animated movie from DC is expected to be Batman: Under the Hood, possibly written by Judd Winnick

Book of Eli directors the Hughes Brothers claim they were working on The Dark Knight Returns, and that it would have starred Clint Eastwood. Eastwoood would have been perfect, but I still haven't seen a Hughes Brothers movie since Menace II Society that did anything beyond look fancy.

Comic book rumor site Bleeding Cool believes that 2010 will see the return of inter-company crossovers, specifically mentioning a Batman/Daredevil crossover by Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack.

I wish I'd posted it before Christmas, but Neill Cameron did a series of pop culture-themed Santa Clauses, including a Frank Miller Batman Santa.

Fan Art Exhibit, where the incredibly popular Kristen Bell/Harley Quinn poster originated, posted a series of character-based posters. Their Riddler is pictured above (I think based on Guy Pearce).

Wired ranks the actors who played Batman best. Christian Bale is not #1.

Topless Robot had a video featuring every (I think) "Holy ___!" by Robin in the 1960s TV series, and showed off the Bat-limo-bile

Super Not So Super features superheroes (including Batman) at their most ordinary.

Io9 pits Alfred Pennyworth against Iron Man/Avengers butler Jarvis in Iron Butler America. Spoiler alert: had Jarvis won, I doubt I'd have posted it, because that'd just be wrong.

Many TV series have something called a writers bible, which lays out the rules of the show. Like how it will look, story structure, long term plot goals, and defining characters. The bible for Batman: The Animated Series leaked online, and Chris Sims at Comics Alliance has the highlights.

Riddler Poll #1

2009-12-20T14:04:00.004-05:00

Here's the first of many Riddler polls. I decided to make them smaller than the Catwoman polls, because although the field is a little smaller, there are two totally different ways to approach the Riddler. He could be completely manic, like Frank Gorshin and Jim Carrey played him, or a calculated intellectual (and coward) more like how he was portrayed in the animated series from the 1990s or recently in comics. So reducing the field reduces the chance that your favorite manic Riddler actor will be up against your favorite intelligent one. The entire field, with submissions from the comments recently added, is here, and here are the first contestants:

Michael C. Hall
You may know him from: Dexter, Six Feet Under

His character on Dexter is a sociopath whose unnerving coldness while doing horrific things has earned him a lot of fans. That kind of thing could completely work for The Riddler.

Denis Leary
You may know him from: Stand-up comedy, Rescue Me, The Ref

I forget where I saw it, but jotted his name down even though he's a terrible choice. I like him a lot as an actor, just not for this part at all.

Daniel Day Lewis
You may know him from: Gangs of New York, There Will Be Blood, My Left Foot, Last of the Mohicans In The Name Of The Father

He is sometimes incredible, but sometimes overacts ridiculously, so much so that it won't even work in a comic book movie. Not that it matters, because I can't imagine him ever wanting to be in a Batman movie anyway.

David Tennant (pictured)
You may know him from: Dr. Who, and what looks like a bunch of other UK TV series

I don't watch Dr. Who, so I'm not familiar with his work. He's a pretty popular choice among fans, though, and has expressed interest in the part. But from what I can tell, he almost certainly would go the Gorshin/Carrey route.

Christopher Walken
You may know him from: The Dead Zone, Saturday Night Live appearances, Pulp Fiction, too many other roles to list

He's eccentric and can be unnerving when he's not playing it for laughs, but I can't imagine a Riddler who's pushing 70 years old.

The poll should be up within a minute, and will close in a week. Depending on my free time over the holidays, I may get another poll up next week, but it might be longer.

Casting the Riddler

2009-12-14T07:07:00.002-05:00

A while back, I did a giant list of possible actresses for Catwoman, and a series of polls eventually leading to you guys picking Julianne Moore for the part. And a recent post on MTV's Spash Page reminded me that I've been meaning to do one for the Riddler for a long time.

