Batman can be anything. Nolan worked. Burton worked. LEGO worked. Adam West worked. It doesn’t need to be somber at all.
Personally I’d like to see it hew close to the animated series in tone and look, with a Gotham that is also similar to Jim Lee’s.
I think this might be one of those cases where both sides think that image proves their point. 
Sure, but there are changes, and there are changes… Marvel changes stuff, but keeps the basics, or the core of the characters if you will… that’s why it works.
I mean, Batman & Robin is the closest there is to what you described, and… yeah… =/
Yeah the problem is: That Batman is shit… at least to anyone who isn’t jerking off to their nostalgia trips in some corner (with a poster of Reeves’ Superman)… 
Also, sure, there can always be blander versions of Batman if we’re talking about kid versions, because everything needs to be blander for kids… but for teens+? Nah, lame Batman’s not gonna cut it.
One of the worst things about Daniel Craig’s Bond is the character seems to hate being himself. Always brooding and drinking to numb the pain. That shit feels played out. Sean Connery Batman is what we need these days.
I think it worked for a season especially coming off the borderline parody of the Pierce Brosnan years. He was the Timothy Dalton palette cleanser to the Roger Moore years.
I’d say there are plenty of actors out there that could make for a good to great Batman. I’m sure Reeves will find someone who fits. I’m just excited about the prospect of getting detective Batman.
They ruined him after Avengers. Now he’s all moody and depressed about being Iron Man.
He worked for that era. The post Gulf War era where everyone was down on imperial powers and there was this mood of somber reflection and guilt. Bond took down Britain and what they had become, and fans wanted that.
Today’s era of course it Trump, Metoo and anti Billionaires. Now Bruce Wayne doesn’t look like a hero, he looks like an asshole hiding in his cave wasting hundreds of millions on silly toys to beat up the poor and desperate. You can’t have a real life grounded Batman. He needs to be the kind of billionaire we’d like. Elon Musk without the creepy bullshit.
Look at what Millar did with Edison Crane. He got it exactly right. He’s basically Batman without the trappings that hold the character back. Once again Hollywood need to steal from Mark as he understands character better than anyone in the industry.
Totally agreed.
This is one of the things that makes his time at Fox such a headscratcher. They had such a resource on their hands that it felt like they didn’t use.
That’s the way I’ve seen it, George Clooney was, but really, its difficult to see him as anything bar George Cooney in anything.
Zac Efron would work, especially coming off the back of the Ted Bundy movie he’s in where he’s playing a good looking guy with a dark secret.
Mark would call in and offer his opinion on the phone for a couple of hours, but you have dozens of full time people who had their own ideas. Mostly the producers and directors. Most creative types don’t just work on what someone else says, they want to do their own thing, so it stands to reason why they’d not use much of Mark.
I would also like to see that very much. I can’t understand why they dont take more cues from the animated series.
Just seems odd to hiring him for something and not use his ideas when clearly he has his thumb on the pulse of how this stuff should work. I’m really starting to think that is his real gift and writing is secondary to that.
I’m really hoping Disney find a way to sign him up as Namor. They can do their own Aquaman now, probably better than Warners, and he’s so perfect for the role. He’d be a good Bruce Wayne too
Tom Hopper, Jamie Dornan and Ben Barnes are my picks. I’d go for a British actor - I think they can play classic gentleman billionaire rather than Americans who play scrappy inventor billionaire.
Truely the Batman we need. Looking for truth in shady politics as the Penguin rises through the political ladder aided by henchmen that need batman to break out the bat-gizmos but ultimately rely on his smarts.
