THE JOKER IN GOTHAM SEASON 2

The producers of Gotham have announced that season 2 will focus on the origins of the Riddler, Mr. Freeze, and the Joker. I'm not surprised by the Riddler. After all, I've spoken before how I think he'll be the big bad of season 2 (to an extent). Mr. Freeze is certainly an interesting choice. Maybe they'll show him as a loving husband to his sick wife Nora while he's body building.

Ice to see you again, Detective Gordon!

And then there's the Joker. I had a previous post how I felt that the producers should leave the Joker alone. A little mystery here and there is cool but let's not give him a name or a recognizable face. Part of the Joker's appeal is that we know very little, if anything, about his past. There have been multiple origins in some form or another. There's the Killing Joke which gives an origin for the Joker. He later claims it could be not real though. There's the 1989 Batman film, which says that he was a gangster driven mad by the chemicals Batman dropped him in. There's the recent Zero Year story which expanded the Red Hood storyline, directly tying it into Batman's origins. All of these are, as the Joker would say, "multiple choice." 

Since the producers are ignoring my blog (no matter how many times I retweet this shit!) I'm going to accept the Joker as a major character during Gotham's new season. The question now becomes who is he (or she if they really wanna fuck with us) going to be?

JEROME 

He's definitely the most likely candidate. Having already been introduced and teased as a teenage (possible) Joker, we'll definitely be seeing more Jerome. Coming from a circus family, he couldn't take his mother's shall we say, promiscuous nature any more and killed her. In one scene, he proved to the audience that he was a more than a little crazy and could one day put on the purple pants. I think it would be cool to see him come back and really mess with the GCPD and really pull some major strings. The Joker is a very manipulative and brilliant man. Seeing Jerome get under Gordon or Bullock's skin would be really exciting and could make for a total mind fuck of an episode or two. 

RETURN OF THE RED HOOD 

One of my favorite episodes of the first season featured the origins (so to speak) of the Red Hood Gang. In the episode, one member of the gang wears a red hood and claims that it gives him extra confidence and luck. During the episode, one by the one the gang kills each other off until they've all been killed. The episode ends with a young boy finding the Hood and pretending to shoot at the police. One of the reasons I love this episode so much is that whoever wears the Red Hood embodies some aspect of the Joker's personality. It's almost as if the Hood is already gifted (or cursed depending on how you look at it). It would be pretty awesome if whoever is wearing the Hood breaks Jerome out of prison and he steals the Hood for himself. 

JACK NAPIER

Maybe Gotham will totally shock us and go a totally different route with a new Joker identity. Well, not new per se, but one that has not been seen in a long time. With the Penguin claiming to be the "King of Gotham" it stands to reason that someone would rise up to challenge him. Because that's what mobsters do. They challenge each other. Plus, Napier is a character that we haven't seen since the original Batman film. He was briefly mentioned in one episode of Batman: the Animated Series but other than that, he's never been used. Plus the name Jack Napier would immediately get fans excited and intrigued. Plus, it would cause more suspicion and mystery to which character was actually going to become the Joker or not. 

MELVIN WHITE

Briefly mentioned in The Dark Knight, Melvin White was the name that Bruce and Alfred found while trying to find the Joker. It was never stated that this was the Joker's true identity or even a known alias. I think it was the name of one of Joker's goons. However, it was used to track down the Joker, and therefore I think it gives a link to him (kinda). Regardless, it would still be cool if the name Melvin White appeared during season 2 of Gotham. Like with my Napier suggestion, it would raise the eyebrows of die hard fans and set the internet on fire with speculation. 

A TOTAL MYSTERY 

Maybe the whole thing is a just a fun cat and mouse game that the producers are playing with the fans. Maybe the Joker is all of the above or none of the above. Maybe he's a brand new character that we didn't see coming. Maybe he's just gonna show up in all his Clown Prince of Crime gloriousness. This would be my vote (if I had a say). I'd like us to never really find out who the Joker is but we have multiple candidates to choose from. There have been a few comedians in Penguin's nightclub. Maybe one of them falls into hard times and picks up a mysterious Red Hood.

