|
Post by /\/\att on Sept 17, 2007 9:10:33 GMT -5
Standing tall after claiming its fourth Daytime Emmy Award, ³The Batman² will set the bar even higher as it steps up the action in its new fifth season with the much-anticipated introduction of the Justice League, an array of new and/or improved villains, a sparkling arsenal of breakthrough technological support, and a voice cast packed with actors from feature films and primetime television, not to mention some of the finest voice performers on the planet. "The Batman" premieres September 22 at 11:30 a.m. ET/PT as part of the Kids' WB! Lineup on The CW Network. Entitled "The Batman/Superman Story," the two-part season premiere (the finale airing on Sept. 29) finds Lex Luthor joining forces with Gotham City's rogues gallery to finally defeat the Man of Steel -- but he doesn't count on Batman and Robin coming to the rescue. When we last left Batman, the Martian Manhunter had just proposed the Dark Knight join the ranks of the Justice League. It doesn¹t take long to learn Batman¹s answer as Superman sparks a ³World¹s Finest² tale in the thrilling, two-part season opener. Over the course of the new season, several of the Justice League¹s key players Green Lantern, The Flash, Green Arrow, Hawkman and Martain Manhunter will stand cape-to-cape with Batman in defense of Gotham City Š and beyond. Last season¹s character arc gave Batman greater insight into the virtues of teamwork, and he¹ll continue to embrace the contributions of Robin and Batgirl, as well as occasional help from Lucius Fox and Nightwing. This is truly a season of team-ups, whether it be Batman and his trusted family, or the Dark Knight uniting with fellow members of the Justice League. Of course, the JL heroes and their new recruit won¹t be alone in their pursuit of villainy they¹ll be well-armed by the Batman¹s never-ending array of technological wonders. ³Shadow-Tek² takes center-stage throughout the 2007-08 campaign, bringing a new level of ³Oh, I want that² wishes in living rooms across the land. It¹s like Christmas came to the Batcave during the offseason as the ³toys² roll out of Batman¹s significant arsenal, ranging from an all-new Batarang, to jet packs, to an incredible criminal assault suit. Every hero is only as good as his opposition is evil and Gotham never runs out of baddies. The usual suspects return with nefarious new schemes and more sophisticated gadgetry as the Joker, Penguin, Harley Quinn and Mr. Freeze are joined in their quest to rid Gotham of any nocturnal winged creatures by the likes of Sinestro, Black Mask, Scarface, Count Vertigo, Toyman, Mirror Master, Metallo,Clayface, Mercy and a new, improved Firefly-turned-Phosphorus. Lex Luthor even makes an appearance in NYC¹s alter-ego, enlisting Poison Ivy and her enchanting spores to turn Superman against Batman. Speaking of alter-egos, every great animated character is backed by an outstanding voice and this season¹s Batman cast rivals all others. Veteran voice actor Rino Romano returns as the pipes of the Caped Crusader, and his supporting cast includes stars from every corner of the entertainment spectrum. Feature film actors Louis Gossett Jr. (³An Officer and a Gentleman²), George Newbern (³Father of the Bride²), Dorian Harewood (³Full Metal Jacket²) and Daryl Sabara (³Spy Kids²) fill several key roles. Primetime television provides a host of voices including Dana Delaney (³China Beach²), Clancy Brown (³Carnivale²), James Remar (³Dexter²), Miguel Ferrer (³Crossing Jordan²), Gwendoline Yeo (³Desperate Housewives²), Jerry O¹Connell (³Crossing Jordan²), Peter MacNichol (³24²), John Laroquette (³Night Court²), Patton Oswalt (³The King of Queens²), Mitch Pileggi (³The X-Files²), Diedrich Bader (³The Drew Carey Show²) and Chris Hardwick (³Singled Out²). And Hollywood¹s esteemed voice acting community is well represented by some of the finest in the business, ranging from Dan Castellaneta, Kevin Michael Richardson, Grey Delisle and Tom Kenny to Hynden Walch, Jason Marsden and Charlie Schlatter. It's a season of non-stop action with new heroes, villains, technologically-advanced ³toys² and all-star talent. Somebody had better start polishing another Emmy.
