Discuss anything pertaining to the Dark Knight.

Batman Is Psycho And Savior

Christian Bale, who plays the Caped Crusader in the upcoming Batman Begins movie, told SCI FI Wire that his Batman combines elements of two previous roles he's portrayed: Jesus Christ and the American Psycho. "He's very much an American psycho of sorts and, yeah, also certainly has Christ-like symptoms," Bale said in an interview at WonderCon in San Francisco last weekend. "And, yeah, you know, [you see it in] the battle between [his] spirit and ... flesh and, with Bruce Wayne, the battle between the philanthropy his father taught him and was a great example to him for and the need for vengeance, which is incredibly strong." Bale played Jesus in the 1999 telefilm Mary, Mother of Jesus and gained fame as the title character in 2000's theatrical film American Psycho.
Bale said that he views Batman as conflicted. "Because his heart is telling him, frankly, that he wants to kill," he said. "But he cannot do it. He's been taught differently from childhood, and he knows that it is wrong. But, still, it's an overwhelming urge that he's had to pull back, rein in, all the time."
Bale added that this version of the Batman story, the fifth in Warner Brothers' recent franchise, is particularly relevant to these unsettled times. "I don't want to give away too much, but what Scarecrow [Cillian Murphy] is doing, and which Ra's Al Ghul [Ken Watanabe] and everybody [is up to], is very similar to the anthrax scare that people [went through]," he said. "It's very similar to the possibility of chemical, biological warfare, etc., going on. The notion also of the mentor that Bruce Wayne chooses to go and train with being a man with a triple-barreled name [who] lives in caves kind of on the run: You can't help but take a look and say, 'Hmm. There's a lot of relevance to it.' I think also the age-old thing of the ever-widening gap between rich and poor. And the nature of power and corruption. I think all of these things are particularly relevant, yeah. And I think it should be. Because this is American mythology. It should be in keeping with the times. If it's not, it's missing the point." Batman Begins opens June 17.

Bale: A Drunk Hit Batmobile

Christian Bale, who plays the title character in the upcoming comic-book movie Batman Begins, told SCI FI Wire that a drunk driver sideswiped one of the film's stunt Batmobiles while it was being moved during a break in shooting on the streets of Chicago last year. "There were a couple of times driving down the street in Chicago and when it was like, we can load it on the truck or just drive five minutes down there, and they just drove five minutes down there, and you see that thing just going down the street, and everybody is stopping and looking," Bale said in an interview at WonderCon in San Francisco over the weekend. "There was even this guy who crashed into it, this poor drunken guy who didn't have a license. [He] said he got so panicked when he saw the car that he thought aliens were landing, and he put the pedal to the metal."
Bale wasn't in the car at the time, and no one was hurt. Bale said that several Batmobiles were built for the film, with a design unlike any from previous films or TV incarnations. "They've done such a radically different thing with it," he said. "And what I love about it is that, aesthetically, it kicks ass. It looks f--king stunning. ... It looks nothing like any Batmobile that has come before it, and it completely has practical applications that are explained, and [are] very smart and make complete sense. And that's indicative of what we've done with everything to do with the movie, including the explanations of the suit, the cowl, all the different gadgets that he comes up with and where he comes to them."
Did Bale eventually get to keep one of the stealth-black vehicles? "That was the first question," he said with a smile. "They looked at me, and they went, 'Are you f--king kidding?' I didn't." Batman Begins opens June 17.

Batman Game To Feature Cast

The stars of the upcoming comic-book adaptation Batman Begins, including Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman, have signed on to reprise their roles in the video game tie-in, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Co-publishers Electronic Arts and Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment confirmed the unprecedented crossover Friday.
Additional cast members appearing in the game will include Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy and Tom Wilkinson, the trade paper reported. All of the actors involved will have approval over how they and their characters are represented. The game is currently in development at EA and on schedule to coincide with the June 17 release of the film directed by Christopher Nolan, the trade paper reported.

Batman Begins star Katie Holmes and fiancee Chris Klein have broken off their engagement, US Weekly magazine reported. The two became engaged over the 2003 Christmas holidays after dating for five years.

Batman Flies To Imax

Imax Corp. said that the upcoming Batman Begins movie will be released in its giant-screen theaters and traditional 35mm theaters on the same day, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins marks the eighth digitally remastered Warner Brothers movie to premiere in Imax theaters, the trade paper reported.
The studio's The Matrix Reloaded marked the first-ever so-called "day-and-date" release of a Hollywood event movie by Imax in April 2003.
Batman Begins stars Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Katie Holmes and explores the Batman legend and the origins of the character. It opens on June 17.
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Miller Doubles Up On Batman

Comic-book legend Frank Miller told SCI FI Wire that he's currently at work on two new Batman titles. "One of them I'm 120 pages into right now, and it's called Holy Terror Batman," Miller said in an interview while promoting the upcoming film version of his comic film Sin City, which he co-directed with Robert Rodriguez. "It's a 'propaganda comic book' of Batman versus of Al Qaeda. Come on, somebody had to do it."
Miller, who's best known for creating Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One, added: "And I'm working with Jim Lee on a new series called Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder. That's the early training of Robin." Holy Terror Batman and Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder will be published later this year.

The WB will air an eight-minute preview of Warner Brothers' upcoming comic-book movie Batman Begins during the May 18 episode of Smallviille, a 90-minute extended segment that begins at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

i luv batman i remember when i was younger watching the old 70's batman tv show with adam west. that was my favorite show i watch it with my dad. i know some people think it was corny but i still luv it nick show it a few times.but now it's on tv land and i don't know what time or channel. we don't watch tv land that much my dad just watch it for leave it to beaver. i enjoy watching the fox kids' batman cartoon and kidswb's superman/batman cartoon. i enjoy reading the batman adventures and batman strikes comic book. i wish dc comics would do a shazam comic book for kids. they had a mini shazam comic book on a teen titan go comic book.
-Joe:)

Batman Begins Earlier
Batman Begins will open a couple of days earlier than originally planned: Wednesday, June 15, instead of Friday, June 17, Variety reported. Warner Brothers moved the date up to take advantage of the expected summer audience of out-of-school young people and to coincide with the June 15 international release date, the trade paper reported.
The much-anticipated fifth Batman film is also opening on June 15 in France, Belgium, Mexico, the Philippines and Taiwan, the trade paper reported.

Bat Trailers http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire2005/index.p...8&id=444&type=8

The bits, I've seen for the Batman Begins game looks really good too.

I can't wait for Batman Begins to be released.

Robert Englund, aka Freddy Kruger, is voicing the Riddler on tomorrow's episode of The Batman. Ron "Hellboy" Perlman is gonna voice Killer Croc and Frank "Riddler" Gorshin voiced Professor Hugo Strange.

