I’m trying to think back… 13 year-old me would have loved The Batman.
Because I remember to 14 year-old me UNCANNY X-MEN #186 was THE GREATEST THING EVER!!! 
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Yeah glad you enjoyed it, friend, and glad it did well. I didn’t care for it. I try to resist the urge to mention that, so I don’t ruin the mood for those who do, but I slip here & there 
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Yep, no worries. And I can totally understand people not liking it.
It was a somewhat long, and again, somewhat dark, and somewhat serious movie. And you kind of have to be in that mindset or mood to enjoy something like that.
It’s not the kind of movie where you would say, "Yeah, everyone should probably enjoy this… "
No, not really.
Superman: The Movie… yeah, most everyone would enjoy that.
The Batman… yeah, not everyone is going to go for that.
And that’s why I guess I wasn’t totally surprised that it didn’t make a billion dollars.
I assumed it would, because it’s Batman, and the last two Nolan Batman movies each made a billion dollars.
But after seeing it… it was like, “Yeah, this wasn’t a billion dollar movie. This made about as much as it should have. $770 million… that’s about what it should have done.”
And I’ll be surprised if the Penguin show on HBO Max is a big hit – even though it’s just going to be a mini-series.
Said Reeves: “Colin exploded off the screen as the Penguin in The Batman, and having the chance to thoroughly explore the inner life of that character on HBO Max is an absolute thrill. Dylan and I are so excited to work with Lauren in continuing Oz’s story as he grabs violently for power in Gotham.”
LeFranc added: “I have long been a fan of the world of The Batman, and Matt’s film is such a powerful and bold entry into the canon. I am excited and humbled to continue telling stories in the grimy world of Gotham City — and what better excuse to channel my inner villain than to tell the story of Oswald Cobblepot? I am thrilled to work with Colin, Matt, Dylan, 6th & Idaho, Warners, and HBO Max as we work to bring this story to the screen.”
“The world that Matt Reeves created for The Batman is one that warrants a deeper gaze through the eyes of Oswald Cobblepot,” Farrell said. “I couldn’t be more excited about continuing this exploration of Oz as he rises through the darkened ranks to become The Penguin. Will be good to get him back on the streets of Gotham for a little madness and a little mayhem.”
It was previously announced that LeFranc penned the pilot. The Penguin is based on characters created for DC by Bob Kane with Bill Finger.
Yeah, for people like me who really dug The Batman, we’ll most likely really dig “The Penguin” too (if that’s going to be the name of the show). Because it seems like it’s going to be more of the same.
And for people who didn’t really care for The Batman, The Penguin isn’t probably going to do much for them either. Because again, in all likelihood it’s going to be more of the same.
The Joker is like The Batman too. Even more so, really. Because certainly not everyone was going to enjoy that. Not by a long shot.
Of course, those kind of movies weren’t designed to have mass appeal. They would resonate with certain audiences, and for others it wouldn’t do much for them.
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Well put.
Can’t say I disagree with any of that!
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I’m one of the indifferent people regarding The Batman. It was fine. It was maybe a tad too grounded in “reality” for my taste. I’m not a big fan of Scorsese, and I feel like this is what Batman would be like if he had directed it (kinda how I felt about Joker). The length. The pacing. I had to break it into acts to get through it.
Y’all know I’m not trolling. Like what ya like. Power to you. I just want my comic movies to be slightly over the top to take me out of my daily life.
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No, that makes perfect sense.
For a character like Batman: I want him as serious as a heart attack, and as grounded as humanly possible. That’s an entertaining Batman to me.
For a character like Peacemaker though… oh yeah, over the top is fine, and really shouldn’t be any other way.
I’ve yet to watch Peacemaker on HBO Max, but it looks insane and like it should be fun.
I was thinking, for Superman… he can’t really be grounded (no pun intended), but I only really like to see him handled “as serious as a heart attack” too.
And I’m thinking Paul Dini and Alex Ross’ SUPERMAN: PEACE ON EARTH.