So the first step is to hunt down every name I can find associated with the Riddler for a future Batman movie. Please remember that this is not a list of my suggestions, because I happen to think some of these are downright awful. And if there are any names you think should be on the list, let me know in the comments.

Updated the list with updates from the comments (though I trimmed some off of Commissioner Gordon's list at the bottom of this post because the polls would never end with that many actors, and, no offense, Harrison Ford would be awful):

Casey Affleck
Eric Bana
Paul Bettany
Steve Carell
Jim Carrey
Macaulay Culkin
Paul Dano
Willem Dafoe
Matt Damon
Jeremy Davies
Johnny Depp
Michael Emerson
Lee Evans
Michael Fassbender
James Franco
Brendan Fraser
Crispin Glover
Jeff Goldblum
Jake Gyllenhaal
Brian Austin Green
Jackie Earle Haley
Michael C. Hall
Neil Patrick Harris
Hugh Laurie
Jude Law
Denis Leary
Damian Lewis
Daniel Day Lewis
Vincent Kartheiser
Tobey Maguire
James McAvoy
Ewan McGregor
Viggo Mortensen
Eddie Murphy
Edward Norton
Jim Parsons
Guy Pearce
Sean Penn
Lance Reddick
Andy Serkis
Kevin Spacey
David Tennant
Christopher Walken
Elijah Wood

I'll try to put up a poll of the first set in about a week. And again, let me know if you have any other suggestions.

News & Notes

2009-12-12T13:53:00.002-05:00

Pirate Batman (above) is among the odd things promised by Grant Morrison in next year's Return of Bruce Wayne, which will return the comic version of Batman from the "dead."

Morgan Freeman has a gut feeling that Christopher Nolan will be back for a third Batman film. And he thinks Catwoman should be involved.

Matt Damon was considered for the role of Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight. Scheduling conflicts made it a non-issue before there was any real discussion. It's interesting to think about, but as Damon points out, "Aaron [Eckhart] is a great actor, so the movie didn't suffer for it...."

And to link to MTV's Splash Page (a really good source for comic movie news) three times in a row, Danny De Vito looks back on making Batman Returns.

A robot dinosaur has been stolen from a museum in Mexico. Word on the street is that it was smuggled into some rich guy's basement.

And here's a great advertisement:

News & Notes

2009-12-08T09:57:00.003-05:00

DC's Source blog has the details on upcoming original graphic novels that update the origins of Batman and Superman. Comics fans will find this to be familiar, since Marvel did it beginning in 2000 with their Ultimate line, which was a pretty cool idea and resulted in some quality comics for a while.

What's odd, though, is that Batman's origin isn't the least bit dated. Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's Batman: Year One hasn't aged at all (with the small exception of Catwoman seeming pretty 80s (she reminds me of Joan Jett)). So I'm not entirely sure what the point of it all is, but the costume doesn't look half bad (though Bleeding Cool thinks it might be a ripoff), and Geoff Johns and Gary Frank is a solid creative team.

Elsewhere, one of the best Batman comic moments in a good while happened a few weeks ago in Detective Comics #859. The Weekly Crisis has some images (scroll about 1/3 of the way down).

And io9 talks about the philosophy of Batman and the Joker in an article that mostly went over my head.

News & Notes

2009-11-28T09:26:00.002-05:00

Artist Vanja Mrgan has a series adding beards to pop culture heroes including, of course, Batman.

Topless Robot has a list of villains from the 60s Batman TV series that should be in comics (most of them really shouldn't, but it's an interesting list anyway).

And here's some emo versions of superheroes. The artist was selling prints, but Batman is long since sold out.

News & Notes

2009-11-18T20:14:00.002-05:00

Jeff Yorkes made the above Mad Men/Batman mashup.

It's rumored that Spider-man 4 may feature the Black Cat. Why does that matter? Black Cat is amazingly similar to Catwoman, so a studio may be reluctant to make a superhero movie with the same kind of villain. But I'd like to think that if Christopher Nolan and company had a good enough idea, it wouldn't matter.

