The hosts are hot and cold in this discussion of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). We can’t love certain casting choices any more, but full-on hate others; we love certain plot points, but found others confusing.
Question of the Week: Did this movie get you excited for more of the DC universe or did it discourage you from wanting to see future movies?
A few Adaptation hosts watch Part 1 & 2 of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns in preparation for the bat to face off against the boy scout on the big screen.
As far as first seasons go, I would say that Gotham was really strong overall. It brought to light backstories of characters that had not had them before and was able to keep its audience gripped. It is, so far, an excellent prequel to the Batman story.
The reason may be that in the stories of Batman, we have never gotten to see the cop drama that took place in this dirty and broken city in the years before James Gordon became commissioner. This includes his partner at the GCPD, Harvey Bullock, who previously—like in Batman: The Animated Series—is nothing more than one of the commissioner’s underlings. We have never seen him be Detective James Gordon’s partner or friend in the past.
Nor had we ever really seen the immediate aftermath and aftershocks of the catalyst that makes the child Bruce Wayne into Batman. In past incarnations we have seen the catalyst—the murder of his parents–but then jump here and there with Bruce as he seeks out the best magicians and martial artists to round out his training as a young adult. But we’ve seen never his childhood before that. In many incarnations the murderer is never found, but with this first season we are led to believe that Bruce will not stop searching to find the truth, so an answer may be had in future seasons.
We are also privy to the backstories of many of our known super-villains—though for now they are just people—which is a fabulous twist. Especially Selina Kyle (played by Camren Bicondova), who goes by Cat. She is an adolescent, around the age of Bruce, and for now she is just a very sneaky and wise street kid. I had my reservations about her at first, but she is becoming a fantastic character.
Alfred (played by Sean Pertwee): He is an interesting character so far, being a bit uptight and rough around the edges and also being new to guardianship of a child. He could use—and deserves more—fleshing out, but I have grown to like him. It is only fitting that the son of a doctor (played by Jon Pertwee) would raise Batman.
The Riddler (played by Cory Michael Smith): For now in the series he is just plain old, Edward Nygma, but his slow and steady descent into the Riddler persona and his overall character is the best so far. He works in the GCPD as fact checker/finder, self-proclaimed assistant medical examiner, and all around quirk with his riddles.
Gertrud and Oswald Kapelput [Cobblepot] (played by Carol Kane and Robin Lord Taylor): Mrs. Cobblepot, Oswald’s mother, is over the top and could be considered a folly on the series, but she provides such a fantastic backstory, one that is so different from the originals. Even at his young age, Oswald has already been nicknamed Penguin among the mobsters of Gotham for his walk. In the original incarnations of Penguin, he was such a horrid child that his parents tossed him away—which people may remember in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns. Instead, in this series he is such a momma’s boy, and she is so naïve and in denial of her sons activities. He wants to keep that way, which in turn makes him do very villainous things as he tries to climb the crime ladder to become the king of Gotham.
The Joker (???) and the Graysons: The actor Cameron Monaghan appeared in episode 16, The Blind Fortune Teller, as the son of a circus performer, who happened to be a bit of a prostitute. This was his first stint as what I assume will become the Joker. He was the greatest kind of creepy, where he so easily feigned innocence and then the psychopath emerged. It shook me to the core and all without clown makeup. This episode also gave us a glimpse into the Graysons, parents of Dick Grayson, who in this episode like each other but are on opposite sides of two warring families.
As mentioned before, I need to highlight the partnership between Det. James Gordon (played by Ben McKenzie) and Det. Harvey Bullock (played by Donal Logue). They are very contrasting and yet they gel so well together. I think it is because James Gordon is the white knight that Harvey once was and still wants to be. Harvey has let the city and its issues tarnish his armor, but he knows how the city runs and is the voice of caution to James Gordon’s over-zealousness. At the same time, James Gordon is the light in the darkness that has become Harvey’s world, and is bringing out the best in him. I could watch seasons and seasons of just the two of them doing their thing.