From what I saw of the trailer for Batman Begins, it looks like a winner. Could even be as exciting as the movie serials they did of the Dark Knight in the 1940's. :ph43r:

I like how the Batmobile started out as an all terrain tank.

I saw the trailer and I like what i saw. Pretty dark. hope they don't butcher the original story.

Murphy: Batman Begins With Nolan

Cillian Murphy, who plays the villainous Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow opposite Christian Bale's heroic Caped Crusader in the upcoming Batman Begins, told SCI FI Wire that he signed on mainly to work with director Christopher Nolan. "I'd been a fan of all his films [Memento and Insomnia], and then, when I met him, we got on very well," Murphy said in an interview. "The way he pitched the film, the slant he was going to take on this, that all appealed to me."
Murphy (28 Days Later) said that he originally auditioned to play Batman, but was offered the Scarecrow role after Bale landed the lead. "The other factor, then, was the child inside of me, the child inside every actor," Murphy said. "As a kid I was a huge Batman fan and all that. I also felt like the franchise had been maybe damaged the last couple of movies, and I felt that if anybody could reinvest it with what it was originally about it, it would be someone like Chris Nolan."
Murphy joins a long line of big stars-from Uma Thurman and Tommy Lee Jones to Arnold Schwarzenegger-who have played the heavy in Batman films. "Playing a villain in these Batman movies, historically, they offer the actor great fun, and they're brilliant characters, because they've been around so long in the comic books," Murphy said. "So all of those things factored into my wanting to be in Batman Begins." Batman Begins opens June 15.

Goyer Unsure Of Bat Sequel

David Goyer, who co-wrote the upcoming Batman Begins movie with director Christopher Nolan, told SCI FI Wire that he's not sure he'll take part in any sequel, even though the movie is being envisioned as the first in a new franchise of Caped Crusader movies. "I have no idea, and I'm not being coy," Goyer said in an interview. "Chris and I have talked about it, but a lot of whether or not I'd come back depends on whether or not Chris comes back. And Chris has not decided."
Goyer added: "[Nolan] just finished the film a few weeks ago, and it really overtook his life. I don't know if I'd come back if he didn't. I know that Chris is going to take some time and decide whether or not he feels he can come back. But part of me is tempted to just do the one and walk away, you know? There will never be another Batman origin story. So, we'll see. A lot of it is up to Chris."
Batman Begins takes the story of Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) back to the origins of his transformation into Batman and pits him against such villains as Ra's al Ghul (Ken Watanabe) and the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy). The movie, the fifth in Warner Brothers' franchise, also introduces the loyal butler, Alfred (Michael Caine), as well as ally Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman) and romantic interest Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes). Batman Begins opens on June 15.

Listen To Your Elders: New Batman Gets Advice From Adam West, Michael Keaton
'Don't get your cape caught in the wrong places' is West's sage counsel.
by Larry Carroll

Christian Bale in "Batman Begins" (Warner Bros.)

They've both lowered the iconic black cowl over their faces; they've both defended the residents of Gotham from the sadistic evildoers who prey upon the weak.
Although separated by two decades, Adam West and Michael Keaton were the first two
actors to portray the mysterious Dark Knight, more commonly referred to as Batman. Now, with Christian Bale descending into the Batcave in this month's "Batman Begins," the two comic-adaptation icons welcome him to the brotherhood with open arms and a healthy dose of time-tested advice.
"Don't get your cape caught in the wrong places," laughed West, the jovial 76-year-old star of the original "Batman" television series, which aired from 1966-68. "Things will change [for you], because Batman is such a huge, iconic character. He's been around for so long in the public consciousness that [you] will be - many times - perceived as Batman by some. And I think if you have a good sense of humor, this wit about you, you can deal with that, and that's the best way to handle it."
Keaton, who is as much the godfather of the so-called "dark" Batman as West is to the more comic portrayals, says he is familiar enough with Bale to know that the "American Psycho" star won't let the newfound notoriety go to his head. "He's smart," insisted the star of 1989's "Batman" and '91's "Batman Returns." "[Bale is] really talented, and he knows what to do."
"Good advice," Bale laughed upon hearing the comments from his predecessors. "That cape isn't the handiest thing to have around you, especially in the Batmobile or whatever. But Batman needs it, because he can't fly without it."
Such observations on Bat paraphernalia distinguishes "Begins" from the adventures of West and Keaton (as well as fellow Batmen Val Kilmer and George Clooney). For this reinvention of the Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan ("Memento") and writer David Goyer (the "Blade" movies) set out to explain reasons for the existence of every facet of Batman's costume, right down to the pointy ears with high-grade stereo microphones allowing him to eavesdrop on villains.
There is one essential accessory, however, that West reminds Bale to pack whenever loading up the utility belt for an adventure: Shark Repellent Bat-Spray. "Yes, the shark was rubber," West admitted of the memorable scene in his 1966 movie, which had him spraying and hitting a hilariously fake not-so-Great White clinging to his leg. "Some of the guys on the set said, 'You can't hit the shark like that, because it just sounds like rubber.' And I said, 'Keep it, make it sound the way it is,' because later it explodes anyway, and really it was kind of the feel, the tenor of the show to have a rubber shark on his leg, and not a real one."

While Keaton and Bale both concede a fondness for the corny "BIFF!" and "THWACK!" days of West, the star of Tim Burton's moody masterpieces says he's happy that the new movie leans more toward his blueprint.
"You can't ever go too dark for me," said Keaton, who stars in "Herbie: Fully Loaded" this month. "There is a way into that guy, a trick to it. [Being dark] was the one way to get into him; that is the only way I could get into him, and that's the way I went."
"This is not 'Batman 5,' " Bale responded, saying that his portrayal takes Keaton's darkness even further. "I would not be interested in making a fifth Batman movie. This, to me, is the first Batman movie, like the title suggests."
Speaking of sequels, Bale revealed that he has signed on to do two more films, and hopes that they will push the envelope even further. "I think it can go darker, in fact - whether anybody would ever listen to me or not," he said, offering up a rare grin. "There is a great place for an R-rated Batman. I don't want to exclude children, but I think that you can do one movie with PG and R-rated versions as well, because if you look at many of the graphic novels, if you were to depict what they show in the novels straight onto film, it could be nothing but an R-rated movie."
West, who recently narrated a special Bravo series that ranked the best superheroes, says he would have enjoyed the opportunity to take Batman dark before Keaton got the chance. "I've never been asked that, but yes, I would have liked it," he said, "because I would have been challenged by [giving] Batman a different kind of mission. Even now, at my age, if we were to do another generation of Batman that is an older one, or Bruce Wayne is in troubled waters in the streets, and maybe [needs help] ... I don't mean to sound self-serving or like somebody looking for a job, but I think that would be challenging, and the great thing is it would probably bring in both audiences."
While Adam West offers to suit up once again, Keaton insists that he got out at just the right time. "[I] kinda got to retire the jersey on that one, you know?" he said of the then-controversial decision to make "Batman Returns" his swan song. "I dug it, it was interesting ... One of the reasons I didn't do the third one was I just didn't think it was going in the direction I was interested in. The direction that I suggested was, if not a prequel, then some version of a prequel - which is exactly what ['Batman Begins'] is, and that's really what I wanted to do the third time."
These three Batmen, spanning five decades and weathering just as many reinterpretations of the character, come from drastically different backgrounds. They do agree on one thing, however: The iconic hero that binds them together is fueled by an original story compelling enough to keep him relevant for years to come.
"It's the backstory," West said. "He's somebody who's an ordinary human being; who, because his parents were murdered in his presence as a child, becomes someone who wants to pay back and get rid of anyone who might try to do the same thing."
"He's such a potentially fascinating character," Keaton asserted, admitting that he'll be in line to see the new movie. "I'm curious."
"I want the Batman persona not just to be Bruce Wayne in a Batsuit," Bale said of how he'll tell the story, "but to become a creature ... that can channel his rage and his grief and his anger, so that as Bruce Wayne, he is able to function in life without being absolutely psychotic."
When the legendary Bat symbol lights up the night sky once again on June 15, one thing is certain: every Batman will be watching.