The story that John Ridley did in SUPERMAN: RED AND BLUE #1…
…that’s my favorite Superman story, and it’s only about 8-pages long.
Well, that and SUPERMAN VS MUHAMMAD ALI… which isn’t “as serious as a heart attack” in any way, shape or form. So, yeah…
Super-hero movies though I do only want them to be “real” and “serious.” That’s why none of the Marvel movies interest me – and my lack of interest in Marvel in general.
For super-hero TV shows I do prefer them to be “real” and “serious” too. But I can watch something like Peacemaker. And I really like Pennyworth, and that show is a bit silly at times; although I’m not sure if Pennyworth can be classed as a super-hero show.
Of course, there aren’t really any “real” and “serious” super-hero TV shows on at the moment, so I don’t really watch any.
HBO’s Watchmen is the only super-hero TV show that I did like before Pennyworth, and it’s of course not really that realistic, but I liked it. And one of these days I’ll get around to reading WATCHMEN – and I’ve been saying that for decades.
No, but overall I’m a news junkie – I always have CNN and MSNBC on, and so I never really have any desire to escape from reality too much.
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Keaton Batman is my kinda Batman. Reeve Superman (though I loved MoS too). There’s a level of serious I’m good with, but I don’t want Zodiac Riddler level serious.
In the last 90 days my grandpa died, mom died (this week), cat died, dog died. Even my fish. 
I think it’s changed me some. I don’t like the “dark” Dark Knight so much anymore. I think two years ago I might’ve felt differently about The Batman.
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Right, that’s why these movies hit people in different ways.
And real life plays a big part in that.
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Honestly, I’d like to see that series continued
Agreed, no big issue with the length though
Right there with you
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Honestly, I’d like to see that series continued
Yeah, last month in an interview Dan DiDio said that issues #11 and #12 are written. And I believe he said that Jim Lee just didn’t have the time to draw them because DC’s offices were moving to Burbank at the time.
So the series may finish at some point.
Although, DC has been in Burbank for years now and Jim Lee for one reason or another still hasn’t found the time to work on it. So it may not happen – and by “may not” I mean probably not.
One thing on Michael Keaton’s Batman:
Yeah, that’s one thing that I see differently too. In that, I never got the appeal of him as Bruce Wayne and Batman – even back in 1989. I just didn’t buy it. So I didn’t see the movie until it was on HBO a few years later… and didn’t really care for it. And his costume looked silly to me too.
And the last two of those movies I honestly don’t believe that I’ve watched them in their entirety. And sometime in the 90s was the last time that I’ve seen them.
The Nolan Batman movies I thought were just okay. The first two I didn’t see in the theater though either, and that’s because I simply wasn’t that interested in them.
Dark Knight Rises I did see in the theater, but that was because the Man of Steel trailer played before it.
And I think this was during the time before the trailers went online the next day. I may be mistaken about that, but that seemed liked the reason why I went, because I know it wasn’t because I wanted to see the Dark Knight Rises.
Anyway, after the trailer ended I was tempted to leave, but stayed and watched the movie and I thought it was fine.
I didn’t buy Christian Bale as Batman and Bruce Wayne though either. And I also didn’t think the costume was that great. I did like the Tumbler though, I thought that was neat.
I did like Ben Affleck right away. The day it was announced it just sort of struck you (me) that he is kind of the perfect Bruce Wayne. And I liked him as Bruce Wayne, his Batman though was a bit “whatever” to me.
So yeah, that’s why I like The Batman. Because I immediately bought into Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne and Batman – given what type of Batman he was going to play.
And that teaser that Matt Reeves posted worked right away for me.
It was like, “Oh, this is going to be a different kind of Batman. I kinda like this.”
And it’s the first time that I’ve ever liked the Batman costume.
So yeah, I was never much of a fan of Batman in the movies until The Batman. And with The Batman they just happened to do a version that I liked.
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Affleck was built enough, but they just had too many plots going on for me to like BvS; and at his current age Affleck would have been better off in a DKR only storyline
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Yeah, he had the look and that’s what struck me first.
