Batman: Alternate Title

[Too Much Fun]

I guess this is a somewhat silly idea for a thread, but I think we've had sillier ones here, so I'm gonna go for it. Since 2008, I've spent way too much time speculating about what the next Batman movie might be called. I can't really explain why, but I became obsessed with that. For the life of me, I couldn't imagine how the sequel to "The Dark Knight" would be titled. I thought "The Dark Knight" was such a perfect, yet simple title, the sequel had to be the same, but it was impossible to guess how a title with the same quality could be achieved. I feverishly speculated about that like it was my job.

Now that the real title has been announced (and is, in my opinion, shockingly uninspired), it seems all my brainstorming was for naught. Before I put that all behind me, however, I would like to get some feedback. So if you'll be kind enough to indulge me, I want to know if anybody here likes any possible title I came up with, and if so, why they prefer it over others. I know some of these are fairly ridiculous, but like I said, I spent a LOT of time coming up with them, so please, if you have to criticize, be gentle.

A few brief notes -

* The poll choices are in the order of which titles I liked most.

*I'm not completely serious about the last three. They're all just fun with puns and "Knight Moves" and "Knight and the City" are references to old movies. "Silent Knight" was the title of a planned silent episode of "Batman: The Animated Series" that never got made, so I can't take total credit for it. I still think it might make a nice movie title, cheesy as it sounds.

* "The Batman Legacy" is sort of a 'Bourne' reference. I think it would be a good title if not for the new Tron movie, the existence of which now makes it sound like a rip-off.

* The upcoming Woody Allen movie "Midnight in Paris" would make "Midnight in Gotham" sound like a rip-off too, but I couldn't resist including that choice anyway, because there was a period when I was really digging it as a possible title.

* I liked the idea of the title having something to do with a new, brighter day arriving (after what Harvey Dent said about "The dawn is coming"), but I don't think words like "twilight" or "dawn" can work now due to the "Twilight" movie series ruining them. Now they can't be in a movie title without one being reminded of it.

* Single word titles could also be preceded by "Batman:".

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Personally, I think they're all pretty terrible titles. I could see something with Gotham, but not really those ones. I also strongly dislike any of the ones with "Detective" in it.

 

[Too Much Fun]

Wow. I thought 'detective' being in there would be a no-brainer. If you're gonna go with another moniker for Batman (like "The Dark Knight"), I can't think of anything better. I don't like "The Caped Crusader" (which I know many people suggested). I know some of my titles are cheesy, but that's too cheesy even for me.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Yeah neither of the alternative titles suggested really get me excited. I really had no problem with "The Dark Knight Rises" and seeing as how Nolan uses his titles to fit with themes he's exploring within his films I'm quite content on the use of it.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Afraid I don't really care for any of them either. Something like The Batman would've worked for me. I have no problem with The Dark Knight Rises, even if it's not something I would've thought of.

 

[Agent Richard07]

Eventhough I didn't know what the third movie was going to be about, I thought that Gotham City was a nice title.

 

[iguana_tonante]

On a strict personal level, I would have liked The World's Greatest Detective and The Caped Crusader, but I recognize the first is too obscure for a flick, and the second is way too cheesy. I played with the idea of something like I Am the Night, or another famous Batman quote (no, not I'm the Goddamn Batman ). But more importantly, I'd like the title to be thematically linked to the movie: Batman Begins was ok, because well, we saw Batman's beginning, and it was similar to other historical titles like Batman Returns; The Dark Knight was perfect for the theme of the movie. I hope the new title, while I agree it's uninspired, will go well with the themes of the new movie.

 

[theenglish]

I always preferred that movies went with comic book titles: Uncanny X-Men, Spectacular Spider-Man, etc. But nobody has gone that route. Still I think that Gotham Nights or Knights would have been good.

 

[Too Much Fun]

I played with the idea of something like I Am the Night, or another famous Batman quote (no, not I'm the Goddamn Batman ). But more importantly, I'd like the title to be thematically linked to the movie:

I hope the new title, while I agree it's uninspired, will go well with the themes of the new movie.

I like "I Am the Night" too, but I thought it's best to avoid titles that were already used (it actually was an episode of "Batman: The Animated Series"). That's why I reject "Shadow of the Bat". It sounds cool, but to me it will always be Batgirl's origin story. I also agree that the new title could definitely be elevated by the movie, which could make it feel more natural and appropriate if the story is told well. I just don't like how it looks on paper.

And no matter what you spoil sports say, I'll always think "Escalation" is a great title. . I kinda wish it had been the title of the second movie to follow up what Gordon said at the end of "Batman Begins". Then the third one could be "The Dark Knight" and Bob's your uncle!

 

[Admiral_Young]

Personally I think the studios avoid using the comic book titles to attempt to distinguish their films from the books themselves. I too would have liked the Spider-Man movies to have been titled after it's comic book namesake but it's not really important. My own personal working title for Batman 3 was "Batman:Hunted Knight".

 

[Too Much Fun]

I also thought "hunt" would have been good in there somewhere. I just couldn't come up with anything better than "Manhunt in Gotham". Someone on another board suggested "Hunt the Dark Knight", but that sounded too long and clunky to me.

 

[Canadave]

Yeah, to be honest, I prefer The Dark Knight Rises to all of those. They just sound to cheesy for my tastes, I'm afraid.

 

[Admiral_Young]

"Hunt the Dark Knight" would be a great viral marketing ploy. I could see posters with the smashed Batsignal and the words Hunt the Dark Knight spray painted on the bottom.

 

[Starbreaker]

I don't like any of those titles either.

 

[TemporalFlux]

I'm stickin' with "Shadow of the Bat".

 

[Set Harth]

The title should be "Greased Wieners".

 

[Myasishchev]

On a strict personal level, I would have liked The World's Greatest Detective and The Caped Crusader, but I recognize the first is too obscure for a flick, and the second is way too cheesy. I played with the idea of something like I Am the Night, or another famous Batman quote (no, not I'm the Goddamn Batman ). But more importantly, I'd like the title to be thematically linked to the movie: Batman Begins was ok, because well, we saw Batman's beginning, and it was similar to other historical titles like Batman Returns; The Dark Knight was perfect for the theme of the movie. I hope the new title, while I agree it's uninspired, will go well with the themes of the new movie.

I'd go see The Goddamn Batman.

Anyway, I sort of like Batman Endures. The rest, not so much. (How about Batman Ends? A Christopher Nolan Bat-movie isn't terribly likely to have Darkseid in it, though, is it? )

 

[Too Much Fun]

Anyway, I sort of like Batman Endures. The rest, not so much. (How about Batman Ends? A Christopher Nolan Bat-movie isn't terribly likely to have Darkseid in it, though, is it? )

I actually thought of "Batman Ends", but I think the second one needed to be called "Batman Continues" for that to work. I'm surprised that these aren't going over very well. It's harder to come up with a title the public likes than I thought!

 

[Admiral_Young]

"Batman Concludes...For Now" LOL. I think Frank Miller would go so see "The God damned Batman".

 

[Mike Farley]

Batman Against The World Crime League.