And speak of the devil, MTV had a Catwoman casting poll and Kate Beckinsale was the runaway winner.

And here's a trailer for Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, another DC direct-to-DVD/BluRay animated movie. I didn't much like the last one (Superman/Batman: Public Enemies) but I'm a total sucker for these, so I'll definitely check out this one when it comes out (which won't be for a while):

News & Notes

2009-11-10T21:55:00.002-05:00

Above, a clever fan-made Riddler poster from millarc (click the image for a larger version if you can't read it).

I was behind on my reading from having just moved, but MTV's Splash Page was super busy with Batman-related stuff over the past couple weeks. They held a poll on which villain should appear in Batman 3, and their readers chose the Riddler. And in an interview with Dane Cook, he said he wants to play the Riddler, which should never happen.

They suggested possible actresses for Catwoman, mostly including names I've mentioned here, but also throwing out Reiko Aylesworth, which is an odd choice. And now they're having a Catwoman casting poll which leaves out both oft-mentioned names (Marion Cotillard) and favorites from this site (Julianne Moore).

And they offered up a preview for the Batgirl #4 comic that comes out tomorrow. Batman fans may enjoy the mutants from The Dark Knight Returns on the cover.

News & Notes

2009-11-07T18:12:00.003-05:00

Above, the Batman portion of a Dr. Seuss/Superhero mashup over on DeviantArt.

Some website that I forgot which one it was pointed to this design for a Batmobile by noted sci-fi/horror artist H.R. Giger which was intended for (but not used in) the 1994 film Batman Forever. That whole Batmobile history site is pretty awesome. Be careful, though, I've lost entire workdays browsing it.

And this has nothing to do with anything, really, but Isla Fisher is a lovely woman who dressed up as Catwoman for Halloween, so here's some pictures of that.

News & Notes

2009-10-30T18:02:00.003-04:00

Most people reading this are probably really into Batman, and some may be really into Halloween, but I beg you: please do not do this to your dog.

In actual news: MTV talked to Willem Dafoe recently, and he said he was approached about playing Batman in the 1989 film that eventually starred Michael Keaton. That would've been... different.

And I don't normally link to such things, but apparently someone is making a pornographic movie that parodies the Adam West Batman TV series. The very adult website Fleshbot has a preview. It is nsfw, xxx, inappropriate for minors, etc. Don't click here if you're somewhere where genitals appearing on your screen will get you fired, expelled, dumped, divorced, excommunicated, shunned, or a negative consequence that I haven't anticipated.

News & Notes

2009-10-27T15:12:00.002-04:00

Above, a pretty funny College Humor video (Update: which I now realize isn't displaying right, so watch it here). And more importantly, Cillian Murphy (Scarecrow) is working with Christopher Nolan on Inception, and tells MTV:

"I hope they make a third one," he told MTV News. "I think 'The Dark Knight' was one of the greatest films."

Just because he's hopeful, however, doesn't mean that Nolan has shared his intentions on the "Inception" set.

"We don’t talk about those things," Murphy explained "It's out of my control."

News & Notes

2009-10-19T19:27:00.005-04:00

A commenter pointed to this page which has the above image and a URL that claims to be part of viral marketing for Batman 3. It says its located at www.sharethemystery.com (at last check a yet-to-be-activated URL -- since I can't verify that it's not full of malware, I'm not going to link to it, proceed at your own risk). Anyway, The Dark Knight viral marketing like whysoserious.com was registered by proxy to keep production/marketing company names off of them, while this site is registered to some guy in New Jersey, so I say there's no chance it's legit.

MTV's Splash Page says they are making a sequel to the Superman/Batman movie that came out on DVD/BluRay recently. I thought it was ok, but would rather see them do something else, even if not Batman-related. The New Frontier is the best of those they've done so far, and I think they should try something more along those lines again. More than just big name characters and big action sequences, try something that's got a little more meat to the story.

