I believe that a live action Batman tv show would be a massive money maker for Warner Brothers i have an idea of what i would like to see from it, but what do you guys think of a Batman series, what style should it have?, nolan?, burton? or a different interpritation, how dark should it be?. lets here your ideas and opinions.

My idea for the series is to take heavily from the comics, games and movies. It starts with Dick Grayson already having become Nightwing and Jason Todd as the new Robin (prehaps a little darker and more reckless) this would set up the Death in the family storyline. Many villans would already be present, Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Catwomen etc, Others like Two Face and Mr Freeze should have thier characters introduced as the men they started as, no offence to Nolans Dent but for me the animated series was a better inturpritation, slowly being driven over the edge by the impossible task of taking down the mob and the way they cheat, mock and threaten him. The same with Mr Freeze and his reasons for his crimes, these episodes are fantasticly written and show the tragedy behind these characters and should without doubt be in the series. Most of the series main season arcs would revolve around the comic stories, Death in the family, Knight Fall, Long Halloween (which i think should be fused with the arkham asylum game storyline.) and ending with No-mans Land, with several stand alone episodes making up each season.

No never again

I'd rather have a really good late night R rated animated series. A live-action tv series done well would be extremely expensive.

Something that happens simultaneously to Smallville. I would think that's pretty cool.

I would probably watch it if it were an HBO series (full one hour episodes with no comercials, a higher budget, and less ristrictions). I like your Idea of starting the show with Dick Grayson as Nightwing and Jason Todd as robin, but not so much as having them established, simply establishing them as such in the first two episodes. I like the Idea of each season doing major story arcs from the comics and would completely ignore stand-alone episodes (unless its the first episode in the season). I like it when everything is connected.

Going to have to be animated if we want more than one season. Otherwise that shit is too expensive. They could do Smallville because that was largely computer-manipulated. But for this, there needs to be stuntmen, gadgets, costumes etc.

Otherwise, it has to be a mini-series - one season and just 10-20 episodes.

I think they should do a "Batman Reborn" type show. Batman is dead, or supposedly, and now Dick Grayson, while not accepting the title of Batman, takes up the role of Gotham's protector. He also becomes Damien Wayne's, Batman's son, mentor and protege, and they become Gotham's dynamic duo. It would also include a few of Batman's rouges and guest appearance of Jason Todd and Tim Drake, who is searching for Bruce.

Its only a matter of time before this actually happens, televsion shows quality are getting increasingly better and heir budgets are getting bigger.

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the CWs "Arrow" was some sort of test to see if a Batman series would preform well

There are several ways you can go about doing it...

A great jump on point would be Lonely Place of Dying.

You have Tim Drake which would provide the audience that connection with the world with him asking bout things

You have the exposition about Jason Todd.

You have the relationship with Alfred

You have the introduction of Dick as Nightwing

It keeps you from going too dark and lets you go humorous while still maintaining seriousness

Lets you connect with a young audience while giving stuff that is interesting for older readers (especially with the cameo of Starfire in a towel ^.^ and the rest of the Tee Titans)

This would allow you to tell various stories that "moral lessons" but also tell really deep stories and not beat people over the head with it (like Star Trek)

This would also allow for the older Barbara Gordon as Oracle to be introduce and Spoiler for the romance angle.

In the show you don't need to put all the focus on Batman... I'd say to do that would be the worst idea. I'd say make "Batman" almost never appear on screen clearly. Always have him do things when hidden from the shot. That way you don't need to spend as much money and over all it is just better.

I think it should be about Dick Grayson in high school and his adventures as robin. It should be kinda similar to Smallville

Anything like smallville is right out. We need to R or HBO show and make each storyline and villain as sick and demented as they are supposed to be.

Much prefer the idea of a more mature animated TV series. More edge to it, more violence and bad language which would be realistic since criminals don't all say stuff like "drat, foiled again.". They say "I'm gonna blow a f***ing hold in your head ya costumed mook."

Great animation would be necessary. We're talking getting some experienced Japanese artists who tend to make manga or anime movies.

A TV series with animation allows more freedom for well choreographed fight scenes. You'd have less bad acting and no cast change over time.

If there was a more adult themed animated TV series for anything like Batman, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Flash, Huntress.... I would frigging watch every episode and buy box sets, I really would. It just needs to have the edge that makes DC comics so great to read.