 Yo, this dude looks fuckin crazy!

For all we know, the producers are going to spend the whole season making us dig for clues and make us play detective. That would be pretty exciting actually. I'm not sure exactly what route Gotham will take next season, but I'm sure it's going to be interesting! 

Till Next Time!

JJ - The Comic Junkie! 

BATMAN FOREVER: 20 YEARS LATER - A COMIC JUNKIE'S RETROSPECTIVE

Batman Forever. For most fans it's either love it or hate it. Maybe both. But there's no denying that it was something special when it was released. This was at a time when big budget movies weren't a weekly summer occurrence. Big budget movies were like events. I remember the first time I heard of this movie I was in Washington DC with my family on vacation. We were in a shop and I found this poster:

Nowadays, when I hear about a new Batman film it's from www.superherohype.com, www.newsarama.com, or www.batman-on-film.com (usually all of the above cuz I check those sites daily). Back then, it was a random poster my dad bought me while on vacation. I remember waiting for the train and seeing the poster there too. We all talked about the different characters and what was going to happen in the movie. I don't think I ever actually saw a preview. I just saw TV commercials, posters, and action figures. Remember how I said I had a ton of Batman Begins stuff in 2005? Yeah well . . . it was worse when I was a little kid in 1995. Haha . . . good times . . .

I loved this fucking toy

I want to share with you the things that I think still hold up about Batman Forever. Some of you may have written it off after the Batman and Robin fiasco (and please read my blog for further clarification on that) but the film is actually pretty well done. Yes there are some weak parts, but the truth is that the movie was actually pretty deep and interesting. It explored the Bruce Wayne character in a way the previous films did not and gave us a great origin for Robin. So without further ado here we go:

VAL KILMER AS BRUCE WAYNE / BATMAN

It's incredibly frustrating that Kilmer only had one shot at being Batman. He's a great actor and his take was very good. He might have had a lackluster script but he still pulled off a wonderful Bruce Wayne. The scene where he has his first flashback to his parent's murder is really great. "I killed them." It's a great line that says a lot about Wayne's character. He takes on the responsibility and guilt of Gotham City. Any crime he can't prevent haunts him. Plus the dude was buff! He looked like he actually hit the gym before filming started. Rumor has it that he and Joel Schumacher didn't get along and that's why he wasn't in Batman and Robin. I don't know, but I watch the film now and love Kilmer's performance. 

THE SECRET ORIGIN OF ROBIN

It's a shame that Chris O'Donnell didn't get more screen time as Robin. He had a great performance as Dick Grayson. He was angry, vengeful, but willing to learn from Bruce to be a hero. You can see his progression from angry young man to hero by the end of the film. Despite it's cheesiness, the scene where he steals the Batmobile is pretty cool. When he fights that (weird) neon gang and then tries to beat up Batman is fantastic. It shows just how angry he really is. When he suits up, it's iconic and awesome. He gives a great performance and I really looked forward to him interacting with Batman in a sequel . . . Hey it was great while it lasted. 

STUDYING BATMAN'S PSYCHOLOGY

The main reason for having the love interest in this film be a psychologist is to explore Bruce Wayne's psyche. And having her be played by 90's era Nicole Kidman is just . . . It's just great. The scenes between Bruce and Chase are really well done. You learn a lot about Bruce's past and the guilt he has for his parent's death. As I said before, this film did a great job of exploring Wayne's origins and well as Grayson's. Kidman's performance is a little over the top but she still does the part well. She's fascinated by Batman and later by Bruce due to his traumatic past. It works well in the movie. 

