Batman: Gotham Knight Reel
Straight-to-DVD Movie Takes Classic DC Superhero Into Anime
Check out a sneak peak at the upcoming DC Comics/Warner Bros.' straight-to-DVD movie, Batman: Gotham Knight. The six-part flick comes to DVD shelves in July.
DC Comics has just unleashed a 10-minute Batman behind-the-scenes reel on a hapless Interweb. It details some of the ideas behind Batman: Gotham Knight, a 6-part animated, direct-to-DVD movie that is supposed to bridge the gap between the events of Christopher Nolan's 2005 film Batman Begins and its sequel, the upcoming The Dark Knight.
Batman Becomes a Samurai
The big news about Batman: Gotham Knight is that DC has placed the venerable comic book character into the anime stylistic universe. For producer Bruce Timms and the rest of the Gotham Knight crew, it was a chance to take the Dark Knight into a place he hadn't been before.
"The great thing about Batman is that he is the most easily adaptable to an anime sensibility," says Timms. "(anime heroes) tend to be more of what we would call 'anti-heroes.' But the fact that Batman is a darker character . . . he's more in line with what the typical anime hero is all about."
"Batman . . . draws from the samurai tradition . . . in that Batman is looking for a master," says Gregory Noveck, senior vice president of Creative Affairs at DC Comics. "Batman lost his master when his parents were killed, and his life has been not about vengeance, but trying to establish Right, to protect the innocent and to actively take down those who are trying to do wrong . . . he is looking for the master to his emotions, the master to his destiny, but ultimately realizes that he can only be his own master."
Dead Shot is "Batman Gone Horribly Wrong"
Among the villains Batman will face off against in Gotham Knight are The Scarecrow, Man-Bat, Killer Croc and Dead Shot. For DC, the anime reimagining of Dead Shot was a chance to reinterpret one of the less popular villains of the Batman universe.
"Dead Shot is . . . Batman gone horribly wrong," says Dan Didio, senior VP at DC Comics and executive editor. "He is the playboy, the socialite with this huge amoral streak that kills for pleasure, kills for money."
When Dead Shot and Batman finally meet, "it's the two great samurais finally squaring off to find out who is the greatest," continues Didio. "What's even more interesting about Dead Shot versus Batman is one guy uses guns, and one guy who doesn't."
You can check out the Batman: Gotham Knight featurette by clicking the Dailymotion.com link over here. It's due on DVD shelves sometime just before the live-action The Dark Knight swings into theatres.
Fun Fact: There are two films currently vying for the honour of being called "Heath Ledger's last motion picture." The first, of course, is The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan's sequel to Batman Begins. The second is The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, a film by Monty Python alumnus Terry Gilliam, who also directed Time Bandits and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.
Ledger was in the middle of filming Parnassus when he died from an accidental overdose of prescription medication on January 22nd. Gilliam has promised he would finish the movie as a tribute to the young actor.