|
|
|
Post by batmaster on Sept 17, 2007 13:33:32 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by False Face on Sept 17, 2007 14:24:15 GMT -5
Great pictures; if haven't been excited yet, I can't wait to see Batman and Superman go at it
|
|
|
Post by Eric on Sept 17, 2007 14:56:53 GMT -5
sounds cool, but, as usual, Ill have to wait for the DVD set to come out because I work on Saturdays and wont be able to watch any of this.
|
|
|
Post by All Star Batman on Sept 17, 2007 15:51:29 GMT -5
At first I was worried about this season, but now all those worries have been dashed away and can't wait for the season premier this saturday. Now what worries me is if this is going to be the last season. I hope we get a season 6.
|
|
|
Post by snooch2dnooch on Sept 17, 2007 16:29:53 GMT -5
it just doesn't feel like a batman show to me.
|
|
Christopher Jones
Legions of Gotham Police Officer
Member of the Bat-Comic Industry
Batman Strikes Artist Christopher Jones, Causing Minor Injuries.
Posts: 231
|
Post by Christopher Jones on Sept 17, 2007 17:14:58 GMT -5
Not every episode has a guest star, and even those that do are still very Batman-centric. The show is still The Batman, not Justice League.
|
|
|
Post by snooch2dnooch on Sept 17, 2007 18:30:48 GMT -5
i don't mean it's not centered around batman, i just mean overall, it doesn't feel like BATMAN. the batman in the show doesn't strike me as "batman" nor does his voice. and the other characters (ie alfred) seem only like caricatures of their counterparts.
|
|
Christopher Jones
Legions of Gotham Police Officer
Member of the Bat-Comic Industry
Batman Strikes Artist Christopher Jones, Causing Minor Injuries.
Posts: 231
|
Post by Christopher Jones on Sept 17, 2007 19:35:23 GMT -5
I thought you meant you had issues with the direction the show was taking in Season 5. You seem now to be saying that you've not liked this entire series' take on Batman.
|
|
|
Post by False Face on Sept 17, 2007 21:35:22 GMT -5
It's not my favorite take on Batman either, after growing up on TAS, but I still enjoy it, especially Season 4 and season 5 sounds great to me so far so I'm really excited to see it all!
|
|
|
Post by snooch2dnooch on Sept 17, 2007 22:17:50 GMT -5
I thought you meant you had issues with the direction the show was taking in Season 5. You seem now to be saying that you've not liked this entire series' take on Batman. yeah, it just doesn't FEEL like batman. the way bruce/batman are handled, it feels a lot more light, and i think it would all fit better with something like SPIDER-MAN or better yet, the fantastic four. i, too, grew up on the animated series, it's my favorite show of all time, timm and dini simply nailed it. i understand this show is going for something different, and that is a good thing, but i think in doing so the people behind the show went totally off-mark and got something that wasn't QUITE batman. with the animated series, one look and you knew it was batman, and it reached kid and adult audiences. the batman i don't think is as recognizable as being batman, nor can it reach as many adults as it does kids.
|
|
|
Post by ayenlou on Sept 18, 2007 1:45:13 GMT -5
*sigh*
I think The Batman rocks. There needs to be changes, new generation of kids, new generation of fans, new generation of artists, writers, producers, etc. The animated Batman has to evolve, in fact any animated hero needs to evolve. It needs to experience new things. For example I was very discouraged with seeing the designs of Superman for the Doomsday dvd. It looked to be the same as before plus those ugly cheek lines. WB had an opportunity to do new and great things with their animation but they're afraid to stray to far away thus I think they keep their animation style similar to Timm-verse. So fans won't bash on it. I'm still hoping they do something new and different with the Teen Titan DTD.
