A Spiritual Sequel to Batman & Robin

[Silver Nemesis]

Goldblum aside, I saw Tut as a return to a sort of zany supervillain. BF had two kind of over the top villains but B&R lacked Jim Carrey's charisma and manic energy. Goldblum would bring a different type of energy to Batman 5 but it would still be something very charismatic, I think.

I never knew how badly I wanted to see Goldblum play King Tut until now, but the more I think about it the funnier the idea seems. I wonder if there's still a chance it could happen. I know Tut wouldn't fit in with the gritty approach Matt Reeves is taking, but maybe he could appear in one of the DCEU films opposite Keaton?

Two-Face nearly exploited the Batmobile's vulnerabilities during the wall climbing sequence in BF. Freeze destroyed a Batmobile because Batman's luck just plain worked against him in B&R.

So for B5, I think Batman would want something more mobile. I was envisioning a small canopied sport coupe that somehow makes crazy jumps like KITT or the General Lee. I think Batman would want a vehicle with maximum mobility. To make it toyetic-yet-story-applicable, devise a sequence where Batman has to run a road blockade to perform a rescue or stop a bomb or something but the road is blockaded by the Charioteers. They open fire on the Batmobile. Is this the end for Batman? No, as he nears the road blockade, he hits a button and the Batmobile turbo boosts over the blockade and keeps zooming along without breaking stride.

The canopy could pay off later in the movie. To make it toyetic-yet-story-applicable, you could devise a sequence where the Batmobile is airborne over water, Batman realizes the car's about to sink, he blows the canopy free from the car's main chassis, the canopy releases a parachute to glide lazily into the water... and then it sinks! Is this the end for Batman? No, as soon as the canopy is fully submerged, Batman flips a switch on the dashboard, the parachute gets cut loose, an outboard engine appears from who the hell even knows where, Batman steers the canopy underwater and there's your mini-Batmarine, boss.

Later, show the Batmarine parked next to a stylized new Batboat in the Batcave.

What if all of the Bat-vehicles were designed to transform into other vehicles? The Batmobile could turn into the Batsub. Robin's Redbird cycle could turn into the Nightwing Water-ski. The Batwing could transform into the Bat-rocket. Transforming toys have always been popular. They'd be perfect for the Kenner line or a Happy Meal tie-in.

A few more thoughts.

One of the deleted scenes from Batman Forever shows Kilmer's Batman driving past a building fronted by an Egyptian sculpture. Could this be an Easter egg foreshadowing Schumacher's King Tut? Unlikely, but for the purpose of this thread it'll do.

Site member Azrael suggested the idea of the film referencing the Plagues of Egypt. Instead of the Gotham rivers turning to blood, they could turn to raspberry syrup. Instead of a plague of boils, it could be a computer virus that triggers a Superman III-style montage of Gotham's machinery going haywire.

Tut would require a ditzy and scantily clad moll. Two-Face had Sugar and Spice. Mr. Freeze has Miss B. Haven. Tut's moll could be called Isis or Nefertiti, and she'd be an attractive but dim sidekick who was constantly vying unsuccessfully for his attention. In visual terms, I'm thinking of Amanda Barrie in Carry On Cleo (1964).

B&R had lots of ice imagery, so I think this movie needs lots of fire and sand. Candles, torches, explosions and pyrotechnics of every description. There should also be a set piece involving sinking sand, possibly occurring inside a giant sand timer.

I'm a total noob when it comes to digital art and manips, but here's my feeble attempt at giving Clooney's costume the classic blue and grey colour scheme from the comics. It's a rough concept piece, but it gives an impression of what he would have looked like in my Batman 5.

Batman 5's obviously a placeholder name. For the real title, I'm leaning heavily towards BATMAN MILLENNIUM. Why? Well, it has that cheesy showbiz ring to it, it evokes the ancient world themes associated with King Tut, and it would have been topical for a movie released in 1999. I'm assuming the release date would have been June 1999, and that Warner Bros. would have rushed it into production like they did Batman & Robin. So unless anyone can think of a better title, I say we go with Batman Millennium (1999).

