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I just read that comic not too long ago, I guess it didn't strike me as much. Would it have been too much for Batman to act on any of these threats? Absolutely. But they're just that - threats. It's not out of the ordinary for Batman to threaten awful things, mostly inflicting pain on a cornered victim for information. But it's only when something's seriously wrong that he actually follows through, the story does not frame this as virtuous.

Most incarnations of Batman have boundaries, and after a while operating on the streets people begin to know it. Maroni says as much when he compares him to the Joker in TDK. There has to be an element of doubt present in the criminal's mind for them to second guess themselves. Maybe Batman will kill me? Maybe Batman will go that far this time? Batman talking like this helps keep people on edge. That's an important component of being a human crimefighter. At the end of the day, the decision is in the suspect's court. If they don't want to cooperate they've been told what will happen. Batman isn't threatening someone he knows to be innocent.

I managed to pick up a copy of the original Killing Joke for a reasonable price. This is the way the book should look. The new version takes away all the personality and atmosphere (along with the yellow oval...unforgivable!) to make the experience generic. Give me the acid trip fever dream every day of the week, and the fact this is how it was first released means a lot to me.

I completely relate to Miller's mindset here.

Then a really strange thing happened to me. All of the sudden I realized I was about to turn 29 years old, Batman's age. Then I realized I was one year away from turning older than Batman. The more this year went on the more it bothered me that I might be older than him. So finally I [decided] to fix that, and make him older than me once and for all. So I conceived of a story where Batman was at the impossibly old age of 50.

Mixed in with this I'm not interested in the younger generation or appealing to them at all. My focus is on the people I grew up with, the journey we're on and what's happening with us now. The reality of getting older I suppose, but indeed, these feelings clicked in hard for me recently.

The way Keatonjuice behaves in a sleazy manner completes the idea of the character rather than smoothing it off. He's a dead hobo/used car salesman who talks how he looks, while he's smoking, spitting in his jacket and eating bugs. He can help out but you only want it as a last resort. In my opinion the character should be fun to the audience but have an edge that makes characters standoffish.

This excites me a lot, particularly how the CGI is limited with a focus on practical effects. That makes it feel like a true sequel to the original and it's a brave and fun choice for a modern movie. I'm digging the character of Beetlejuice a lot too with the resurgence of the franchise. Keaton and Burton were doing The Mask routine well before Jim Carrey came on to the scene.

I'd have liked Batman Returns to have been more of a direct sequel to the first film like in Hamm's original script. And as part of that, I would have liked to have seen Knox return.

Twelve years later, and I no longer hold this view. I love Batman Returns' individuality and the older I get the fewer things I'd want to change about it. Maybe tone down some of the sexual innuendo and pervy Penguin moments, but other than that I'd leave it as it is.

Anyway, I saw this video praising Batman Returns on YouTube. The most interesting part of it is a Robert Wuhl cameo at the 17:00 mark. He briefly chimes in to discuss his feelings about not being in Batman Returns and also shares his opinion on the declining quality of the Burton-Schumacher series as a whole.

It's good to see he still has such affection for the role.

I'm still fine with Knox being absent in Returns. If Vicki wasn't going to appear I don't think Knox should've either. They were a tag team and their dynamic worked very well in the first movie. I'm optimistic Batman Resurrection gives Knox a mention, however. Wuhl himself looks really good and in good spirits. No sour grapes at all. Understanding there just wasn't a part there for him in the sequel. He arguably starred in the most important Batman film of all time anyway, even though Returns is amazing in its own way.

Canonically, Babs is supposed to be a redhead. We know how well redheaded characters do when adapted into other media these days. How else can you have POC Babs unless her old man has been race swapped too?

It really is a bizarre and unfortunate stance being taken against redheads. At this point we need Jessica Chastain or someone like her cast as Poison Ivy to restore order.

At some point I'm hoping the Mad Monk/Monster Men arc gets adapted. That has the potential to be one of the best bunch of episodes from anything if done right.

Yeah, not sure if you guys noticed, but Harley is also swapped to an Asian chick.

It's the prerequisite for any show or movie now. Gordon has become black and it seems to be a permanent mainstay. Same for Perry White, at least in the movies. All I can hope for is the main characters remain looking like the main characters. That's thankfully been the case for Batman and Superman so far.

Same with Matt Reeves' Gordon(who I think is my favorite live action version).

I have to say the Pattinson/Wright dynamic is probably the best in the film series. I daresay even more so than Bale/Oldman after just one film. They're direct and frequent collaborators out in the field and you feel their mutual trust and respect. So there's that.

But overall, I'm pretty stoked for this show. And it's only a few months away.

Same. We also have The Penguin and Joker 2, which makes 2024 a decent year for content.

I would say the majority of the cast look the part, so I'm good on that, but again, that suit looks pretty bad. Granted, I'm willing to see what it looks like in motion, and I can easily change my mind if it happens to look better, but yeah, not a good first look.

Oh well, we'll just have to wait for more in the coming year or so.

Indeed, but the suit still isn't something I'll ever be on board with because of this:

It's just a joke to me for a contemporary film, showing the character is a relic. It sticks out like a sore thumb and I really wish they didn't go back down this road after Snyder had the guts to go another route.

Well done, Rick. You can hold your head high. You weren't bullied into doing something you didn't want to do, and have your Ghostbusters record clean, unlike those who came back for the very average to poor continuations.