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Recently Gremlins director Joe Dante confirmed that he was considering directing the Tom Mankiewicz draft and mentions here that he was thinking of casting John Lithgow as The Joker:

Tom Mankiewicz's Batman sceenplay is one of the greatest unmade superhero movies of all time. The man who gave Superman: The Movie's legendarily difficult early drafts the polish that helped make it the timeless classic that it is (and who also wrote, co-wrote, or re-wrote the screenplays for James Bond adventures like Live and Let Die, Diamonds are Forever, and The Spy Who Loved Me) took a pass at Batman in the early 1980s, and one of the possibilities to direct it was Joe Dante (The Howling, Gremlins, Innerspace...oh, you know who he is!).

Dante passed on the movie, and it took several more years to actually get Batman to the big screen, by which point the project had changed hands so many times that Tom Mankiewicz's script was a thing of the distant past. Sam Hamm's script for Tim Burton's 1989 Batman movie bore no resemblance to Mankiewicz's, which was an extended origin story with similar pacing to the opening hour of Superman: The Movie (complete with a "first night on the job" sequence for Batman), multiple villains (both Joker and Penguin are present), and absurd, Bond-esque set pieces for the climax.

So imagine what that movie would look like had it been directed by Joe Dante. Dante was approached for the director's job, and he was initially interested, but ultimately turned the job down. "It was very outlandish," Dante says of Mankiewicz's Batman script, which he correctly describes as "not Chris Nolan-dark" but "darker than the [1960s Adam West] TV version."

But he did give it a little thought, particularly who he would have wanted to play The Joker. "I wanted to hire John Lithgow for that part because I had met him on The Twilight Zone movie," Dante said. "And for whatever reason, I started to gravitate more towards The Joker than towards Batman. And I actually woke up one night and I said to myself, 'I can't do this movie—I'm more interested in The Joker than I am in Batman, and that's not the way it should be.'" Dante turned the job down shortly after, admitting, "I think I was not the right guy to do the movie."

His John Lithgow comments put the timeline on this right around 1984, perhaps when he was at the peak of his powers with Gremlins, Explorers, Innerspace, and the wonderful The 'Burbs. For your "Lithgow as The Joker" image, keep in mind that he turned in a gloriously bonkers performance as Dr. Emilio Lizardo in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension in 1984.

Dante has no regrets about it, though. "I don't regret not doing Batman, in the sense that I'm not sure what it would have ended up being like. But I certainly can't say it was a major career-booster, my decision not to make it."

Really wish Irons had this look in the movie:

The film is called Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders and will be available in the fall:
http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-cast-of-batman-66-returns-for-a-new-animated-movie-1785400516?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_facebook&utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

Leto has allegedly expressed his dissatisfaction about the final cut for Suicide Squad without actually seeing it yet, while getting caught on camera saying "f*** 'em" to WB.

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/suicide_squad/jared-leto-has-some-choice-words-for-warner-bros-after-suicide-a144603

Despite using that headline, CMB has clarified his comment had nothing to do with the cut of the film, with the tumblr poster who filmed Leto's interview saying the following to them:

The 9 second "[frick] em" snapchat video had been posted identifying that that was Jared's response to his contract asking he not rock climb while filming. That was all it was in regards to. If a media outlet wants to take it out of context to get people to click on an article that has no direct basis beyond someone's impressions – that's on them.

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/suicide_squad/no-jared-leto-did-not-say-fk-em-to-wb-regarding-suicide-squad-or-a144620

Slipknot's death is reminiscent of the loss of his arm when Captain Boomerang convinced him that the explosive wasn't real and he tried to escape, only for his arm to get blown off, though the comic makes it clear that Boomerang was manipulating him as an experiment to see if they were real.

Harley envisioning a future where she's married with Joker and has two kids is similar to Mad Love, though in this version, they no longer have their permawhite skin.

Harley's dip in the vat of chemicals is similar to her origin in the New 52.

El Diablo is based on the New 52 version of the character. The comic, however, makes it clear that he's possessed by a demon which caused him to turn into the creature at the end.

Since I'm more familiar with Batman comics than Suicide Squad comics, I'm mainly going to comment on the Batman related characters.

Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo's Joker comic seems to be the biggest influence. Ironically, while the character design was similar to what Nolan and Ledger did with The Dark Knight, the Suicide Squad Joker seems to be closer to that version than the Dark Knight was. That comic featured:
- Jonny Frost, a henchman who carried over into the film
- Harley dancing at a strip club
- Killer Croc, who was more overtly portrayed as a cannibal
- Overall, a more melancholy gangster version of Joker

The film also clearly attempts to recreate the famous Alex Ross image of Joker and Harley, with Joker in the black and white tuxedo and Harley in the jester outfit (which was a big surprise to me).

Zoe Lawton is a relatively new addition to the DC universe, created in 2005. Much like in the comics, the movie uses Zoe as a way to get her father, Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot, to search for redemption.

Lastly, the tatooed Joker may have been inspired by the All Star Batman and Robin Joker, who had a dragon tattoo on his back. While Joker merchandise featured this tattoo, I don't believe we ever saw it in the film.

Was hoping for something less MoS/BvS like. Given the light tone and Silver Age elements, it'd be appropriate to get a Superman with the brighter blue and red trunks, which DC and WB seem determined to make us forget. It'd fit the show and differentiate it from the film version.

The Batsuit looks leaner this time with a slimmer cowl. Take note, Nolan, THIS is how you make Batman look leaner without turning him into a bobblehead.

I like all the costumes but wish they went into a better direction with Flash. I think the metallic look from Injustice is unnecessary along with incorporating the black. Also, Miller's Flash just seems more like Wally than Barry to me. Maybe I'm just biased towards the CW Flash (though to be fair, Miller's Barry is a way better Wally in personality than that show's Wally so far).

Wish there was some Superman footage with this too.

I was honestly expecting them to go the New 52 route with the gray suit since Wally is black, like the New 52 Wally, and in this continuity, Barry famously called Reverse Flash "The Man in Yellow." This looks like a pretty faithful representation, but I also wonder what they'll say in terms of why Wally picks the yellow. Does Cisco retrofit Thawne's suit 'cause it's the only one left?

Also, Silver, I think you'll find the "man in the iron mask" scenes in the Season 2 finale alone worth checking out.

As a fan of the Cash song and Affleck's Batman, I thought this was appropriate to post here.