Batman: The Long Halloween Part One (2021)

[Silver Nemesis]

A time-honored Batman tale is coming to the screen with the animated Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One. Supernatural's Jensen Ackles leads the cast as Batman/Bruce Wayne after previously voicing Jason Todd/Red Hood in 2010's Batman: Under the Red Hood.

Among the ensemble voice cast is Naya Rivera, the late Glee star who died in July. Rivera completed her voice work as Catwoman/Selina Kyle for The Long Halloween, which will be a two-part project, with Part One expected to bow this spring or summer.

Other stars include Josh Duhamel as Harvey Dent, Billy Burke as James Gordon, Titus Welliver as Carmine Falcone, David Dastmalchian as Calendar Man, Troy Baker as Joker, Amy Landecker as Barbara Gordon, Julie Nathanson as Gilda Dent, Jack Quaid as Alberto, Fred Tatasciore as Solomon Grundy and Alastair Duncan as Alfred. Other voice work was performed by Frances Callier, Greg Chun, Gary Leroi Gray and Jim Pirri.

Chris Palmer, known for Superman: Man of Tomorrow, is directing from a script that reteams him with Man of Tomorrow screenwriter Tim Sheridan. Jim Krieg and Kimberly S. Moreau are producing.  Butch Lukic is the supervising producer, with Michael Uslan and Sam Register serving as executive producers.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/batman-the-long-halloween-part-one-sets-voice-cast-exclusive

[thecolorsblend]

Well, here we go. I've said that there are too many Godfatherisms for this thing to be faithfully adapted into film. I guess we'll see if I was right about that.

The still of Batman in the fog looks good tho. So far, it seems like a big step up in quality over previous animated features.

[The Dark Knight]

Would have preferred a better art style that reflects the comic. A large part of The Halloween's appeal, and that goes for Dark Victory and Haunted Knight, is the aesthetic. I'm not giving up on the finished product being worthwhile, but at the same time I can't see anything reaching the heights of TDK Returns. That was lightning in a bottle in terms of voice talent, soundtrack, animation and faithfulness to the material.

The fact we're getting two parts for The Long Halloween gives me hope they're doing this properly.

Going to be strange having Naya Rivera as Catwoman given her tragic passing last year. But I don't see any reason to replace her because of those circumstances. The film is a tribute to her, in the same way The Dark Knight was to Heath, or Batman v Two Face was to Adam West.

[Silver Nemesis]

Would have preferred a better art style that reflects the comic. A large part of The Halloween's appeal, and that goes for Dark Victory and Haunted Knight, is the aesthetic.

This is my only gripe so far. The Dark Knight Returns movies were the last DCAU Batman films to really try and capture the specific art style of the comic on which they were based. One of the many problems I had with the Gotham by Gaslight film was that they didn't even attempt to adapt the distinctive look of Mike Mignola's art work. The Hellboy animated movies were slightly more successful in that regard.

Still, I'm willing to give The Long Halloween a chance. Just so long as the filmmakers don't change the identity of the villain like they did with the Gotham by Gaslight and Hush films...

[The Dark Knight]

TLH is one of several books that I find to be rock solid all time classics that will always be immovable in Batman graphic novel rankings. I'd count about six others which have that reputation. Those being The Long Halloween, TDK Returns, Year One, The Killing Joke, Arkham Asylum and Knightfall. There are lots of other good stories (Court of Owls, The Cult, Dark Moon Rising, etc) but I think these take on special significance.

TLH deserves a worthy adaption, especially given the way the films have mined it for material.

[thecolorsblend]

TLH deserves a worthy adaption, especially given the way the films have mined it for material.

That's an issue tho, isn't it? I mean, BB, TDK and even The Batman animated series kinda riffed on TLH. I won't say TLH has been mined as heavily as Year One or TDKR. But TLH has definitely been covered. So, aside from the Holiday angle, what's left?

[The Dark Knight]

The Reeves movie will has TLH influences too. 2008's TDK used a lot of the iconic imagery and plot elements already, but I think there's wiggle room for something else.

TDK had Joker targeting people but it wasn't a murder mystery. Everybody knew he was responsible.

Selina's connection to Falcone hasn't been explored in live action.

TLH has Bruce arrested, claiming Thomas Wayne saved Falcone's life and Bruce is loyal to the Falcones. They can make this a real plot point, ala the Telltale games.

The spirit of TLH is also about embracing a large rogues gallery.

TLH has been covered in the films but it's still the source material. We should receive the proper context of those references instead of variations.

[BatmanFurst]

TLH is one of several books that I find to be rock solid all time classics that will always be immovable in Batman graphic novel rankings. I'd count about six others which have that reputation. Those being The Long Halloween, TDK Returns, Year One, The Killing Joke, Arkham Asylum and Knightfall. There are lots of other good stories (Court of Owls, The Cult, Dark Moon Rising, etc) but I think these take on special significance.

TLH deserves a worthy adaption, especially given the way the films have mined it for material.

I just read it for the first time last year. I was surprised at how much The Dark Knight took from that book.

[The Dark Knight]

The Reeves movie will has TLH influences too.

Noticed this sloppy jumble of words just now. Don't drink and type while tired.

TLH is one of several books that I find to be rock solid all time classics that will always be immovable in Batman graphic novel rankings. I'd count about six others which have that reputation. Those being The Long Halloween, TDK Returns, Year One, The Killing Joke, Arkham Asylum and Knightfall. There are lots of other good stories (Court of Owls, The Cult, Dark Moon Rising, etc) but I think these take on special significance.

TLH deserves a worthy adaption, especially given the way the films have mined it for material.

I just read it for the first time last year. I was surprised at how much The Dark Knight took from that book.

TDK covered a lot. The Dent campaign, the rooftop meeting, burning piles of cash, a transfer to draw out a killer and Dent's transformation. Are there any other well known Batman comics you haven't read?

[thecolorsblend]

TLH is one of several books that I find to be rock solid all time classics that will always be immovable in Batman graphic novel rankings. I'd count about six others which have that reputation. Those being The Long Halloween, TDK Returns, Year One, The Killing Joke, Arkham Asylum and Knightfall. There are lots of other good stories (Court of Owls, The Cult, Dark Moon Rising, etc) but I think these take on special significance.

TLH deserves a worthy adaption, especially given the way the films have mined it for material.

I just read it for the first time last year. I was surprised at how much The Dark Knight took from that book.

The whole Batman/Gordon/Dent partnership has quite a curious literary genealogy. Batman Year One implied that a partnership of some kind existed between Batman and Dent.

But the first time I can recall the three-way partnership being shown is actually Batman Annual #14/Eye Of The Beholder from 1990. The influence that otherwise forgotten (but brilliant!) story had on TLH is pretty significant. I think a panel showing the trio meeting on a rooftop was even homaged in TLH.

I mention it because EOTB is one of those Batman stories that's become tragically overlooked over the years. I don't think it's been frequently reprinted

One interesting point is that Chris Sprouse's art always seemed like a worthy spiritual successor to David Mazzucchelli. I bought EOTB when it was new on the stands as wee ol' laddie and since I was obsessed with BY1 at the time, EOTB felt like an actual follow up to BY1.

For those reasons, it's always strange for me when people point back to TLH as the starting point of the three-way partnership when it goes at least as far back as EOTB. And in times like that, I see it as a chance to do some free advertising for EOTB, a freaking awesome Two-Face story. Which was, until TLH came along, pretty much my definitive Post-Crisis Two-Face origin story.