Just recently, it was confirmed by Warner Brothers that Ben Affleck would be writing and directing the next Batman film to build on to the cinematic universe that has a rough start in being established. While previous films rely on retelling certain aspects of the comics in new ways such as Nolan’s inspiration with Batman Year One or the influence of The Killing Joke in Ledger’s portrayal on the character, which notable story arcs could influence Affleck’s take on the Dark Knight.
There’s a few things to keep in mind that it’ll most likely involved Jared Leto with his take on being the Joker making it’s debut in August with Suicide Squad but here’s some of my picks for the next Batman flick.
The Red Hood
Under the Red Hood was a story arc that brought back the previously killed off character and used the logic of why Batman doesn’t kill in a new way. Back in 1988, DC did an event around the storyline A Death In The Family in which Jason Todd, the current Robin at the time, was brutally killed off by The Joker (his actual fate being sealed by fans voting in favour to axe him off for good) but hey, death doesn’t last forever in comics and it was only a matter of time before Jason Todd was made relevant again.
Brought back by the Lazarus Pits (before Nu52 however it was Superboy punching reality hard enough to magically bring him back to life), Jason Todd had a vendetta against the mad man that killed him and the mentor that let him down. Taking on the mantle previous associated with one of the Joker’s past origin stories, the Red Hood was reborn as his path of vengeance brought him into direct conflict with Batman.
Considering that DC did an animated flick based on this story arc and let alone the details of Red Hood are brought up in Batman: Arkham Knight, it’d make sense for a final transition towards being in a live action film. The signs are there as it is with a damaged Robin outfit appearing in Batman vs Superman, a reminder of grave mistake and the last taunt by the Joker that could easily tie back to Jason Todd/Red Hood.
Hush
This story arc is fairly long if you include all the parts that involve Hush so it’s more likely that WB would use just the character and his origins. In many ways, Hush is a dark mirror to Batman that goes beyond just the surface as he’s similar to Bruce Wayne in some ways but the key is the actions they take despite having similar upbringings.
Thomas Elliot was a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne that when tradegy changed his friend’s life forever, he was envious of the mass fortune left to him after the fatal event that left Bruce Wayne an orphan. Elliot was so desperate that at one point, he tried to have his own parents killed in an car accident but the intervention by Thomas Wayne sowed the seeds of jealously as he was able to save the mother. When she found out that Thomas Elliot was to blame, he was cast out from his fame and the road to becoming Hush began.
Using Hush/Thomas Elliot could play out as mystery theme as Batman comes under attack from someone close to him that knows his true identity. While a villain such as Joker merely finding the truth amusing (as hinted in elsewhere stories), it really defines Thomas Elliot as a character and further along, it gets to the point where he seeks to become Bruce Wayne himself.
Clayface
Clayface is kinda this ideal mix of having an actor to be there for the required “face time” before slowly descending into CG monster for Batman to fight. In the past, I’d be hard pressed to recommend a villain such as Clayface just due to the visuals alone that would truly bring the character to life but I think we’re in a decent era where it won’t look that much dated in years to come.
You could always play up the whole idea of celebrity obsession. Thanks to social media, we can passively engage with any numerous amount of famous people, see/hear their thoughts, a window into their life sorta. Of course, the dark side of it all is every embrassing moment is easily found out as well and for someone that use to be a big deal, the personal obsession to become famous again has been explored in other films not featuring the caped crusader.
This is one of those characters where being that hung up on being who they use to be in specific terms as there’s tons of characters that became Clayface later on (there’s estimated ten different characters that took on the mantle). It’s not even bound by gender or race either so WB could play it safe with someone as well known or build up an upcoming star, get real meta with the character.
Killer Croc
Depending on how Suicide Squad does, this character would be decent fall back considering that WB would probably want to use the Joker as their main villain. While introducing the concept of the Red Hood would put him on level with the Joker, I could see Killer Croc being used as the muscle, an imitation factor that physically the Joker isn’t known for.
I personally dig the whole brains/brawn use of villains such as Justin Hammer/Whiplash in Iron Man 2 but sometimes the muscle gets simplified such as the terrible take on Bane in the Batman & Robin flick from the 90’s. The real factor here is that we’d already have a sense of investment from Sucide Squad and depending on when the solo Batman flick is, it could be serve as another prequel tie in (such as Harley Quinn’s origin) or it could take place after, leaving the possibility of Joker breaking him out to be part of his gang.
Calendar Man
Let’s just pretend that for some reason, WB can’t get Jared Leto on board for the Batman flick so therefore no mandated Joker appearance. Since Batman vs Superman lifted material from a pretty famous alternative take on Batman, how about something that is just as defining?
The Long Halloween is one of those special arcs. Personally, it’s one of Loeb’s best as he is capable of writing something pretty special and churning out something as terrible as Ultimatium that pretty much killed the Marvel Ultimate’s universe. It’s a classic mystery story that highlights why Batman is known as the World’s Greatest Detective and it serves as a build up to Harvey Dent becoming Two-Face, similar in tone to what The Dark Knight wanted to achieve.
I feel like if Ben Affleck wanted to give a nod to the comic fans and really show off his knowledge of the character, this would be the ideal adaption as it’s been brought up before when Batman flicks were rampant before Nolan gave us the Dark Knight trilogy. It’s also one of those stories where the actual killer known as Holiday is never really revealed as multiple angles are offered as possible motives which includes Dent’s decline into becoming Two-Face as one of them. Calender Man in this is used as a source of info as he develops this kind of Hannibal Lecter mentor like status with Batman which has been adapted with other villains such as Hugo Strange.
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