BAT'S ENTERTAINMENT

By DON KAPLAN
Sun Jun 12, 3:54 AM ET
IF Batman had been an actor, he would have won an Oscar years ago. In the last 66 years, the caped and cowled superhero has turned up as a brooding Dark Knight bent on revenge, a lightweight crime fighter and a campy playboy doing the Batusi.
Superman is always, well, super. Spider-Man is always a noble geek. But Batman has been molded and reshaped countless times by writers and filmmakers, making him the most versatile characters in comic book history.
The Dark Knight gets reinvented again in "Batman Begins," opening Wednesday, which rescues the character from recent, over-the-top films and makes the vigilante more frightening.
"Fear is what sets this Batman story apart," says David Goyer, who wrote "Batman Begins." "Usually Batman is driven mostly by revenge."
In this dark go-round, Batman is driven mostly by his deep-rooted childhood fears that he wishes to pass on to the criminals of Gotham City to avenge the murder of his parents.
"It's the subtext of the entire film - not just [his alter-ego] Bruce Wayne's own fear [of bats], but also his fear about living up to the shadow cast by his father, of not letting the memories of his parents down and dealing with the fears of other people. It's something that the villains of the film prey upon," Goyer says.
The new film is set in an intensely believable world," adds DC Comics publisher Paul Levitz, as compared to the cartoonish universe of 1997's "Batman & Robin."
"You feel that what happens is more possible and important. It's a place were you can see yourself living," Levitz says.

A BAT IS BORN
Batman was created in 1939, right about the time Superman became a national craze. But the character, invented by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, was a very different kind of hero - a sort of caped, souped-up version of Bernhard Goetz, moving like a wraith over the rooftops of Gotham to fill criminals with white-knuckled fear.
Superman operated in the light; Batman, the dark.
In every Batman story, his rage and hunger for revenge stems from the horror of witnessing the murder of his wealthy parents at the hands of muggers when he was a young boy. As he grows, Batman's alter ego Bruce Wayne uses the unlimited funds he's inherited to devote his life to martial arts and acquire or build crime fighting gadgets.
"It's almost a perfect origin story," says Denny O'Neil, the legendary DC Comics editor who wrote Batman comics from 1968 until 1986 and then oversaw the editing of all of the hero's tales until 2001. "The costume is very iconic and has evolved over the years. Every comic artist wants to draw him at least once."
Kane, who died in 1998, said he was inspired to draw Batman by the Dick Tracy newspaper strip and after studying some of Leonardo da Vinci's drawings. Batman appeared in the May 1939 edition of Detective Comics No. 27, and was an immediate hit. Less than a year later, Batman's sidekick, Robin the Boy Wonder, was introduced in Detective Comics No. 38, and sales doubled.
But for many, Batman came alive in a jingoist 15-part serial from 1943 called "The Batman." In it, he and Robin take on a WWII Japanese spy (played by a white actor in yellowface) who turns people into zombies.
By 1945, the crime-fighting team, now dubbed the Dynamic Duo, could be heard weekly on the radio. They popped up on screen again in another multi-part serial in 1949's "Batman and Robin."
Even in those early years, despite the lighter tone of most pop-culture, Batman was still a dark character in comics. One early appearance even had him wielding a gun at two thugs while they slept.
HOLY SCHIZOPHRENIA!
But over time, portrayals of Batman have differed wildly.
His personality has seesawed from threatening to corny, to violent to sublime and back again, depending on the audience and era. For example, in the current kid-centric animated show on The WB network, "The Batman," he is far less violent and dark than he is in "Batman Begins."
Batman's temperament makeover became most apparent in 1950s, when the federal government enacted the Comics Code to assure parents that mainstream comic publishers were not playing up violence and sex in their books.
Batman mellowed out and fought outlandish villains in crazy surroundings instead of his more familiar gritty fare. New loopy friends were introduced like his dog, Ace the Bathound, and Bat-Mite, a magical creature from another dimension that decides to help the hero fight crime in Gotham.
The height of silliness was the extremely popular, campy '60s TV comedy starring Adam West.
Burt Ward, who played Robin on the show, became famous for his character's wacky penchant for pairing the word "Holy ...!" with whatever was going on around them - as in "Holy hairballs, Batman!" during a face-off with vixenish villain, Catwoman.
Yet, at the same time, people were exposed to more and more real world violence as the Vietnam War unfolded on TV and Batman regained his harder edge in comic books. O'Neil and artist Neal Adams, the main forces at DC behind the character at the time, are credited with ushering in the modern version of the vigilante that most people are familiar with today.

COMMON THREADS
By 1986, artist/writer Frank Miller ("Sin City") sparked a new wave of Batmania when he reintroduced Batman as an old, angry man in "The Dark Knight Returns."
The limited-run comic book series became a smash hit, and a year later Miller offered a modern take on the character's origin story in what would go on to become one of the most beloved Batman tales of all time, "Batman: Year One." The story partly served as a template for "Batman Begins."
It also inspired an Emmy-winning animated show on Fox, which was noted for its surprisingly adult themes.
"We wanted to do a more serious, dramatic superhero show," says Bruce Timm, one of the creators of "Batman: The Animated Series," which ran for three seasons in the early 1990s.
Ironically, as the animated version of Batman became more brooding, the film version got more ridiculous. Michael Keaton's low-key portrayal of the character in "Batman" (1989) gave way to garish sequels in the late 1990s.
But through all his changes, there's one bit of consistency. No matter how violent or hokey Batman was, he has never intentionally killed anyone.
"That's what separates him from his enemies," Timm says. "Batman would never kill anyone."
The other enduring theme: There's a real man under the Batman suit, someone who is threatened by more than kryptonite. Batman frequently faces death, and has even suffered temporary paralysis, in his comic career.
"One of the things that made me enjoy writing Batman, rather than Superman," O'Neil says, "is he can be hurt and killed. It was always easier to get him in trouble."

