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Theatrical moviesA number of Batman theatrical films have been made. Image:NewSDMovies Batman and Robin.JPG Title card for The Dynamic Duo's guest shots on The New Scooby-Doo Movies in 1972. Image:Szenenbild 03 518x700.jpg Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne from Batman Begins Image:The animated batmans.JPG Batman's different costumes in contemporary animation. The fourth suit was worn primarily by Terry McGinnis.
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He also appeared in episodes of Superman: The Animated Series: World's Finest, Knight Time and The Demon Reborn, although in Knight Time he appeared as Bruce Wayne. Since 1997, Warner Bros. has released the entire run of Batman: The Animated Series on video (both VHS, DVD) where Kevin Conroy voices of Batman. There are four volumes total, covering both Batman: The Animated Series and Batman: Gotham Knights (Also known as "The New Batman Adventures"). Three volumes complete the Superman animated series, and both seasons of Justice League have been released as well. NewspaperFrom 1943 to 1946, Batman and Robin appeared in a syndicated daily newspaper comic strip produced by the McClure Syndicate. Other versions appeared in 1953, 1966, and 1989. The original run is collected in the book Batman: The Dailies. One more comic strip series ran briefly after the success of the 1989 film. Books
RadioBeginning in March 1945, Batman and Robin made regular appearances on the The Adventures of Superman radio drama on the Mutual Broadcasting System. Efforts were made to launch a Batman radio series in 1943 and again in 1950, but neither came to fruition. Musical theatreWhile a parody of a Batman musical was featured in one of the most recent series' comics, in 2002, Jim Steinman, David Ives, and Tim Burton had worked on a theatre production called Batman: The Musical although it was ultimately cancelled. Steinman has recently revealed five songs from the musical. The first is the opening theme for "Gotham City" and the entry of Batman with his tortured solo "The Graveyard Shift"; followed by "The Joker's Song (Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?)", "The Catwoman's Song (I Need All The Love I Can Get)", "We're Still The Children We Once Were" (the climactic sequence) and "In The Land Of The Pig The Butcher Is King", sung by the corrupt blood-suckers ruling Gotham, recently covered on the Meat Loaf album Bat Out Of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose. These songs can be heard at http://www.jimsteinman.com/dreampol.htm A Batman musical is also parodied in the animated series Batman Beyond. The episode "Out of the Past," (first aired October 21, 2000) opens with Bruce Wayne and Terry McGinnis attending a performance of (a fictional)Batman: The Musical, featuring caricatures of prominent members of the Rogues Gallery (Joker, Penguin, Two-Face, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn). Series creator Paul Dini, who wrote the episode in question, also wrote a song for the fictitious musical entitled "Superstitious and Cowardly Lot." An episode of the sketch comedy show Mad TV also featured a Batman: The Musical parody Video gamesImage:Batman game.jpg Screenshot from the Batman Begins video game Several Batman video games were created:
Batman appears in Justice League Task Force Super Nintendo fighting game, a couple of Justice League games for Game Boy Advance, and an arcade game based on Tim Burton's original movie. Also, the 16-bit Sega game The Revenge of Shinobi features a (non-authorized) Batman as boss. He appears in the Justice League Heroes game for PS2, Xbox, and PSP. Cancelled Batman projectsDespite the success with the Batman film franchise, there were several plans to introduce the Dark Knight to other audiences, many of which never saw the light of day. Prior to the success of Batman Begins, the Batman franchise spent nearly eight years in development hell. Several of the reasons were the same: legal rights, copyright laws, budgetary reasons, casting problems, delaying of production, etc. Directors and a large number of writers were attached to the project for one time or another, but many dropped out due to the lack of progress in the producing of the film. Big Hollywood actors were all tested for the role of Batman, but they declined due to fears of typecasting and salary demands. Directors like Schumacher, Darren Aronofsky, the Wachowski brothers, and Wolfgang Petersen briefly became involved with the movie, but all were eventually replaced by Christopher Nolan. Most of them left due to creative differences, as most noted below in Triumphant and Year One. The BatmanBefore Tim Burton directed the 1989 film Batman, there had been plans for nearly ten years to make a Batman movie. Tom Mankiewicz, who co-wrote Superman: The Movie and Superman II, wrote a first draft called The Batman that focused on Batman's first year as a crime-fighter. Originally, Mankiewicz wanted an unknown actor to play Batman, Jack Nicholson as the Joker, William Holden as Gordon, and David Niven as Alfred. His script was given high marks by the Warner Bros executives, but they were unable to hire a director or cast permanently. The project went into development hell for nearly five years, but Mankiewicz's vision of having the Joker did come true in the end. Batman TriumphantOriginally planned to be released on the 60th anniversary of Batman's debut in Detective Comics, Batman Triumphant was shelved following the box office failure of Batman & Robin (film) [3]. George Clooney and Chris O'Donnell were planned to reprise their roles from the previous film.