Where is the Batman?HUM 2250: Film Adaptation

Summer 2012Dr. PerdigaoJune 14, 2012

Revisionist Histories• First appearance in 1939, own series in 1940

• Rebooting versus retelling

• Continuity in narrative, retelling of character’s origins, development

• Frank Miller’s retelling, Batman: Year One, after Batman: The Dark Knight series (1986) and idea of Batman in later years

• 2006-2009, written by Grant Morrison, issue by Neil Gaiman, leads to Batman R.I.P.

• 2011 relaunch

• http://www.dccomics.com/batman

Batman on Television• Batman (1966-1968), live-action series starring Adam West as Batman

• Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995)

• The New Batman Adventures (1997-1999), animated series

• Batman Beyond (1999-2001), animated series

• The Batman (2004-2008), animated series

Batman on the Big Screen• Batman (1966), directed by Leslie H. Martinson, starring Adam West as

Batman

• Batman (1989), directed by Tim Burton, starring Michael Keaton as Batman and Jack Nicholson as the Joker, and Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale

• Batman Returns (1992), directed by Tim Burton, starring Michael Keaton as Batman, Danny DeVito as Penguin, Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman, and Christopher Walken as Max Shreck

• Batman Forever (1995), directed by Joel Shumacher, starring Val Kilmer as Batman, Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face, Jim Carrey as the Riddler, Nicole Kidman as Dr. Chase Meridian, and Chris O’Donnell as Robin

• Batman & Robin (1997), directed by Joel Shumacher, starring George Clooney as Batman, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, Chris O’Donnell as Robin, Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy, and Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl

Batman on the Big Screen• Batman Begins (2005), directed by Christopher Nolan, starring Christian Bale

as Batman, Michael Caine as Alfred, Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard, Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox

• The Dark Knight (2008), directed by Christopher Nolan, starring Christian Bale as Batman, Heath Ledger as Joker, Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent, Michael Caine as Alfred, Gary Oldman as Lt. Jim Gordon, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox

Animated Films• Batman (1943)

• Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

• Batman: Year One (2011)

Adam West, 1966-1968 Michael Keaton, 1989, 1992

Val Kilmer, 1995 George Clooney, 1997

Alicia Silverstone, 1997

Yvonne Craig (1967-1968)

Dina Meyer, Birds of Prey (2002)

Framing Batman• Orphan

• Postmodern city, excess

• Stratification of classes, social positions

• Gotham City: Wonderland: Rouge City: The Road’s landscape

• Monorail: Train station in Hugo

• Good guys and bad guys

• Masking, identity reconstruction

• Burying the past

• Real face now as Batman, mask is Bruce Wayne, looking for real Bruce at end

Framing Batman• Perception and reality

• 32:40

• “As a symbol, I can be incorruptible. I can be everlasting.”

• “What symbol?”

• “Something elemental, something terrifying.” (42)

• As persona, mask

• Film The Mark of Zorro (1940) vs. opera Mefistofele

Batman R.I.P.?• Need for hope, Batman appears in both film and graphic novel

• Inspiring hope as well as fear, as symbol

• Hope at end, promise of returns

• New guy— “taste for the theatrical, like you.”

• Calling card

• Black screen, with cape