After seeing him in BvS though, it was his attitude and demeanor as Bruce Wayne that really sealed it for me…
That’s Bruce Wayne to me.
And this goes without saying, but it would have been really interesting to see what Ben Affleck would have come with with, because of course he was going to write, direct and star in a Batman movie. Then he had his personal problems and so his movie didn’t happen.
And of course Matt Reeves was brought in and The Batman took the place of Ben Affleck’s movie.
EDIT:
And I see that there was an article written about it today too…
Anyway, Robert Pattinson had the look to me too. Albeit a different look.
The “emo” look that some derided…
…to me that was like, “No, that’s how Batman should look… crazy like that.”
To borrow from Batman Begins: “Well, a guy who dresses up like a bat cleary has issues.” Yes, exactly. No sane person would do that. And that’s why Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne and Batman worked for me.
Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne I wouldn’t believe in a million years would dress up like a bat. And the same goes for Christian Bale, he was too normal to me; both he and Michael Keaton were.
Robert Pattinson though, his Bruce Wayne looked exactly like someone who would dress up like a bat and go out in the middle of the night and beat up people.
And that’s how I view Batman. To me Batman is crazy. Crazy as f***.
And finally they did Batman as crazy as I imagine that he would be.
That’s why I always liked Superman best too. Because Superman is normal and so is pretty easy to do in live-action. With Batman though I feel you gotta go crazy and a little psycho, and they’ve never done that until now.
I’ve also always bought into who was playing Superman and his costume. Although, looking back on the Christopher Reeve costume now, it doesn’t look as good as it did in '78 when I was 8 years-old, but it worked then and looked cool at that time.
And I guess I shouldn’t say always either, because Brandon Routh was just okay to me, and really kind of forgettable to be honest. I did like his costume though. And I liked Henry Cavill’s costume for the most part, but from day one I felt that he was too short to be Superman. And to this day I don’t quite understand some people’s fascination with him as Superman.
I feel that you can throw a rock and easily hit a dozen or more people who could do as good a job if not better than him as Superman.
And the next Superman I’m sure I’ll like… probably.
To crazy Batman, though. Long live crazy Batman.
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Except Bruce isn’t supposed to look like he would actually do that. He has a public image to uphold.
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Except Bruce isn’t supposed to look like he would actually do that. He has a public image to uphold.
Right, in universe that’s how it’s supposed to be.
I’m just speaking as an audience member that I didn’t buy it. And again, it all comes down to how each individual person views Batman. And with a character like Batman I don’t really like to suspend my disbelief too much, because otherwise the character doesn’t work for me at all.
I have to almost believe what I’m seeing is real, otherwise I’ll just analyze it to death and it’ll all fall apart – and I’m talking about when it comes to live-action; often times when it comes to comics too, but almost always when it comes to live-action.
And the Michael Keaton and Christian Bale Batman are the kind of takes on Batman that I feel would killed the first night out. Their Batman and Bruce Wayne came across as “soft” to me, for lack of a better word.
In all fairness though, the Michael Keaton Batman wasn’t intended to be a gritty, realistic take on Batman. No, Tim Burton was doing more of a surreal take, with a touch of horror. And the Christian Bale Batman was somewhat realistic, but Christopher Nolan wasn’t going for gritty. It was more of a clean, almost spy-like take.
(With Christopher Nolan I really liked Inception, and Tenet is my favorite movie of his, but his Batman movies just didn’t connect with me that much.)
Anyway, Matt Reeves of course was going for gritty and real, and Robert Pattinson’s Batman and Bruce Wayne didn’t come across as “soft” to me – much in the same way that the Ben Affleck Bruce Wayne didn’t come across as “soft.”
Robert Pattinson’s Batman and Bruce Wayne was kind of scary to me (in a good way), while Keaton and Bale seemed like a movie pretend version of Batman – the kind that I have to suspend my disbelief too much for; and as a result I’m pulled out of the movie and now I’m analyzing it and seeing all of it’s fake-ness instead of just sitting back and enjoying it.
But this is just with Batman. With Superman I just accept it as is…
It’s almost as if the characters are as different as night and day.
