What’s Next for the Batman Series?

Finally the day has come. The Dark Knight rises is here.  Upon posting this question, we still haven’t seen the movie yet, but we’re just as excited as everyone else.  The final question: What’s next for the Batman franchise?

There’s a lot of speculation on what the future holds for the Batman series.  Will this be the end of the Dark Knight adaptation created by Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale? At this moment no one has any deals signed to continue and make any more films.  It doesn’t mean it’s not possible either.  Our 1^st question of the week involved Joseph Gordon Levitt and the role he’ll have in this movie.  There are some theories out there saying he may be the next Batman. We also talked about the possibility of Batman dying, so is JGL the obvious replacement.  Will he play Robin in the future?   If that is the case; will it be directed by Christopher Nolan, or will we see a whole now reboot and series started up?  I’m also excited to see if they leave any hints as to the future.  Three movies is enough, don’t get me wrong.  I do want to see more villains though.  Imagine The Riddler, but he’s a more sociopathic version, darker, more mysterious and less goofy, like the bad guy from Saw.  How about Penguin and Mr. Freeze, can we expect to see them in the future?

People obviously liked these versions of Batman better than the over the top comic book versions Joel Schumaker directed.  If they continue to make them, people will go.  Keep any eye out for clues, hints or any tidbits too see where it goes from here.  Either way it’s not the end of Batman all together.  It’s one of the most beloved comic books and series in American culture.  It’s more  matter of time and if we have to wait ten years for a whole new reboot and series to start up.

Question #3: How Will Bane Compare Among Past Batman Villains?

We’re halfway through The Dark Knight Rises week, and it’s time to reveal question #3 leading up to the final installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy.  How will Bane compare among previous Batman villains?

Well certainly Heath Ledger as the Joker set the standard pretty high.  Not only for Batman movies, but for movie villains in general.  Bane, although not as famous of a nemesis as Joker, The Riddler or Penguin is still pretty bad ass in his own right.  Played by another English actor, Tom Hardy, is certainly gaining notoriety in Hollywood racking up various roles recently in all different types of movies like Inception, Warrior and This Means War.  Bane is a lifelong inmate who serves the life sentence of his father.  While in prison he becomes very strong as a test subject  for an experimental venom he must receive every 12 hours in order to maintain his strength.

There certainly is a huge contrast between this Bane and the one we saw in 1997 release, Batman and Robin.  This Bane is a lead role instead of a goofy sidekick to Poison Ivy.  From the trailers and certain speculation he appears to give Batman a serious run for his money.  Not only does he lead what looks  to be a huge uprising in Gotham he also pushes Batman to the brink of mercy.   There are even some rumors leading fans to believe he is finally the one to kill Batman by breaking his back at the end of the movie.  We’ll find out on Friday where he ranks among the film versions of Batman villains, and if he’s the one to finally defeat the man in the black cape.

Can Marvel be Stopped?

I’ll keep this short and to the point.  No I don’t think they can.  Lately they’ve thrown down the gauntlet on Hollywood.  For the past two years especially Marvel has really stepped up their game.  They’ve had some bad movies of course.  See Fantastic Four series.  See X Men 3. See X Men Origins.  See Spiderman 3.  All in all though, the big screen adaptations of classic comic book characters have been pretty awesome.   Let’s look at the past two years: X-Men First Class, Thor, Captain America, The Avengers and The Amazing Spiderman.  That really is hard to beat.  Now DC may have the ultimate winner in the comic book movie battle with the Dark Knight series.  Say what you want about it, you may not like it, (seriously there are people out there who don’t like it), but it is an amazing series coming to an end in two weeks.  What amazes me the most though is the volume at which Marvel pumps out blockbuster hits, and all of them make serious dough.  DC currently only has three series (Dark Knight, Green Lantern, Superman), and one is done as previously mentioned.  Marvel has what seems like 15 movies in the works. Iron Man 3 Captain America 2, another Wolverine movie, Thor 2 and The Avengers 2 are all coming out eventually and even though they are sequels, we all will go see them.

For right now I think Marvel is setting the standard not only in comic book movies, but in Hollywood in general.  They’ve got a formula working right now, and when it comes down to it, it’s about making money.  The more money you make, the more movies are made in a series or by that production company.  I can’t wait to see what they come up with in the future.  As long as they keep making movies I’ll go see them.  In 2009, Disney purchased Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion.  With that kind of backing does anyone really see them falling off?  I don’t know if they’ll maintain this level of success.  I don’t know if audiences will get sick of it eventually.  I don’t know if they’ll even be able to afford Robert Downey Jr. eventually, but I know this for sure.  There are two things everyone can  count on with a Marvel movie.  A cameo from Stan Lee and a post credits scene with a teaser.

-Phil