You know what's kind of scaring me rn? Some of these ideas we're batting around (Goldblum as King Tut) aren't too bad.

I know what you mean. The whole point of this thread was to brainstorm the worst Batman movie ever, but now I'm starting to wish this film actually existed. If nothing else, it would have been the funniest Batman movie since the 1966 film.

I'm also starting to think it might make an amusing April Fool prank to post on our social media pages later in the year. We could pretend that Batman Millennium was a real movie that was in development before Batman Unchained. The explanation could be that prior to the backlash, Warner Bros. was so emboldened by the positive B&R test screenings that they pre-emptively began work on a sequel. Joel Schumacher was in line to direct, with Akiva Goldsman set to write. The main villain would have been King Tut, with the studio hoping to court Jeff Goldblum for the part. Clooney, O'Donnell and Silverstone were all set to return, and there were plans to introduce Bat-Mite, with Gilbert Gottfried being the frontrunner for the role. There were also plans to retire Pat Hingle's Gordon and replace him with Chief O'Hara. In terms of tie-ins, there were plans for a comic book adaptation by Denny O'Neil, a Kenner toy line, a Happy Meal line, a series of collectable cups by Pepsi, a Six Flags roller-coaster ride based on the chariot chase scene, and a Mario Kart-style racing game titled Bat Racers developed by Acclaim for the PC, Playstation and Nintendo 64.

I wonder how many people would believe this, and if any other sites would report it as true. We could even whip up some more manips and fake concept art. Perhaps even a fake poster and teaser trailer.

[thecolorsblend]

I know what you mean. The whole point of this thread was to brainstorm the worst Batman movie ever, but now I'm starting to wish this film actually existed. If nothing else, it would have been the funniest Batman movie since the 1966 film.

I'm also starting to think it might make an amusing April Fool prank to post on our social media pages later in the year. We could pretend that Batman Millennium was a real movie that was in development before Batman Unchained. The explanation could be that prior to the backlash, Warner Bros. was so emboldened by the positive B&R test screenings that they pre-emptively began work on a sequel. Joel Schumacher was in line to direct, with Akiva Goldsman set to write. The main villain would have been King Tut, with the studio hoping to court Jeff Goldblum for the part. Clooney, O'Donnell and Silverstone were all set to return, and there were plans to introduce Bat-Mite, with Gilbert Gottfried being the frontrunner for the role. There were also plans to retire Pat Hingle's Gordon and replace him with Chief O'Hara. In terms of tie-ins, there were plans for a comic book adaptation by Denny O'Neil, a Kenner toy line, a Happy Meal line, a series of collectable cups by Pepsi, a Six Flags roller-coaster ride based on the chariot chase scene, and a Mario Kart-style racing game titled Bat Racers developed by Acclaim for the PC, Playstation and Nintendo 64.

I wonder how many people would believe this, and if any other sites would report it as true. We could even whip up some more manips and fake concept art. Perhaps even a fake poster and teaser trailer.

The concept art would probably be the biggest challenge.

However, tons of artists do stuff on commission. I'm a fan of Scott McDaniel from way back. Esp when it comes to his Batman stuff. And pretty recently, he announced he was open for commissions once more.

I imagine he could knock out sketches for George Clooney's Batman, O'Donnell's Robin, Silverstone's Batgirl, Gottfried's Bat-Mite, Goldblum's Tut and Freddie Prinze Jr (or somebody) as Killer Moth.

And, what the hay, let's cast Rene Russo as Batwoman/Kathy Kane. Because I'm pretty sure everybody loves Rene Russo anyway. I should add that Kathy Kane isn't necessarily miles away from Lorna. I think this would be believable enough for a lot of people. Perhaps the most believable.