Batman's Bale Knows His Comics
Christian Bale, who stars in the upcoming Batman Begins movie, revealed a deep knowledge of the movie's source comic books to SCI FI Wire and said they informed his performance of the Caped Crusader. "I liked the artwork of Alex Ross, but my favorites were the Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale stories," Bale said in an interview.
Known for diving into all of his roles and researching everything about them, Bale said that he inundated himself with everything he could about Batman. He felt the images of Ross' artwork best fit the version of Batman he wanted to portray, and he most liked the mood and feel of Loeb and Sale's Dark Victory in 2000, The Long Halloween in 1997 and Haunted Knight in 1995. He admitted he was never into the comic-book craze as a child, but he has since read them all. "I've read a damn lot of them, all that DC sent me," Bale said.
Bale also looked back at the previous Batman movies, as well as the campy 1960s TV show with Adam West, and determined that none of them actually captured the true Batman.
"I don't feel like Batman's ever really been defined in any portrayal, so I felt like this was an opportunity to finally do that, in regards to way that Bob Kane originally intended it when he wrote it in 1939," Bale said. "He intended it as being a dark and terrifying and intimidating character. It's kind of ended up being spoofed more. And then there's great material in the newer graphic novels of Frank Miller and Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. So the source material is right there, and I just don't think it was ever taken advantage of until now."
Bale said that he's signed on to do another Batman film, but isn't arrogant enough to assume he's defined the role. But he said he gave it a try. "With Superman, you can really look at Christopher Reeve and the way that he played it, and he's become the defining Superman. Whoever's playing him in the next one has got a really tough job to come up against him. I don't feel like that ever happened with Batman before, so I felt like I had an opportunity to expand and bring something new to it."
Bale plays Batman/ Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins, which also stars Katie Holmes, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy and Morgan Freeman. Memento director Christopher Nolan helmed the film, which opens June 15.
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Batman's Bale Is Private

Anyone who's ever spoken casually to Welsh-born actor Christian Bale knows he has a pretty heavy accent, but he told SCI FI Wire he's purposely disguising his voice during interviews for Batman Begins. "Batman is American. You can't do Batman and talk about being Batman in an English accent," Bale said in an interview. When he did press interviews for American Psycho, he recalled that journalists were shocked over his accent, which he deftly disguised for that film, too.
Bale guards his private life in much the same way as the Bruce Wayne persona he plays in the latest film version of Batman. He lives in Santa Monica, Calif., with his wife, Sibi Blazic, who was a personal assistant for Winona Ryder. He met his wife when he was dating Ryder. Earlier this year, when he and his wife had their first child, Bale wouldn't release the name of his daughter and to date has never revealed her name to the press.
"He's the best person to play this role, and I can't imagine anyone else now in the part," Batman Begins director Christopher Nolan told SCI FI Wire in a separate interview. "He embodies the gravity of the role, protects his privacy and has depth."
For his part, producer Charles Roven said that Bale was a serious contender for the part from the beginning. "He was always on the short list of the guys who had to be tested for the role," Roven said. "For the part you don't need superstars. Take a look at historical casting; for the most part you don't need superstars. For the role all the dynamics you need three [things]: Bruce Wayne as the private Bruce Wayne. He's Batman [with] the incredible physicality and the public Bruce Wayne as a playboy. Chris seems to have all of those aspects as an actor. He was going to throw himself into it in every possible way."
Not one for the Hollywood party circuit, Bale and his wife prefer to be involved in charity causes, particularly for the environment, and he said he isn't yet mobbed by fans when he walks the streets. "I don't know what's going to happen with that," Bale said when asked about paparazzi. "I like to think that you can control it in some ways, just through attitude and, as time goes on, through choice of movies, and it becomes evident that you're not attempting to grasp some kind of celebrity status. That [scenario] kind of sounds nauseating to me and also very restricting."
Does Bale think that being an actor in Hollywood is a bit like being Bruce Wayne, where the public and private personas have to be kept separate and secret? He answers with a simple "yes." Batman Begins opens June 15.

Bale, Oldman Sign For Bat Sequel

Key Batman Begins cast members and crew, such as star Christian Bale and co-star Gary Oldman, have signed on for a Bat-sequel, but others-including director Christopher Nolan and stars Katie Holmes and Morgan Freeman-have not, according to interviews conducted by SCI FI Wire.
Bale said that he is definitely signed to play the Dark Knight again. But Nolan said that he is not. "I don't really know," he said. "I did enjoy making this one. It's a fascinating character."
Not even fellow actors knew if they were signed on for another Batman: When Oldman, who plays Lt. James Gordon, spoke with reporters in the company of co-star Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox), both actors were asked if they were signed to do a sequel.
"I'm not," Freeman said.
"I'm signed," Oldman said quckly. The actors looked at each other with an awkward silence.
Then, Freeman said: "I'm not sure that they really think that Lucius is an integral part of the series, necessarily. But Commissioner Gordon absolutely has to be. Alfred absolutely has to be."
In a separate interview, Caine, who plays Alfred the butler, told SCI FI Wire that he hasn't signed for a sequel. "No, no. We're not signed," he said. He then turned to co-star Holmes, who portrays Bruce Wayne's love interest Rachel Dawes, and asked: "I mean, we'd do it, wouldn't we?" Holmes nodded affirmatively.
Bale said that he isn't sure what story the sequel would tell, but added that he does have hopes for the next installment. "We got a sense of who he is, but there's so much [more]," Bale said. "The psychology of the guy, to me, is fascinating. The guilt element you can expand on. You can expand visually as well. I haven't spoken with anybody about this, but I just really think it would be nice to come up with some kind of R-rated version, too, like a movie that is at one time PG and R, where you do two different edits for it."
Batman Begins also stars Rutger Hauer, Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson, Ken Watanabe and Linus Roache. It opens June 15.

