DC News: DCFanDome Event for August, Michael Keaton is Back and more

Yeah, I am really trying to hold off on the DC stuff with this blog (no, really, I am) and I was going to wait until a couple of weeks but too much stuff has come out that needs to be talked about, so let's get on with it, shall we?

The biggest headline first would be the fact that Michael Keaton is coming back to the DC universe. Yup, while he might have been playing Vulture in the MCU (as well as upcoming Morbius movie for Sony), he's also in talks to reprise his role of Bruce Wayne for the upcoming movie, The Flash, which will take on the Multiverse and a certain classic comic book as Ezra Miller's Barry Allen tries to prevent his mother's death and winds up creating another universe where Keaton's much older Bruce Wayne appears. To say I didn't see this development coming would be an understatement of the highest order.

After years of development hell, The Flash is finally coming to the big screen and while there were rumours before that Jeffrey Dean Morgan was going to play the Thomas Wayne version of Batman, it's now good as confirmed that Keaton will be an older Bruce Wayne, serving as a mentor to superheroes and may be popping up in other movies as well. This movie, written by Birds Of Prey Christina Hodson and directed by IT's Andy Muschietti is also rumored to be featuring Ray Fisher's Cyborg and a potentially recast Iris West. It also seems for now that Ezra Miller will remain in the lead role (despite an incident earlier in the year) but seeing as we're delving into the Multiverse, maybe there's a chance for a Grant Gustin cameo too? After all, we did see Ezra pop up earlier this year in Crisis On Infinite Earths for the Arrowverse, so why the hell not?

However with the arrival of Keaton's older Bruce for The Flash and fans getting the chance to see Ben Affleck in Zack Snyder's Justice League, the question remains - where does that leave Robert Pattinson? Right now, it seems that Pattinson and Matt Reeves The Batman will be in it's own universe and not affected by anything but seeing as we're in the Multiverse now, I wouldn't rule out Robert's Batman popping up at some point. Either way, it's all good and in better news, The Batman will now resume filming from July 6th, so some new information will be forthcoming in the next few weeks.

In further exciting news - if you haven't already, then mark August 22nd from 10am onwards in your diaries. On that day, we will get DCFanDome - a 24 hour event that will have many live panels for virtually every upcoming DCEU movie and current TV/streaming series as well as news on upcoming comics and games. There's even a site set up so fans can get creative with their fandoms and explore plenty of virtual content on the day itself. Needless to say, this event will generate a few blogs as I'll do my best to cover all the big hitting moments.

On a sad note, it was also announced yesterday that Joel Schumacher passed away at the age of 80. The director who had quite an amazing career with movies like The Lost Boys, The Client, Phone Booth and also his involvement with the Caped Crusader with the likes of Batman Forever and Batman & Robin left an amazing impression on Hollywood with many people who worked with him in the past speaking out about his passing.

Michael Keaton News: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/video/michael-keaton-talks-reprise-batman-role-hamilton-trailer-more-thr-news-1299746
Joel Schumacher: https://entertainment.ie/cinema/movie-news/joel-schumacher-tributes-456036/
DCFanDome Site: https://dcfandome.talenthouse.com/

The Flash will begin filming in the first quarter of 2021 with a June 3rd 2022 release date. The Batman will now be released on October 1st 2021 and DCFanDome will stream from August 22nd online from 10am.

My Review of Batman Returns (1992)

Written by Sam Hamm And Daniel Walters
Directed by Tim Burton

Batman: "Mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it."
Catwoman: "But a kiss can be even deadlier if you mean it. You're the second man who killed me this week, but I've got seven lives left."

My favourite film. I could pretty end this review with those three words alone but I won't. Now I loved the first Burton movie and enjoyed at least one of the Schumacher ones (while being extremely disappointed in the second one) but out of anything Bat related, this is by far the best movie.

The reasons vary for me as to why I love this movie in particular. The Christmas/snowy backdrop certainly plays a role into my love for the movie, the even darker tone is another reason but more to the point, I just think all of the villains in this one really click and there's pretty much three of them.

As corrupt businessman Max Schreck, Christopher Walken could've easily found himself playing an unengaging character but within this movie he managed to be truly repellent and hold his own against the other two main antagonists as well as the man known as Batman/Bruce Wayne. Because of this, his eventual demise in the movie was all the more satisfying to watch.

Then there's the Penguin. Danny DeVito certainly had a mountain to climb after Nicholson's performance as The Joker in the previous movie but I actually think he managed to turn in a far more compelling performance as both the tragic and downright sinister Oswald Cobblepot. I spent a great deal of this movie grudgingly admiring his scheming towards trying to become the Mayor of Gotham and ruining Batman's reputation and actually felt bad for him when it eventually went wrong and he died.

However the best performance in the entire movie was of course Michelle Pfeiffer. Whether it was as the rather volatile version of Catwoman or the more tragic like elements of Selina Kyle, Pfeiffer's take on both characters and the transition from Kyle to Catwoman remains one of the best moments from the entire movie.

I liked the more darker and animalistic side we saw with the character and Pfeiffer's chemistry with Keaton was electrifying throughout the entire movie. It's a shame that Catwoman didn't succumb to the idea of living in a fairytale with Bruce Wayne or that she didn't appear in subsequent movies but it's hard to deny that Pfeiffer's take on the role was nothing short of memorable.

As for Keaton, much as I loved him in the first movie, I actually do think this movie was his best performance as the Caped Crusader. He certainly nailed the roles of Bruce and Batman even better second time around and again, it was a shame that he didn't continue for the following two movies.

- I love the fact that the movie was largely set during Christmas even though it was released during the summer of 1992.
- A lot Penguin's minions though seemed to be styled in a way you would imagine The Joker would've had his to be honest.
- This movie came out the same year as Batman: The Animated Series debuted on US television.
- I also think this movie along with Schumacher's only contributions probably had the most overt sexual overtones as well. That's not a criticism, just an observation.

Dark, thrilling, filled with delicious quotes and iconic moments and imagery, this is by far (in my opinion) the best movie I've seen in relation to the Dark Knight. Also, going by my earlier comments in this review, Batman Returns would also be my favourite movie of all time as well.

Rating: 10 out of 10