The Dark Knight Rises Get’s A Villain!
The Dark Knight Rises get's a villain - Bane!
It might be over a year away, but we all know how much Christopher Nolan loves his viral marketing, and he’s recently release the first of, what I expect to be, many viral marketing campaigns Some of the more technically minded fans managed to figure out an audio file that appeared on the Dark Knight Rises website revealed a hashtag (#thefirerises) which when retweeted, led to the reveal of the image you see above. The Batman villain – Bane, played by the excellent Tom Hardy. Contrary to the awful mangled version of the character in Schumacher’s Batman & Robin that showed him as a mindless thug, Bane is a much more interesting villain than that movie gave him credit for.
For those that don’t know your Batman history, Bane was born in Peña Dura prison in the Caribbean Republic of Santa Prisca. He is highly intelligent, having spent his time reading everything he could get his hands on, and being taught by a range of people, from other hardened inmates, to a classical education from a Jesuit priest. Prison gym also helped him build his impressive hulking frame, and the tough prison system taught him how to fight… A mindless thug he most certainly is not…
Whilst at the prison, Bane is forced to test a new experimental drug called Venom, which at first nearly kills him, but he survives only to find the Venom massively increases his strength, so long as he is dosed regularly.
In Batman lore the thing Bane is most famous for is ‘breaking the Bat’. After escaping from Peña Dura, Bane blows the wall of Arkham Asylum allowing all it’s deranged ‘patients’ to escape. Bane uses this tactic to wear Batman down over the next 3 month as he tries to recapture Joker, Scarecrow, Two-Face and all the other inmates Bane let loose on Gotham. Having also worked out Bruce Wayne is Batman, Bane waits at Wayne Manor to confront an exhausted Batman, and in the ensuing fight breaks Batman’s back.
Another Batman villain?
Bane is a great choice for Nolan. He’s a major Batman enemy, but not too ‘out there’, and can be played with a similar level of realism as Scarecrow and Joker. It’ll be interesting to see how he handles the Venom side of the Bane’s character too.
What’s also intriguing about the image above is the white and red dots in the background… A hint at another villain maybe? The white dot looks suspiciously like an eye shape… Deadshot possibly? That could mean the Suicide Squad… What do you think? Any ideas, leave them in the comments!
The Dark Knight Rises is due in cinemas 20th July 2012, and I really really can’t wait!
DC Universe Online, in Film and on TV!
You may have noticed a slowdown in posting recently… Sorry about that, it’s mainly due to myself and D’s latest addiction, DC Universe Online (full review coming soon!). However, online isn’t the only place DC has been expanding to over recent weeks, so I though i’d do a quick roundup of the latest news from the world of DC.
DC Online
DC Universe Online
As i mentioned in the intro, DC Universe Online is our latest addiction. Due to 2010 being a pretty sucky year for MMOs, this is actually the first MMORPG both of us have really got into in about 18 months.
It’s usually a sign of a compelling MMO when you’ve sat down mid-afternoon to play for a bit, and then you think ‘i’m feeling a bit hungry, i’ll just get some food… why is it dark out… oh, it’s 7pm…’ 
We will be doing a full review of it soon, but so far it’s fair to say, being a superhero is a whole load of fun!
DC in Film
Tom Hardy will play Bane
There were a couple of announcement made last week regarding the new Batman movie – The Dark Knight Rises. We finally have a couple of villains, one of which I don’t think many people thought likely. Fresh from working with director Chris Nolan on the brilliant Inception, Tom Hardy has been cast as one of this chapters major villain, Bane. For those of you who aren’t up on your Bat history, Bane is a very intelligent criminal who gains superhuman strength from a drug called Venom. This enabled him to figure out Bruce was Batman and set in motion a plan which ended in him breaking Batman’s back. Bane is an intriguing choice for Nolan. It’ll be interesting to see how he plays with the comic book story and handles the Venom issue in the established ‘real world’ style setting of his movie Batman. Much as I would have loved to see Hush or Black Mask, he’s got me very interested to see what he’ll do with the character. It’s fair to say whatever Nolan does, he can’t treat the character any worse than than Joel Schumacher did in Batman & Robin…
The second bit of casting for Batman was Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle/Catwoman. Again an interesting choice in casting, and, although, like Joker, it’s a character that’s been used before, i’m really intrigued to see what they do with the character. The Dark Knight Rises is due in cinemas July 20th 2012.
DC on TV
New Wonder Woman TV Show
NBC has picked up a new Wonder Woman series! Written and developed by David E. Kelley (of Ally McBeal & Boston Legal fame). Not a whole lot is know about the show at the moment as it’s still in early development, although the rumours are circulating that they’re trying to land McG as the director for the pilot episode. Now, i know most of his films suck (Charlie’s Angels 1&2 and Terminator Salvation), his TV involvement has overall been pretty positive. He’s a producer on Supernatural, and produced and directed Chuck – 2 of my favourite TV shows, so I think this maybe a turn in the right direction. Although the synopsis of it which is “a vigilante crime fighter in L.A. but also a successful corporate executive and a modern woman trying to balance all of the elements of her extraordinary life” does have me slightly concerned it’s going to be less Wonder Woman and more Corporate Exec Woman given Kelly is writing it… We’ll just have to wait and see…
The Great Batman Movie Debate
The Great Batman Movie Debate
What better way to enjoy Gotham’s very own Dark Knight battling evil than on a big screen under the impressive vaulted ceiling of Islington’s Union Chapel.
