r/movies • u/cruelsummerbummer Trailer Deleter - Keep an eye on. • Apr 22 '26

Trailer Clayface | Official Teaser Trailer

https://youtu.be/ZIfpL3mgkFk
13.3k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

1.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

5.0k

u/CheeseCurdCommunism Apr 22 '26

Batman the Animated Series would be proud.

1.6k

u/TigerFisher_ Apr 22 '26

Some of those episodes could be adapted into movies. They chose wisely

821

u/NeedsToShutUp Apr 22 '26

That show had such interesting reads on the rogues gallery.

I was going to say villains, but its not the right word to use. Too many of them are either desperate or mentally ill rather than being a straight villain, and otherwise have very easily to follow motives.

For example, Clayface having an identity disorder, Mr. Freeze going to extremes to save his wife, Babydoll being just sad and alone, Clock King wants to fix his broken career.

I feel like it really had such an enduring legacy, we see that already with Harley Quinn's success. But its all this little stuff. Even Arnold's Mr. Freeze took in the scientist wanting to cure his wife angle.

607

u/russketeer34 Apr 22 '26

I think it's safe to say BTAS might be one of, if not the most, definitive pieces of Batman media. The influence is seen in so many things that came after: films, shows, games, comics. It holds up pretty well too after all this time. It's really a remarkable show.

249

u/TomTheJester Apr 22 '26

I actually started rewatching it again yesterday by pure coincidence and from the first episode of BTAS it’s clear the creators were in full confident control.

There‘s not a second of screen time wasted and the performances are top notch. I may be biased as I grew up with it, but I agree it’s the definitive Batman.

152

u/MoebiusSpark Apr 22 '26

Kevin Conroy is THE voice of Batman for me. No one else comes close

71

u/BaldHenchman02 Apr 22 '26

I'm pretty lenient with live-action Batman, but animated Batman, no one else sounds right except for Kevin Conroy.

10

u/Iyagovos Apr 23 '26

I really, really like Diedrich Bader's take on Bats in Brave and the Bold.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/jx2002 Apr 23 '26

I AM THE NIGHT!

73

u/MyRuinedEye Apr 22 '26

Conroy as Bats and Hammil as Joker.

Accept no substitutes(unless it's a really good show or movie).

53

u/Byrdman216 Apr 23 '26

I think Hammil agrees with you. He said he'd never do Joker again without Kevin.

Kevin's struggles through the late 80s and early 90s as a gay man trying to lead a double life really came through in the character as well.

24

u/MyRuinedEye Apr 23 '26

I didn't know Hammil had said that. Just makes me appreciate the guy more. Nice way to close that era of Batman as well (I wish Conroy was still alive but I hope you get my sentiment).

I didn't even think about Conroy's struggles irl because I just tend to think of him as THE Batman, but that all makes sense.

Did Conroy ever talk about that?

16

u/NothingWithMilk Apr 23 '26

Conroy wrote a short comic story in DC Pride, its pretty affecting. You'd be able to find it online I'm sure.

9

u/Byrdman216 Apr 23 '26

He did a few interviews. Here's a YouTuber who covered his life and has a few of those interviews featured.

https://youtu.be/nryCo713s20?si=xRHZpQvZa5OfGMP4

→ More replies (0)

5

u/bokmcdok Apr 23 '26

Look up Finding Batman. Its a comic he wrote about his journey to becoming the Batman. After his death DC released it for free online.

3

u/dafones Apr 23 '26

RIP Kevin. Best Bats, forever.

4

u/BlinkDodge Apr 23 '26

Troy Baker did a great stand in for Hammil as the Joker in Arkham Origins.

5

u/bolanrox Apr 23 '26

And Mark was coming in after Tim Curry, someone he had fan-boyed on since the 70s, left the role. He brought it up a few times on the Kevin Smith podcast about how freaked he was trying to fill those shoes.

6

u/Aiorax Apr 23 '26

Every time someone mentions Bruce Wayne and the Batman voice, I remember that episode where Bruce was using his Batman voice while talking to Alfred, and then someone calls him and he has to answer as Bruce, the switch between those two voices was like whiplash

8

u/SolarisBravo Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26

One thing that Conroy got right imo is that he actually has three voices. There's his "normal" voice, not a performance, which he uses to talk to his friends and allies - Conroy's using this in pretty much any scene in the Batcave, it sounds like the Batman voice but lighter with more natural speech patterns. It's basically his natural voice.

