Hot Toys Announce Batman Returns License

[jab1023]

Watched the movie again tonight and liked it more than I remembered. DX with alternate final battle Keaton-face?

 

[sallah]

Key difference in how the character was used in the Burton/Schumacher films vs. how he was used in the Nolan films. The Nolan films he actually served a purpose in all three films and had a fair amount of screen time for what can be considered essentially a secondary character. The Burton/Schumacher films he was basically a bumbling idiot who only showed up when he was needed and didn't even seem like a competent character.

In all fairness, grouping how a character is treated in the Burton and Schumacher films isn't really fair. Sure, Gordon comes across as little more than comic relief in Batman & Robin... but so does Batman for the most part. Does that mean we should consider him a buffoon as well since you are grouping Burton and Schumacher together?

I don't believe Gordon comes across like this at all in '89 and Returns. Though we don't get to see much of him (more on that in a bit), I never caught a moment of him being a "bumbling idiot" in either film. In '89 especially, I think we see him more as a clean cop trying to do his best in a town filled with corruption. Him trying to get the drop on the dirty cop Eckhardt, walking into the firefight at Axis, first on the scene at the cathedral, etc etc etc... Every moment we see of Gordon in '89 portrays him as a commissioner doing his best to clean up the town while rationalizing what he thinks of this new Batman character... Hardly a bumbling idiot.

As to the Nolan films spending more time on the character... I think sometimes people forget what kind of a task Burton and the producers of '89 Batman faced back in the day. They didn't have the benefit of knowing comic films worked, or a public that was already familiar with how the comic versions of these characters were portrayed and interacted, or even that comics weren't just "kid stuff"... The public at large knew Batman as the Adam West TV show. Putting out a Batman film that totally went against the public's perception of the character, bringing it back to its essence, meant that a lot of time had to be spent on the main characters- Batman and Joker. Pretty much every scene in 1989 Batman is used to do this task. Shoehorning in more Gordon stuff would have cut away at any time the filmmakers needed to get Batman back to what he was and erase the sigma of the 60's show. Given the whole view of what that film had to accomplish, sacrificing time on secondary characters was the right move.

Nolan had the benefits of knowing comic films worked. He had the benefit of the Burton films flipping the public's opinion of Batman from the campy 60's version back to the Dark Knight (as evidenced by the crash and burn of the campy Batman & Robin). He had the benefit of comics being more in the public eye. He had the benefit of Batman The Animated Series (and successive shows) introducing and expanding the secondary characters to a mainstream audience, pushing them into almost first-string status. With all that groundwork done for him, spending more time Gordon makes more sense as his films didn't face quite the uphill battle that Burton's did in their day.

Sallah

 

[Mike86]

In all fairness, grouping how a character is treated in the Burton and Schumacher films isn't really fair. Sure, Gordon comes across as little more than comic relief in Batman & Robin... but so does Batman for the most part. Does that mean we should consider him a buffoon as well since you are grouping Burton and Schumacher together?

I don't believe Gordon comes across like this at all in '89 and Returns. Though we don't get to see much of him (more on that in a bit), I never caught a moment of him being a "bumbling idiot" in either film. In '89 especially, I think we see him more as a clean cop trying to do his best in a town filled with corruption. Him trying to get the drop on the dirty cop Eckhardt, walking into the firefight at Axis, first on the scene at the cathedral, etc etc etc... Every moment we see of Gordon in '89 portrays him as a commissioner doing his best to clean up the town while rationalizing what he thinks of this new Batman character... Hardly a bumbling idiot.

As to the Nolan films spending more time on the character... I think sometimes people forget what kind of a task Burton and the producers of '89 Batman faced back in the day. They didn't have the benefit of knowing comic films worked, or a public that was already familiar with how the comic versions of these characters were portrayed and interacted, or even that comics weren't just "kid stuff"... The public at large knew Batman as the Adam West TV show. Putting out a Batman film that totally went against the public's perception of the character, bringing it back to its essence, meant that a lot of time had to be spent on the main characters- Batman and Joker. Pretty much every scene in 1989 Batman is used to do this task. Shoehorning in more Gordon stuff would have cut away at any time the filmmakers needed to get Batman back to what he was and erase the sigma of the 60's show. Given the whole view of what that film had to accomplish, sacrificing time on secondary characters was the right move.

Nolan had the benefits of knowing comic films worked. He had the benefit of the Burton films flipping the public's opinion of Batman from the campy 60's version back to the Dark Knight (as evidenced by the crash and burn of the campy Batman & Robin). He had the benefit of comics being more in the public eye. He had the benefit of Batman The Animated Series (and successive shows) introducing and expanding the secondary characters to a mainstream audience, pushing them into almost first-string status. With all that groundwork done for him, spending more time Gordon makes more sense as his films didn't face quite the uphill battle that Burton's did in their day.