There's never been an outlet for me to say on this forum that I rly do enjoy pranks, trolling, sh*tposting and performance art. An April Fool's prank about BATMAN MILLENNIUM is right in line with my sensibilities.

I remember when a similar prank got launched ages for a non-existent Orson Welles version of Batman. Basically, the prank made it sound like the movie would've been Batman Begins of 1943 or whenever. The "story" got a ton of traction at the time. And even now, you still find the odd person who never learned it was a prank.

Plus... well, there's no telling what this joke might lead to. If the prank rly catches on... I mean, yes, Schumacher is gone (sadly) but this could still spin off into something real. You never know...

[Silver Nemesis]

I'm not on any social media sites and I don't update the Batman-Online Facebook or Twitter pages, so if such a hoax were to be perpetrated then someone else would have to do it. But that person would be welcome to use anything I've posted in this thread, be it text, ideas or images. In the meantime, we can always create Batman Millennium fan art for our own amusement and continue sharing ideas in this discussion. Batman Millennium could be our gift to the internet. Creepypasta gave the world Slender Man, so we could give humanity a third Joel Schumacher Batman movie.

That's ^ the same opening weekend as The Matrix, just two weeks before The Mummy came out. It would have still been in theatres when The Phantom Menace was released the following month.

Every Batman movie in the Burton-Schumacher series has a different bat-emblem on the poster. The 1989 movie has the basic design. BR has the snow version. BF has the question mark emblem. B&R has the bat-emblem overlaid with Robin's symbol. What would Batman Millennium have? I was thinking of either a gold emblem that's half in shadow like a partial eclipse, a sandstone emblem wreathed in flames, or else a black silhouette emblem held in front of the sun by a scarab beetle. In ancient Egyptian art scarabs were typically depicted holding up balls of dung to eclipse the sun. Substituting that dung with this movie's logo seems like appropriate symbolism.

To end this post, I would like to apologise in advance for the following image. To misquote another Jeff Goldblum movie, I was so preoccupied with whether or not I could that I didn't stop to think if I should. The result is a concept image grotesque beyond description, and not just because of my blatant lack of photo editing skills.





Brace yourselves.





Are you ready?





Then behold – Gilbert Gottfried as Joel Schumacher's Bat-Mite:

[thecolorsblend]

I'm not on any social media sites and I don't update the Batman-Online Facebook or Twitter pages, so if such a hoax were to be perpetrated then someone else would have to do it. But that person would be welcome to use anything I've posted in this thread, be it text, ideas or images. In the meantime, we can always create Batman Millennium fan art for our own amusement and continue sharing ideas in this discussion. Batman Millennium could be our gift to the internet. Creepypasta gave the world Slender Man, so we could give humanity a third Joel Schumacher Batman movie.

I can't help thinking that Schumacher might've gotten a kick out of fun prank like this. That's what I want to believe.

Love it!!

That's ^ the same opening weekend as The Matrix, just two weeks before The Mummy came out. It would have still been in theatres when The Phantom Menace was released the following month.

True. But for as big of a juggernaut as TPM was, other films were still quite successful. Stuff like Notting Hill and other romantic comedies were amazing counterprogramming to TPM. Considering how movie tickets were sold in 1999, a rising tide truly did lift all boats. I've never been able to shake the suspicion that some percentage of The Matrix's success came from people who went to the theater to buy TPM tickets, found them all sold out (or near enough) and so they decided to check out The Matrix (or Fight Club or whatever) instead. What percentage is anybody's guess. But I am certain there was a big spillover effect. TPM was #1 for several weeks but it's not like EVERYBODY was left out in the cold.

I don't think TPM would've done any considerable harm to Batman Millennium. If B&R didn't wreck the franchise (which can be argued, obviously) then there's no reason to think an outside force like TPM could do it either.