And this comic today at amazingsuperpowers.com made me chuckle. Move your mouse to the area around the top right corner of the comic to reveal a question mark, which you can click for a bonus panel.

News & Notes

2009-10-06T21:15:00.003-04:00

Topless Robot counts down the 6 best and worst vehicles in comics with two Batman-related entries.

The Joker Blogs is a fan video series about the Joker in Arkham Asylum after The Dark Knight. He doesn't have the voice quite right, but the guy who plays the Joker otherwise does an uncanny impression of Heath Ledger's Joker.

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

2009-09-28T17:05:00.003-04:00

Based on the comic by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness, the animated feature Superman/Batman: Public Enemies releases on DVD and Blu-Ray tomorrow. It looks pretty good, based on the trailer and some other footage they've released. I especially like that they're keeping the voices from the (excellent) cartoons from the 1990s.

To mark the occasion, IGN looks at the top team-ups and fights between Superman and Batman. Newsarama, meanwhile, talks to voice actors Kevin Conroy (Batman) and Clancy Brown (Lex Luthor).

News & Notes

2009-09-23T21:39:00.003-04:00

Some news:

Michael Caine talked to MTV and this time didn't put his foot in his mouth:
"There is nobody, there's no script, there's nothing. It can't possibly be made before 2011 because 'Inception' is such a big picture."

Legendary comics creators Neal Adams and Frank Miller are teaming up for a new series called Batman: Odyssey (pictured).

DC will be featuring a Li'l Gotham series in the back of some upcoming comics.

And for the first time ever, the New York Yankees did something that doesn't suck. As part of their annual rookie hazing, they forced first year players to dress up like Batman characters. Which isn't really so bad except for the poor guy in the Catwoman outfit.

News & Notes

2009-09-17T12:42:00.002-04:00

A couple quick things:

Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds) will be playing a villain in the upcoming Jonah Hex movie, and will be using Frank Gorshin's Riddler from the '60s TV series as inspiration.

Users are creating skins for (I think just the PC version of) the Arkham Asylum videogames, and there's a thread on their forum collecting some of the best, like the Batman Beyond version above by DarkKnight11.

News & Notes

2009-09-11T20:24:00.003-04:00

Aaron Eckhart's promoting a new movie (Love Happens), and MTV asked him some Batman questions. He doesn't know anything about the future, really, but gives an interesting answer anyway:

Elsewhere, Topless Robot ranks the Joker's 10 craziest kills, and an Indianapolis Colts site previews the NFL season by comparing each team to a Batman character. At the risk of alienating some readers, I'm a Patriots fan, so I'd reverse their Colts and Pats comparisons, but otherwise it's pretty good.

2009-09-03T18:18:00.004-04:00

Hollywood loves to jump on bandwagons, so after the success of The Dark Knight, there were quite a few darker takes on superheroes in the works. Io9 runs down the list of them, finding that they've all seemed to stall out, and takes a guess at why.

Batman Comics Update

2009-08-30T10:03:00.001-04:00

A few items from Batman in the comics world, for anyone that cares:

It hasn't been too long since Batman R.I.P., but Bleeding Cool has rumors of Bruce Wayne's return. I knew he wouldn't stay dead forever, but this seems pretty quick.

The new Batgirl series started, and for anyone curious about her identity, you can find it here.

The first arc of Batman and Robin wrapped up this week, and it was pretty darn good. I'm not a Grant Morrison fan, really, but but until the third issue, this was nothing but fun. It got a little Morrison-weird there at the end, with scenes ending so abruptly that I thought I was missing a page. But overall it was one of the best Batman stories in quite a while.

News & Notes

2009-08-27T10:39:00.003-04:00

A quick update on the thing yesterday about Megan Fox, Aint It Cool News was nice enough to contact Megan Fox's people for comment:

Megan is a huge fan of the Batman movies and of director Christopher Nolan but these discussions have not taken place.

Wait, you mean the British tabloid was not carefully checking information from reliable sources to only print the truth? I'm shocked. Shocked! Also, it must be kind of awesome to be able to contact Megan Fox's people. Not as nice as contacting her directly, but still that's pretty cool.

News & Notes

2009-08-26T16:13:00.004-04:00

Two rumors today, one hopefully true, one probably false.

Batman 3 may be filmed entirely in IMAX, which would be pretty cool.

And the Sun is claiming that Megan Fox has been cast as Catwoman. They're the same newspaper that brought us Eddie Murphy as the Riddler, Shia LaBeouf as Robin, and I think Cher as Catwoman, so I wouldn't count on this one being true either.

2009-08-25T16:47:00.002-04:00

This is the teaser trailer for Inception, Christopher Nolan's next movie. It's hoped that once he's done with this one, it's on to another Batman movie, but who knows. There was talk for a while of him directing a movie adaptation of the 60s British TV series The Prisoner but he's apparently no longer involved, so my fingers are crossed.

News & Notes

2009-08-03T07:27:00.001-04:00

The Batman 3 rumor mill came to a halt after Gary Oldman's surprising (and unconfirmed) announcement at the San Diego Comic Con that filming would begin next year. Well, there was word that Miley Cyrus wants to be Batgirl, but I can't see that happening.

But speaking of Batgirl, a new comic series is launching in a couple weeks. Teaser images, like the one above by Phil Noto are about all we know about the series, but it's generally assumed that Batgirl is neither Barbara Gordon nor Cassie Cain, so we'd be looking at a whole new Batgirl. Possible choices include former Robin Stephanie Brown/Spoiler, Misfit (who actually first appeared in a Batgirl costume), one-time wannabe Batgirl Helena Bertinelli/Huntress, or Squire, one of the sidekicks to the Batmen of All Nations.

It could also be Bette Kane, who many many years ago was "Bat-Girl", the sidekick to Batwoman. Those stories were written out of continuity, but Batwoman has recently been reintroduced, and is currently starring in the beautifully drawn pages of Detective Comics, so bringing back Bette Kane is not out of the realm of possibilities.

But none of these characters I mentioned, with the possible exception of Babs Gordon, will be appearing in a Batman movie any time soon, so this is only of interest to hard core Batman nerds, like me.

Batman 3 Filming Next Year?

2009-07-24T16:13:00.002-04:00

I've been super lazy about updating lately, but with some actual news today, it seemed appropriate to get off my ass and update. Speaking at the annual gathering of nerds at the San Diego Comic Con, Gary Oldman, asked when the next Batman would be filming, said this:

The next batman is next year, so I think it is two years away. But you didn’t hear it from me.

Reports say he wasn't joking or anything, so maybe it's legit. With Christopher Nolan's current project, Inception, barely underway, it's possible Nolan may not be involved. Would you even want to see a third Batman film with another director? If so, who?

News & Notes

2009-07-01T11:52:00.004-04:00

Above is smizzle's entry in a worth1000 photoshop contest to put superheroes in classic paintings. I'm catching up after being out of town for a while, here's a ton of links with almost no commentary since there's a lot of them.

Suddenly, Christopher Nolan in Batman 3 is looking iffy. Which makes the m0vie blog wonder what would happen without Nolan. And Christian Bale wonders if Batman 3 will happen at all.

Johnny Depp still seems receptive to the Riddler idea.

Larry David probably won't be the Riddler

Snubbing the Dark Knight in best picture last year has made the Oscars expand to 10 nominees, which seems like a bad idea.

Fan Art Exhibit looks at The Dark Knight if the principal characters had been women: here, here, and here.

Michelle Pfeiffer will give whip lessons to the next Catwoman actress.

Vanessa Hudgens, a name that didn't come up in the series of Catwoman polls, is apparently a fan. I've never seen her in a movie though, so I don't know if that's a good idea, although she is quite attractive.

Io9 runs down what's going on with Batman in the comics, and things have been generally pretty good after Battle for the Cowl, especially Batman & Robin.