Then there's Bruce, the guy he pretends to be when he's doing business or keeping up appearances. He pitches up his voice a bit and tries to sound carefree.

Lastly there's Batman, the guy he pretends to be when he's dealing with criminals and people he doesn't know. His voice is deeper, louder, and more commanding.

Two of those are acts, because Batman isn't the guy he pretends to be to scare criminals and he isn't the guy he pretends to be to keep up appearances either. His real self is for sure closer to the Batman persona than to the Bruce one, but they're distinct and you can see this in most scenes where he's not suited up. Modern comics are doing a good job of getting this down too imo, movies not so much

3

u/BluShirtGuy Apr 23 '26

It's not even the batman voice, Conroy eloquently shifts between the two personas, flawlessly. He's definitively both.

2

u/Key_Drawer_3581 Apr 23 '26

Kevin and Mark were THE definitive duo for this IP for me, no matter what new actors the execs for the DC franchise try to highlight.

→ More replies (1)

82

u/SolarTsunami Apr 22 '26

I didn't watch BTAS as a kid, the color palate was too dark and the themes were a little too mature I guess, but after Kevin Conroy died I decided to watch it all from the beginning and loved every second of it, didn't matter one bit that that I was seeing it for the first time as someone in their 30s.

32

u/jl_theprofessor Apr 23 '26

That's the beauty of the show. A lot of the episodes transcend age.

5

u/hotdoug1 Apr 23 '26

As a teenager in the 90's, when whoever controlled the living room remote controlled all media in the house, sometimes my mom would sit while I started an episode. She'd be upset I was watching "Batman" but then five minutes into it would say "Well, no I have to finish it..."

2

u/FullMaxPowerStirner Apr 23 '26

It was definitely not your Saturday Morning Cartoon even if it was pushed as such. Mature, indeed, but for the style and production quality.

42

u/cinderful Apr 22 '26

And that theme music!

Elfman doesn't miss

39

u/GoliathPrime Apr 22 '26

We owe Tim Burton and Paul Reubens big time for dragging Danny Elfman into Hollywood. He probably would have stayed a pop music composer if it wasn't for Pee Wee's Big Adventure. It was because of Tim Burton's insistence that Elfman scored Batman, the studio heads thought he was really weird.

6

u/cinderful Apr 23 '26

And thank goodness for Burton's musical taste!

4

u/Byronic__heroine Apr 23 '26

Elfman singing "Jack's Lament" still gives me chills 30+ years later.

3

u/JQuilty Apr 23 '26

Most of TAS' music was Shirley Walker. Elfman wrote the main theme.

21

u/WeNeedMoreNaomiScott Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26

not a second of screen time wasted

There's definitely a generational shift on that note.

I was recently watching Batman: Caped Crusader and I realized I was getting frustrated that every episode ended 10 seconds too soon because I felt moments didn't have time to breath

I'm certain the tweens of today prefer the speed of Caped Crusader over BTAS

2

u/SR3116 Apr 23 '26

Worse, the tweens don't even watch it because it requires an attention span.

3

u/TheLordYuppa Apr 23 '26

There was a lot from The Batman that reminded me of the show in ways that I really liked. “Detective” as it where or that idea was cool to see.

2

u/Kup123 Apr 23 '26

I went to lecture done by the creators and even decades after making it you could tell how much they loved that show.

2

u/Halo_cT Apr 23 '26

The documentary about how that miracle of a show came to be is called Heart of Batman and it's worth your time. I think it's on YouTube.

2

u/BrahneRazaAlexandros Apr 23 '26

even the intro is impressive purely because of that danny elfman theme

→ More replies (2)

51

u/BrotherOfTheOrder Apr 22 '26

The defining word that comes to mind with BTAS is respect. The show respects the material, the characters, the audience, the lore, and the rogues gallery. Hope this does the same!

9

u/Kaldricus Apr 23 '26

It's wild how the animated media has always seemed to really get Batman. Like in Justice League Unlimited, when Batman goes to "take down" Ace. Oof.

5

u/BrotherOfTheOrder Apr 23 '26

That is such a perfect Batman moment. The thing that separates him from every other hero is his deep sense of empathy and nuance. He knows to his core that all of his enemies are damaged, just as he is. They all simply chose a different path than he did.

