The Batman – The Second Thoughts

Not about the trailer I still think it looks like flash and thunder that signifies Bad Robot filmmaking. These are just a few notions that didn’t fit the previous article.

(1) Young Batman:

The silly part of this whole thing is Young Batman. Going that route isn’t a bad idea at all. You can do a lot with it. You can get rid of the cape and have Young Batman parkouring his way across the rooftops of Gotham. Alfred will be young enough to be good in a fight too (put a pin in that one).

But if you are going to do that you don’t hire Robert Pattinson (35) or Ed Skrein (38). You use Tanner Buchanan (22) from Cobra Kai.

Who am I kidding? If you convince Walter Hamada to go with actually Young Batman he’d insist on Finn Wolfhard from Stranger Things.

(2) Alfred:

They always make Alfred vaguely disapproving of Bruce’s little hobby but he summons his stiff upper lip and soldiers on despite the young Master Bruce’s determination to get himself killed.

The thing is Alfred was his guardian during Bruce’s minority. And he got ahold of Bruce at a very young and impressionable age.

What if Alfred wasn’t a passive voice? What if he was pushing Bruce to become Batman? It fills in a lot of gaps in Bruce’s developmental years. A kid with that much inner rage will normally turn it towards self-destruction. But not if Alfred decided to redirect and focus it. And not if Alfred had his own considerable axe to grind with the underworld of Gotham City.

Maybe Alfred had tried the vigilante life himself after the Waynes were killed and he couldn’t get the hang of it.

(3) The Batmobile:

One of the few things I appreciated (there is a difference between appreciation and liking), was The Batman’s Batmobile.

The Batmobile in a modern setting is kind of a dilemma.  On the one hand, it’s a character in its own right. Batman without his ride is as unthinkable as Holmes without Watson. The problem is in 1939, a car that could go 130 MPH in a world without reliable car radios or helicopters could probably avoid bringing unwanted visitors to the Batcave’s entrance, (provided the driver is alert and skilled enough).  

But today you do have helicopters, plus drones, satellites, and passersby with cellphones.  It doesn’t matter how good a driver you are; by the end of the first week, everybody is going to know that that weird black car disappears into the cave under Wayne Manor when Batman has called it a night.  It isn’t hard to put two and two together after that.

You really have to block out the problems mentally when you watch any of these shows.

It’s not an impossible problem.  A disguised tractor-trailer acting as a mothership. A Batmobile that can change its appearance.  Or one that can just plain turn invisible.  There are other solutions. Although they usually avoid having any kind of automobile.

Here is a site with the entire history of the Batmobile

I found out the first Batmobile was an Auburn Cord

Okay, I’m done here.