batman

We’re still reeling from the loss of Adam West, TV’s original Batman and “Bright Knight” icon of superhero fans. The actor lost a battle with leukemia this weekend, and now Batman co-stars Julie Newmar and Burt Ward weigh in, along with Family Guy producers and many more.

My 18-month-old daughter is suddenly very into superheroes. Every night before bed we do story time; this week she’s become obsessed with a board book called My First Batman Book. Since she likes when I sing the words of her books to her, I naturally began singing the theme to the classic 1960s Batman as part of our nightly ritual. And she liked that so much that this morning, for the very first time, I showed her the old show’s opening credits.

We’ve lost one of comic and TV culture’s most enduring favorites, as original Batman star Adam West has passed away. The smooth-voiced star became iconic for his portrayal of the ‘60s Caped Crusader, earning a place in the pop culture pantheon over the decades.

If you’ve seen a Batman movie, you can tell that rubber suit is heavy. It’s obvious by the way the actors lumber around in that thing. But did you know that George Clooney’s Bat-suit in Batman & Robin weighed 90 pounds? The cape alone tipped the scales at 40 pounds. The thing was so hard to get in and out of that George Clooney urinated inside it on more than one occasion when nature called. Holy incontinence, Batman! That’s just one of the facts that’s guaranteed not to piss you off in the newest episode of You Think You Know Movies!

Someone light the Batsignal again, it looks like The Batman is in need of another new director. A week after he was tapped to helm Ben Affleck’s solo Batman movie, Matt Reeves wants out. He’s exited the talks and is hard at work on post-production on War for the Planet of the Apes.

Like any job, writing about the latest news in the world of entertainment can wear on you after long enough, so you gotta appreciate the little pearls of amusement where you can get them. Personally, watching the latest solo Batman project fall apart in slow motion has been a perverse thrill over the past couple of months: star Ben Affleck was gonna direct (maybe) the film titled The Batman, then he was definitely gonna direct it, then he backpedaled a little bit, then he requested that people stop asking him about it, then he face-planted onto the sidewalk with the costly flop Live By Night, and then look at that, he wasn’t taking the director’s chair after all. The indignities kept coming, as Warner Bros. ordered sweeping rewrites to this floundering project before landing Planet of the Apes remake maestro Matt Reeves to fill the directorial vacuum.

Have you ever seen those movie ads on TV filled with gushing quotes from critics and thought to yourself, “I saw that movie; it was terrible. Where did they find these positive reviews?” If you have, you’re not alone — and you’re going to love ScreenCrush’s newest series, Critics Are Raving!, which balances the cinematic scales with trailers full of slightly more accurate (and slightly more negative) lines from reviews. Real critics. Real quotes. Really bad movies. That’s what’s Critics Are Raving! is all about.

In the tradition of ScreenCrush series like You Think You Know Movies and You Think You Know TV comes a new YouTube series: Top Five! Every two weeks (or so; we’ve got a lot of other stuff going on), ScreenCrush editor and critic Matt Singer will count down a particular topic from the world of movies (and probably write these introductory posts in the third person).

Remember that part in The Dark Knight when the Batman knock-offs all pop up in the multi-level parking garage to help the Caped Crusader dispose of some European gangsters, but they just end up getting in the way? They tell the Batman that they were just trying to help, and Wayne chides them for facing men with guns while wearing hockey pants. This may ring some bells for you, but Stephen Lawrence, the subject of the curious new documentary short Being Batman, has evidently forgotten that brief bit. (I’d guess he’s also glossed over the part in The Killing Joke wherein writer Alan Moore suggests that a man would have to be insane to dress up as a bat and fight crime at night.)

If Gotham’s Joker-heavy “Gentle Art of Making Enemies” serves as any kind of reminder, it’s that the FOX drama will often rise as close as it can to costumed Batman villains without taking the plunge. That said, one of its most enduring creations may finally suit up, as Cory Michael Smith’s Edward Nygma appears to become a costumed Riddler in the April return trailer.

There seems to be a bit of conflicting information regarding Ben Affleck’s standalone Batman movie: Last week, Zack Snyder set his next directing project as WB pushed back the release of Justice League 2, reportedly to make room for the Batman movie. Earlier this week, Affleck said he’s taking his time with the project and making sure the script, which he’s co-writing with Geoff Johns, is right before heading into production. But now, Affleck has confirmed that his Batman film will shoot next spring, while WB president Greg Silverman says it’s on track for a 2018 release.

Though he might not get the headlines like Joker or invite as much interest as Catwoman, Mr. Freeze is easily one of Batman's most fascinating rogues. The character's been the focus of some of the best episodes of the animated series, at the center of some of the best video game missions, and has had some rather amazing designs over the years. With its latest Batman: Rogues Gallery figure, Square Enix turns its eyes to the often overlooked villain, and gives him a new look that's quite remarkable.