It's like The Walking Dead, the TV series is allowed to have the edge for some excessive violence and gripping frightening action sequences. It's what we all love to watch.

@Duke_Nasty: What content are you expecting from an R rated Batman? That Batman doesn't exist in the comics, movies, etc, I just wonder what content you feel is missing from Batman.

it should be about bruce's training with his body and mind

I can't understand why so many people want it to be like Smallville.

For starters, if Smallville wasn't a story about such a well established and loved character, it would have been another load of teen angst bull.

And even if you did enjoy that style of show for some reason, Batman is a COMPLETELY different character to portray, story-wise at least. Batman needs dark, gritty realism and truly disturbing enemies. Lets not start taking steps back towards a camp Gotham....

Id rather have a more mature cartoon series or see DC release more animated movies similar to under the red hood and the dark knight returns.

Gotham Central!

I'd like to see a live action Batman, but I'd want a modern age one...There are two points in time that are perfect for this... Bruce's training, which is cool and all, but I'd like to "see" Batman and more Modern Age stuff so I'd go with what I said earlier... It is perfectly placed too. Let me explain...

For a decently long run you want to plan for 1, 3, or 7 years. Very few shows get beyond 7 years and even fewer last past 10 years. So we have a question of what can we put in there that will please the most amount of people.

When I watch Batman...I want Batman. That was a major thing in Smallville... no Superman.

You need a good introduction to where you are

A modern age Batman series would allow people to learn about more recent characters.

If we focus more on Tim Drake as the main character that allows us the training aspect from Smallville, the drama people like, and all that other stuff.

During this period this is such a sweep of things that the series will grow

Assuming the series ends at the above points there are major events that happen at those points.

Year 1 - Robin's Training cliff hanger Bane Breaks Batman's Back

Year 2 - Knight Saga

Year 3 - Contagion, Cataclym, other stuff that happens, Cliff hanger Gotham declared NML

Year 4 - No Man's Land

Year 5 - Stuff

Year 6 - Bruce framed for murder,

Year 7 - Tim retires, War Games... end with the cast gaining a somber victory ending.

Year 8 - skip over infinite crisis and follow Bruce, Tim, and Dick on their travels around the world

Year 9 - Gang returns to Gotham and have adventures...

Year 10 - Batman RIP and Final Crisis Finale. Epilogue shows Dick as Batman, Damian as Robin, Tim as Red Robin, leave out Bruce is in the past.

This layout would give you a perfect run to touch every fan and build several epic finale's There'd likely be some reshuffling of minor stories or something as that would be 140 to 200 hours of tv, but I'd go with this as a frame work and this is largely possible only if you keep Batman more of the secondary character.

@menaceforever said:

No never again

I'd go for a "mini-series" esque kind of show. At most 10 episodes per season ala Game of Thrones. Limit the episodes to maximize the budget. Make it HBO. Episodes can be even less. Like BBC's/Cumberbatch's Sherlock.

No high-school or college stuff like Smallville. Episodes should have depth and must not be limited to single arcs per episode. Make the audience think. Make it dark and use some of Batman's lesser known (at least to non-comic fans) villains, like Zsasz or Deadshot. Maybe use the high-end ones on series/season finales. If possible, make use of the supernatural side we were not able to see on the Nolan films. Maybe not often but at least show it.

Most of all....

NO BAT NIPPLES

@ssejllenrad said:

No high-school or college stuff like Smallville. Episodes should have depth and must not be limited to single arcs per episode.

When you say no high-school or college stuff what i think you mean is "no drama" drama in pejorative sense and to that I agree, but if you mean no teen angst or anything like that... I strongly disagree.

They could make a really great episode out of the Robin arc where Tim feels guilty about not protecting a kid that was being bullied and then accusing bullies of murder without evidence, making him feel even more guilty and then going and looking for the evidence and making it right.

Bad teen drama is bad because it is badly written, directed, and/or acted and is the same as all other bad tv, but not all teen drama is "bad." It all comes down to who is creating it.

