3 TOS Actors in "Batman vs. Two-Face"

[Shatner_Fan]

Years ago, around the time of the first JJ flick, I was advocating that Paramount do a direct-to-video animated TOS movie featuring the voices of the surviving cast. It could have been brilliant and obviously it never happened, but at least my other favorite show, Batman, has been shown that love by Warner Bros.

Batman vs. Two-Face is the latest DC animated movie and the second set in the universe of the 1966 series. It features not only Adam West’s final performance as Batman, but The Shat as Harvey Dent/Two-Face – simply brilliant casting on the part of the producers, pitting the two greatest TV pop culture icons of the 60s against one another. In addition to Shatner, there are good roles for Julie Newmar (“Eleen” in Friday’s Child) and Lee Meriwether (“Losira” in That Which Survives). Amazing to have all these actors back together after 50 years! All are animated to look like they did in the 60s (in some scenes Dent looks a lot like Shatner in the TOS days), all sound great (I was especially impressed at how Meriwether was able to bring back the sexy voice of her younger self), and all have done promotional work in support of the movie. And for any Batman fans out there, without spoiling anything, the movie has a neat explanation for why both Newmar and Meriwether were Catwoman (Newmar in the series, Meriwether in the 1966 feature film).

And while I admit I thought there’d be more Star Trek in-jokes (I’m surprised the writers could resist with Shatner onboard!), I did spot one subtle one. In a fight scene, Two-Face brings Batman down with the good ol’ “double-fisted club” – of course, one of our favorite Captain Kirk fight moves! LOL

 

[johnnybear]

Apparently Clint Eastwood was earmarked for Two Face in the fourth season of Batman if it had continued I kid you not!
JB

 

[Christopher]

Apparently Clint Eastwood was earmarked for Two Face in the fourth season of Batman if it had continued I kid you not!
JB

Not exactly. Harlan Ellison pitched a Two-Face episode treatment to the show in 1966, during the development of the first season. It was rejected, apparently due to internal politics at ABC, and never actually went to script. Which means there never would've been any casting done for it, so it's unclear where the Clint Eastwood rumor came from. At most, he was one of several actors that the producers might've considered approaching for the role if the episode had gone forward. Producers often send around casting memos listing a bunch of people they might want to look at for a role, and my guess is that somebody found such a memo and Eastwood's name was the most famous one on it (in retrospect), so it was the only name that got attention called to it when the story was told decades after the fact, and that led to the misapprehension that Eastwood had actually been cast in the role.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

Not totally on topic, but my favorite Batman-Star Trek connection is Frank Gorshin, aka Bele, aka The Riddler.

 

[Kor]

And here I thought I had some vague childhood memories of Two-face actually being in the '66 series.

Perhaps my recollections were influenced by ST:TOS LTBYLB, as Batman and TOS were two of the shows I watched the most, and Frank Gorshin was a common link between the two.

Kor

 

[Spock's Barber]

False Face, played by Malachi Throne, was in the 1960's Batman tv series.

 

[Shatner_Fan]

Someone started a thread before covering all the guest actor crossovers between the shows. There were a lot. Janice Rand, Edith Keeler, Harry Mudd, Cyrano Jones, Samuel T. Cogley and more were on Batman. Batgirl, The Riddler and two Catwomen were on TOS, the list goes on and on.

I wish a few more had occurred. Vincent Price (Egghead), Roddy McDowall (Bookworm) or Victor Buono (King Tut) would have made excellent TOS guest stars. For that matter, I wish Boris Karloff, who wasn't on either show (though he was on The Wild, Wild West) had played a TOS or Batman villain!

 

[Christopher]

I think Roddy McDowall was considered for Trelane. That would've been awesome. And Vincent Price would've made a fantastic Klingon nemesis for Kirk. If Alan Dean Foster's 4th-season pitch that he eventually adapted into the latter 2/3 of Star Trek Log Seven had been made into an episode, Price would've made a great Commander Kumara (although I've always mentally cast Kumara with the voice of Jonathan Harris).

 

[Shatner_Fan]

I like the ideas for McDowall & Price. Either Price or Karloff also would have been great as Korob in Catspaw. But I think I would have most liked to see Karloff as Dr. Roger Korby in What Are Little Girls Made Of? Seeing him as a mad scientist creating artificial life would be just too good.

(Only thing is, they would have had to change the romance with Nurse Chapel aspect, as Karloff was a little old!)

 

[iliescu]

Three for two roles, should be good.

 

[johnnybear]

False Face, played by Malachi Throne, was in the 1960's Batman tv series.

I only found out recently that False Face was an actual Batman baddie from the comics and not one made up by the studio like Egg Head and King Tut!

JB

 

[Redfern]

Let's not forget David Gerrold's "dream casting" for Cyrano Jones, Boris Karloff. This version would have been more sympathetic, less shrewd, honestly trying to spread a bit of joy (think of an elderly person on a street corner offering kittens), never staying long enough in one place to realize just how out of hand and destructive the fuzz balls could get.