[citation needed] Bruce Wayne or Gotham City[citation needed]Alfred Gough and Miles Millar planned to launch a five-season series called Bruce Wayne or Gotham City. Focusing on young Bruce's travels and experiences with the criminal underworld, as well as his burgeoning friendship with Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent, the pilot script was given high marks by reviewers and critics on the Internet. Tim McCanlies, writer of The Iron Giant, outlined the projected show in a series bible that documented various plotlines and themes. One story arc would focus on Harvey's abusive father, Harvey's drinking problems, and his law school struggles, while another would focus on Selina and Bruce's love/hate relationship cultimating in a one-night stand that leaves her hateful of him when they break up. A recurring character on the show was to be a teenaged farmboy from Kansas named Clark Kent, who would play both a foil and friend to the future Dark Knight. During the timeline, Bruce would secretly train with and use gadgets from Wayne Enterprises that would one day become part of his arsenal as Batman. Although the project never officially began production, Gough and Millar turned the concept of a young Batman show into a pre-Superman teenaged show: Smallville, for which McCanlies currently receives royalties. Batman BeyondSince the board at Warner Brothers could not agree on a path to take the film franchise, Bruce Timm and Paul Dini wrote a draft for a Batman Beyond motion picture, detailing the birth of Terry McGinnis into the role of Batman and his friendship with the elderly Bruce Wayne. Little is known about the script, but Dini mentioned that Derek Powers, aka Blight, was to be the main villain of the film, and Will Friedle, who voiced Terry, was actually considered to be cast as the new Batman. This idea for a movie, however, was ultimately dropped.[citation needed] Batman: The Dark Knight ReturnsBefore he signed on to direct the next film, Darren Aronofsky revealed that he would love to direct an adaption of Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Some major Hollywood A-listers, like Ray Liotta and Clint Eastwood were considered for Batman, and it was rumored that Dean Cain, from Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, was going to appear in the film as Superman. This was probably a rumor from early work on Batman, which was said to be DKR and that Christopher Reeve would reprise his Superman character. It never really got off the ground, but Miller was reported to have said that he would have loved the idea.[citation needed] Batman vs. SupermanIn November 2001, Warner Bros. Pictures revealed that Batman vs. Superman was in the development phase.[1] In May 2002, director Wolfgang Petersen was reported to take the helm.[2] On July 9, 2002, the studio publicly announced its production plans for Batman vs. Superman, with Petersen confirmed to direct the film.[3] Petersen described the role of the superheroes in the film: "They play off of each other so perfectly. [Superman] is clear, bright, all that is noble and good, and Batman represents the dark, obsessive and vengeful side. They are two sides of the same coin and that is material for great drama." The director was scheduled to begin filming in early 2003,[4] for a 2004 release after completing The Perfect Storm, with screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker attached to write the script for the superhero film.[5] The script would feature both Metropolis and Gotham City, as well as three strong female roles.[6] According to the studio, Batman vs. Superman was being developed slowly as a precaution to the poor reception of Batman & Robin (1997).[7] In August 2002, however, the project was temporarily shelved until Petersen completed Troy. Unofficially, the project was reported to be shelved due to the emergence of a script for a fifth Superman film, which would be directed by McG.[8] A Batman vs. Superman draft written by Walker and revised by screenwriter Akiva Goldsman can be seen here. Batman: Year OneIt was officially announced in 2001 that Darren Aronofsky would adapt Frank Miller's story arc "Batman: Year One" and release it in 2003. The script, something akin to a revenge tale like The French Connection set in the 90s, departed heavily from the comics source material, with Bruce Wayne being homeless, Alfred being a middle-aged black mechanic, and the Batmobile a souped-up Lincoln Towncar. The board at Warner Bros were far from impressed. Selina Kyle appeared as a stripper and a prostitute, while being in a love/hate affair with Bruce Wayne, and she was to appear as Catwoman in the third act of the film. It was to be narrated by Wayne's voice-overs, mostly focusing on his lust for revenge and justice, and Batman's crime-fighting methods were more brutal than those of the comics. Jim Gordon was to be a transferred cop from Chicago with marriage problems, while Harvey Dent, then Assistant District Attorney, was bent on bringing Carmine Falcone and Rupert Thorne to justice.