I think Batman as the main character is something that can only be done in books well due to what fans really want out of Batman is a more detective-esque Batman, but the problem is, Batman doesn't explain himself. That is solved by the inner monologue in books, but for a series, Noir isn't really that good, so the best option is to have a Robin there to be the eyes of the watcher and with that Robin becomes the main character rather than the side character... it's not to say that Batman wouldn't be a main character, but that he is prime within the primary character's world.

Another way you could do a Batman series is a "Legends of the Dark Knight" style where future arceologists find the Batcave and the journals he keeps and the story is told that way, or they could have it from Alfred telling the story who could "fib" to make this or that more extreme or less extreme.

@Durakken: The fact is, what I meant was both teen drama and teen angst. Those aren't the themes I want to see in Batman. That's just me.

@ssejllenrad said:

@Durakken: The fact is, what I meant was both teen drama and teen angst. Those aren't the themes I want to see in Batman. That's just me.

Constant teen angst as portrayed on tv is crappy, but when i say angst I mean angst in the definite sense. Angst is what Batman, the identity, is all about, teen or otherwise. Almost every major story in Batman you can attribute dealing with angst as a theme to it.

@Durakken said:

@ssejllenrad said:

@Durakken: The fact is, what I meant was both teen drama and teen angst. Those aren't the themes I want to see in Batman. That's just me.

Constant teen angst as portrayed on tv is crappy, but when i say angst I mean angst in the definite sense. Angst is what Batman, the identity, is all about, teen or otherwise. Almost every major story in Batman you can attribute dealing with angst as a theme to it.

If you put it that way, then I guess I'm good with it.

I just don't want the immature themes we usually see on Smallville or the emo crap the media has incorporated with ansgt. I mean, I never really loved Smallville but it suits that series much better because it was a coming-of-age type of series. Not to mention a lot of modern interpretations of Superman (Earth One, New 52, Secret Origin) went through that phase of teen emotional turmoil. Batman didn't go through that. And I don't want to see him go through that in a TV series.

@ssejllenrad said:

If you put it that way, then I guess I'm good with it.

I just don't want the immature themes we usually see on Smallville or the emo crap the media has incorporated with ansgt. I mean, I never really loved Smallville but it suits that series much better because it was a coming-of-age type of series. Not to mention a lot of modern interpretations of Superman (Earth One, New 52, Secret Origin) went through that phase of teen emotional turmoil. Batman didn't go through that. And I don't want to see him go through that in a TV series.

I think the "coming of age" story idea being a young person becoming an irresponsible adult isn't all that great a term. I would consider Bruce and Dick's relationship would be a coming of age story for Bruce as much as it is for Dick. I get your dislike of it as shown in tv, but classically the epic is the coming of age over and over again and over lapping with other coming of ages.

I know some people don't like the idea for some reason, but I like the idea of keeping close to the comics with adapting where needed rather than just magically coming up with some other continuity... I like the DCAU, but I think it did a disservice because it didn't educate people as well as it should about the comics and thus it didn't feed back into itself. That's part of the reason you do that. DC has started doing that a little bit, but they haven't quite grasped it yet. Of course I also wish they'd use the Modern Age/New Earth Age continuity, which seems hypocritical, but I would argue that is the better course of action based on the mythos and what will likely be around in the long term.

@ssejllenrad:

you think batman uses a bat for a theme because he's a fun guy

of course there's going to be angst

@ssejllenrad:

you think batman uses a bat for a theme because he's a fun guy

of course there's going to be angst

Nolan!!!!!!

I think it would be way awesome if they had a reboot movie of Batman with an origin story of Robin (Not Batman Origin) that connects to the Justice League movie and they turned the rebooted Batman into a live action series after the movie, and maybe Robin quits and joins the Teen Titans and we have a live action Teen Titans too. Just a thought.

just follow Batman TAS :)

I would love to see a live action Batman TV show. Maybe something like Smallville but when Bruce was already starting out as Batman. I even made a mini trailer for such an idea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACYyQ-GN1Cw it would be awesome if it would get made, it would be the next Smallville if they do it right.

I'd love it if a Gotham Central show was made.

@black_claw: I agree. I think Gotham Centeral would make a great live action TV show, full of rich characters that some talented actors could do a lot with.

Call the show Detective.

Put it on HBO.

Set it over 7 years.

Have it follow his training around the world with various martial artists and detectives.

Booyah.