In comparing American animation vs. Japanese I think American animation is very far behind and its these new fresh takes on these comic book heroes that will help us catch up and branch out and establish American animation as something amazing. When people think of Japanese animation they think of big boob, big googly eyes, and the super deformed chibi characters but no. That's not the case. The serious animations are very well animated and are truly amazing pieces of art and stories are better. What's great about their shows is that over all story arch, each episode is just another chapter in the story. JLU did an story arch but each episode could be its own stand a lone episode. Unfortunately for american cartoon shows each episode has to be a stand alone story.
I think Jose Lopez's fresh take on Superman is awesome and I would have loved to see more of it. Lot of people these days are bashing on these new animated styles such as Transformers: Animated, Teen Titans, Spectacular Spider-Man, The Batman but I think its good for change. Thats what brought me on to The Batman is because of Matusda's new take on this. The Batman has established itself as its own identity and is doing things that aren't already done animated. For example Robin, we've seen 18-21 year old Dick Grayson from BTAS and a 16-18 year old from Teen titans. The Batman offers a different age range where Dick is now in junior high. Same thing with Batgirl as the crew includes her in before Robin. My favorite season so far is Season 1 because of all these new character designs and I thought the story for each episode was well written too. It shows a young animated Batman in which he encounters his Rogues for his first time. It shows the mistakes that he makes and how he learns from it.
As for B:TAS I do agree it is a great cartoon. The stories were darker and more mature which was great. But I still think changes need to be made. My guess is that this will be the last season of The Batman but I'm really looking forward to seeing what new takes their will be on an animated Batman.
Sorry, I just had to rant there. It really bothers me how some people are like OMG CHANGES NO NO EWWW! What really got me was snoochtodooch's comments on the show "NOT FEELING LIKE THE BATMAN." That right there is totally off. The Batman is the effing Batman. And it didn't go off mark. Matsuda and Crew have CAPTURED THE ESSENCE of The Batman. And Rino Romano's voice acting is great.
Things change guys, accept it.
|
|
|
Post by coliv1977 on Sept 18, 2007 7:04:38 GMT -5
I thought you meant you had issues with the direction the show was taking in Season 5. You seem now to be saying that you've not liked this entire series' take on Batman. yeah, it just doesn't FEEL like batman. the way bruce/batman are handled, it feels a lot more light, and i think it would all fit better with something like SPIDER-MAN or better yet, the fantastic four. i, too, grew up on the animated series, it's my favorite show of all time, timm and dini simply nailed it. i understand this show is going for something different, and that is a good thing, but i think in doing so the people behind the show went totally off-mark and got something that wasn't QUITE batman. with the animated series, one look and you knew it was batman, and it reached kid and adult audiences. the batman i don't think is as recognizable as being batman, nor can it reach as many adults as it does kids. I agree with this 100% I think it has a lot to do with the character designs. I understand wanting a fresh new take, a new interpretation of the batman mythos, but IMO the designs are not what a Batman animated TV show should look like. As I've said before, those of us who grew up watching BTAS are going to inevetably compare the two. I think it's natural. and IMO TB cannot be compared to BTAS because it just has a diffrent feel, a diffrent, much lighter atmosphere/tone, and that is not what a Batman animated show should be about. Wow, this is waaay too deep for so early in the morning!
|
|
|
Post by /\/\att on Sept 18, 2007 7:22:39 GMT -5
I thought you meant you had issues with the direction the show was taking in Season 5. You seem now to be saying that you've not liked this entire series' take on Batman. yeah, it just doesn't FEEL like batman. the way bruce/batman are handled, it feels a lot more light, and i think it would all fit better with something like SPIDER-MAN or better yet, the fantastic four. i, too, grew up on the animated series, it's my favorite show of all time, timm and dini simply nailed it. i understand this show is going for something different, and that is a good thing, but i think in doing so the people behind the show went totally off-mark and got something that wasn't QUITE batman. with the animated series, one look and you knew it was batman, and it reached kid and adult audiences. the batman i don't think is as recognizable as being batman, nor can it reach as many adults as it does kids. What "Is" Batman is very much up to interpretation. In reality The Batman is far more on target for the portrayl of Batman than the Animated Series was. BTAS was the exception, not the rule. The Batman harks back to the pre-90s incarnation of the character that was lighter and more involved with other heroes. Batman has more history in this lighter sense. I know its hard to understand if you grew up with BTAS. I grew up watching re-runs of the 60s show and Super Friends. I have a different expectation from Batman. I LOVED Btas..but I have a range of what I accept to be Batman. The universe can be portrayed in so many ways and it was so very dark throughout the late 80s and 90s that I think some people wanted to try to show another side of the bat. Maybe you don't dig that..and thats cool. Fortunately, you have BTAS-JLU to watch on DVD. What good would it do for The Batman to just re-hash BTAS in a different art style? It needs to do its own thing.