Every Batman movie in the Burton-Schumacher series has a different bat-emblem on the poster. The 1989 movie has the basic design. BR has the snow version. BF has the question mark emblem. B&R has the bat-emblem overlaid with Robin's symbol. What would Batman Millennium have? I was thinking of either a gold emblem that's half in shadow like a partial eclipse, a sandstone emblem wreathed in flames, or else a black silhouette emblem held in front of the sun by a scarab beetle. In ancient Egyptian art scarabs were typically depicted holding up balls of dung to eclipse the sun. Substituting that dung with this movie's logo seems like appropriate symbolism.

For teasers and trailers, I like the idea of the bat symbol with sand getting blown around it (perhaps getting gradually covered with each successive teaser and trailer?), kind of like the snow in the BR posters.

But for the BM posters, I like your idea of a scarab serving as a visual counterpoint to the bat symbol. It's appropriate symbolism but I also think it's just a plain powerful image.

To end this post, I would like to apologise in advance for the following image. To misquote another Jeff Goldblum movie, I was so preoccupied with whether or not I could that I didn't stop to think if I should. The result is a concept image grotesque beyond description, and not just because of my blatant lack of photo editing skills.





Brace yourselves.





Are you ready?





Then behold – Gilbert Gottfried as Joel Schumacher's Bat-Mite:

[Silver Nemesis]

True. But for as big of a juggernaut as TPM was, other films were still quite successful. Stuff like Notting Hill and other romantic comedies were amazing counterprogramming to TPM. Considering how movie tickets were sold in 1999, a rising tide truly did lift all boats. I've never been able to shake the suspicion that some percentage of The Matrix's success came from people who went to the theater to buy TPM tickets, found them all sold out (or near enough) and so they decided to check out The Matrix (or Fight Club or whatever) instead. What percentage is anybody's guess. But I am certain there was a big spillover effect. TPM was #1 for several weeks but it's not like EVERYBODY was left out in the cold.

I don't think TPM would've done any considerable harm to Batman Millennium. If B&R didn't wreck the franchise (which can be argued, obviously) then there's no reason to think an outside force like TPM could do it either.

Batman Millennium would have had over a month in theatres before TPM showed up, so you're probably right about them not impacting one another's box office. But what about the battle for merchandise? Jar Jar and Gottfried-Mite would have been in direct competition to be the must-have toy of Christmas 1999. Which movie's merchandise would have sold the best?

One movie I think Batman Millennium would have impacted at the box office is The Mummy. They both would have been Egyptian-themed fantasy adventure films packed with humour and action. If Batman Millennium had bombed, it might have put audiences off wanting to see a similar movie just two weeks later. If it had been a success, then it might have created an appetite for similar films that could have benefitted The Mummy. Either way, The Mummy would have been caught in Batman Millennium's slipstream.

For teasers and trailers, I like the idea of the bat symbol with sand getting blown around it (perhaps getting gradually covered with each successive teaser and trailer?), kind of like the snow in the BR posters.

I can see this motif extending to the opening credits too. The opening titles of the first two Schumacher movies showed names appearing out of dark clouds and flying towards the camera, but in Batman Millennium we could replace those clouds with a swirling sandstorm crackling with electricity. Remember how the Warner Bros. logo transformed into the bat-emblem at the start of BF and B&R?

Well we could do something similar. The WB logo appears as usual before morphing into a sandstone version of the bat-emblem. Suddenly a hurricane of sand blasts across the emblem and wipes it from existence. This serves as our transition into the opening titles. We watch as names fly out of the storm one by one, until finally there's a blinding flash of lightning and the movie's title appears in gold font. Cut to obligatory suit-up scene.

I just realised that in my initial post I said the primary colours of this movie should be yellow and red, which are of course the colours of McDonald's. Perfect!

Speaking of McDonald's, here's my concept art for what Nightwing would look like in Batman Millennium. The eagle-eyed among you might spot some veeeeeeeeery subtle product placement in the background.

