Son of Batman and Batman: Assault on Arkham (DC animated movies)

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

The slate of DC animated movies for 2014 was announced at Comic-Con. In addition to the previously-announced Justice League: War, which will be released in early 2014, the slate will consist of Son of Batman, likely based on Grant Morrison's "Batman and Son" story arc, which will be released in summer 2014, and Batman: Assault on Arkham, said to be based on the Arkham video games, which will be released in fall 2014.

 

[Hound of UIster]

That is terrible. Even Morrison admitted Batman & Son wasn't up to his usual standards.

 

[Mr Light]

Justice League War: should be cool

Batman and Son: awesome!

Batman Arkham: um. a movie based on a video game? that worries me. I only played the first few hours of the first game. does it have an actual story? I know it's by Paul Dini.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Batman Arkham: um. a movie based on a video game? that worries me. I only played the first few hours of the first game. does it have an actual story? I know it's by Paul Dini.

I think it's more a case of being set in the world of the video games, and using the designs of the games, rather than an actual adaptation of the storylines.

 

[Christopher]

Hmm, they're focusing much too heavily on what's current. I thought that when James Tucker took over as producer of the line, he said they'd be doing a broader, more eclectic mix of projects including both adaptations and original works. What we're getting so far is pretty much the opposite of that -- still just Superman, Batman, and Justice League, all adaptations, and heavily focused on the recent stuff. I don't appreciate the bait-and-switch.

Also, Wikipedia says that the "Batman & Son" story arc was the beginning of Morrison's Batman run as well as the introduction of Damian Wayne. It makes me wonder if the plan is to do a series of Morrison adaptations covering the high points of his run on the series.

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

Also, Wikipedia says that the "Batman & Son" story arc was the beginning of Morrison's Batman run as well as the introduction of Damian Wayne. It makes me wonder if the plan is to do a series of Morrison adaptations covering the high points of his run on the series.

please Please PLEASE let this ^ NOT be the plan. Morrison's Batman run becomes increasingly uneven and incoherent as it progresses.

As Christopher suggested in another thread, I would much prefer a wrap-up movie for Young Justice. Or maybe just some wholly original stories written just for the animated movies. They seem to have a pretty talented crew working on these movies: unleash them from the boundaries of this comic issue or that story arc, and really let them run with an idea.

 

[Christopher]

please Please PLEASE let this ^ NOT be the plan. Morrison's Batman run becomes increasingly uneven and incoherent as it progresses.

Well, as I mentioned in another thread, adaptations allow you to streamline and distill the best parts of an original work that was more uneven. For instance, the '90s animated Spider-Man series handled the alien costume saga and the emergence of Venom far more cohesively than the original comics that were kind of making stuff up as they went and retconning things into the story after the fact.

Still, if that is the direction they're going, I'm not crazy about it. I'd like to see more originals and more focus on stories that have stood the test of time and earned adaptations, as opposed to just stuff that's recent and prominent.

 

[JD]

I'm still looking forward to the movies since I've enjoyed their others, but at the same time I really wish they would do more characters, and original stories. The two Green Lantern movies, and the Wonder Woman movie were great, and they were both original stories and heroes other than Superman or Batman. Apparently Flashpoint Paradox does focus pretty heavily on Flash, so maybe we can at least get some JL movies that focus on characters other than The Big Two.

 

[Dick Whitman]

There is nothing of interest to me in that announcement. Perhaps these were in development before Tucker took control?????? I hope so....

 

[davejames]

^ Same here. I'm a huge DC guy, but these animated movies just aren't interesting me much anymore. Batman: Year One was probably the last one I really liked.

 

[Christopher]

I felt Superman: Unbound was a good debut for Tucker as the producer of the DVD line.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I also liked Unbound more than I expected.

Its interesting even though these things are not in continuity with each other, there is a character progression in common.

Supergirl was introduced in Apocalypse and than appeared here. Lois knew Clark's identity in The Elite movie and than became engaged in Unbound.

 

[Christopher]

^Interesting observation. I wonder how well these various movies could fit together continuity-wise despite the different casts and character designs. Which ones have overt inconsistencies between them and which don't?

 

[Dick Whitman]

It seems that Lois & Clark's relationship is partially based on what it was in the comics of the time. At least the sense of her being in on the secret. I suspect they kept that for having an new angle to explore in the little time they have. Superman : The Animated Series and JLU never explored it.

I think most of the movies could fit into the same continuity. Any that where based on stories in the shared pre-52 DC Universe. Different comics have very different art styles from title to title and are still meant to be in the same universe. Heck the character designs are vastly different within the same title when a new artist comes on board

 

[Christopher]

^Most of these movies are direct or approximate adaptations of actual storylines from the comics, so they reflect the state of affairs in the stories they're adapting (although maybe "affairs" is the wrong word to use when talking about a couple's marital status). That in itself no doubt contributes to the appearance of continuity, even if the filmmakers aren't intentionally keeping the movies mutually consistent.

 

[kirk55555]

I'm a huge fan of the DC Direct line, so I'm excited for these. The only DC direct movie I didn't like that wasn't an adaptation of a pre-existing story I disliked was Batman: Gotham Knights. Besides that, I only dislike Batman: Year One and The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 & 2. The rest range from good to amazing, so any DC direct animation announcements interest me. I'm not that excited for War because Justice League is DC's worst ongoing comic right now and its opening arc was bad (and several issues too long). But, I loved the arkham games so I'm excited for that, and I liked the storyline that introduced damien well enough in the comics.

I'm just wondering what the casts will be. I'd bet good money that Kevin Conroy is atleast doing Arkham, since he voiced Batman in the Arkham games. I'd hope he does JL War and Son of Batman as well, but I'm guessing atleast one, if not both, of those will have different Batman voices. I always want Conroy to voice Batman, but DC has done a decent job with other guys when they don't get Conroy. Honestly I hope War has completely different voice actors, since I wouldn't want to hear any of the classic voices acting out that bad JL story. Son of Batman I'd hope gets Conroy, but if nothing else I hope Damien gets a good voice actor.

 

[Mr Light]

On a semi-related subject, Target is having a sale on DC DVDs this week. I got Wonder Woman for $5.

 

[JD]

Cool. Is it a company wide thing, or just a store thing?

 

[Mr Light]

All Targets have the same sales as far as I know

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

From World's Finest:

The World’s Finest has received confirmation that Son of Batman, currently scheduled for a Summer 2014 release, will adapt the Grant Morrison “Batman and Son” storyline from the Batman comic title published by DC Comics. The film is currently in production. No cast and crew details are available as of yet, but are expected to be announced in late 2013/early 2014.

Additionally, it has been confirmed that Batman: Assault on Arkham animated feature will take place in the same world and continuity as the popular Batman: Arkham video game series. The feature will be based on the world established by the acclaimed video game franchise, with some talent involved with those games slated to be part of the Batman: Assault on Arkham animated feature. It has also been confirmed the game will not be made up of footage from the games, but fresh animation. The title is expected for a Fall 2014 release as an extension of the growing brand.

Additionally, The World’s Finest received confirmation that voice recording for the first title in the 2015 line-up of DC Universe Animated Original Movies titles is currently underway.