Directors you'd like to see make a Batman film

[The Joker]

Once again, thanks for all the info on Hammer's cancelled "Vampirella" movie, and Caroline Munro's association with the film. Much of this, I was absolutely completely unaware of. Cheers!

I'd still take Stella Star over Rey Skywalker any day.

For sure!

Oh, and speaking of Sarah Douglas, not sure if there's any fans of V on this board, but a year or two ago, some of the cast participated in a online reunion show, and I was surprised that Sarah said that her real hair had really grown out long by the time of "V The Final Battle" for her role as Pamela. However, the producers insisted that Sarah wear a wig with a shorter hair style for the mini series, and she jokingly mentioned being jealous of Jane Badler having a longer hair style, where she, evidently, could not.

I (wrongly) assumed Sarah simply had just kept her hair fairly short for at least the early part of the 1980's after "Superman II", but it would have been interesting seeing her with longer hair as Pamela in "V The Final Battle". Although I get that there seemed to be some intent in making Jane Badler's Diana the more alluring visitor of the two.

[Silver Nemesis]

I'm ashamed to admit that I've never actually watched the original V miniseries, or any of the sequel shows, right the way through. I'm generally very well up on sci-fi books, films and TV shows, but this is one franchise I've never got around to exploring. I've seen bits of it, but never the whole thing. I'll try and get hold of a copy of the original series later this year. It looks like the kind of thing I'd enjoy.

I didn't realise Sarah Douglas was in it until now. She looked attractive with short hair, but she looked even better with long hair.

Ursa's shorter haircut was better suited to the character though. It was more practical and militaristic.

[thecolorsblend]

Between Insidious and The Conjuring, I wonder how James Wan would do with a Batman film.

Basically, I'm imagining something that's a cross between the grittiness and sinister overtones of Saw (somehow) crossed with the kinetic energy of Furious 7. It's interesting to consider that the same filmmaker directed both of those.

I think a James Wan Batman film would do well to distinguish itself by tapping into lesser known (to wide audiences) villains such as The Monk, Man-Bat, Mr. Zsasz, Clayface or what have you.

[Silver Nemesis]

I'd have a lot more faith in Wan handling a Batman movie than James Gunn or Andy Muschietti. We know Wan can deliver dark stylised visuals, and we know he can handle action. More importantly, we know he can tell a compelling story with well-developed characters and emotional drama that makes you care about what's at stake. If you wanted a grittier serial killer Batman movie, he could deliver that too. Just look at how Saw influenced The Batman.

What about casting? Maybe Patrick Wilson as a middle-aged Bruce Wayne?

Lin Shaye could play Leslie Thompkins, and Joseph Bishara could play Victor Zsasz.

Another possible director would be Wan's frequent collaborator and fellow Aussie Leigh Whannell, who directed the superb cyberpunk action thriller Upgrade (2018). Upgrade is one of the best science fiction films of recent years, boasting a great storyline, strong visuals, impressive action and a terrific lead performance by Logan Marshall-Green. The less you know about the storyline going into it, the better, but I highly recommend it. I remember watching Upgrade for the first time and thinking that Whannell would be the perfect director to helm a Batman Beyond movie if Burton passed on the project.

[Silver Nemesis]

An early eighties Batman film loosely based on the Bronze Age comics and directed by John Carpenter using only people who worked on other Carpenter movies.

BATMAN (1982)

Director – John Carpenter
Writer – Dan O'Bannon
Producer – Debra Hill and John Carpenter
Music – Alan Howarth and John Carpenter
Cinematographer – Dean Cundey
Fight choreographer – Jeff Imada
Filming location – Los Angeles

Carpenter's Batman theme would be something like this:

CAST

Batman – Kurt Russell



Alfred – Donald Pleasence



Gordon – Tom Atkins



Ra's al Ghul – Lee Van Cleef



Selina Kyle – Adrienne Barbeau



Leslie Thompkins – Janet Leigh



Hamilton Hill – Hal Holbrook



Rupert Thorne – Peter Jason



Joker – Frank Doubleday



PLOT

All Hell breaks loose in Gotham City when eco-terrorist Ra's al Ghul hijacks an offshore nuclear power plant belonging to industrialist Rupert Thorne. Ra's demands one billion dollars or else he'll set the reactor core to meltdown. GCPD Commissioner Jim Gordon advises against paying the ransom. He suspects Ra's is planning to blow the reactor anyway and believes the money is merely a diversionary tactic. Bowing to pressure from Thorne, Mayor Hamilton Hill dismisses Gordon's theory and tells Ra's the city agrees to his demands.

Ra's gives Hill six hours to deliver the money. Gordon suspects the reactor will be blown when that time runs out. Previously Jim would have turned to the outlaw vigilante Batman for assistance, but earlier that week the GCPD received an anonymous tip that billionaire Bruce Wayne was the man behind the mask. Consequently Gordon was forced to arrest Wayne, who is now being held in a maximum security prison awaiting trial. Jim has Wayne transferred to Gotham Central where he discusses the Ra's crisis with him.

Bruce believes Ra's was the one who exposed his secret identity in order to get him out of the way before hijacking the power plant. Bruce also thinks that Mayor Hill acceded to the terrorists' demands because he's in the pocket of Boss Thorne, who owns the power plant. He agrees with Gordon that Ra's will blow the reactor core regardless of whether he gets paid, since he cares more about eco-terrorism than money. Gordon has Batman's body armour and weapons smuggled to him and together they sneak out of the police station. They collect Batman's souped-up muscle car from the police impound lot and drive to the power plant using a secret service tunnel that runs beneath the bay.