Here's the same image as a teaser poster. This would have appeared in cinemas, comic book stores, toyshops and McDonald's restaurants in early 1999.

Does anyone have any ideas for a suitably awful tagline?

'Batman's most pharaoh-t adventure yet!'

'Get set for a new millennium!'

'The Dark Knight Returns' (just to annoy fans of the darker Batman)

Or we could parody The Phantom Menace's 'Every saga has a beginning' tagline and go with:

'Every franchise has an ending.'

[thecolorsblend]

True. But for as big of a juggernaut as TPM was, other films were still quite successful. Stuff like Notting Hill and other romantic comedies were amazing counterprogramming to TPM. Considering how movie tickets were sold in 1999, a rising tide truly did lift all boats. I've never been able to shake the suspicion that some percentage of The Matrix's success came from people who went to the theater to buy TPM tickets, found them all sold out (or near enough) and so they decided to check out The Matrix (or Fight Club or whatever) instead. What percentage is anybody's guess. But I am certain there was a big spillover effect. TPM was #1 for several weeks but it's not like EVERYBODY was left out in the cold.

I don't think TPM would've done any considerable harm to Batman Millennium. If B&R didn't wreck the franchise (which can be argued, obviously) then there's no reason to think an outside force like TPM could do it either.

Batman Millennium would have had over a month in theatres before TPM showed up, so you're probably right about them not impacting one another's box office. But what about the battle for merchandise? Jar Jar and Gottfried-Mite would have been in direct competition to be the must-have toy of Christmas 1999. Which movie's merchandise would have sold the best?

One movie I think Batman Millennium would have impacted at the box office is The Mummy. They both would have been Egyptian-themed fantasy adventure films packed with humour and action. If Batman Millennium had bombed, it might have put audiences off wanting to see a similar movie just two weeks later. If it had been a success, then it might have created an appetite for similar films that could have benefitted The Mummy. Either way, The Mummy would have been caught in Batman Millennium's slipstream.

For teasers and trailers, I like the idea of the bat symbol with sand getting blown around it (perhaps getting gradually covered with each successive teaser and trailer?), kind of like the snow in the BR posters.

I can see this motif extending to the opening credits too. The opening titles of the first two Schumacher movies showed names appearing out of dark clouds and flying towards the camera, but in Batman Millennium we could replace those clouds with a swirling sandstorm crackling with electricity. Remember how the Warner Bros. logo transformed into the bat-emblem at the start of BF and B&R?

Well we could do something similar. The WB logo appears as usual before morphing into a sandstone version of the bat-emblem. Suddenly a hurricane of sand blasts across the emblem and wipes it from existence. This serves as our transition into the opening titles. We watch as names fly out of the storm one by one, until finally there's a blinding flash of lightning and the movie's title appears in gold font. Cut to obligatory suit-up scene.

Exactly, I was thinking the same thing.

Speaking of McDonald's, here's my concept art for what Nightwing would look like in Batman Millennium. The eagle-eyed among you might spot some veeeeeeeeery subtle product placement in the background.

I'll putz around in Photoshop later and see what I can come up with too.

Here's the same image as a teaser poster. This would have appeared in cinemas, comic book stores, toyshops and McDonald's restaurants in early 1999.

I've been thinking about the McDonald's tie-in commercial. Because you know there'd have to be one.

The best idea I had was a few Charioteers hitting up the drive-thru and ordering, idk, like a special tie-in Pharaoh Mac. Suddenly, one of them spots the Terrific Trio at a distance and hidden in shadow (because there's no way Clooney, O'Donnell and Silverstone would film a burger commercial) and the Charioteers race off. Cut to brief snippets of the Charioteer chase already in the movie. Then cut back to commercial footage, where the Charioteers get cut off by Batwoman in the middle of the road or something, but shot at an angle where we never rly see her face either (because Russo wouldn't be caught dead doing this type of thing either). Finally, cut to a picture of special novelty burger with cheesy voiceover like Order your specialty Pharaoh Mac in time for the new blockbuster BATMAN MILLENNIUM! LIMITED TIME ONLY!

