With Warner Bros. The Batman in a constant state of flux, everything seems up in the air. The movie had been shedding directors like a white cat on a black couch — Ben Affleck exited the director’s chair a while back, and recently it’s looked as if he might not return to the role of Bruce Wayne after Justice League wraps. He assured everyone at Comic Con that he has every intention of staying, but who really knows? Matt Reeves seems secure in his role as director, for now, but it also looks like Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke might be in question.
The world has literally lit up with Adam West tributes since the Batman star’s tragic passing over the weekend, and we’ll have at least one more chance to honor the staccato “Bright Knight.” Sources confirm West had completed recording vocals for an animated sequel to Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders.
In the most fitting tribute imaginable, the Bat-Signal lit up the skies of Los Angeles last night, in honor of the late Adam West, the first Batman of television, and one of the most beloved versions of the iconic Dark Knight (or the “Bright Knight,” as West liked to describe his more upbeat version of the character). West died of leukemia late last week; he was 88 years old.
My 18-month-old daughter is suddenly very into superheroes. Every night before bed we do story time; this week she’s become obsessed with a board book called My First Batman Book. Since she likes when I sing the words of her books to her, I naturally began singing the theme to the classic 1960s Batman as part of our nightly ritual. And she liked that so much that this morning, for the very first time, I showed her the old show’s opening credits.
We’ve lost one of comic and TV culture’s most enduring favorites, as original Batman star Adam West has passed away. The smooth-voiced star became iconic for his portrayal of the ‘60s Caped Crusader, earning a place in the pop culture pantheon over the decades.
Before Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman movie, Batman was largely known for the campy Adam West/Burt Ward TV series. In fact, they wanted to make a Batman movie based on that show called Batman in Outer Space. Luckily, two movie producers bought the rights and wanted to make a darker version of Batman's story. In the mid-80s, after the success of Ghostbusters, director Ivan Reitman was attached to direct and he wanted to cast Bill Murray as Batman and Eddie Murphy as Robin. These are just some of the facts packed into the latest episode of You Think You Know Movies, which heads to Gotham with the original Batman!
I'm going to be real with you, folks: even though we're looking down the barrel of 38 superhero movies over the next few years, the one that I'm looking forward to the most is easily Lego Batman, starring Will Arnett as the Caped and Blocky Crusader. It's been something I've been looking for ever since it was announced, but now, I've got an even bigger reason to want to see it, because we finally have a detail about the plot.
According to a red carpet interview with Arnett, along with cowriters and directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord, the 2017 Batman movie will focus on answering one question: Can Batman be happy?
Comic book fans surely remember the '90s. It was a strange time to be a superhero fan. A dark time. A time when Joel Schumacher was directing Batman movies and baffling the entire world. A decade before Christopher Nolan made 'Batman Begins,' Schumacher made 'Batman Forever,' which featured Jim Carrey as The Riddler and Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face. No one remembers either performance fondly, but it turns out that there's some pretty interesting stories regarding their casting. It turns out that Jones did not like Carrey. Like, at all.