|
|
|
Post by coliv1977 on Sept 18, 2007 8:26:18 GMT -5
yeah, it just doesn't FEEL like batman. the way bruce/batman are handled, it feels a lot more light, and i think it would all fit better with something like SPIDER-MAN or better yet, the fantastic four. i, too, grew up on the animated series, it's my favorite show of all time, timm and dini simply nailed it. i understand this show is going for something different, and that is a good thing, but i think in doing so the people behind the show went totally off-mark and got something that wasn't QUITE batman. with the animated series, one look and you knew it was batman, and it reached kid and adult audiences. the batman i don't think is as recognizable as being batman, nor can it reach as many adults as it does kids. What "Is" Batman is very much up to interpretation. In reality The Batman is far more on target for the portrayl of Batman than the Animated Series was. BTAS was the exception, not the rule. The Batman harks back to the pre-90s incarnation of the character that was lighter and more involved with other heroes. Batman has more history in this lighter sense. I know its hard to understand if you grew up with BTAS. I grew up watching re-runs of the 60s show and Super Friends. I have a different expectation from Batman. I LOVED Btas..but I have a range of what I accept to be Batman. The universe can be portrayed in so many ways and it was so very dark throughout the late 80s and 90s that I think some people wanted to try to show another side of the bat. Maybe you don't dig that..and thats cool. Fortunately, you have BTAS-JLU to watch on DVD. What good would it do for The Batman to just re-hash BTAS in a different art style? It needs to do its own thing. Now that you mention it. I guess I grew up with the 60's reruns too, and yeah, the tone was diffrent, much lighter. So, as has been said many times. It's all relative. It all depends on not only the era in which you grew up, but also the interpretation you prefer. IMO knowing the character's history and the backgrounds of the villains, BTAS just fits more. It just seems more appropriate to me
|
|
Christopher Jones
Legions of Gotham Police Officer
Member of the Bat-Comic Industry
Batman Strikes Artist Christopher Jones, Causing Minor Injuries.
Posts: 231
|
Post by Christopher Jones on Sept 18, 2007 9:41:05 GMT -5
I don't feel like there's only ONE TRUE VERSION of Batman. I The Dark Knight Returns, the 1970s Englehart/Rogers run on Detective, Batman: Year One, Batman Begins, the 1960s Adam West series, and Batman: TAS are some of my favorite versions of Batman. I love them all, and they're all distinctly different from each other in tone, style and continuity specifics.
I think it's important to remember that the mission statement for this series was to create a show that would appeal to a younger audience than TAS did. TAS, Batman Beyond and Justice League were all popular but tended to skew older in their audience than the network and studio wanted. From their perspective, they wanted to reach kids to sell toys and other merchandise (and yes, kids will buy toys in greater nubmers than all us older fanboys). From my point of view, it's important to keep reintroducing these characters to each new generation - to "hook 'em young" as it were. I think the show started out as pretty good for what it was, and has only gotten better since season 4 when the studio sort of took the leash of the writers and let them do more of what they wanted to do with the characters and material.
I totally get this not being everyone's cup of tea, but I don't think you can say that there's one true version of Batman that this does or doesn't measure up to.