Sallah

I was particularly referring to Hingle's performances being a bumbling idiot in Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. For instance in Batman Forever he finds the note that Nygma wrote for his boss claiming to have committed suicide and is all "yep, definitely suicide" when the note was pretty ridiculous and a more competent commissioner/cop would have looked further into it.

Really though I never thought his character in the Burton films was well written at all and like I said he really didn't seem to serve much of a purpose other than to just show up a couple times just because. His main thing was confronting Eckhart at the Axis Chemical building but even that just felt like a minor plot device and the movie didn't really need it. You could essentially take his character out of those films and it wouldn't even matter that much. I still think it's kind of a lazy excuse to be honest that Burton and company didn't know what worked back then. They spent quite a bit of time on Eckhart in Batman for a character that really didn't amount to much. They could have taken that character out all together and developed Gordon a bit better if you ask me or if they didn't want to focus on him much and put it mostly on Batman and The Joker like you brought up just have written out his character all together rather than making him into a pretty pointless character. I honestly don't even remember him doing much in Batman Returns either.

 

[jab1023]

And maybe a Walken figure with the "unlimited (you-know what)" as the quote on the inside of the box.

 

[TheFiend]

I hope we see these soon. The forum has been boring as hell recently for me.

Sent from my LG-E739 using Tapatalk 2

 

[jab1023]

I hope we see these soon. The forum has been boring as hell recently for me.

Sent from my LG-E739 using Tapatalk 2

For sure.

 

[Bo Shrek]

I hope we see these soon. The forum has been boring as hell recently for me.

Sent from my LG-E739 using Tapatalk 2

I am with you my friend!!

 

[Johnny Utah]

We will be hearing news on them and more in the next 10 days, maybe even this week.

 

[Khev]

We will be hearing news on them and more in the next 10 days, maybe even this week.

What makes you so sure?

 

[Darth Zangetsu]

I am with you my friend!!

I'm hoping we see these at SDCC.

 

[kl241]

After the Superman III re-release fiasco, Hot Toys will probably just re-release the DX-09 and call it a day.

 

[Darth Zangetsu]

After the Superman III re-release fiasco, Hot Toys will probably just re-release the DX-09 and call it a day.

I would prefer the Returns suit, but I would not be pset if they rereleased the DX09. i didn't get it the first time, because i have been waiting for the Returns version.

 

[Bo Shrek]

I can't remember was the 89 stuff revealed at SDCC and then went up for pre-order?
What we should not see this year are big *** displays of Avenger's and DKR. Curious to see what the "BAD" Big *** display's are going to be this year…….

 

[Johnny Utah]

What makes you so sure?

Howard said they are speeding up the process of making them. Think about it: they are the trump card when it comes to DC merch for HT right now. They and 66 will be at SDCC. If not there, Ani-Com for sure.

 

[bauzz]

Howard said they are speeding up the process of making them. Think about it: they are the trump card when it comes to DC merch for HT right now. They and 66 will be at SDCC. If not there, Ani-Com for sure.

SDCC is a big deal. There were many reveals at last year's including the 66 Batmobile and several Avengers. I expect equally big items to be unveiled this year.

 

[Johnny Utah]

I still remember the joy of seeing Jack Joker at SDCC 11. Between HT, SS, NECA and more companies, it's awesome being a DC fan.

 

[kl241]

SDCC is a big deal. There were many reveals at last year's including the 66 Batmobile and several Avengers. I expect equally big items to be unveiled this year.

Yeah and where the hell is it a year later? Still no PO.

 

[jab1023]

I would prefer the Returns suit, but I would not be pset if they rereleased the DX09. i didn't get it the first time, because i have been waiting for the Returns version.

I didn't get it the first time and probably should have. But I do like the Returns suit better.

The thing with this though is will they not release a new Bats because the villains kind of overshadow him in this film, even more so than in 89.

Would they do an 89 re-release so soon?

 

[Mike86]

A Batman Returns suit Batman is inevitable when they do this line. Hot Toys knows it's an easy sell to hardcore Batman fans and the suit has some differences. The differences may be pretty minor but still there (hell look at the Evil Superman from Superman III which has little changes from the regular figure). Not to mention they have the possibility of doing a Keaton sculpt. Just because Penguin and Catwoman and hell even Shreck overshadowed Batman in this film I still think they'll make him.

 

[bauzz]

Yeah and where the hell is it a year later? Still no PO.

Who the hell knows. If I'm Hot Toys and Sideshow then the 66 pre-orders begin during Comic-Con for a summer 2014 release, assuming their production plan can accommodate that.