Hey, guys! (I really need to update this more)

(The following section contains spoilers for "The Dark Knight," the newest Batman movie currently in theatres, directed by Christopher Nolan and featuring Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne/Batman, Heath Ledger (R.I.P.) (The Joker), Gary Oldman (Lieutenant James Gordon), Morgan Freeman AKA God (Lucius Fox), Michael Caine (Alfred Pennysworth), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Rachel Dawes) and Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent/Two-Face)).

WOW. Just wow. BEST. MOVIE. OF. THE. YEAR. My new third favorite movie (after Kill Bill and Sin City of course). Christopher Nolan turned Gotham City into a crime-riddled Chicago, and I couldn't be happier. It definitely felt like a Batman out of the 1940s, back when the Joker first appeared as a homicidal criminal.

SPEAKING of the Joker, oh my. FORGET Jack Nicholson. FORGET Mark Hamill. Heath Ledger IS the Joker, now and forever. It will be damn near impossible to recast him now. The Joker was the greatest anarchist I've ever seen (V from Vendetta could jot down a few notes from that). His sickly Glasgow smile (the "ear to ear" scar across the mouth), patchwork suit and almost diseased make-up was a very different take on the bleached chemically insane Joker of comics past. He's also a magician (YOU REMEMBER.) He makes a great nurse too (YOU REMEMBER THAT TOO.)

Lt./Commissioner Gordon, played by Gary Oldman, was much more utilized than in Begins in 2005, and you definitely felt bad for him near the end. He's also pretty handy with a shotgun, if I do say so myself.

Christian Bale's Batman was definitely badass, to say the least, and I like his new suit design. I dunno why the first four movies never thought to give Batman a cowl to turn his head...-_- Also, his raspy voice got me thinking...maybe this is a sequel to Mortal Kombat vs. DC...and maybe he ends up EATING Scorpion in that game, since his voice sounds raspy enough to very well be Scorpion ^-^

Aaron Eckhart FIXED Two-Face! (Tommy Lee Jones pretty much killed him...he was TERRIBLE) Harvey Dent was kind of corny for a bit, but for the most part, you cheer him on. When he captures those 500+ criminals, I said to myself..."Phoenix Wright couldn't do THAT, could he?" lol. His face was really well done, he made you sick looking at it.

All in all, it was a great movie, and likely can't be duplicated. It does make me wonder what they'll do for the sequel. I've written up some ideas of what I think would be cool ideas:

Here's 2 scenarios (how likely I think they might be, followed by what villains I'd like to see), with two main villains a piece (I expect there to be two main villains, as the pattern may continue):

1. Talia al Ghul & the Riddler: Avenging her father's death, she enters Gotham, heading the League of Assassins (which works well with the mob scene Nolan seems to be trying to do). The GCPD is having trouble tracking down the Batman, and is getting desperate for help. Enter Edward Nygma, well known for his crime-solving capabilities. The Riddler helps Gotham track down Batman, but also manages to have his own evil agenda at the same time.

2. Two-Face & Catwoman: Just as "Batman: The Long Halloween" loosely inspired "The Dark Knight," its follow-up, "Batman: Dark Victory" can loosely inspire the eventual Batman 3 (or perhaps a Batman 4?). Due to Nolan's refusal to use Robin (which I can agree with), more emphasis can be put into the creation of Catwoman, who can serve as a love interest as both Selina Kyle to Bruce Wayne & as Catwoman to Batman. During the credits roll (in a similar fashion to the 2008 Incredible Hulk movie), we see the cat-affectionate prostitute Selina Kyle admire the Dark Knight, as she follows his stories, and thus decides to become a vigilante much like him, although she resorts to stealing instead. Two-Face turns to the criminal underworld, and gets into a turf war with the new head of the Falcone family, Sofia Falcone. In hopes of getting a foothold into the crimeworld, he enlists in the help of some of Gotham villains from Batman's rogues gallery, such as Scarecrow, Victor Zsasz, Mad Hatter, Killer Croc (all mentioned within the Nolanized Batman canon as well as the Gotham Knight series of shorts) etc., in a similar fashion when Sal Maroni and the other mafia bosses had to enlist in the Joker's help in The Dark Knight. Approximately half-way in, Catwoman begins to realize that she may be the illegitimate daughter of crime boss Carmine Falcone. Catwoman then must make a choice, between her love of Batman, or the family business, in hopes to take out Two-Face's gang of misfits. The GCPD realize they have made a mistake, and enlist in Batman's help once again. Noticing Batman taking charge, Catwoman turns face and helps him take out the crime in Gotham. Two-Face is locked away in Arkham with the other Gotham villains, where they meet Joker, poised to help them break out and raise some hell for a Batman 4. Batman is brought back to the public's eye as a force of good. Catwoman escapes arrest.