And finally, 1960s TV Batman Villains from A to Z:

News & Notes

2009-06-11T12:11:00.003-04:00

DC's source blog has another teaser image of the upcoming Batgirl series. Still no real clue as to who it is, but with them being careful not to show her face, there's a pretty good chance it's not Cassandra Cain.

Topless Robot counts down the 9 best fan films ever with a few Batman entries.

Eco-comics, which looks at the economics of superheroes and supervillains, discusses the value of Batman villains cooperating and whether the villains should betray each other. Lots of nerdy economics at both links, if that sort of thing appeals to you.

MTV's splash page looks at HBO's promos for the Dark Knight.

Robot6's "Send us your shelf porn" feature asks people to send in pictures of their shelves full of comic book stuff, and this most recent one has a pretty impressive Batman theme.

And Eddie Murphy appeared on the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien recently, and addressed those silly rumors from way back when about him playing the Riddler:

News & Notes

2009-06-04T07:21:00.000-04:00

The new Batman & Robin #1 comic came out this week, and I thought it was pretty good. Here are some reviews (with spoilers): Robot 6 and Comics Should Be Good.

To mark the occasion of the new Batman and new Robin in this comic, Splash Page counts down their favorite alternate Batmen and their favorite Robins.

A while back I linked to this piece by a writer hoping that Bruce Wayne stays dead, but now there's a pro-Bruce counter argument up.

And finally an artist named Dean T. Frasier did a nifty Star Wars/Batman mashup, mostly in the style of the 90s Batman animated series. Here's Darth Bat, but check out the whole set:

News & Notes

2009-06-02T13:05:00.003-04:00

Busy week at work for me, so I've been slow getting this out, but here's some news:

Batman on Film has some Batman 3 stuff, it's mostly non-news, but they raise a decent point:
at some point soon, Warner Bros. is going to have to publicly lay claim to Summer 2012 release date for BATMAN 3 -- the clock is ticking on that and the ticks are getting louder.

Studios announce the opening dates for big summer movies years in advance so that they can lay claim to the big movie weekends (and typically they don't like to release two big movies at the same time, it would just cause both films to earn less at the box office). For a summer 2012 release, something would probably be announced by the end of this year.

Unsurprisingly, Heath Ledger won the Best Villain award at the MTV movie awards.

Bam Kapow lists Five Batman vs Joker stories you may have missed. I'm not a huge fan of any of these, probably Devil's Advocate would be my favorite of the three, just because it's a cool concept (Joker gets the death penalty, but for murders he didn't commit, so Batman's sense of justice forces him to prove Joker's innocence).

This past week's Brave and the Bold cartoon was pretty excellent, with appearances from Bat-Mite, Ace the Bat-Hound, Catman, Calendar Man, Catwoman, Riddler, and many others. io9 has a nice review up.

And as long as I'm linking there, io9 has a review of Battle for the Cowl and a piece hyping the new Batman & Robin comic, which comes out Wednesday.

And finally, some French folks made a pretty impressive looking fan film (it's very R-rated, probably not work-safe). The film borrows the Sin City/Spirit look, and creates what can only be called an unusual take on Batman, as a sort of murderous avenging monstrous man. I didn't really care for it, but I really appreciate the effort that went into making it.

Catwoman Poll: Final Results

2009-05-28T12:26:00.003-04:00

So the voting is through for all the Catwoman polls, and in spite of my doubts, the people have chosen Julianne Moore. With 28% of the vote, she won pretty handily, too. Charlize Theron (my personal favorite) was second, with 17%. Marion Cotillard and Rachel Weisz tied for third at 14%. Another surprise to me, Kate Beckinsale only got one vote.

So that does it for Catwoman for a while. Thanks for voting! I'll try to do another big poll for another character, but since there seem to be a lot more casting ideas for Catwoman than anyone else, the rest will be quite a bit smaller.