The relationship between Cat and Bruce Wayne (played by David Mazouz) is a confused one that has developed and, as us fans of Batman know, will continue. They are friends and they even like each other to the point that kids of their age can, but it is strained and unsure. This is mainly because Bruce has a stronger moral compass, where as Cat will kill if she has to, but Bruce would not.
Barbara Kean’s (played by Erin Richards) story is very interesting. She starts out as James Gordon’s fiancée, but things go awry and we see that Barbara may have secrets in her past. We know she has had an on again off again relationship with female Internal Affairs officer Renee Montoya and she also gets wrapped up in a villains plot to get at Det. James Gordon near the end of the season. So far, we have only seen a small glimpse of how that has really affected her. It does raise the question—is she or isn’t she the Barbara that becomes James Gordon’s wife?
There are only two missteps that I have noticed in this first season.
First, Fish Mooney. She is a character that was created just for this show. The actress playing her, Jada Pinkett Smith, once said, “It is pretty cool to play a new character that might one day become cannon.” That was just before she suddenly decided that she would be leaving the show. Fish was an odd character and for at least the first half of the season, stuck out like a sore thumb. She was over the top and a bit too close to being a wacky super-villainess with her style and actions. In this toned down world of real human-beings and mostly normal crime, she just didn’t gel.
She seemed like she was only there to introduce Penguin, who was once one of her lackeys, and the mob-bosses/hierarchy of the city’s crime lords. At a certain point, she was forced out of her position and Gotham, which led to a side-story of great annoyance and little importance, other than it calmed her over-acting and smoothed out her character. Upon her short-lived return to Gotham and the amazing battle for Gotham that ensued, I actually started to like her as a character—which makes me a little sorry that she will not be returning, but it is easy to say that when you know that she really isn’t. Still, it was cool on the writer’s part to have left it open for her to return (again). As they say, if you don’t see the body, they ain’t dead.
Second—and this is a small thing—is an issue with Hollywood in general. The villain that got hold of Barbara Kean was called The Ogre, played by Milo Ventimiglia. He had a three-episode storyline where we meet his father (played by Daniel Davis), a butler for a rich old lady, where he claims that his son has a face that not even his mother could love. He had a deformity that he had gotten fixed, and we get to see his original face—which was really not that bad. I don’t mean to sound morbid or anything, but it just made everyone look so shallow for getting down on this guys slight facial deformity.
But, I get it. Milo Ventimiglia is a very handsome actor, so they only wanted to skew his face slightly in that particular photo. Or they thought we were stupid and we wouldn’t realize it was the same guy. Either way, Milo as the Ogre got enough screen time with his delicious regular face that they could have made his deformity more severe and taken the idea seriously, rather than being afraid that what they could show would be too unlovable for the viewers. With crazy shows like Helix out there, I don’t think they should worry.
If you ask me, the future of Gotham as a series is a bright one, if they can maintain the remaining characters without going over the top again, especially as we get more into the super-villains. This first season has been a success in its great character building and interesting storylines and overall story arch.
In the future, I would like to see what they do with Harvey Dent (played by Nicholas D’Agosto) as well as Ivy Pepper (played by Clare Foley). I see potential in both of them.
I can’t wait for the next season to see what secrets Bruce discovers about his father after the very last scene of the season finale.
Will you be watching it this coming fall? I know I will.
This time, we’re sitting down to watch the 1989 version of Batman, talking through the fun, the dark and the slightly unbelievable.
See what the Adaptation staff have been reading and watching in the month of October!
I recently started watching a 2004 BBC show called Hustle, which is about a group of con artists in London, and each episode features a new and intricate sting. It’s fascinating, and you definitely have to pay close attention to what’s happening if you don’t want to miss anything. If you like the Ocean’s movies, you’ll love this show, too. It pits the characters in that awesome gray area where they’re criminals, but you root for them anyway. This is helped along by the fact that they usually target the rich, mighty and corrupt, so it’s satisfying to see the mark fall.