Batman Weight Gain Raised Worries

Through interviews with the cast and crew, SCI FI Wire learned that Batman Begins star Christian Bale was the cause of some concern among cast members and crew because he gained 90 pounds rapidly after completing The Machinist and before the start of the Caped Crusader film. "He was going to throw himself into it in every possible way," said producer Charles Roven. "He lost [67] pounds for The Machinist, and [Batman director] Chris Nolan was worried he wasn't going to gain it back. But when you have a guy that dedicated, it shows."
For his part, Nolan said: "I wasn't worried about him putting weight back on to play Batman, because clearly anyone who could lose that much weight was going to be able to put it back on and sculpt themselves into Bruce Wayne. I'd seen his sense of dedication to his craft. I was worried that he wouldn't be able to put the weight back in time for the first screen tests to show the studio. But he put on 80 pounds or something in about six or seven weeks to get fit for our cameras. He then put on a lot more weight, muscle and everything, and built himself up to play Bruce Wayne."
Batman costumers made a body cast for Bale's suit, and Nolan warned them that Bale was going to beef up even more, but they didn't believe him. "The costume people roll their eyes about that a little bit, because they hear it a lot from actors, that they're going to lose weight or work out, but I said this guy is extraordinary," Nolan said. Bale lost 67 pounds for The Machinist, then gained all that back and an additional 30 pounds for Batman Begins.
Michael Caine, who plays Bruce Wayne's loyal butler Alfred, said he thought Bale was a bit too thin when he first heard the fellow British actor was cast for the role. But, he said, "When I saw him, he walked in and I thought it was Arnold Schwarzenegger."
Bale said during interviews that he stuffed his face with pizza, bread, pasta and doughnuts as soon as he wrapped The Machinist, and he may have put on the weight too fast. "My heart was going like crazy. I did it too fast, really," Bale admitted. "The losing the weight was fine. The putting the weight back on really felt unhealthy, just because it was too compressed, the amount of time. It was kind of right down to the line of being ready for playing Batman, less than two months. It's not something I really want to repeat again."
Did it make his doctor nervous? Bale thought for a moment and said: "You know what? I didn't really ever tell him about it at all." Batman Begins opens June 15.

Batman's Caine Recalls Gough

Michael Caine, who plays Alfred in the upcoming Batman Begins movie, told SCI FI Wire he has met and worked with fellow Brit Michael Gough, who played the loyal butler in all four of the previous Batman films. "Nice man. I did a little part in a Hammer horror picture with him, and I played one of the ghouls or something," Caine said in an interview. "Michael and I were friends. I mean, this is when I was like 22. I had a day's work for 10 guineas. Michael was sort of a bigger star then. But he was very kind to me."
Gough was one of two actors who appeared in all the previous Batman films (Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin). (The other actor was Pat Hingle, who played Commissioner Gordon.)
Caine did not remember that he appeared in the spy thriller The Fourth Protocol in 1987 with Gough and James Bond-to-be Pierce Brosnan.
In Batman Begins, Caine said he referenced a former military colleague to play Bruce Wayne's butler. "My reference was my ex-sergeant in the army," he said. "It's true. It's his voice that I use."
Caine added that he hit it off with star Christian Bale right from the start. "I'd grown up in very big country houses," he said. "Not because I'm in a noble family. My mother was a cook, and so I was always backstairs with the butler and everything. So I knew that relationship, and Christopher is himself very against the master/servant [relationship]. He's very egalitarian, personally. He brought that into Batman, and I knew the lines above which a real butler wouldn't go. ... Familiarity. It worked perfectly."
For his part, Caine doesn't insist that people call him "Sir Michael." "It was a great honor, if you're English, but it doesn't mean anything to anyone else in the world," he said. "So, you know, to go around the world expecting people in other countries, who have no idea what you're talking about, to call you 'sir' is ridiculous. And everyone calls me Michael. I insist on the set, everyone, even the girl, the assistant, they were quite stunned at that. I come from very humble beginnings, and I remember all those things, and also, I was a small-part actor, you have to remember, treated like dirt by the stars sometimes." Batman Begins opens June 15.

Comparing Bewitched And Batman

Michael Caine told SCI FI Wire that he was unaware of the uncanny similarities between his roles in the upcoming Bewitched and Batman Begins until reporters suggested them. "I didn't notice that, [but,] well, it's true, isn't it?" Caine said when it was pointed out that he plays father figures to characters who have to keep their identities a secret in both films. "They're both sort of supernatural. Yeah, that's funny, isn't it? But they're such different films. I'd never put them together in any way, you know?"
In Batman Begins, the Academy Award winner plays the Wayne family butler, Alfred Pennyworth, who becomes a father-like figure to Bruce Wayne when the boy's parents are gunned down. Wayne (played by Christian Bale) becomes the masked crimefighter Batman, and Alfred is the only one trusted with his true identity.
In Bewitched, Caine is father to the witch Samantha Stevens (played by Nicole Kidman), who is keeping her magical powers a secret from her mortal husband (Will Ferrell).
But that is where the comparisons stop, Caine said. Batman Begins is a dark superhero drama; Bewitched is a TV sitcom brought to the big screen with plenty of comedy. "[Batman] was dark and very tough on everything," Caine said. "On Bewitched, it was the first time I'd ever worked in a movie where I never did a scene with a man. I only did scenes with Nicole, Shirley MacLaine [as Endora] and Kristin Chenoweth [as Marie]. And the director was a woman, Nora Ephron. Great, right? So it was a very feminine part for me."
Batman Begins opens June 15, and Bewitched opens not long after, on June 24. Caine added that he doubts there will be much competition between the films.
"[Bewitched] was the first movie I've worked on where the director cooked you dinner on Sunday nights and served it herself," Caine said. "It was great, and it was very, very gentle, and very nice. I love women, you know? I have two daughters and a wife and a housekeeper, so I'm used to this. It wasn't like I had to work, really, just get me some stuff, and people got me stuff, you know? Gave me a cup of tea every now and then."

Will Holmes Join Cruise's M:I 3?

Batman Begins star Katie Holmes told SCI FI Wire she plans on hanging around the set of Mission: Impossible III, which will star her real-life beau, Tom Cruise, but remained coy about whether she'll actually appear in it. She confirmed that she "met" with M:I 3 director J.J. Abrams, without giving details. "I'm going to be on the set of Mission: Impossible III," Holmes said in an interview. "I'm very excited about that."
If there are any doubts that Holmes and Cruise are close, they were put to rest by Cruise's unexpected appearance beside Holmes during this past weekend's Batman Begins press interviews in Beverly Hills, Calif. The pair were seen in the hallway kissing just before Holmes entered the room where journalists waited to speak with her and Batman co-star Michael Caine.
Caine, who plays Alfred, the butler to Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne in the fifth Batman film, even teased Holmes, who plays Wayne's love interest and childhood friend, Rachel Dawes. "I saw them kissing in the corridor just now," Caine told SCI FI Wire. "They didn't say they were getting married, but I saw them." The Academy Award winner then turned to Holmes with a smirk and added: "Didn't I?"
Since Holmes has hooked up publicly with Cruise, rumors have swirled that she is in line to take over one of the female roles in Mission: Impossible III that became vacant after Carrie-Anne Moss and Scarlett Johansson left the project because of schedule conflicts. No casting replacements have yet been announced. Lindsay Lohan has also been linked with the project, and she confirmed in a separate interview to SCI FI Wire that she had also met recently with M:I 3 director Abrams, but denied that she had been cast.
For her part, Holmes said that she's not sure what she'll be shooting next. But she was all smiles when asked about her relationship with Cruise. "Are you kidding?" she said. "I've never been happier. I'm just so happy, thank you for asking." Asked if Cruise had ever considered playing the Caped Crusader himself, Holmes deflected the question, gushing: "Well, he's my hero." Batman Begins opens June 15.