OK, let's say this is how it happens. Batman "3" would encompass the Talia & Riddler storyline. The trilogy can end on a nice note there. Should Nolan decide to take Batman past the trilogy, the Two-Face & Catwoman storyline would work there, setting up for the climactic return of the Joker in a Batman 4.

If neither of these happens, I'd love to see (as main villains):

1. Bane: Nolan seems like he could be the type to fix what Schumacher destroyed. Bane would break out a bunch of criminals, and then weaken Batman by breaking his back. This would come from the KnightWatch storyline. The only problem is that Azrael would have to have been introduced prior, and that's where Bane's storyline might not work as Batman 3, since Azrael takes Batman's place as a new Batman, but then begins to kill criminals, and Bruce Wayne needs to step in to stop it.

2. Mr Freeze: Mr. Freeze seems better handled to have a movie more for himself than hogging the limelight with Poison Ivy (which Schumacher did terribly). Simply use his storyline from the animated series episode "Heart of Ice," by stealing money to find a cure for his wife. The whole ice thing doesn't really make a lot of sense in Nolan's crime-riddled Gotham though (more focused on crime than superheroics).

3. Poison Ivy: She doesn't belong w/ Freeze (Schumacher's a moron). Also, I can't really think of a great story for Ivy that doesn't involve her ability to control plants. But I would like to see Nolan's take on her.

4. Ventriloquist: Ventriloquist would be a pretty interesting side-villain, what with the mobster appeal that his puppet Scarface seems to have. I don't think he'll ever be the main villain though.

5. Firefly: A pyromaniac would make for a nice touch of crazy in the Nolan-Batman universe. He's kind of minor for a main villain.

6. Harley Quinn: IF and only IF they recast the Joker. It woulda been nice if they made it so Harleen Quinzell was mentioned in the Dark Knight to make sense, but w/e.

CASTING CHOICES!!!:
-Talia al Ghul: Either Monica Bellucci or Kelly Hu
-Riddler: Kevin Spacey (it'd be cool, admit it!), John C. McGinley (Dr. Cox on Scrubs), Michael Emerson (Zepp from SAW, Ben Linus on Lost), Marilyn Manson (if they decide to go with something similar to the Batman cartoon from the mid-2000's)
-Two-Face: Aaron Eckhart again
-Catwoman: Charlize Theron? (Not sure here...we don't even know IF Catwoman's a candidate...)
-Bane: The Rock? (You need a big guy who's intelligent-sounding, and all you really need is a mask)
-Mr. Freeze: Tobin Bell
-Poison Ivy: Isla Fisher? (I haven't seen her in a dramatic role, so I'm not TOO sure, but she looks the part)
-Ventriloquist: Larry David (creator of Seinfeld, star of Curb Your Enthusiasm, he looks PERFECT)
-Firefly: No clue.
-Harley Quinn: Ellen Page (I for one think she would be an amazing Harley Quinn )


So that's my Batman rant. Haven't been this excited over Batman since Batman & Robin (what a naive young boy I was back then -_-). I never realized how cool they made Batman & his rogues gallery until much recently. I've been experimenting a crossover of sorts:

METAL GEAR SOLID meets GOTHAM CITY! (aw yeah)

Aw yeah. I'm still working on it, but it's essentially set where the Shadow Moses Incident WOULD be, except FOXHOUND has taken over Gotham City, and neither the rogues gallery, nor Batman, nor Solid Snake will let this happen. Batman will end up fighting FOXHOUND guys, Solid Snake will fight Gotham villains, it'll be real cool. In fact, I might even make Com. Gordon & Lucius Fox Snake's codec team

I've batted a number of other ideas around, such as a steampunk set Zelda set in the late 19th century (a sequel LONG after Zelda II), a Wild West/steampunk Batman (which probably has been ddone), Megaman meets Batman (eh), among other things. I think MGS: Gotham might be the best out of these. I'll tinker with it, and make character designs and such to see what'll happen.

I'm also working on a Heath Ledgerized Joker piece for my art portfolio. It'll probably be in oil paint, I think.

Clubs: