The Batman

[Amadeus Arkham]

Mask of the Phantasm was PG ... so nothing too scary or overly violent there. Long Halloween was PG-13, and so were Red Hood, Year One, Dark Knight Returns and Hush.

Mask Of Phantasm had some pretty intense scenes, and there was blood and murder, and it implied sex so it was definitely stronger in it’s depiction of violence compared to regular BTAS episode. And definitely not exactly a kids flick despite its rating.

The only R rated Batman film, animated or otherwise, was The Killing Joke...and it didn't do well critically and commercially it was only middle of the road in comparison to the other animated Batman features

Long Halloween Part 2 was rated R, I believe. The first part was rated PG-13.

[Alan2099]

Maybe I'm just a prude or something, but I feel that if you're making a Batman movie or ESPECIALLY if you're making a Batman cartoon then it should be appropriate for kids.

I'm just getting tired of every Batman movie trying to double down and be darker than the one before it. Can't we get a more swashbuckling fun Batman again?

[Amadeus Arkham]

Maybe I'm just a prude or something, but I feel that if you're making a Batman movie or ESPECIALLY if you're making a Batman cartoon then it should be appropriate for kids.

I dunno, I mean why shouldn’t the animated stuff aim for an older audience? I can agree that there should absolutely be animated content that’s age appropriate for children to watch, but we already have a plethora of that stuff with Lego Batman, Batman Unlimited, BTAS, The Batman cartoon, Brave And The Bold, and the two animated Adam West movies. So I don’t see the harm in making mature animated content that will only primarily been seen by a small & niche audience anyways. No responsible parent will ever show their six year old Under The Redhood over Brave And The Bold.

I'm just getting tired of every Batman movie trying to double down and be darker than the one before it. Can't we get a more swashbuckling fun Batman again?

I mean most comics haven’t had a more fun swashbuckling Batman in years, and you still have that in other media like the cartoons. That being said, I wouldn’t mind a more pulpy, comic book-y Batman who’s little more fantastical and less depressing. The last time we had a more “fun swashbuckling” Batman in live action was in 1997, and the results left a lot to be desired but I actually think you could pull off that kind of Batman in a good movie. All it takes is a good filmmaker that knows how to straddle that line between seriousness and fun, and I think I could see it working.

[phonogram12]

Maybe I'm just a prude or something, but I feel that if you're making a Batman movie or ESPECIALLY if you're making a Batman cartoon then it should be appropriate for kids.

I'm just getting tired of every Batman movie trying to double down and be darker than the one before it. Can't we get a more swashbuckling fun Batman again?

I don't think you're being a prude. While I do think there is room for both kid friendly and more mature storytelling (and what I mean by mature is actual storytelling and not just blood and guts and grimacing menacingly that many seem to confuse it with), I definitely think things should lean more towards kid friendly (especially anything that's a series).

And while I know we already got this in a way with Batman The Brave and the Bold and the two Batman '66 movies, I would love a straight up Dick Sprang-inspired Batman & Robin animated movie or three. Have Michael Cho on board to design everything from top-to-bottom and I couldn't give you my money fast enough.

[Amadeus Arkham]

I totally understand understand the sentiment that there should be more Batman content for kids since the character initially was conceived with primarily children in mind, but the comics for the most part have not been kid friendly for many, many years and there’s already tons of animated Batman content for the kiddies to watch and enjoy. I don’t DC to become like Marvel where they don’t make any animated content for older audiences, and keep in strictly for the children. While the comics, live action movies, shows, and videogames are more older audience friendly. I like having variety.

[Scott Taylor]

Maybe I'm just a prude or something, but I feel that if you're making a Batman movie or ESPECIALLY if you're making a Batman cartoon then it should be appropriate for kids.

I'm just getting tired of every Batman movie trying to double down and be darker than the one before it. Can't we get a more swashbuckling fun Batman again?

Are you talking something like the Batman 1966 movie?

Not sure its possible for Hollywood to make a movie like that anymore with a straight face, without also including tongue-in-cheek cynicism or various levels of secret, hidden adult humor crap. Basically without a bunch of Ryan Reynolds type of humor.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Maybe I'm just a prude or something, but I feel that if you're making a Batman movie or ESPECIALLY if you're making a Batman cartoon then it should be appropriate for kids.

I'm just getting tired of every Batman movie trying to double down and be darker than the one before it. Can't we get a more swashbuckling fun Batman again?

I think you could do a swashbuckler Batman with a dark undercurrent. That's how I see the 2005 Batman cartoon in its first season.

I hope the sequels are more out there. The Clayface pitch was pretty cool and I wanna see Man-bat get his due.

[Amadeus Arkham]

I think you could do a swashbuckler Batman with a dark undercurrent. That's how I see the 2005 Batman cartoon and to some degree Beware the Batman from 2013.

I forgot about that cartoon.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I forgot about that cartoon.

It needed a subtitle because "the Batman" was a generic title.

I liked Beware The Batman's take on Bruce and I would've used that in a CW show. Outside of the villians, his dynamic with Katana feels tailor made for CW.

