User blog:RoninTheMasterless/Off My Mind: The Batfleck Trilogy

According to many reports, the executives of Warner Brother gave Batman vs Superman a standing ovation, and were so blown away by Ben Affleck's portrayal of Batman, that they want to fast track a trilogy for him within ten years. I'm still skeptical of the opinons epoused by anyone affiliated with Warner Brothers (Green Lantern, Dark Knight Rises, Man of Steel), however they did also produce things like the other two-thirds of the Dark Knight Trilogy, Watchmen, etc, so I'll give it a chance. With this in mind, this Off My Mind will be my loosely mapped out Batfleck Trilogy.

#1: The Dark Knight Returns
Since the suit and basic premise of the character is taken from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, what better way to start off the trilogy than with an adaptation of it? In this adaptation, the Mutants are replaced by two warring factions: Anarky and his followers, and Deacon Blackfire and his disciples. Unlike the comic, Gordon will also be the Commisioner in this film, however, he is getting older and is clearly on his last legs. The goal of this film is actually the opposite of the comic in many ways, as Bruce is much older in the comic, and he was going to have to go underground like he did eventually. In the film, Bruce is "back" and better than ever, ready to give Gotham the only legend it needs. I would like the film to open with Batman tracking down one of his former Rogues, much like the comic and animated film does with Two-Face, but I'm leaning on either the Riddler (With Enigma and Conundrum), Firefly, Victor Zsasz, or Maxie Zeus. Whoever that Rogue will be, they'll be caught without anyone knowing it was Batman, but rumors will fly. Bruce realizes his city is being torn apart by crime, and Jason would not have wanted Bruce to stop being Batman when he could be helping the city, so he dons the suit and hits the streets, determined to make the streets safe again. Most of this movie will be spent examining the different motives of Anarky and Blackfire, as we all know Bruce's motivation, and it won't take much screentime to get to the heart of why he hung up the cowl, and we he started being Batman again, especially in the wake of Batman vs Superman.

Cast

 * Ben Affleck - Bruce Wayne / Batman
 * Jeremy Irons - Alfred Pennyworth
 * Bryan Cranston - Commissioner James Gordon
 * Alexander Ludwig - Lonnie Machin / Anarky
 * Scott Glenn? - "Deacon" Joseph Blackfire
 * Antje Traue - Selina Kyle / Catwoman

#2: Under the Red Hood
Months after The Dark Knight Returns, Bruce has the time to follow a lead from Batman v Superman: the newspaper clipping with "YOU LET YOUR FAMILY DIE." written in red. While many have assumed Joker somehow knows about Bruce's identity, I think it's actually Jason Todd giving his former father figure a twisted "fair warning" of his return. This movie will almost exclusively be from Jason's perspective, with Batfleck scenes being devoted to trying to figure out who this guy is, and flashing back to moments with Jason, as many of the things Red Hood says when they fight throughout the movie. The film will open very similar to the animated film, with a montage of moments when Jason was adopted and Robin, but it will most likely serve as the credit opening, and it will include seconds of Jason's upbringing, Jason stealing wheels off of Bruce Wayne's car, moving into the manor, training, becoming Robin, growing as Robin, friction with Batman, the infamous outing with the rapist diplomat (he does not kill him in this canon, I know it's ambiguous with it being likely that Jason killed him), monitor duty, finding his mother, then the full beating scene and protecting his mother. Flash forward years later to Bruce reading the paper clipping.

Cast

 * Ben Affleck - Bruce Wayne / Batman
 * Jeremy Irons - Alfred Pennyworth
 * Garrett Hedlund or Jake Gyllenhaal - Jason Todd / Red Hood
 * Asa Butterfield? - Jason Todd / Robin
 * Andrew Garfield or Richard Madden - Richard Grayson / Nightwing

Batman Beyond
More of a fantasy than an actual desire to see is this Batman Beyond. Taron Egerton stars as Terry McGinnis, need I say any more?

Batfleck Oneshots
One of the biggest, if not the biggest talking points for this new Batman, is that they want to honor the source material it came from. One of the most iconic depections of Batman is the animated series helmed by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini. The goal of the oneshots is to get 15 - 40 minutes episodes, similar to the MCU Oneshots, which add more stories to the overall canon, without making too many feature films or adding too many subplots in one film.