YES to live action Batman series, look at how successful Smallville became. Arrow is getting there too... I would love to see an live action version that brings about a new fresh face to the comic world. (Tom Welling was a no one till Smallville and Stephen Amell when becoming the lead of a show, became an overnight success) I just feel that sometimes, when making a live action series based on a comic series, its constraining to put every little detail to place. But that's why we are here to see if they take our constructive criticism to good use. It would be good to get a further understanding of our dear friend Bruce Wayne from young.

I imagine a tv show that is much like the mood of dark city. A gloomy, rainy, gothic gotham city. The series would focus on Bruce Wayne's attempt to redeem the city he loves. Imagine Gotham is over run with mob bosses such as Carmine Falcone and Boss Moroni. Old styled crime lords that are losing their grip on power to a new generation of criminals. The only established Batman villain would be The Penguin. A high socialite, owner of the upscale but seedy Iceberg Lounge. By day he is a high class philanthropist. Buy night he is an arms supplier to the mob. Imagine some short and pretentious Brit. Batman/Bruce is spending his time attempting to clean up Gotham's streets, while his prep school classmate and close friend, Harvey Dent, is attempting to weed out corruption in Gotham's police force and political establishment. Harvey attended prep school with Bruce on a scholarship. Where Bruce came from high society, Dent grew up in poverty. Dent struggles with the pressures of being a perfectionist and stress of fighting a endless and seemingly hopeless battle. Detective Gordon is noticed by Bruce as a cop of conviction and attempts to help the well meaning officer. The show would focus on an overarching storyline of Bruce's submersion into crime fighting, Dent's psychological pressures to do the right thing, and Gordon's partnership with Batman. The show would then reveal the creation of several villains. Imagine a disgruntled butler who use to work for Falcone having multiple personality syndrome and donning the mantra of Scarface. He is not so much a leader of a rival mob but rather used as a scape goat and figure head by a gang of goons. Drexler/Scarface would be a humble man one would want to pity, but hopelessly lost to his syndrome. The Riddler would take on a Saw persona. Having been a hard working IT professional who lost his pension and savings to a corrupt boss, he resorts to punishing corrupt people by placing them in death traps. Batman, after foiling his schemes then becomes his number one enemy in who he neurotically attempts to outsmart. Catwoman would be a sly and seductive business woman, whose grudge against a male dominated world takes to a life of crime by taking what she wants and her love/hate relationship with Batman. Of course she would just be called the Catwoman by the newspapers. The show would keep away from cliche costumes. Finally the Joker would be the finale of the series. A man who over the course of the series uses the disintegration of Gotham's crime world to spread anarchy and chaos. By this time Dent would have been kidnapped and disfigured by Maroni and suffers a psychotic break becoming the duel personality TwoFaced Harvey.

Fat Man on Batman #51: Shadow of the Bat

I think Bruce should return similar to arrow except it would focus on how alone he still is. There would be a lot of content to cover if they had the first season cover him in the early stages of his crime fighting career. I think it should be HBO or something extremely well funded because it would require a lot of money to simulate the use of his gadgets and the combat should be crazy!

Bring the guy that are making Daredevil and i am sold.

I don't believe DC is doing anything live action anytime soon, Gotham, Flash, and Arrow all have it covered. A new Batman live action series would overshadow them if it's good, and would force at leastone (Gotham) to be canceled/retconned. DC should stretch out revenue, and another problem is that any Batman show will be horrendously expensive. Batman isn't a cheap street level hero. Arrow, Gotham, Flash, and Daredevil can get away with street level graphics/choreography and a normal budget, but Batman is extremely expensive when it comes to creating his character.

For example the most important ways batman gets around is in flying through the air with a grappling hook, and he drives a tank. One requires excessive and expensive CGI to produce or excessive and expensive stunt doubles along with creating advanced technology for the express purpose of making batman real. The other requires somehow building a ****ing batmobile. Both are extraordinarily cool, not impossible to do, but cost an extraordinary amount of cash, which means DC will at the very least wait until after Batman VS Superman to make it.

Personally, I think DC would be better off creating a Batman: TAS knockoff using YJ graphics

It couldn't be a long season TV show like Arrow or The Flash. These shows suffer from drawn out storylines. 8-13 episodes would be perfect and less expensive