The McDonald's thing is actually the one possible challenge here. Because McDonald's is McDonald's. But if this'd been Burger King, you could picture the tie-in a bit better. King/pharaoh, you know.

Whatever, I like McDonald's better anyway.

Does anyone have any ideas for a suitably awful tagline?

'Batman's most pharaoh-t adventure yet!'

'Get set for a new millennium!'

'The Dark Knight Returns' (just to annoy fans of the darker Batman)

Or we could parody The Phantom Menace's 'Every saga has a beginning' tagline and go with:

'Every franchise has an ending.'

I suck at sloganeering. Since a subplot in my half-baked "treatment" called for exits for Dick-as-Robin, Gordon and Barbara-as-Batgirl and entries for Batwoman and O'Hara, perhaps the marketing might emphasize newness?

New Millennium, New Heroes?

One marketing idea might be pitting the villains against each other. "Pick a side" or something. My "treatment" shows King Tut and Killer Moth eventually go to guns with each other.

[Silver Nemesis]

I've been thinking about the McDonald's tie-in commercial. Because you know there'd have to be one.

The best idea I had was a few Charioteers hitting up the drive-thru and ordering, idk, like a special tie-in Pharaoh Mac. Suddenly, one of them spots the Terrific Trio at a distance and hidden in shadow (because there's no way Clooney, O'Donnell and Silverstone would film a burger commercial) and the Charioteers race off. Cut to brief snippets of the Charioteer chase already in the movie. Then cut back to commercial footage, where the Charioteers get cut off by Batwoman in the middle of the road or something, but shot at an angle where we never rly see her face either (because Russo wouldn't be caught dead doing this type of thing either). Finally, cut to a picture of special novelty burger with cheesy voiceover like Order your specialty Pharaoh Mac in time for the new blockbuster BATMAN MILLENNIUM! LIMITED TIME ONLY!

I can visualise this quite easily. Presumably the same approach would be taken for any Pepsi/Coca-Cola commercials and music videos incorporating footage from the movie. Shoot a few extra scenes with stand-ins, then edit them together with clips from the film.

Here's a better look at Clooney's Batman Millennium costume.

Here's the teaser poster version.

Earlier in the thread I proposed a scene where a character is trapped inside a sand timer. Well I've now decided that in my version it will be Bat-Mite who's knocked unconscious by Tut's goons and imprisoned inside a timer. Here's an excerpt from Akiva Goldsman's script:

This stuff writes itself.

[Silver Nemesis]

Here's my concept art for what Silverstone's Batgirl would look like in Batman Millennium. I've gone for a purple and yellow colour scheme as a tribute to Yvonne Craig's Batgirl.

You might think the McDonald's sign in the background is pure product placement, but I've decided that the yellow 'M' symbol will be a recurring motif throughout the movie. First of all, the M stands for Millennium – both the word and the Roman numeral M, which represents 1,000. It also stands for Bat-Mite. In keeping with the graphic novel theme, there will be a scene where one of the characters is reading the Blake and Mortimer book The Yellow "M" by Edgar P. Jacobs, one of the most famous and acclaimed Franco-Belgian comics ever written.

There will be another scene where the characters pass a cinema marquee promoting a Fritz Lang double bill of Metropolis (1927) and M (1931).

I've also decided that one of King Tut's quirks will be a fondness for M&Ms, only he refuses to eat any flavour that isn't yellow or gold. B&R has that goofy scene where Mr. Freeze is forcing his men to sing along to The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974), so my movie will have a scene where Tut is forcing his henchmen to sort through mountains of M&Ms, filtering out the yellow and gold ones and storing them in canopic jars for easy access. This also opens up the door for a promotional tie-in with M&Ms.

