Amidst all the Dark Knight Returns hoopla, I thought I’d share some other news from the world of hardboiled superheroes. Here’s a teaser from the upcoming Cartoon Network series Beware the Batman. Part of the beauty of Batman is the myriad of different takes on the character—from Frank Miller’s damn-near psychopathic All-Star Batman to Adam West’s loopy Caped Crusader. After the relatively campy (but damn good) Batman: The Brave and the Bold, the next cartoon looks to be darker—perhaps in the vein of the masterful Batman: The Animated Series. Alas, it does not look like Beware the Batman will share the classic animation and art deco stylings of Batman: TAS. But there may be other noirish elements, so stay tuned!
In the mean time, I eagerly await The Dark Knight Returns.But the teasers and trailers prior to this week’s have mostly just shown explosions and glowering. And we all know Christopher Nolan is a genius because there is more to his movies than that. I’ve no doubt TDKR will be brilliant, but I refuse to get excited until the trailers give some semblance of a plot. Nolan has produced some of the finest neo-noirs and noir-inspired blockbusters I have ever seen. That’s what excites me about TDKR. But not what the manufacturers of trailers choose to emphasize. So I’m saving my excitement for the movie.
