The thing I always liked about Bruce is that he didnt venture too far into the unbelievable, he always stayed the superhero that was theoretically possible. Dick has Starfire though which is a strange for a realistic hero. Whatever the future holds I hope it stays true to the roots of the Bruce Wayne character, but I dont think it necessarily has to be Bruce in the cowl.
I was thinking first anyone who worked for SHIELD, but they would find out what was going on and then get the m to give hi m up, which would likely turning Bruce into a SHIELD agent. So maybe someone that had left SHIELD under not so good conditions like Elektra or Black Widow.
I never really understood the hero vs hero debates? Wouldnt there always be the Buster Douglas scenario anyway?
As for the question though, when there are company crossovers, Batman is usually pitted against the non powered or lesser powered characters. I think in the Amalgam series Batman came up against Bullseye and caught something he threw out of the air. Correct me if I am wrong, but not even Daredevil can do that.. Therefore I think on the somewhat mutual understanding of the two companies Batman is considered best of the mortals (keep in mind most writers will for both companies at some point.) When the question comes to stronger characters I think that Bat fans look at what Batman did in TDKR, but I think Miller was trying to make an analogy with this was he not, not that Batman can actually beat Superman but rather that there are incorruptible things and they always win?
I liked the treatment of Batman vs Superman in the Hush storyline. Batman was severely outmatched and knew it, and without Catwoman probably wouldnt have made it out alive. Maybe with planning Batman could take down someone like Iron Man, but Stark isnt a dummy either. I think Batman could take down anyone up to Captain America and Spider-Man, but it wouldnt be an easy fight on either. Maybe even Wolverine, but he would have to end it quickly.
There was an article in Wizard about JLA vs Avengers sometime in the mid 90s, and basically it came down to Batman being one of the last ones standing, but this meant all the heavies were taken out by one another (the JLA won in the end btw)
There was an issue of Batgirl once where Cassandra vowed no one in Gotham would die on a particular night. She even broke into some prison to stop capital punishment.
By the way, the Joker would never be up for capital punishment seeing as he is crazy
There are other Bruces in the DCU. Why assume its Wayne? Does anyone in the whole Booster Gold/Rip Hunter line of stories know that Bruce Wayne = Batman? If not then that question could go unanswered.
DC seems to be taking less chances with its comic based movies. Maybe if Green Lantern does well (who am I kidding - when it does well) they will look into a Wonder Woman movie more seriously. For the time being I dont see it happening though and for a variety of reasons:
1. Her background story is not very appealing, Batman is cool with the vigourous self instruction, Superman with the exploding planet, Wonder Woman with a bunch of gods standing around when she was born giving her a bunch of powers, kind of boring. This would have to be reworked. 2. Who to cast as supervillain? Wonder Woman has suffered for years in the comics with only really two main villains, Circe and Cheetah. I don't see Circe transferring well to the big screen so villain for first movie would have to be Cheetah. I would be good with that, but her backstory would have to be reworked as well. 3. The costume isnt very PC, it could work of course, but maybe incorporating in the new costume would be better. 4. No great canon to draw on - Answer this - whats the best Batman story ever told? Superman? Probably thought of some decent stuff which could be made into movies. Now Wonder Woman? Not as much pops to mind right? Josh Whedon who wanted to direct a movie at one point cited this as a major difficulty in writing a movie. This could go either way as it leaves the movie wide open, either for good or bad. 5. Most superhero movies of recent years are focusing on science or technology characters and doing quite well with it. Part of the reason the Batman revamp was so successful was because they showed the evolution of his costume, not that they just showed up one day and he waqs wearest the coolest costume ever. Same goes for Iron Man and it looks like even Thor is going this way (What you call magic, I call science, I come from a place where they are one and the same). So for Wonder Woman with all mythology based powers and nothing science like they would have to skip the parts of her origin which are not as appealing to the public. 6. The reasoning behind going to man's world would have to revamped and re-explained, I think in golden age this was because she found Trevoe on the beach and fell in love with him, in the Perez version its because they needed an ambassador/peace envoy. If they could find a decent reason for her to be here it would be much more appealing to the audience. 7. Actresses tend to show their age a lot more than actors do, and so casting an actress for a 3 or 4 movie deal would mean she aged 10 years by the end of it. This would mean for WW you would have to find an actress 24, 25 or 26. All of the dream casting choices go out the window then until you get a green light for the movie. Also what most actrsses lack for the part is looking the part. Actresses generally try to look as skinny as possible, Wonder Woman doesnt have to do this, she is just in amazing shape. I think in this case finding a dancer that can act would be better than casting an actress, because most dancers have the body to pull off WW. A decent acting ability would also be required though so you would have to find someone with enough acting depth to carry the role. Suffice to say some skinning model with no acting ability wouldnt do. 8. Who is Wonder Woman's genetic match? Its also hard to cast Wonder Woman based on what she looks like. If there was an actress in Hollywood who had wonder woman exact look she would already be ridiculously famous. The closest actress I can think who can meet all of the requirements would be Penelope Cruz, but she is both too old and doesnt really look the part.
So if they could find the right actress who was around the right age and incorporate in only the most relevant parts of the story it would be awesome. But is that going to happen?
The only major characters in the Dark Knight not played by an Academy Award nominated actor or actress are Rachel Dawes, Bane, Scarecrow and Commissioner Gordon. Even the crimelords (Wilkinson and Roberts have one). So I am happy to see Hathaway in as Catwoman (she would have made a good Talia as well.)
As for Catwoman, I can't wait to see the costume and story. The background story for Selena in Batman Returns was so weak. I hope they either go back to the roots like they should and sort of have a reason for her putting on the costume like they did for Bruce in Batman Begins, or she just shows up and starts doing stuff like Joker did in TDK. Either way I am expecting a more practical costume, not the head to toe vinyl. Something more like Catwoman for the second series.
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