Oh, and the yellow 'M' also stands for McDonald's in case that wasn't already obvious.

Here's a look at the first wave of Batman Millennium merchandise. I created these myself, though the Batman Millennium logo I used was designed by Azrael.

Batman Millennium Topps trading cards - 'HEROES' starter pack.

Batman Millennium hot beverage mugs.

Batman Millennium videogame for Nintendo 64. I chose Acclaim as the developer, since they famously did such a bang-up job on the Batman & Robin game. There's more than one game based on Batman Millennium, but this one's a third-person adventure exclusive to the N64.

Sadly the game's development was rushed (as was the movie on which it's based) to coincide with the film's release date, and consequently it ended up with a Metascore in single digits.

I've decided what King Tut's master plan should be. Mr. Freeze tried to freeze Gotham, so Tut should attempt the opposite. In the movie's final act he rises above the city in a vast airship shaped like a golden scarab. It ascends to high altitude and blocks out the sun using a large round disc held by the scarab's front legs. In eclipsing the sun, Tut recreates one of the Plagues of Egypt described in the Book of Exodus. Following a suitably dramatic pause, the disc irises open to reveal a lens shaped like the Eye or Horus, which then directs and amplifies the sun's rays into a laser that threatens to slowly burn Gotham to the ground. This references another Plague of Egypt – the raining fire – and the scenario as a whole derives influence from LeRoi's master plan in Batman: Master of the Future (1991).

Batman and his allies have to fly up to the airship, do battle with Tut and destroy his solar lens before the people of Gotham are roasted alive. Clayface doesn't really care too much about Tut's master plan. As long as the movie studio execs that eighty-sixed her get incinerated along with everyone else, she's happy to watch Gotham burn.

I've also been thinking about Solomon Grundy, and as I see it there are two possible ways of handling his character. One approach would be to cast a wrestler in the role and make him an intimidating henchman for Tut. The other would be to go in the complete opposite direction and turn him into a goofy comic relief character. A sort of grey-skinned Herman Munster. This got me thinking about casting. Sadly Fred Gwynne passed away in 1993. However, Edward Herrmann portrayed Herman Munster in the 1995 prequel movie Here Come the Munsters.

Herrmann was 6'5 and had previously played the villain in Joel Schumacher's The Lost Boys (1987). He was accustomed to acting under heavy makeup, both in The Lost Boys and Here Come the Munsters. So if I were to go with the goofy Herman Munster-style version of Solomon Grundy, then I think Herrmann would be the best choice. I'm not altogether sold on this idea though. Considering Goldblum's Tut would be such a goofy villain to begin with, it might be better to go with a more intimidating pro-wrestler take on Grundy, just to even things out and offer a worthy physical challenge during the action scenes. But the comedic take on Grundy is an option worth thinking about.

[Silver Nemesis]

Here's my concept art for what Schumacher's King Tut might have looked like, as portrayed by Jeff Goldblum in the late nineties.

He'd have a gold mask that would click on to the front of the headdress, but he'd only wear it briefly during his debut scene. He'd wear the headdress itself in maybe three or four scenes, such as when he's conducting raids or appearing in public. The rest of the time he'd dress less formally in comfy robes.

I've also created a concept image of what the Sondra Fuller Clayface would look like. First of all, this is how she looked in the comics.

And this is how I envisage the Schumacher version looking, as played by Jennifer Lopez.

I thought she could be informally known as Clay-Lo, and she'd release a single to tie in with the movie. She'd perform the A-track ('Moulded by Your Love') for King Tut during the film, while the bonus track ('Feet of Clay, Heart of Stone') would be heard over the end credits. I might create a better CD cover later, but for now here's a very rough mock-up.