Earning His Wings
A fresh young filmmaker, with the help of a perfectly cast leading man, has raised a once-towering franchise from the dead. An exclusive first look at the rugged, rousing adventure 'Batman Begins.'

David James
Starting over: Batman is back
By Devin Gordon
Newsweek
June 6 issue - The "Batman Begins" team hasn't been sleeping. It's early March in London, and the weather is conforming nicely to reputation: it's cold, gray and spitting rain. At an editing suite in Soho, the director and producer are polishing up the $150 million blockbuster that Warner Brothers is counting on to revive its dormant franchise. But that's not why Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas have been up at all hours. Their two young kids are ill and have spent the past two nights throwing up and requiring wee-morning trips to the hospital. Thomas, the director's wife, who's six months pregnant with the couple's third child, gets sick herself from time to time. Nolan, meanwhile, is amiable and unhurried, chatting with a visiting reporter and dressed, as always, in a black three-piece suit that's comfortably worn from everyday use. By all rights, he should feel as queasy as the rest of his family-it's only his career that's riding on "Batman Begins." So why does he seem so darn placid?

Because he's seen the movie. NEWSWEEK has seen it too, so now we know what he knows: Batman is back. After four films about the caped crusader, beginning famously in 1989 with Tim Burton's gothic original and ending infamously in 1997 with Joel Schumacher's benippled Batsuit, the franchise suffered a run of aborted reboots until Warners brought in Nolan, 34, the gifted mind behind "Memento," whose no-frills approach was just what the bloated Batman saga needed. His pitch: let's start from scratch. "Batman Begins," which opens on June 15, rewinds all the way to Bruce Wayne's days as a Princeton graduate and explains exactly how and why he acquired a Batsuit, a cave, a souped-up car and a yen for cracking the skulls of evildoers. The film is also a stylistic rebirth. Nolan's vision doesn't have a trace of comic-book-movie excess; it's a globetrotting epic-Bruce Wayne goes to Bhutan!-in the mold of the adventure movies he grew up adoring. "We were thinking about David Lean and John Huston," says co-writer David Goyer. "Not 'Starlight Express'."

The rugged charm of "Batman Begins," which stars Welsh actor Christian Bale, lies partly its refusal to join the visual-effects arms race that the summer-movie season has lately become. When Nolan does turn to digital wizardry, he uses it to amplify the action, not supply it. "I think there's a vague sense out there that movies are becoming more and more unreal," says Nolan. "I know I've felt it. The demand we put on ourselves was to be as spectacular as possible, but not depend on computer graphics to do it." In "Batman Begins," most of the fireworks come from old-fashioned places: story and character. "Like many people," says Bale, 31, "I've sat through these huge movies and thought, What went wrong? How come, when people have all that time and money, the talent for storytelling so often goes straight out the window?"

In casting the film, Nolan lifted a strategy from his favorite comic-book movie, the original 1978 "Superman," which surrounded rising star Christopher Reeve with an arsenal of esteemed actors. Bale, an indie-film stalwart best known for "American Psycho," won the lead over Cillian Murphy ("28 Days Later"), who wound up as one of the film's villains, and Billy Crudup ("Almost Famous"). "Batman is a marvelously complex character-somebody who has absolute charm and then, just like that, can turn it into ice-cold ruthlessness," says Nolan. "There are very few actors who can do that, and Christian is one of them." Backing up Bale is an acting master class: Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson and Gary Oldman. The film's star wattage grew even brighter in May when Katie Holmes, who plays Bruce Wayne's imperiled love interest onscreen, began playing Tom Cruise's love interest off it.

But the English director's shrewdest move may have been bringing in Goyer to help craft the script. Nolan is an Oscar-nominated screenwriter (for "Memento") but he's a Batman novice; Goyer, who wrote the "Blade" film trilogy, sheepishly admits he knows more about the character than many people at DC Comics. Together, they pored over Batman's long history, searching for ideas to fuel the ultimate origin story, one that would satisfy both fan boys and regular folks paying to see a movie, not a comic book. "Chris was a real taskmaster about justifying everything in the real world," says Goyer. "He kept saying, 'It's gotta be grounded. It's gotta be real'." That mandate seeped into every aspect of the film: real action, real stunts, real sets.

An hour north of London there's a small town called Cardington, where an enormous hangar 180 feet high and 1,000 feet long-about 10 times the size of the largest soundstage on the Warners lot in Los Angeles-rises out of a vast, golden meadow. During World War II it churned out military planes. Last year it housed Gotham City: tall buildings, streets, sidewalks, monorail stanchions-even a rough part of town, a slum where much of the climactic action in "Batman Begins" is set. "I remember the first time one of the top studio people came to visit us," says Nolan in his London editing suite. "It took him 15 minutes to find us. You can see the glow of the lights, and you have to follow them. So he finally gets to us, and we're shooting this little newspaper headline on a street corner. All that money-for this." He laughs. "Luckily he had a sense of humor about it."

The set was so colossal that Nolan shot portions of the film's showstopping car chase here and got his brand-new Batmobile up to 100mph. Nolan's reinvention of the vehicle-from slick sports car to hulking Humvee-is a striking example of the franchise's tonal makeover. It's a muscle car for a tortured soul. Having watched it in action, we'll say only this: we want one, now. The vehicle was Nolan's starting point for "Batman Begins" and, though he's not much of a car buff, he's grown attached to it. "At one point in the writing process," he says, "we toyed with the idea of destroying it." He couldn't bring himself to do it, though-not after so boldly resurrecting the superhero in the driver's seat.

'Batman Begins': Good News For Batfans At Last, By Kurt Loder
Christopher Nolan gives the Caped Crusader a new lease on life, and maybe a whole new franchise.
Christian Bale as Batman in "Batman Begins" (Warner Bros.)

