A random babble about putting characters into the new Batman movie franchise.

[loopychew]

A couple of days ago, I was hanging around with Emmanuel and talking about the new Batman movies and how much more realistically-OTT they happened to be. The topic of Robin and Batgirl came up, and I spent more time than was appropriate trying to figure out how they could possibly be introduced into the new movieverse without taking the whole "applied realism" feel of the new movies and Schumachering it, as well as make them into relatively-realized people.

I've still got a few problems here and there with how to pull it off, obviously, but I probably put in more time than I should have into thinking about this anyway.

In order for Robin to work, they'd need an actual kid, probably about 12 or 13, to play the role, and act accordingly. This is obviously kind of difficult because most kids are pubescent at that age and their voices are bound to change during filming. But you need that kind of youth for the father/son aspect of the Batman/Robin relationship to work. I mean, how could anyone really think Chris O'Donnell could pass for "young enough to require a ward?"

So, yeah. My first thought, purely in terms of appearance (since I only saw him in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and was too distracted by how wrong the movie felt to pay attention to his performance), is Freddie Highmore.

As for Batgirl, my first thought was "old enough to make a relationship between her and Batman plausible, young enough for said relationship to be disturbing." There needn't actually be a relationship between the two. Also, seeing what we have of Jim Gordon's family in Begins, I don't think it's possible to introduce her as his daughter. Rather, I can only imagine that they'd kind of make her a Sakura Kasugano to Batman's Ryu, to make her a kind of Batman otaku.

My first thought, again mostly about appearance since I don't think I've seen any of her movies, is Evan Rachel Wood.

I'd type more, but I think I'm gonna run out of the office for the time being. While this was more or less a passing fancy, I'm curious to hear your suggestions for treatments of these or other Batman characters.

Comments

[icanfly.livejournal.com]

Well what I have mentioned in the past is its still possible for Barbara to be Gordon's daughter.

See, they were having a similar problem in the Batman Comics a while back (I dunno 80s 90s?) And so they made it so Barbara Gordon was ACTUALLY Gordon's Niece, whose parents died (because no one can have living parents right?), and Gordon was granted custody.

However, then they realized they had lost something by not making her his official daughter, SO, they added in this nice little story where you find out that early on Gordon had Cheated on his wife with his brother's wife (his sister in Law), and Barbara is ACTUALLY the result of that affair, so low and behold she IS in fact his daughter. Yeah.

How to explain the baby? Check out Batman: Year One by Frank Miller, Gordon has a wife and a baby boy. He eventually gets a divorce from that wife (he has an affair with Sarah Essen and marries her), I don't really know what happened to the son. Knowing Batman comics, probably something awful. Or maybe that son's just a loose end.

As for a Robin, the problem I see with that is that Batman is all ready fairly young in the Batman Begins series, isn't he? Its kinda hard to tell, but he's in his late 20s or so. I feel like his youth, rather than robins, would be the problem with establishing a good father-son dynamic between Batman and Robin. I say make robin a little older (not like in Batman forever, christ he was like in his 20s by then it seemed, though frankly I LIKED Chris o donnels robin)

But make Robin like, 14-16, Make Barbara a college student/right out of college, and then you have the same sort of dynamics you have in the old comic books where sometimes they'd hook Barbara up with Robin, sometimes with Batman. LoL. Not to mention it sets up the believability that one day in the future she and robin/nightwing have a very serious relationship.

I would love to see a Batgirl-origin heavy movie, read Batgirl: Year One.

She's got this great origin story (better than Robins IMHO). Where literally she has no money, no formal training, and she has both her Father and Batman trying to stop her from being a crime fighter, but she somehow manages to do it anyway. Great freaking story. I want to audio-drama it one day. Originally I was going to do it right after Batman: No Man's Land, but I think that might be too much of a Barbara Overload.

Anyway yeah, I've blabbered on enough, but its your fault for bringing up Batman. lol

[loopychew.livejournal.com]

Chris O'Donnell was around 24/25 when he was filming B&R (they don't have exact filming dates). And he was supposed to be, what, 18 in that movie? I didn't buy. I like Chris O'Donnell (and Batman Forever) well enough, but he was too old for the role.

Christian Bale was 30 (probably playing 25 or so) when he filmed BB and will be something like 35/36 (probably playing 31 or so) by the time this storyline could even be a possibility, so I think a kid a little under half that seems reasonable enough for a father/son relationship, or barring that, a big/little brother dynamic, which was something I didn't really pick up from BF/B&R (of course, the fact that they had two different Batmen in the movies may have had something to do with that fact).

As for Batgirl...well, I understand that, in The Dark Knight, gurl'ir uverq n xvq anzrq Anguna Tnzoyr gb cynl Tbeqba'f fba. In the Nolan movie canon, it seems that there isn't a Barbara Gordon born yet, unless you go by the illegitimate child route you suggested (and the fact that his wife's name is Barbara, but you know what I mean). All in all, though, going through all that backstory would take too much time in a Batman movie. (It would be perfectly all right in a Batgirl movie, however.)

So's my thought.

And while browsing Wikipedia for some of that information, I suddenly remember Detective Bullock, who I think would be awesome to have in a movie and wouldn't require much backstory (or spotlight) at all, just as a bone to the comic/TAS fans.

[viperonaleash.livejournal.com]

Evan Rachel Wood is fucking awesome.

But I have no idea how she'd be as Batgirl.

[markpoa.livejournal.com]

Strangely enough... Batman otaku is how I read Frank Miller's Batgirl in All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder.

[jaeai.livejournal.com]

Chuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu o/~

I need your address, dear. ^_^v

[loopychew.livejournal.com]

Gimme your current e-mail address, or knock up that fiance of yours for my billing information. :-) (Use of physically-impossible sexual phrase intentional.)