-Jess
Gotham is a great twist on the classic Batman story. Following Detective James Gordan as he begins his career in the Gotham PD, he is put on the case of the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne where he first meets Bruce and they form a friendship that acts as an origin story of sorts for Batman. Along the way, Gordon also comes up against the crime rings currently plaguing the city as well as future Batman villians like Selina Kyle and Oswald Cobblepot. We are so used to the super villains that are slightly outlandish characters (though we love those characters) and now we get to see a real Gotham with real corruption issues. I am thoroughly enjoying it!
-Dorin
I’ve been reading through the Fables comics published by Vertigo. This comic series features a slew of characters from fairy tales and fables who were forced to flee their homeland after being attacked by the mysterious villain, the Adversary. They take cover in New York City and form a clandestine community called Fabletown, where they live side-by-side with us normal, mundane people. The story arcs in this series are imaginative and diverse, including anything from murder mysteries to animal rebellions to prophecies–all involving fairy-tale characters who are perhaps not as familiar as we would expect.
-Jenn
I watched From Dusk Til Dawn: The Series on Netflix, which is an extension of the film and comic franchise. It follows the Gecko brothers as they elude Texas Ranger Freddie Gonzalez and the FBI, commandeer an RV owned by the Fuller family and end up at a strip club full of vampires, where they have to fight for their lives- say it with me now- till dawn. That satisfied both my horror and hot guy quotas for the month (Wilmer Valderama = baby daddy, HOLLA).
-Sarah
The only piece of non-Adaptation-related media that I’ve consumed this month was Horns by Joe Hill, which I reviewed for River Ram Press. So I’m going to be a little lame this month and just link you to that review here. But be sure to stick around the Adaptation blog because next week I’ll be reviewing the film counter-part to the novel starring Daniel Radcliffe.
-Kendyl
That’s it for us this month, but be sure to leave your own recommendations in the comments!
Kendyl, Jess and Ryan get together to discuss their reactions to The Dark Knight Rises: the surprises, the predictions and the debatable satisfaction received from THAT ENDING. Also, they get a little too distracted by the logistics of that bomb and how much can actually be accomplished in 11 minutes.
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But no worries, this article is spoiler free.
According to Film Drunk, last night while Letterman was interviewing Anne Hathaway, his excitement over the new installment in Christopher Nolan’s franchise caused him to say something that spoiled a big plot point in the film. There is debate as to whether the statement was simply a joke, but many think it was a genuine slip.
The Film Drunk article is also spoiler free, but it includes the video of the slip, so if you want to see for yourself head over and watch. I personally, want to remain spoiler free, so I can’t comment on whether Letterman’s statement seemed like a joke, although I admit it is very tempting.
Are you going to watch?
Tell us in the comments, but please leave any spoilers out of your answer.
The press train for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises is giving away new footage and information faster and faster these days in anticipation of the July 20 release.
There have been quite a few interviews going around with the people who worked on the film. Over at ABC News, Nolan talked about the trilogy as a whole, the vision of the series he set out to make and his feelings about leaving it behind. For a lengthier interview, you can check out the entire press conference that followed the first screening which received a standing ovation from critics. It includes the entire cast, director and screenwriters where they talk about their characters, the original creation of Batman and what he represents as a hero. It is well worth the 35 minutes it takes to listen to. Access Hollywood also has an interview with Nolan where he talks about Bane as a villain, choosing the actor to play him and what he represents in the series.
Clips from the upcoming film have also been released on talk shows as the cast goes on the promoting circuit. The first shows Gordon and Blake discussing Batman, the second Bruce and Lucius getting a look at a new vehicle for Batman, and the last shows Selina Kyle and Bruce dancing while she justified her lifestyle:
Clip #1
Clip #2
Clip #3
With the release date for The Dark Knight Rises closing in, the powers that be are giving out tons of new tid-bits to amp up the anticipation. Although after the news broke that the first screening inspired a standing ovation from critics, I’m not sure it’s possible to be more excited.
But while we endure the next 10 days of waiting, we can tide ourselves over with 13 minutes of new footage in this featurette from The Movie Box:
And if that’s not enough for you, there’s always Jake Hamilton’s interviews with all the big names in the cast and Christopher Nolan:
(via Hypable)
As you may have guessed considering my previous articles about the possible direction of the film, I was particularly interested in learning more about the John Blake character played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. A rookie cop under Commissioner Gordon, he’s described as a seemingly lone optimist in a city of lost hope. I like the idea the he is a reincarnation of Commissioner Gordon the younger years, but I wonder if all the speculation around his character is for naught.