Chris
|
|
|
Post by snooch2dnooch on Sept 18, 2007 10:07:54 GMT -5
*sigh* Sorry, I just had to rant there. It really bothers me how some people are like OMG CHANGES NO NO EWWW! What really got me was snoochtodooch's comments on the show "NOT FEELING LIKE THE BATMAN." That right there is totally off. The Batman is the effing Batman. And it didn't go off mark. Matsuda and Crew have CAPTURED THE ESSENCE of The Batman. And Rino Romano's voice acting is great. Things change guys, accept it. whoaaaa. if you had read all of my post, you would have seen that i said "we need change, change is good". i just don't think this was the right direction, and can you tell me how it didn't go off mark? and as far as it not feeling like a batman show, it's going to feel different for other people. i'm happy that it feels like batman for you, it doesn't feel like batman for me. i don't think the voice acting fits batman at all. i feel they've captured the essence of some other hero, but just decided to stick a batman label on it. it really feels, to me, and i know i'll get bashed for this, that the show was thought up in some board meeting by guys in suits who know nothing about batman and were all, "what's a hot property we can cash in on? batman! what style will kids love? what kind of colors and sounds and gadgets will kids want? done!"
|
|
|
Post by False Face on Sept 18, 2007 21:06:07 GMT -5
Everyone does like a different kind of Batman, I really enjoy the Batman: Year One and Batman Begins . But I also enjoy B:TAS. Oh, and I enjoy watching The Batman. Oh,.... I like the multiple takes on the character and it does appeal to a wider variety of fans, too. One true version of Batman? No, but changes will come and I'll choose if I enjoy it as much as the others or not (usually I do and always like to see other takes .
|
|
|
Post by J-Man on Sept 18, 2007 21:30:43 GMT -5
As with politics, relationships and everything else in life, what is defined by many as a "good change" can also be defined by a similar number as a "bad change." In that respect, I think it's petty that we continue to argue about this show, again and again. Rarely does one's argument ever change the other side's opinion, and rarely does it matter. "The Batman" is liked, as it is disliked, and those who dislike it should have every reason to express their opinion as the ones who like it-- and they shouldn't be trampled on in the process. I think that, instead of saying, "well, The Batman is change-- live with it," we should open a dialogue and discuss why we like or dislike the show. Perhaps we could learn something from each other?
One thing I've learned in the past year of my life is that nothing ever gets accomplished without hearing and fully understanding what the other side thinks. I've seen it too many times on these boards that one opinion is considered the "norm," and everyone is willing to jump in and thrash everyone who goes against it, rather than embrace the dissenting opinions and trying to discuss the "why" aspect of what fuels those thoughts. As much as I love this forum, it has started to become a "you either love it or hate it" forum of debate.
Now, that said, I love this show. It's not B:TAS, and it will never exceed what that show brought to animation, in my opinion. The Batman though is still a well-drawn, well-written Saturday morning cartoon. While I'm not digging the Justice League aspect of this new season, I'll still watch it. Most likely this season will be the last (pessimistic?), so really, why complain? If they introduce Bat-Mite, then maybe I'll stop watching. But until something completely idiotic happens, I don't think I'll skip out on this show.
|
|
|
Post by snooch2dnooch on Sept 18, 2007 23:41:10 GMT -5
As with politics, relationships and everything else in life, what is defined by many as a "good change" can also be defined by a similar number as a "bad change." In that respect, I think it's petty that we continue to argue about this show, again and again. Rarely does one's argument ever change the other side's opinion, and rarely does it matter. "The Batman" is liked, as it is disliked, and those who dislike it should have every reason to express their opinion as the ones who like it-- and they shouldn't be trampled on in the process. I think that, instead of saying, "well, The Batman is change-- live with it," we should open a dialogue and discuss why we like or dislike the show. Perhaps we could learn something from each other? One thing I've learned in the past year of my life is that nothing ever gets accomplished without hearing and fully understanding what the other side thinks. I've seen it too many times on these boards that one opinion is considered the "norm," and everyone is willing to jump in and thrash everyone who goes against it, rather than embrace the dissenting opinions and trying to discuss the "why" aspect of what fuels those thoughts. As much as I love this forum, it has started to become a "you either love it or hate it" forum of debate. Now, that said, I love this show. It's not B:TAS, and it will never exceed what that show brought to animation, in my opinion. The Batman though is still a well-drawn, well-written Saturday morning cartoon. While I'm not digging the Justice League aspect of this new season, I'll still watch it. Most likely this season will be the last (pessimistic?), so really, why complain? If they introduce Bat-Mite, then maybe I'll stop watching. But until something completely idiotic happens, I don't think I'll skip out on this show. great post, brother
|
|
|
Post by False Face on Sept 21, 2007 17:56:14 GMT -5
"Tomorrow, tomorrow, the premiere is tomorrow" ;D
|
|
|
Post by ayenlou on Sept 21, 2007 23:15:32 GMT -5
Got my VCR set and ready to record!