Since I'm partly basing Clayface's origin story on Bride of the Demon, I've decided to go ahead and use Ra's al Ghul instead of Roland Daggett as the secondary villain responsible for Fuller's transformation. Schumacher reduced one of Batman's greatest foes to a dumb henchman role with his treatment of Bane, but I reckon I can go one step further. I imagine Schumacher's version of Ra's being an eccentric cosmetic surgeon with a hard-to-place comedic accent, similar to Serge from Beverly Hills Cop (1984).

He'd have the same facial hair and flamboyant fashion sense as the comic book Ra's, but that's where the similarities would end. Instead of being the head of the League of Assassins, he'd run a rejuvenation clinic in Gotham known as the Lazarus Pit. The interior décor would be rendered in an ornate Middle Eastern fashion, but the 'immortality' offered within would be little more than superficial beautification attained through plastic surgery. That is until he attempts an experimental new procedure on Sondra Fuller and inadvertently creates Clayface. Ra's would have a relatively minor role in Batman Millennium, comparable to Jason Woodrue's role in Batman & Robin.

There's also going to be a fight scene between Clayface and Batgirl. This will take place before the showdown on Tut's airship, similar to how the showdown with Ivy took place prior to the battle at the observatory in Batman & Robin. While Tut sets off to destroy Gotham, he'll leave Clayface to distract Batman and his allies. Clay-Lo will do this by using the captive Bat-Mite to lure them into a trap at the abandoned Lazarus Pit. Batgirl arrives on the scene first and engages in one-on-one combat against Clay-Lo. Here's an excerpt from the script.

I wanted to get another Sunset Blvd. reference in there at the end. Following this scene, Batman and Nightwing arrive at the Lazarus Pit and Clay-Lo responds by taking on the form of Batgirl to confuse them. Bruce and Dick aren't sure which Batgirl is the real one, but luckily Bat-Mite saw Clay-Lo transform just before they arrived. With Bat-Mite's help, they identify the real Batgirl and Batman knocks Clay-Lo unconscious using a special anaesthetic that inhibits her ability to transform. There would then follow a cheesy 'the power was inside you all along' moment as the heroes release Bat-Mite from the sand timer.

Ugh. I feel nauseous just reading that.

So then Chief O'Hara and the cops show up at the Lazarus Pit and Batman hands them a sample of the anaesthetic to give to Dr. Burton so they can keep Clay-Lo under control at Arkham. Batman, Nightwing, Batgirl and Bat-Mite race outside in time to see King Tut's scarab ship eclipsing the sun. They then realise that the kidnapping of Bat-Mite and the confrontation at the Lazarus Pit were merely diversionary tactics. They look up at the eclipse in despair and wonder how they can possibly reach Tut in time to save Gotham.

It's then that Bat-Mite, his self-confidence restored, uses his powers to create new costumes and vehicles for the four of them to use during the finale. Until this point, Bat-Mite has been wearing an Adam West-style costume, but he now gets his own rubber costume introduced during a suit-up montage, complete with close-up shots of his sculpted nipples, codpiece and backside. The four of them then fly up to attack Tut's airship for the final showdown.

[Andrew]

It's pretty hard to even think of going lighter or goofier than B&R, it makes sense that even if it was a success after it, for some balance, they would go a little darker like with Scarecrow or Man-Bat or Scarface.

But if not that, Mad Hatter and yes Clayface seem the biggest villains who could fit a light movie. A story with Mad Hatter and mind control, but in a light, family-friendly story does seem a plausible follow-up, he could be played by Robin Williams, Martin Short or maybe Steve Martin. Good idea with the police somehow seeming bad, getting involved in stealing.

I could also see past villains like Catwoman or Riddler returning (Catwoman pretty different from in BR), enough time had passed that that happening could seem exciting, more so than seeing just new villains, you could even if you will de-canonize the Burton films to allow getting Schumacher versions of Catwoman, the Joker, the Penguin. Or, if it was after rather than at the same time as The Mummy, Poison Ivy returning but teaming up with Ra's Al Ghul (Antonio Banderas or Pierce Brosnan).