A New Beginning
One of the several cool things about this super-charged superhero comeback movie is its unquestioning embrace of cockeyed comic-book exotica. Early on, we encounter the maverick young millionaire Bruce Wayne (Christian
Bale) kicking a bunch of butt in a wet, scuzzy prison camp someplace in Asia. (Where? Why? Who cares.) Then he runs into a mysterious Frenchman named Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), who is a member of a lethal ninja sect called the League of Darkness, which is scenically based in a monastic lodge high in the Himalayas. Ducard elects himself Bruce's martial-arts mentor, and starts pelting him with spitballs of fortune-cookie wisdom. "To conquer fear," Ducard says, "you must become fear." Bruce is wowed. He decides he's not going back to Princeton in the fall.
"Batman Begins" resuscitates yet again one of the most durable of the classic comic-book superheroes, a character now 66 years old and already the subject of various movie serials, animated features, and of course a famously campy '60s TV series. In 1986, Batman was rescued from the swamps of silliness by writer and illustrator Frank Miller, in his groundbreaking DC comic, "The Dark Knight Returns." Miller's brooding new Batman imagery was in turn a powerful influence on director Tim Burton's 1989 "Batman" - an enormous, worldwide hit - and on its even darker sequel, the 1992 "Batman Returns." Burton's second film didn't do anywhere near the numbers of the first one, though, so Warner Bros. elbowed him aside and brought in the shameless Joel Schumacher, who, in the course of just two further Batman sequels - two very, very bad ones - flushed the entire franchise right down the toilet.
"Batman Begins" really is a new beginning in a number of interesting ways. The director is Christopher Nolan, an Englishman probably best-known here for his mind-knotting 2000 revenge thriller, "Memento." Nolan brought along his usual cinematographer, the admirable Wally Pfister, and also populated the cast with such excellent actors as Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Cillian Murphy. Nolan also co-wrote the script (with fantasy specialist David S. Goyer, of the "Blade" movies), and it rings some clever new changes on the familiar Batman saga.
Bruce Wayne is still a man traumatized by the long-ago death of his parents at the hands of a mugger, and this is still the event that's launched him on a career of crime-fighting. But now we see him actually constructing the Batcave beneath the Wayne mansion; and, best of all, we see where some of Batman's exotic equipment comes from.
When Bruce returns from his adventures in the East, he finds that his hometown of Gotham (actually Chicago, with computer enhancements) is crawling with criminals, and that the family business has been taken over by a corporate sleaze named Earle (Rutger Hauer). But tucked away in the company's scientific-research department he comes upon gadget-master Lucius Fox (Freeman), who shows him some interesting inventions that Earle has never bothered to bring to market. There's impenetrable black Kevlar armor - perfect for a Batsuit; and a kind of black "memory cloth" that can become rigid when required - the Batcape. Then Lucius wheels out a formidable-looking rocket-powered car. "Whattaya think?" he asks. Bruce says, "Does it come in black?"

Bruce is aided in his battle against Gotham's mobsters and madmen by Sergeant Jim Gordon (Oldman) one of the town's rare good cops, and by his childhood girlfriend, Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes), now an assistant district attorney. His chief opponent is Dr. Jonathan Crane (Murphy), a twisted psychiatrist and - in his spare time - a colorful, maggot-spewing psychopath called the Scarecrow. Director Nolan sets them all loose in a cityscape filled with rich black shadows and thick with menace, and his shots of Batman drifting down through the air with his cape spread wide like giant wings are resonant additions to the Batman iconography.
Nolan also cooks up action scenes that are more than just routine CGI romps - he even brings off a car chase that ventures beyond the usual clatter-and-screech. One of the movie's most extraordinary sequences takes place in the Himalayas (actually Iceland), where Bruce and Ducard engage in a furious battle on a slippery cliff of ice, and one of them stumbles and nearly slides away to his death. Stunt doubles were obviously involved, but they were very brave stunt doubles. It's an amazing scene.
I had one quibble with "Batman Begins": Christian Bale, who's been wonderful in such movies as "American Psycho," seemed to me oddly inexpressive in the title role here, even allowing for the facial constraints of the cumbersome Batmask. Apart from that, though, I imagine that this is the movie that loyal and long-suffering Batfans have been waiting for - there's none of the condescending jokiness that ruined the earlier Schumacher films. It's artful and fun, and judging by a scene near the end, when Bruce Wayne is handed a strange calling card, I'd say that this really is just the beginning.
- Kurt Loder

Going Batty
We preview 'Batman Begins,' and look back at the different cinematic incarnations of the Caped Crusader

By Kim Morgan
Special to MSN Movies

Holy remakes!!! How many ways can Hollywood portray "Batman"?

From the campy '60s Adam West version to the equally campy George Clooney outing, five films have brought the beloved Bob Kane DC comic to life -- five different visions, of varying quality, that have delighted, disappointed and ignited arguments among Batman aficionados everywhere. Now comes Number 6: the eagerly awaited, promisingly dark "Batman Begins."

Why all the attention? Batman has long been the favorite superhero of comic-book/graphic-novel fandom, offering a wealth of rich, dark material for a filmmaker to mine. We are inspired/fascinated by traumatized rich boy Bruce Wayne and his alter-ego Batman because he doesn't possess any superpowers -- just a super brain, super gadgets, super car, super rage and a super, devoted butler. He's the brooding film noir-esque anti-hero whose hometown of Gotham City is so filled with corruption and evil that it has stained his soul. Batman is so deeply troubled and so deeply violent, you're not sure just which side of good or evil he's on.

This is just one reason we're especially excited for Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins," starring the wonderfully twisted and intense Christian Bale ("American Psycho," "The Machinist") in the title role. They appear the perfect pair to take Batman back to the dark side. Will it be the definitive portrayal of the Caped Crusader? We've seen it, and we'll give you our verdict below. But before we get to Bale's bat-ting average, we thought we'd fly down memory lane to take a look at the previous Bat-visions that graced or disgraced our big screens.

'Batman: The Movie' (1966)
Bat facts: Taken from the campy and colorful TV show, Leslie H. Martinson's "Batman: The Movie" has long been regarded as a gleefully guilty pleasure. The story has Gotham City's four greatest criminals joining forces to, yes, take over the world.

How will the dynamic duo, Batman and Robin, stop them? With a lot of POW! KABLAM! and BOOM!
The man behind the mask: Adam West
Friends: Robin (Burt Ward) and Alfred (Alan Napier)
Foes: Joker (Cesar Romero), Penguin (Burgess Meredith), Riddler (Frank Gorshin) and Catwoman (Lee Meriwether)

Geek critique: Though most fans like the camp factor of the movie and, of course, the cool catchy theme song, some expressed anger over problems ranging from not taking Kane's source material seriously to West's slightly flabby physique. Also, kitty-licious Julie Newmar's TV Catwoman was replaced by the too-cute Meriwether.

Bottom line: No, this isn't heavy viewing. And it's perhaps one reason why the comic-book genre has been regarded by civilians as, well, kid's stuff, but it's pretty lovable. With the film's hilarious gadgets (our favorite: shark repellent), the stiff delivery of West countered by Ward's hyper proclamations like "Holy horseshoe!" and the cheesy comic antics of Romero, Meredith and Gorshin (R.I.P., gentlemen), it's a batty good time.

'Batman' (1989)
Bat facts: For those who only remembered Batman as a leotard-wearing, '60s phenomena, 28-year-old visionary Tim Burton gamely stepped in and created an appropriately darker franchise, and one closer to Frank Miller's popular "Dark Knight" graphic novels. This one features the Joker as arch villain and murderer of Bruce Wayne's parents, setting off the Caped Crusader's rage and revenge.

