15 years of Batman and Robin

[The Joker]

FLASHBACK 1997

An interesting scan from Wizard magazine that was published just a few months prior to the theatrical release of "Batman & Robin".

[thecolorsblend]

Wizard also had a small feature after the first B&R trailer came out. I remember the article was titled "Batman Lite". It was a fairly prescient assessment of how things were shaping up with the movie. It predicted the vitriolic response that was coming in June.

[Silver Nemesis]

Wizard also had a small feature after the first B&R trailer came out. I remember the article was titled "Batman Lite". It was a fairly prescient assessment of how things were shaping up with the movie. It predicted the vitriolic response that was coming in June.

"WILL AUDIENCES EMBRACE NEW FACES AND A LIGHTER TONE IN THE FOURTH BAT-FILM?"

No.

[Edd Grayson]

Should Chase Meridian have returned? She basically could have easily had the role Julie did have, aside from already knowing Bruce was Batman, but that might have been too underwhelming for, and misuse of, Kidman after having a bigger role before in BF and also felt weird for Batman to mostly, though briefly, be interested in and lusting after someone else. BF did seem to try to say that Chase was the one.

Also, could it have been cool if B&R had also used "Kiss from a Rose," its meaning with the film having Ivy now seen as being pretty different?

I don't think she should have returned.

By the way, Julie Madison didn't find out Bruce was Batman. She was rather underused.

[The Joker]

To further expand upon Silver's last post:




Also, DC Comics in synergy with the release of B&R, released one-shot issues featuring each new character that was cinematically introduced that year.

[The Dark Knight]

I love how epic the Schumacher finales are. In both movies we have the heroes using vehicles to enter battle against foes that are already winning, and winning big. In Forever we have Claw Island at full strength after the cave was destroyed and hostages taken. In B&R Freeze is using his cannon on the city and there's mere minutes to thaw it - while an armada protects the location. I love how comic heavy it is too - reflecting freeze rays, grappling around at will, using equipment like bat heaters, heat pistols and the like. This is a good ending any way you slice it, and surprisingly tense.

[The Joker]

Scan from Wizard Magazine in 1998 where Joel Schumacher briefly discusses his tenure on the franchise, and what his desire was in returning as director for a third time.

"Now, I owe the hard-core fans of the Batman movie they would love me to give them."

[The Laughing Fish]

Chuck Dixon revealed that he and Graham Nolan got more royalty checks for Bane's appearance for B&R than Dark Knight Rises, despite Jeep Swensen having much less dialogue to work with than Tom Hardy. That includes merchandise. Dixon even cashed in checks for the Redbird name that was given to Robin's motorcycle, which was originally the name for Tim Drake's very own Batmobile-type car:

[The Joker]

Interesting time capsule article from Wizard magazine on where things stood in 1998 following B&R's release the year prior (In addition, Nic Cage comments on what was going on with "Superman Lives" as well).

[Kamdan]

It's always been a bit of shame to me that Cage was more interested in being an "unusual" interpretation of Superman instead of embracing a more traditional depiction. There's some great fan art out there of him looking like the spitting image of Joe Shuster's drawings. Going by the available test footage, you can see Cage being more enthusiastic over details like his longer hair length and sporting a Mickey Mouse t-shirt and the more traditional the costume started to look, the less enthused Cage becomes. He could have served the character as well as Keaton did and it would have been quite a sight to have seen those two on screen together. I'd rather picture Keaton with Cage than with Reeve.