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I don’t try to analyze movies too much, if at all, while watching. I do it after, if ever
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Yep, same here.
And that’s why I tend to only watch movies that I know I’m going to like; and I do that based on the trailer and what the movie is going to be about.
Sometimes you take a chance though. And for those other Batman movies there was a reason why I didn’t see them in the theater – and that was because I didn’t like their trailers and what they were going to be about. I took a chance on them on HBO and yep, there was a reason why I didn’t want to see them in the theater.
It’s all good though. They finally did a version that I liked, and will do more of it, so everything is swerve-y.
And as long as Warner Bros. continues to do movies like the Joker and The Batman I’m good. And of course they should do the other type of super-hero movies that other people like, but I’m just concerned about my happiness. That’s what’s most important to me.
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My favorite thing about this movie is how Batman & Bruce are both treated like something so alien to the public. In the first part of the movie, Batman walks around the crime scene and is talked about right in front of him like he’s a monster. And then, when Bruce is being talked about at the funeral. I like this take on him.
Imagine that 8-year-old kid being talked about after his parents died. No one really cares about him and he hears it all.
I wonder how he feels during those moments. I can only imagine the absolute agony he goes through of not being seen repeatedly even when he’s such a big presence. The idea he is just some rich guy who does not care about anything when he is so profoundly attached to making Gotham a better place is something I love about Batman in general.
Also, a big fan of his wet puppy dog eyes and Selina was 
very good.
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So with the new The Batman news…
So The Penguin HBO Max mini-series (and whatever HBO Max is going to be called probably by this time next year) is no doubt up first.
A six-to-eight hour mini-series according to Colin Farrell. And I guess that may start shooting in February 2023.
And they’re apparently still talking about Batman Arkham, which is what Deadline is calling it…
The 6th & Idaho re-up with Warner Bros. Television Group comes as a production start looms for The Penguin, with Colin Farrell reprising his Oswald Cobblepot role for HBO Max. There is also a Batman Arkham series in discussion.
So that may serve as a set up for the next The Batman as well.
“Making this legendary studio my home is a dream,” said Reeves in a statement. “I am so excited to be working with Mike, Pam, and Channing [Dungey] and our teams to bring captivating stories I am truly passionate about to the big and small screen.”
So I guess The Penguin in early 2024.
And Matt Reeves isn’t directing it…
“Oh my god, you kidding me?!” Farrell said rhetorically when asked if he’d play Penguin on the big screen again in “The Batman” sequel. “It’s so much fun, are you joking [with] me? I’ve been around the block man. That was an easy sport, I mean… it was a joy.”
Farrell continued about the sequel, “Matt’s up to his bollocks, you know, hovering over the keyboard and just planning the story because he’s just so meticulous. He’s so obsessive about what he does, but he’s all over [HBO Max’s] Penguin [series] as well. I mean, he’s not gonna direct it but he’s all over the structure of the scripts and who’s gonna direct them. And so, it’s exciting.”
So that frees him up.
This Batman Arkham show if it happens he probably won’t direct either.
So maybe they can have The Penguin in early 2024, and perhaps this Batman Arkham show in late 2024.
And then the sequel to The Batman in 2025.
If that’s the plan… then it sounds like a plan.
Joker: Folie à Deux is getting an October 4th, 2024, release date.
And maybe The Batman: [insert title here] sometime in 2025.
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Like this news
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Like this news
Yeah, and I like John Campea’s take on it…
…and some of what he’s saying sounds vaguely familiar.
Like minds think alike, I guess
And silly time, because silly is fun:
So… maybe they can call it… The Batman: The Court of Owls.
Only, it’s not quite like what Scott Snyder did, no, it’s like Stanley Kubrick and Eyes Wide Shut…
And it’s a Matt Reeves Batman version of it… and throw in a Hugo Strange for kicks.
And introduce a love interest for the “Kurt Cobain” Robert Pattinson Batman.
Maybe take a deep dive into the long box and pull out Linda Page from BATMAN #5…
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