The Joker revealed

[Sharktopus]

As much as I enjoyed Batman Begins (and I enjoyed the HELL out of it), keep in mind that almost all of the "inspiration" it drew from classic comics stories consisted of name-dropping. I'm not saying it's good or bad, but the little "squee" I felt when names like Flass and Commissioner Loeb were mentioned was quickly replaced with the understanding that the movie characters bore virtually no resemblance to their comics counterparts. It's kind of like the whole "Gwen Stacy" thing in Spider-Man 3; why bother having that character even be Gwen Stacy, when nothing about her place in the movie's story requires it?

At least using characters from Year One and Long Halloween proves that someone involved with Batman Begins actually read a Batman comic, which is more effort than Tim Burton put into his movie. And it's not like they strayed that far. Flass was still a corrupt cop that Gordon had to work with, he just didn't end up beating the tar out if him. And although I thought it was weird to cast an English actor as "The Roman," Tom Wilkinson nailed the "I'm untouchable in Gotham" attitude.

All in all, besides the completely wrong casting of Katie Holmes as Harvey Dent (pretty much), and the pointless "Let's show off this Bat-tank for no good reason" scene, I thought Batman Begins was damn near perfect. I'm still on the fence about Heath Ledger, but Chris Nolan's earned my trust for the time being. Plus, Aaron Eckhart's perfect for Harvey Dent and Eric Roberts should be good as Sal Maroni (There's that "squee" again.) And Anthony Michael Hall's playing a role he can't talk about? Hmm...

How funny is it that Nestor Carbonell's playing the mayor of Gotham?

[J-Proof]

I'm really not a big fan of the new joker design. I'm also not a big fan of Heath Ledger being cast as the joker, but we'll just have to see how it turns out on film...

Look at it this way, he can't be worse than Jack Nicholson.  I think it's an odd choice but Nolan hasn't made a bad movie yet, I trust him.

I actually really like Jack's portrayal of Joker.

Question -- how much is the Batman Begins storyline supposed to tie into the original Batman movies? Are they planning on remaking the original series so that it's badass Nolan-style? Or are they planning on cutting the storyline after this movie, and then the next movie they make with Nolan and Bale leaps ahead to after Batman and Robin?

I prefer the idea of remaking the whole series, personally.... while they're at it, might as well throw some Teen Titans (NOT the lame cartoon) in there.

To me, the Nolan-version of Batman is the best comic book super hero adaptation yet. X Men was fun, Spiderman is a juggernaught -- but I think Nolan's version of Batman is the perfect balance of realistic meets fantasy, morality meets darkness, and artistry meets believability.

[Johnny Unusual]

It's ignoring the previous movies and is it's own continuity.  Which is why, thankfully, the Joker doesn't kill Bruce Wayne's parents in this one.

[Nunyerbiz]

I really liked "Batman Begins"... and it's not a hard argument to say it's the best comic book movie ever. (even if I still prefer something about Keaton over Bale. )

As far as that first picture of Joker... I dunno about that... I kinda chuckled when I saw it... First thing that popped into my head was that is was some random bass player that Marilyn Manson kicked out of his band.

[Haze]

I really hope Harley Quinn is in it.  She was always more insane than the Joker because she would kill anyone for the Joker, whereas the Joker just wanted Batman.

God I hope not, Hollywood would wreck her. If you have ever heard of the TV show Birds of Prey you will know how wrong it could go  :-",

[torgosPizza]

As much as I enjoyed Batman Begins (and I enjoyed the HELL out of it), keep in mind that almost all of the "inspiration" it drew from classic comics stories consisted of name-dropping

I know that Gary Oldman's Gordon looks JUST like the Gordon from Frank Miller's books... and I know they did take bits and pieces from a few of the stories, not sure of specifics offhand.. but the DVD of Begins actually has an excerpt from a comic that they used when writing the story. David S. Goyer is pretty well known as a comic book freak, although he kinda ruined Blade, but with Batman I think he knows what he's doing.

And besides - I wouldn't want a TRULY faithful comic adaptation, either. At that point - why bother with a movie? Granted, I loved 300 and Sin City - those are probably rare exceptions, IMO. And even then they weren't 100% faithful, especially in picking and choosing story arcs to show, or adding their own made-for-the-movie stuff.

[Sharktopus]

Or are they planning on cutting the storyline after this movie, and then the next movie they make with Nolan and Bale leaps ahead to after Batman and Robin?

Why on Earth would they do that? WB has a golden opportunity to wipe those abominations from the memory of filmgoers. If Superman Returns taught them anything it's to leave the old series alone.

I really hope Harley Quinn is in it.  She was always more insane than the Joker because she would kill anyone for the Joker, whereas the Joker just wanted Batman.

God I hope not, Hollywood would wreck her. If you have ever heard of the TV show Birds of Prey you will know how wrong it could go  :-

I dunno. Every aspect of Birds Of Prey was stupid, so you can't really cite that. They could do Harley justice in a movie, but the real problem is that she distracts from the Joker. He's just not that scary when his girlfriend's around, and I'm pretty sure Nolan wants a scary Joker, and not a prancing Cesar Romero/Jack Nicholson goofball. I wouldn't be surprised to see a Harley-ish henchgirl in the movie, but not much more than that.

[PsypherPunk]

I really liked "Batman Begins"... and it's not a hard argument to say it's the best comic book movie ever. (even if I still prefer something about Keaton over Bale. )

Agreed. No matter what Keaton does you know he's just a hair's breadth from plainly psychotic; it worked perfectly.

[J-Proof]

Who would make a good Harley Quinn? I'll tell ya who...

MISTY MUNDAE (Erin Brown) -- almost uncontestable.

[Sharktopus]

I really liked "Batman Begins"... and it's not a hard argument to say it's the best comic book movie ever. (even if I still prefer something about Keaton over Bale. )

Agreed. No matter what Keaton does you know he's just a hair's breadth from plainly psychotic; it worked perfectly.

Except that it's Michael Keaton jumping around rooftops fighting crime. His performance was good, but I could never accept him as Batman.

Who would make a good Harley Quinn?

In a feature from the second issue of  Geek Monthly, "Veronica Mars" star Kristen Bell said:

I would kill to play Harley Quinn. Literally kill. Like tell me who to kill and where they live.

[Sharktopus]

They completely ignored my suggestion for who should be the Joker:

[J-Proof]

I dunno about Kristen Bell as Harley.... Can she pull off something dark and twisted ala Harley?

[Sharktopus]

I dunno about Kristen Bell as Harley.... Can she pull off something dark and twisted ala Harley?

Has there ever been a dark and twisted Harley? She's a goofball who's inexplicably in love with a dark and twisted Joker.

[J-Proof]

i always pictured harley as a nutjob lol -- bell might be able to pull it off, but i'd still prefer misty

[Hebs]

Paul Dini needs to do some writing if Harley is going to be as awesome as she is in the animated series.

But yeah, there needs to be some care in "Who's in and Who's Out" because it could turn oversaturated, like Spiderman 3 - too much going on n' stuff.  I'm glad Batman is in the hands of someone who will treat it like a horror story instead of a super-hero movie.  The whole appeal - at least for me, is that Bruce Wayne is just a guy.  Well, just a gajillionaire guy, but he didn't fall from an asteroid or get spliced or whatever.  Just as a side note, though, I am so glad they didn't put the whole "Talia" junk in Batman Begins - I'm glad the writers seem to be able to edit themselves.