|
|
|
Post by jasontodd2 on Sept 22, 2007 10:00:03 GMT -5
Can't wait, less than a half hour to go, thanks /\/\att
|
|
|
Post by BullocK on Sept 22, 2007 11:11:12 GMT -5
I've got it Tivo'ed, so I'll watch it later today.
|
|
|
Post by realbatgirl on Sept 24, 2007 0:08:35 GMT -5
yeah, it just doesn't FEEL like batman. the way bruce/batman are handled, it feels a lot more light, and i think it would all fit better with something like SPIDER-MAN or better yet, the fantastic four. i, too, grew up on the animated series, it's my favorite show of all time, timm and dini simply nailed it. i understand this show is going for something different, and that is a good thing, but i think in doing so the people behind the show went totally off-mark and got something that wasn't QUITE batman. with the animated series, one look and you knew it was batman, and it reached kid and adult audiences. the batman i don't think is as recognizable as being batman, nor can it reach as many adults as it does kids. What "Is" Batman is very much up to interpretation. In reality The Batman is far more on target for the portrayl of Batman than the Animated Series was. BTAS was the exception, not the rule. The Batman harks back to the pre-90s incarnation of the character that was lighter and more involved with other heroes. Batman has more history in this lighter sense. I know its hard to understand if you grew up with BTAS. I grew up watching re-runs of the 60s show and Super Friends. I have a different expectation from Batman. I LOVED Btas..but I have a range of what I accept to be Batman. The universe can be portrayed in so many ways and it was so very dark throughout the late 80s and 90s that I think some people wanted to try to show another side of the bat. Maybe you don't dig that..and thats cool. Fortunately, you have BTAS-JLU to watch on DVD. What good would it do for The Batman to just re-hash BTAS in a different art style? It needs to do its own thing. I agree with Matt. I pretty much worship BTAS, Timm-Verse and all that, but I agree that with a new generation of audiences, writers, directors, producers, etc. that TB does need to do it's own thing.. it's only natural.. We also need to enjoy it while it lasts because someday.. it may not exist any more, except on DVD and in our memories. I think that we should all take a moment and just thank those who make it happen for us! Don't be so critical of the changes.. atleast it's not like Shumacher is running things again. I am definately grateful and I hope it continues in cartoons, movies, and hopefully a "Smallville" verson some day... ..that's all I've got to say..
|
|
|
Post by Batlaw on Sept 24, 2007 4:19:42 GMT -5
I liked it. So far so good. Im really enjoying this confident "tougher" interpretation of Superman. Never been crazy about the hyper-clutz approach to Clark though. The collected villains were fun and Robin's jet pack deal was cute. The voices didnt even register either way with me. I'm considering it a good thing. Not the new voices nor the old voices coming from new designs. I hope this seson continues this strong.
|
|
|
Post by coliv1977 on Sept 24, 2007 6:47:42 GMT -5
The voices didnt even register either way with me. I'm considering it a good thing. Not the new voices nor the old voices coming from new designs. I found it really strange to hear Clancy Brown's and George Newburn's voices come out these diffrent, younger TB designs, Especially Brown.
|
|