JIM CARREY AS THE RIDDLER

 Jim Carrey killed it as the Riddler. I mean yeah, the performance is pretty much 90's era Jim Carrey but there are some truly creepy moments. The idea of him being obsessed with Bruce Wayne and then trying to replicate his success is really well done. He gets a Bruce Wayne haircut, a fake mole like Kilmer has, and wears glasses when Bruce puts on his glasses at the Ritz Gotham. The first scene with him is brilliant. I love his line, "You were supposed to understand. I'll make you understand." You see the transformation from lowly tech at Wayne Enterprises to the Riddler. Carrey gives us a somewhat sympathetic villain due to his delusions and the fact that he hates Bruce's "ignorance" toward his work. I think Carrey was great as the Riddler. He was evil, cunning, brilliant, and of course funny. Like I said, some scenes are a bit ridiculous (it was Jim Carrey on the rise after all) but he still stole the show as Batman's smartest adversary. Despite their feud in real life, he had great chemistry with Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face. The characters seemed to fit together well and were fun to watch. 

This film will always hold a special place in my heart. I showed it to my nephew recently and he fell in love with it. It's a great way to get kids into Batman. He hadn't quite reached the super-campiness of Batman and Robin and the nipples are barely visible. 

They are however, still there . . .

Happy 20th Birthday Batman Forever! I will always love you!

Till Next Time!

JJ - The Comic Junkie! 

BATMAN BEGINS: 10 YEARS LATER - A COMIC JUNKIE'S RETROSPECTIVE

I will never forget the hype for Batman Begins. The movie was sold on the idea that it was going to be a completely different Batman film than we had seen before. Many were skeptical. Some were excited. Me? I KNEW we were in for a treat. Batman has always been my favorite character in any medium. I like the idea of a man shrouded in darkness but he brings hope and inspires courage to the world around him. I loved the original films growing up and Batman: the Animated Series. Before this movie came out the new cartoon was The Batman. Despite it being a little campier than the original series I still enjoyed it. However, there's something about seeing Batman on the big screen that gets me more excited than anything in the entire world.

My makeshift Batman costume from New York Comic Con 2014

Way back in 2005 there was no YouTube, the internet was still mostly dial up (at least in my house), and very few reliable comic book sites. My source for all news regarding Batman pretty much came from batman-on-film.com. The guy who runs that site, Jett, kept his information strictly to official stuff and non-spoilers. I checked his site every single day from when Christopher Nolan was announced as director, to the casting, filming progress, official press releases, and finally the film's release. I was so excited for this movie. The summer of 2005 was going to be incredible. And man oh man . . . I was not disappointed

I've never told anyone this but after the film I went home and cried a little. It was the perfect Batman movie. Better than that, it was the perfect Bruce Wayne story. We got to see Bruce's motivation, his anger, his fears, his hopes, and his demons. Villains like the Scarecrow and Ra's Al Ghul (two of my favorites) finally got to make their live action debut. The casting was pitch perfect. Gary Oldman was perfect as Gordon (which shocked the hell out of me). Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox was great and added legitimacy to a previously underused and, frankly, underwhelming character. Liam Neeson as Ducard/Ra's Al Ghul was exactly as he should have been. Fatherly, supportive, and then, once betrayed, evil as hell! I mean, I could go on and on about this film and how perfect it is. 

And then there's the man himself - Christian Bale. He was/is Bruce Wayne to me. I mean he nailed it. From the young, angry Bruce to the older, more mature Wayne that became the Dark Knight. People get all up in arms about the voice but the performance was pitch perfect. Ben Affleck has a tough act to follow. 

Argo fuck yourself. I'm Batman now!

Anything and everything Batman Begins related I gobbled up that summer. Action figures, posters, magazines, you name it, I either owned it or coveted thy neighbor that owned it . . . Ok so it wasn't that bad! But still . . . I had a lot of Batman Begins stuff.

I saw the film 5 times in the movie theater. Every time I loved it more than the last. I've always said that the film has a great pace. It's equal parts exciting and interesting. Nolan brought his indie-film sensibilities to a big budget blockbuster and it paid off in spades. Batman Begins now serves as the template for how to do a successful superhero film. 10 years later and the film still stands up. It started one of the greatest film trilogies of all time and will always have a special place in my heart. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to watch it for the 40th time . . . 

Till Next Time!

JJ - The Comic Junkie!