News & Notes

2009-05-26T12:10:00.004-04:00

Batman: Battle for the Cowl wrapped up this past week in the comics, and most people (including me) were pretty unhappy with it. Here are some thoughts on it, plus some other random stuff:

Comixology compares the recent-ish deaths of Batman and Captain America. The short version: one kinda sucked, one was great.

And here's a list of 5 reasons why Battle for the Cowl was terrible.

Comics Should Be Good is posting a "cool comic book moment" every day this year, and the other day it was from a Suicide Squad story featuring Batman, Amanda Waller, and a little bit of Deadshot.

IGN interviews Grant Morrison (spoilers ahead, if you're planning on reading Battle for the Cowl) about his upcoming Batman & Robin series, featuring the new Batman and new Robin.

Romow picks the top 5 Batman villians but somehow excludes Two-Face.

And there's another one of these villain profiles for the Arkham Asylum video game, this one featuring a pants-less Poison Ivy:

The Catwoman poll is probably closed by the time you read this (1 hour to go as I'm typing) but check over to the right if you want to try to get a last minute vote in. Or to see the final results.

News & Notes

2009-05-22T12:40:00.004-04:00

I've linked to it a couple times before, but wanderingbert's Batman Villain project is still going strong, recently adding the above Black Mask image. I've been slack about these lately, but here are some links:

DC's' The Source blog has some previews of Mark Bagley's (Ultimate Spider-Man, Trinity) art on Batman.

MTV's Splash Page looks at the Joker-themed picture from Eminem's new album.

A crazy person over at Bam Kapow wishes Batman would stay dead.

The Philadelphia Daily News looks at the recent introduction of Adam West Batman foe King Tut to the comics world.

Here's a bunch of Joker pictures.

And here's the trailer for the next direct-to-dvd animation project, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies:

Don't forget to vote in the Catwoman poll, it's very close so far.

Catwoman Poll: Final Round

2009-05-19T13:30:00.005-04:00

So Kate Winslet wins the 8th round of polling in a squeaker over Gretchen Mol (you can see the full results at the bottom of the sidebar on the right). I doubt either of them win this final round. But here are your finalists, the winners of the first 8 rounds (including the two tied for first in poll #3) plus the top 2nd place finisher to make it an even 10:

Kate Beckinsale

Marion Cotillard

Megan Fox

Eva Green

Angelina Jolie

Michelle Monaghan

Julianne Moore

Charlize Theron

Rachel Weisz

Kate Winslet

So there you go, vote over to the right.

News & Notes

2009-05-15T13:06:00.003-04:00

I've been slack about these lately, so here's a whole bunch of links:

Christian Bale isn't saying anything about when Batman 3 will come out:
I’ve learned that I do not answer that question until (director) Chris Nolan has answered that question.

Pop counts down the 25 coolest villains in comics.

IGN goes a little further, ranking the top 100 comic villains (warning: it's annoying to flip through them one at a time, and they haven't gotten to the top 20 yet).

Kevin Smith will be making another Batman comic. I'm not sure this is good news, since I didn't like his Cacophony. MTV has some more details.

Io9 and MTV both look at upcoming episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold cartoon.

Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman costume from Batman Returns brought in over $8,000 at auction.

Lunch Bag Art asks who would win in a fight: Batman or Darth Vader?

The LA Times ranks The Top 10 vintage Batman toys.

The Weekly Crisis discusses some "legacy" characters who have passed their titles to others, and have recently or may soon revert to the classic versions, including Batgirl.

And there's still time to vote in the last of the Catwoman polls, and sorry again for the lousy options in this one.

News & Notes

2009-05-14T07:54:00.000-04:00

Some links:

Every Day is like Wednesday apologizes for ignoring the Joker's Asylum book until now.

Wine For Breakfast looks at some villains (and fan-made posters).

MTV asked Sam Worthington about those rumors a while back that he was going to take over for his Terminator: Salvation co-star as Batman in the sequel to The Dark Knight.

And DC is releasing some really weird looking superhero toys

Don't forget to vote in the Catwoman poll.