The Great Batman Movie Debate Lineup
Last night Sky movies and Shortlist magazine invited GeekTown to be part of the debate as to which of the shortlisted ‘top four’ batman films is indeed the greatest. Chaired by Mark Dolan, arguments were put forward, some more convincingly than others, by Shortlist’s editor Terri White, Sky Movies ‘resident movie geek’ Josh Howie and two more who require little introduction, Dom Joly and Vic Reeves.
The evening began with a select crowd of fans enjoying some light refreshments in the chapel bar (!) before moving into the main hall for the debate. Some interesting insights into the top four: Batman (1989), Batman Returns, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight included the controversial casting of Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson’s Joker vs Heath Ledger’s and of course the state of Christian Bale’s larynx in Dark Night.
The Great Batman Movie Debate - On Stage
Having entered the debate fully intending to cast my vote in the direction of The Dark Knight I was genuinely swayed by Dom’s, all-be-it less than enthusiastic, argument that Batman begins is the only film that really explains to the novice what on Earth is going on! Personally I love that about Batman Begins, as well as the fact that you get two films rolled into one: the Shaolin-Monk-training academy escapade followed by the more familiar Gotham City night time punch up.
A short recess at the bar was followed by the announcement of the winning film, The Dark Knight, and then of course by the HD screening itself. I’ve seen the film in more comfortable seating and with less daylight in the theatre but the novelty of the surroundings more than made up for these small shortcomings. Now all that remains is for me to get very excited about the rumored next installment in Christopher Nolan series of frankly awesome Batman films.
Sky Movies Showcase/HD presents all 6 Batman movies together in HD for the first time on UK TV, pus several other comic book hero movies. Titles will feature in back-to-back slots from Monday 12th – Sunday 18th July on Sky Movies Showcase/HD (channels 303 and in HD on 314).
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DC Universe Online Confirmed for November
DC Universe Online
SOE (Sony Online Entertainment) have confirmed the release date for their upcoming MMORPG ‘DC Universe Online‘, and it’s set fly/super-jump onto PS3 and PC in November 2010.
DC Universe Online allows players to build their own custom superheroes (or villain) inside the DC universe, to work along side (or against) DC’s heroes like Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and many more. Gotham City and Metropolis are 2 confirmed locations, with many more places in DC’s world also being accessible.
As i’ve mentioned before on the blog, i’ve always been more a DC Comics fan than Marvel (who’s own MMO is stuck in development hell), so i’m so looking forward to this release. It’ll be interesting to see how (if at all) the game fits into DC continuity as, judging my the screenshots, it’ll be Bruce Wayne as Batman, rather than Dick Grayson (as it is in current continuity). DC are planning a 52 weekly comicbook called DC Universe: Legends to run along side the game.
For more information, see the DC Universe Online website.
Batman: Dead End
Andrew Koenig
As many of you will have heard, after having been missing for 2 week, the body of Andrew Koenig, son of Walter Koenig (Pavel Chekov in Star Trek), was recently found in Stanley Park in Vancouver. Sadly, it appears that he took his own life having been suffering from depression.
When twitter first starting going into overdrive with tweets of his disappearance, the name Andrew Koenig sounded familiar, so I did a bit of googling, and realised where I’d first heard it. Sandy Collora‘s brilliant 2003 fan film ‘Batman: Dead End‘, where Andrew put in a superb performance as Joker. As much as i loved Ledger and Nicholson’s versions of Joker in the movie versions, Andrew’s portrayal in Dead End is, by far, the truest to the actual comic books.
Batman: Dead End was made for $30,000, and shot in 4 days on 35mm as a director’s demonstration reel for Collora. He followed it up in 2004 with ‘World’s Finest‘, using most of the same cast and crew.
Batman: Dead End pre-dates Nolan’s ‘Batman Begins’ by 2 years, and at the time, the last thing we’d seen of Batman on screen was Clooney and O’Donnell haming it up in ‘Batman & Robin’. Collora was the first person to give us a gimse of the tone the movie franchise should have been taking.
Click the clip below to see Batman: Dead End in full.
Harvey Dent As Two-Face
No… not the bald guy on the left! Harvey’s the one with his back to the camera (boooo!) Still, it’s the first bit of footage of Harvey/Two Face actually moving about on screen, even if we don’t see much.
From the little you can see in the shadows, it’s looking like the photo that’s been floating around online of a fully deformed Harvey could be accurate (if you’ve not seen that photo, it’s available after the jump, so don’t click if you don’t want to see…)