The man behind the mask: Michael Keaton

Friends: Alfred (Michael Gough), Vickie Vale (Kim Basinger)

Foes: The Joker (Jack Nicholson) and Grissom (Jack Palance)

Geek critique: Many were split on the casting of Michael "Mr. Mom" Keaton (to us, he's always "Beetlejuice") as the Caped Crusader, but the biggest criticism came from Burton's poetic licensing of Batman's superhero inspiration. Burton had the Joker kill Bruce Wayne's parents (in the comic, an unknown thug committed the act), and comic-book fans felt cheated: The original wrath that fueled Batman was directed not simply at the Joker but at faceless crime in general.

Bottom line: A gorgeously filmed Burton tale with a nicely dry Keaton and a perfectly cast Nicholson, "Batman" was slow moving but visually inventive, recalling another era and the dark landscape of DC Comics. To enjoy this "Batman" you have to allow yourself into Burton's world and not just Kane's.

'Batman Returns' (1992)
Bat facts: Burton took another stab, this time with an even dimmer view of society and media: The dastardly Penguin (AKA Oswald Cobblepot) runs for mayor!

The man behind the mask: Michael Keaton.

Friends: Alfred (Michael Gough), Police Commissioner Gordon (Pat Hingle) and (sort of) Catwoman/Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfeiffer).

Foes: Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot (Danny DeVito), Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) and (sort of) Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer)

Geek critique: Despite phenomenal casting with Pfeiffer, DeVito and Walken, hard-core Bat-philes continued to dislike Burton's vision overriding creator Kane's, while merely dipping into the darker waters of the comic's brilliant second-coming creator, Frank Miller.

Bottom line: This has long been our favorite "Batman," flaws and all. The beautiful look evokes a noirish, even German expressionistic underground, and the themes -- especially the origin of the Penguin (a deformed baby dropped in the river by his parents) -- were extra dark and brooding (not to mention that Burton set it during Christmas!). And Pfeiffer in that catsuit? Forget Halle Berry: Pfeiffer was pussy-purrrfect.

'Batman Forever' (1995)
Bat facts: Joel "St. Elmo's Fire" Schumacher took over the reins in Batman's third comeback. Here, Batman's got two villains to contend with: Two-Face, who blames Batman for his disfigurement, and the Riddler, a jealous employee of Wayne Enterprises. We also get the introduction of Robin, the young, rebellious sidekick.

The man behind the mask: Val Kilmer

Friends: Robin (Chris O'Donnell), Dr. Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman) and Alfred (Michael Gough).

Foes: Two Face/D.A. Dent (Tommy Lee Jones) and Riddler/Edward Nygma (Jim Carrey).

Geek critique: Kilmer could have made a good Batman, but fans found this all so silly and much too light, making most appreciate the Burton films before it. And, after this, they all but gave up on the franchise. Nice work, Schumacher!

Bottom line: OK, the only thing truly interesting in Schumacher's "Batman" is his obvious fetishistic love for the man in black ... and tights ... and, uh ... chest gear. Kilmer's got the lips (but then, was Batman known for his pouty kisser?) and he's certainly a talented actor, but a guy who can channel Jim Morrison isn't exactly the Batman we want. But then again, this was a "Batman" of a different persuasion. Just watch how Batman suits up and you get more than a hint of homoerotic subtext simmering underneath that nipple-enhanced armor. It's Leather-Bar Batman!

'Batman & Robin' (1997)
Bat facts: Joel "Flatliners" Schumacher returns to camp things up with the dynamic duo battling Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze, who -- you guessed it -- are intent on freezing the world. Meanwhile, Alfred is sick, leaving Batman, Robin and (yep) Batgirl searching for a cure to save him.

The man behind the mask: George Clooney

Friends: Robin (Chris O'Donnell), Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone), Julie Madison (Elle MacPherson) and Alfred (Michael Gough).

Foes: Mr. Freeze/Dr. Victor Fries/Current Governor of California (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Poison Ivy/Dr. Pamela Isley (Uma Thurman) and Bane (Jeep Swenson).

Geek critique: Did they even show up for this one?

Bottom line: Even campier than Schumacher's first one, this one manages to be even lamer -- more in tune with the Adam West "Batman" TV show and movie but not nearly as likable and funny. Poor Clooney (who's got the perfect Bat-chin and Bat-i-tude) is lost in a stupid story devoid of heart ... even with Alfred dying. This also marked the downfall of Silverstone. You missed it? Check local network TV at around 2:30 p.m. on a Sunday. It's probably on.

'Batman Begins' (2005)

Bat facts: Christopher Nolan, the man behind menacing stuff like "Memento" and "Insomnia," crafts a "Batman" closer to its source material than any other film. Bruce Wayne witnesses his parents' murder, then grows up traumatized. As a young man, he runs off to train with the ninja cult leader known as Ra's Al Ghul. When he returns to Gotham City, it's more corrupt than ever, leading him to create his cave, suit and gadgets (with the help of Lucius Fox), culminating in his alter ego of Batman. Mafia don Falcone and the evil doctor Jonathan "The Scarecrow" Crane must be taken down.
The man behind the mask: Christian Bale

Friends: Alfred (Michael Caine), Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) and Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman).

Foes: Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), Ra's Al Ghul (Ken Watanabe), Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson) and Richard Earle (Rutger Hauer).

Geek critique: We can only speculate at this time, but this is likely to be the geek favorite among all the "Batman" films. We've already heard of purists blanching over Bruce Wayne's origins -- once again, they're not true to Kane's vision (Batman's training with Ducard has caused some grumblings). But the inclusion of one of the comic book's scariest villains, Scarecrow, is greatly anticipated.

Bottom line: This is the best "Batman" by far. Though we love the sinister set design and gloomy outlook of Burton's pictures, Nolan goes one step further in making Batman what he should rightfully be -- a wee bit insane (though we wished he was even nuttier, like Patrick "American Psycho" Bateman nuts). Bale is a terrific balance of good-looking and unnerving freak. He's a social misfit who faces his fears by embracing them and then projecting them onto the world he mistrusts. The message of fear is so disturbing in Nolan's film; there are a few scenes, particularly with Scarecrow, that'll terrify even adults. And we can't think of a film in the Batman series (or any movie, for that matter) in which the term "Jungian archetypes" is uttered in a sentence. Batman begins, indeed.

Kim Morgan is a film critic for the LA Weekly, DVD Talk and Reel.com. She was a film critic for The Oregonian and has written about movies for various print and Web media.

What is your favorite Batman movie? Let us know at heymsn@microsoft.com

Jim Aparo, the comic artist who drew Batman and dozens of other DC Comics heroes from the 1960s to the '90s, died July 19 of complications from a recent illness, the family announced. He was 72.

Yet another legend gone. He was good at drawing the Dark Knight. :ph43r:

So I heard.