We do know, however, that the ending has been a closely guarded secret and for that to be necessary, there must be something unexpected coming our way. Can July 20th get here faster please?
What piece of new information rekindled your excitment for the film? Leave your answers in the comments!
Over the past month there’s been a lot of buzz circling Warner Bros. and DC Comics, and their upcoming plans to turn several DC properties into films. One of those projects was rumored to be directed by Men in Black III’s Barry Sonnenfeld — an adaptation of the comic The Metal Men.
Unless you are a DC comic fanatic or aficionado, you might not be very aware of The Metal Men – though, they did briefly made a cameo in comic-book form on Mad Men.
The premise, however, is one that seems very familiar and easily adaptable for today’s audiences. I even thought I might have seen a bit when I was a kid, but I couldn’t put my finger on if I actually had.
Essentially the story follows a group of artificially intelligent robots created by a scientist, Doctor Magnus, with each one taking on a different chemical element. There’s Gold, Lead, Mercury, Tin and Platinum, and they all have personalities relative to their element as well as having a power similar to it.
Even though The Metal Men have stayed pretty obscure over the years, they have had a few reboots.
After their first appearance in their own comics in the 1960s and 1970s, they got a bit of a change in the 1990s version where the Metal Men are human personalities and intellects that are transferred into blank robots via a lab accident instead of being artificial intelligence. Doctor Magnus is still the creator, but his family, co-workers and apparently a pizza-delivery man named Jack – are the personalities.
In the 2000s they reappeared in the Infinite Crisis series as well as the Superman/Batman series where they gain another female character, the sarcastic Copper, and also fall under Brainiac’s control for a short time. Also, there was a storyline where Doctor Magnus’s brother tries to avert a catastrophic future event by turning the Metal Men into evil, radioactive versions of themselves called the Death Metal Men.
Check out the Metal Men with Batman in Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
Over the years the Metal Men have been seen fighting alongside Batman, Superman and the Justice League. Not to say that we will ever see the Metal Men in a Justice League film, but if they become a success, who knows, right? –As long as those darn Wonder Twins don’t show up!
It is hard to say, at this moment, what way they will go with this amazingly undiscovered team, but as Warner Bros had said originally when rumors circled that they were working on “an adaptation of a “secret ’60s comic book”. We can assume they may stay true to the original story – but when it comes to Hollywood, who knows. Still, I like all the versions of The Metal Men to be excited for the film. It really could be a monster franchise for Warners if they get it right.
Do you think this will be the next big series franchise?
Last week I implied that Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character in The Dark Knight Rises, John Blake, is a the way that filmmakers are trying to side-step the Robin character while still including some of his storyline. My argument was based on the fact that John Blake is a completely made-up character with a name similar to Tim Drake and he is not only being played by an extremely big actor, but is also featured heavily in the trailer.
One thing that I failed to mention, however, is the fact that the villain featured in the film, Bane, is the same one that breaks Batman’s back in Knightfall, forcing Jean-Paul Valley to put on the bat suit. It makes sense then, that John Blake would be a kind of mixture between Tim Drake and Jean-Paul, especially given the footage we see in the trailer, making it seem like Bane does get the better of Batman. And I’m not the only one who thinks so.
Rumor has it that he will. Over at BleedingCool.com, Brendon Connelly admits he’s been getting many email tips claiming that they have inside sources or have gotten a sneak peek. But, as he can’t prove it, he’s chalking it up to speculation. On the other hand, with the new trailer (below) released on the 19th, he is willing to admit that it makes sense.
I’m willing to take it a step further. Gordon-Levitt is credited with the role of John Blake in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and he seems to be a prominent part of the trailer. However, a quick search on the DC Comics Database found only one mention of a John Blake, that of Adam Blake’s (Captain Comet) deceased father. However, the name does sound a bit like Tim Drake, Batman’s third Robin. It’s a leap, I know, but stay with me.
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