Hello, fellow DC fans and DCUniverse subscribers! Batman Returns released in 1992 which feels like a century ago so I’m sure everyone has seen it by now. But, for the extremely slight chance that you haven’t seen the movie then I’ll go ahead and offer a SPOILER WARNING before getting to the point of my thread. So…there it is.
To this day I’m still horrified at the idea of The Penguin’s character being half man half penguin. I went to see it in the theaters when I was 7 and I remember it giving me nightmares then. It still creeps me out today. If anyone wants to know why they switched from Burton to Schumacher, that was it.
6 Likes
Believe it or not it was because of McDonald, when they saw the movie and was shock that Penguin was so evil and ask Tim Burton what that stuff that’s coming out of Penguin’s mouth? They can’t sell that. So after parents complain they remove the toys from Happy meal, and willing to support the next Batman film as long it’s not dark and it’s kid’s friendly. Then that’s how Batman Forever started and Tim Burton was sadly fired.
2 Likes
That’s ,my general point. He was too scary that it wasn’t sitting right with parents and sponsors. It’s still my favorite Batman movie but I would be lying if I said it didn’t give me the creeps.
2 Likes
The exact same applies to Zack Snyder nowadays. I believe DC knows what it wants, but Warner Bros is the kryptonite to all of DC’s success IMO. Wish someone would buy DC, so they could flourish.
2 Likes
I was the same age around 7 when Batman Returns was in theaters… and I loved it and wanted more… As a child, I remember the dislike I had for Batman and Robin, plus Batman Forever- they were so cheesy. History repeats itself. Unfortunately…
1 Like
haha yea i was scared when i was younger too, but it was a good characterization of penguin until he said he was faking
Batman Returns was one of the first movies I ever saw in theaters as a kid, and I was a little freaked out. Especially when the Penguin bites Josh’s nose! And when Catwoman does tic tac toe on that guy’s face.
@Jbyrd821, sadly, you’re right about history repeating itself. A unique artistic director gets forced out by WB, in favor of more sterilized toned down family-friendly fare. His choice of Batman actor isn’t onboard with the change in direction and also ends up leaving. Are we talking about Burton & Keaton or Snyder & Affleck? 
I’m more so talking about Snyder with Afleck. I would like to hope WB learned from this with the films after Burton, but before Snyder. Clearly, it seems that is not the case once again. I think G. Johns is creative and talented (Whedon as well), but I think the smartest decision WB/DC could’ve made would’ve been to delay Justice League and allow for Snyder to finish his arch. However, i’m very eager to see what stems from the upcoming DC Black label, where they “claim” to empower the directors and set them to tell their story how they please. Who knows, we may see the Snyder cut of Justice League under this label. If so… haha to the naysayers. I do believe there is a mature market for DC films that WB has missed out on. Whether they’re able to recognize it or not, that is up to them. Until then, I will patiently wait.
1 Like