Using the car's radio, Batman is able to contact his accomplice and former butler Alfred Pennyworth, who evaded arrest by hiding in a secret bunker beneath Wayne's penthouse. Alfred supplies Bruce and Jim with intel, warning them that Ra's has recruited several street gangs to assist in the hijacking. The gang members think they're getting paid out of the ransom money, when in reality Ra's is planning to kill them along with everyone else. The first street gang Batman and Gordon encounter upon emerging from the tunnel is the Deadshots, a team of snipers who shoot their car to pieces.

Batman and Gordon survive the encounter and then have to fight their way through various other gangs to reach the reactor. There they are captured by Ra's, who was warned of their coming by Thorne. It turns out Thorne is in cahoots with Ra's to extort the city, though Rupert has no idea his accomplice is planning to screw him over and blow up his precious power plant. Gordon and Batman are brutally tortured, and the Dark Knight is forced to fight Ra's' champion, Ubu, while the street gangs watch. Batman snaps Ubu's neck (yeah, Carpenter's Batman kills; he also uses guns and drops the occasional f-bomb) and the gang members start cheering his name, much to Ra's' chagrin.

One particular gang member, Selina Kyle, is smitten with Batman and helps him and Gordon escape captivity. Meanwhile Rupert Thorne, who is growing suspicious of Ra's' true intentions, covertly travels to the island to confront him. Ra's kills Thorne, collects the ransom money and initiates the reactor meltdown. Some of the gang members get wind of this and try stopping him. This leads to all out war between those gangs that are loyal to Ra's (the Deadshots, the Mad Hi-Hatters and the Arkham Furies) and those that aren't (the Park Row Robins and the Gotham Nightwings). Ra's selects Joker, the most psychotic suicidal gang member in his employ, to guard the power plant control room. Meanwhile Ra's intends to escape the island with the ransom money using a stealth boat.

Selina leads Batman and Gordon to the control room where they are ambushed by Joker. Joker kills Selina and wounds Batman by stabbing him through a chink in his body armour using a crescent-shaped knife resembling a toothy smile. Joker is about to finish off Batman when Gordon sneaks up behind him and blows his brains out with a .357 Magnum. Dr. Leslie Thompkins, a nuclear physicist taken hostage at the plant, tries to help Gordon avert the meltdown while Batman goes after Ra's.

The wounded Batman leaps onto Ra's' boat as it's speeding away from the island. We intercut between scenes of Gordon and Leslie trying to stop the meltdown and scenes of Batman and Ra's fighting on the boat as it skims across the moonlit bay. Ra's exploits the injury Joker inflicted on Bruce to get the better of him. He then knocks the wounded and fatigued Batman into the water, but not before Bruce plants an explosive that destroys the boat and kills the Demon's Head.

With the meltdown averted, the GCPD storm the island. Some of the gang members are arrested, while others escape through the secret service tunnel. Batman's corpse fails to wash ashore, but the authorities assume that both he and Ra's are dead. Hamilton Hill arrives by helicopter and starts chewing out Gordon, telling him he's on suspension pending an inquiry into how Bruce Wayne escaped from Gotham Central. Gordon tells Hill go eff himself before knocking the mayor out cold with a right hook.

Gordon and Leslie go ashore where Jim lights up a cigarette on the riverbank and watches the sun rise over the bay. A black car slowly passes them on the street and Gordon recognises the driver as Alfred. He also glimpses a passenger seated in the back of the vehicle, but when Leslie asks him if he knows who the passenger is Jim simply smiles and says he's never seen him before.

Roll credits accompanied by awesome eighties synth music.

RECEPTION AND LEGACY

Batman '82 received a mixed response on its release. Contemporary reviewers praised its dark cinematography and gritty atmosphere, but criticised it for lacking the humour and family-friendly tone that had characterised the earlier screen versions of Batman. Comic fans took issue with Carpenter deviating from the source material by having Batman kill and use guns.

The studio was disappointed when the film failed to perform as well at the box office as the Christopher Reeve Superman films had. This prompted them to cancel plans for a sequel and reboot the franchise in 1989 with Mr. Mom and the guy who directed Pee-wee's Big Adventure.

Modern reviews of Batman '82 have been more favourable, and with the passage of time the film has gained a cult following. It's rumoured that Carpenter was planning to write and produce a sequel titled Escape from Gotham (1985), on which Tommy Lee Wallace would have assumed directorial duties. Supposedly the sequel would've featured Austin Stoker as Lucius Fox, Ernest Borgnine as Oswald Cobblepot, Keith David as Killer Croc and Alice Cooper as Scarecrow. Daryl Hannah was rumoured to be in talks to portray Silver St. Cloud.

Although Carpenter's association with the Batman film series ended in 1982, he would later return to the franchise to pen The Joker: Year of the Villain V1 #1 (December 2019). Barbeau reprised her role as Selina Kyle in Batman: The Animated Series, and Russell's Batman and Doubleday's Joker both made CGI cameos in the 2023 movie The Flash.

[thecolorsblend]

That's... a completely plausible idea for a Carpenter Batman film. If I can get over the hump of Carpenter directing a Batman movie (and in the early Eighties, I get the idea he would've been open to a lot of things) then I can totally imagine Carpenter wanting that cast in those roles.

And now, I want to actually see that movie.

[The Joker]

I like Silver's ideas with this.

A Carpenter/Russell collaboration on a Batman during the early '80's would have been a treat to see.

[Silver Nemesis]

You can hear Doubleday's Joker laugh at the beginning of the following clip.

And again at the 1:26 mark here.

He wasn't a big name actor, but he'd have been perfect as the Carpenterverse Joker.