[Scott Taylor]

I think you could do a swashbuckler Batman with a dark undercurrent. That's how I see the 2005 Batman cartoon in its first season.

Oh man I loved that show.

[choptop]

Maybe I'm just a prude or something, but I feel that if you're making a Batman movie or ESPECIALLY if you're making a Batman cartoon then it should be appropriate for kids.

I'm just getting tired of every Batman movie trying to double down and be darker than the one before it. Can't we get a more swashbuckling fun Batman again?

It's kinda the natural order of batman though to ask for a lighter batman would be like asking for a super serious Deadpool movie.

[Alan2099]

It's kinda the natural order of batman though to ask for a lighter batman would be like asking for a super serious Deadpool movie.

I would disagree. There are movies that are dark and then there are movies that are superserious-grim-dpressingly violent.

Have you ever seen the old Sam Raimi movie Darkman? It's basically a superhero movie where the lead character has his face burned off, where he brutally kills his enemies, and has to accept the fact that he'll never have a normal life again and it still managed to come across as fun and even wacky in parts. (I'd actually love to see what Sam Raimi would do with Batman.)

You can't deny the fact that Tim Burton's Batman was lighter than Chris Nolan's. Why is it so hard to picture a Batman that swings back into a less serious light?

[Amadeus Arkham]

I would disagree. There are movies that are dark and then there are movies that are superserious-grim-dpressingly violent.

Have you ever seen the old Sam Raimi movie Darkman? It's basically a superhero movie where the lead character has his face burned off, where he brutally kills his enemies, and has to accept the fact that he'll never have a normal life again and it still managed to come across as fun and even wacky in parts. (I'd actually love to see what Sam Raimi would do with Batman.)

You can't deny the fact that Tim Burton's Batman was lighter than Chris Nolan's. Why is it so hard to picture a Batman that swings back into a less serious light?

Ironically, the reason Raimi even did Darkman is because he wasn’t able to do Batman(which he really wanted to do) so he decided upon creating his own dark superhero as an alternative. To be honest, I don’t know if I would want a Raimi Batman movie as I suspect it would be more along the lines of Tim Burton’s take - which is campy and stylized, but still fairly dark. Batman would still behave seriously, but the world around him would be pretty fantastical and over-the-top. Which I guess for people like you who doesn’t like the Nolan Batman movies might appreciate. Though I will say that making a Batman movie that’s dark is no less valid than a lighter take on the material. Most of the Batman comics are very serious and generally aren’t lighthearted. That being said, I would welcome a lighter take as I do think it would be a nice change of pace cinematically for the character.

[Vakanai]

Maybe I'm just a prude or something, but I feel that if you're making a Batman movie or ESPECIALLY if you're making a Batman cartoon then it should be appropriate for kids.

I'm just getting tired of every Batman movie trying to double down and be darker than the one before it. Can't we get a more swashbuckling fun Batman again?

Lego Batman movie. The animated Adam West movies. The non-theatrical DC Lego movies. The Scooby Doo Batman the Brave and the Bold movie. The Batman TMNT movie. The Batman Unlimited movies. Batman Ninja (try and tell me that crazy shit wasn't aimed for kids).

The only Batman movies that are doubling down on the darker stuff is the live action versions, and the generally darker anyways DC main line DTV films. Most everything else outside of those two are a lot lighter and fun, and Batman is well represented in this. So you're probably just watching too much of those, and not enough of the Batman content out there that is pretty light. Honestly, there's a good bit out there.

[Vakanai]

I would disagree. There are movies that are dark and then there are movies that are superserious-grim-dpressingly violent.

I would hardly call any of the Batman films to date superserious-grim-depressingly violent though. Okay, Batman v Superman maybe, Joker definitely for sure - but even that is very light compared to a lot of other cinema out there. The Nolan trilogy though? Not so much, no. The upcoming The Batman? Have yet to be seen, but going to hazard a guess it'll be similar to the Nolan stuff. And if your take on The Dark Knight was it was too "superserious-grim-depressingly violent" then I don't know what to tell you?

And there's plenty of Batman stuff that's less serious. Every single one of the animated series to date, every DTV movie outside whatever we call their PG13 mainline ala the Lego, Batman Unlimited, and Adam West stuff etc, and even an animated theatrical with one of the Lego movies. Again, there's a huge variety and a lot of more lighthearted Batman stuff out there, and there's bound to be more on the way. The Caped Crusader may be a bit darker but will still probably keep to being family friendly (quality may vary though with Bruce Timm more unrestrained with his ideas). Hell, Harley Quinn despite definitely being nowhere close to kid friendly is still lighthearted and fun albeit messed up and Batman makes appearances there. I really think you're too focused on the live action films and main line DTV content in particular. There's a lot of Batman content out there right now that goes more with what you want out of the character. And the darker stuff doesn't take away from that - variety is the spice of life, we can have both takes going on at once.

Oh! And we're getting that Batwheels cartoon specifically for a pre-school aged audience! And that Batgirl movie will probably be pretty light and fun with an Old Man Batman making an appearance.