[citation needed] SmallvilleThe producers of Smallville wanted to get a teenaged Bruce Wayne onto the show as a recurring character acting as a friend and foe to Clark Kent, while being a potential love interest to Lana Lang. Scripted as being two years younger than Clark, the young Wayne was wandering around America trying to find his purpose in life and training in martial arts. His main story arc was to be involved in a feud with Lex Luthor over Lexcorp and Lionel Luthor's rivalry with Wayne Enterprises. Alfred Gough and Miles Millar had stated as far back as Season One that they would love to have the pre-Batman on the show. Due to legal issues and the production of Begins, the planned idea was cut from the drawing board. Ian Somerhalder was cast as a stranger named Adam Knight (named based on Adam West and The Dark Knight) who served as a boyfriend for Lana in at least seven episodes. This was in response to the plans of Wayne coming undercover to Smallville while investigating Luthor. However, in 2006, Gough hinted that the possibility of Wayne on the show before it ends is not entirely impossible.[citation needed] Games, action figures, and other toysBatman is one of the few fictional characters that can be defined by his toys and merchandising. The first boom started in 1966 during the hit television series, and since then, along with every major movie or cartoon series has come a wave of toys, collectibles, and just about any other merchandise imaginable. Over the years, hundreds of Batman action figures, die-cast models, and other miscellaneous items have reserved the store shelves. Of the many companies that have acquired the rights to make Batman merchandise, some of the most well known include:
Batman has appeared as a HeroClix figure along with other Batman characters in the following HeroClix sets: For April 2006, Lego introduced a Batman line which also includes characters such as the Joker and Two-Face, at American International Toy Fair. Theme park attractionsImage:Batwing Spaceshot.JPG The 61metre tall tower of the Batwing Spaceshot Several Six Flags theme parks, formerly owned by Warner Brothers, opened live-action "Batman Stunt Shows" as the movies increased in popularity. Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey is home to a looping, suspended roller coaster named "Batman: The Ride" (Six Flags Saint Louis has the same ride, as does Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois) as well as twin roller coasters named "Batman and Robin: The Chiller." On the latter attraction, riders may ride on either the Batman or Robin versions of the coaster. Six Flags Over Georgia contains a Gotham City area that contains the same "Batman: The Ride" and also features a looping coaster called "The Mindbender" that was adapted to fit the color tone of The Riddler after Batman Forever came out to fit the Gotham City section of the park it shares with "Batman: The Ride". Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California has two Batman-themed coasters, the suspended coaster "Batman: The Ride," and "The Riddler's Revenge," a stand-up type roller coaster. This Six Flags park also features an entire themed area called "Gotham City" complete with architecture to match that of the fictional Gotham City. Warner Bros. Movie World in the Gold Coast, Australia, also has two Batman-themed rides. Batman Adventure - The Ride, revamped in 2001, is a motion simulator style simulator ride while Batwing Spaceshot is a vertical free-fall ride. Notable fan filmsSeveral low-budget, unauthorized Batman movies have been made, including the short film Batman Dracula (1964) by Andy Warhol; the full-length Batman Fights Dracula (1967) made in the Philippines; and a second full-length Filipino movie called Alyas Batman en Robin (1993). (Critics who have seen this movie say it is very poor quality.)[citation needed] Additionally, an independently-funded self-promo fan film titled Batman: Dead End was produced by Sandy Collora in 2003, starring Clark Bartram as Batman. The film featured not only Batman but also Aliens and Predators from the popular 20th Century Fox film franchises, and generated considerable buzz. Something similar happened with Grayson (2004), a fan film made by John Fiorella. Two notable low-budget animated Batman LEGO Fan Films include Batman: Revenge (The Batman LEGO Film) (2003) and Batman: New Times (2005). Batman: Revenge is credited by Batman Fan Films as being the first Batman LEGO Fan Film and the production that brought Batman fan films into the art of stop-motion animation. Batman: New Times was created by the graduating class 2004 of Dave School as a 12-minute CGI film based on models of Art Asylum's toyline with voices by Adam West, Mark Hamill, Dick Van Dyke, and Courtney Thorne-Smith. Batman parodies and referencesIt should be noted this list is far from exhaustive, a character that's existed continuously for nearly 70 years in many media will become part of the cultural landscape. References to images like the Bat Signal and references to phrases from the 1960s TV series (particularly "To the Batmobile!" and "Holy something, Batman!") are innumerable:
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