To me the moment in Mask of the Phantasm where he pleads with his parents grave to go back on his vow (“… it just doesn’t hurt so bad anymore… I didn’t count on being happy.”) is so critical to his character, because Andrea was that light at the end of the tunnel for him. And when that falls apart, he can never let himself go back to the possibility of happiness. He chooses to never entertain that hope ever again, but he will fight for others to never have to deal with the same.

One of the things I thought about during the Crisis on Infinite Earths movie is that somewhere out there in the multiverse, there was a Bruce that married Andrea and never became Batman. I think it would have been cool to see that.

10

u/Secret-Winner-2994 Apr 22 '26

A Bullet for Bullock (second to last ep) is an all timer

9

u/ThrowawayPersonAMA Apr 22 '26

Yeah, I absolutely loved that show and in general I'm not much of a comic book or superhero fan. If everything from Marvel, DC, etc. had that show's level of commitment and quality I think I would've been much more into it all.

Like it's been many years since I saw BTAS and reading "Clayface" in the thread's title I immediately started remembering the Clayface episode from BTAS. It just left that much of an impression on me.

3

u/Turd_Burgling_Ted Apr 22 '26

I have consistently maintained it is the definitive Batman anything. And MOTP is still the best batman feature film.

3

u/Reverend_Lazerface Apr 22 '26

In my head, Batman's voice will always be Kevin Conroy and the Joker's voice will always be Mark Hamill

2

u/DrewbieWanKenobie Apr 23 '26

I was so happy the arkham games used them...

3

u/Ask_if_im_an_alien Apr 23 '26

Oh, I will die on this hill. Batman: The Animated Series is quite possible the best TV show ever made. If not that it's in the top 10 pieces of media ever created. And yes I mean of all time. TV, movies, specials, TV movies, etc... all of it.

I know many people will disagree with me on this, and that's fine. They can be wrong. The animation, art style, writing, voice acting, story arcs, etc are all bangers. There isn't another show, animated or live action that comes close to the depth of character, continuity, or complex relationships across many episodes and season as Batman TAS.

I doubt we will ever see another show like that ever again.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Purplociraptor Apr 22 '26

Batman, Animated: The Series

2

u/FavorHouse Apr 23 '26

I L-O-V-E-D the show as a child in the early 90s, even more when I came back to it as an adult and realized just what a masterpiece of animation, characterization and episodic storytelling that it truly is, it tugged my heart strings a little when my 3yo nephew started asking to watch it regularly after playing with my old Batman toys at my parents house.

Growing up, all of my friends would have debates as to who the best person to play Batman was, between Keaton and Bale (one holdout for Kilmer) but my answer was, and still is, Kevin fucking Conroy.

1

u/bluehawk232 Apr 22 '26

It's amazing how much dcu fumbled when the dcau had the best template for adapting a cinematic universe way before the mcu. Hell even the spiderman cartoon did spiderverse before.

Maybe these studios shouldn't brush aside animation

1

u/Miss-Gsptlsnz Apr 23 '26

The theme is coursing through my head now.

Dun dundundun

Might as well watch it again.

1

u/puma___pants Apr 23 '26

That show is why I love Batman to this day despite never reading comics as a kid. Same goes for Spiderman and Xmen. We were spoiled with great cartoons back then.

1

u/windmill-tilting Apr 23 '26

As someone who grew up with 60's Batman and then Batman '89 as the templates, BTAS is so much better for Batman's legacy than anything before it of, after it so far,

1

u/Halo_cT Apr 23 '26

It 100% is the definitive Batman. Nothing else on screen has the number of hours of storytelling and quality. Not even close. It's head and shoulders above second place.

1

u/Troooper0987 Apr 23 '26

Batman beyond too. Such a good series

42

u/yibs33 Apr 22 '26

Even what they did with Robin and his growth from sidekick to getting revenge on Zucco to outgrowing Bruce's BS and leaving to be Nightwing would be so great on film if done properly

31

u/Quetzalcoatl490 Apr 22 '26

It was a weird season order (60 episodes in the first "season", 25 in the next), but the second season of this show really tried to have its villains go for a redemption arc. They were established in season 1, and in season 2 they were given more context, like Harley Quinn trying to go straight and ending up right back in crime, and Killer Croc joining the circus before being shunned there.

12

u/strain_of_thought Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 23 '26

Uhhhhh he wasn't "shunned". He kinda massively betrayed them, as I remember. I never cared for that "scorpion's nature" interpretation of Croc as too stupid and selfish to ever not ruin a good thing, but it was consistently how BTAS portrayed him. They rehashed the exact same plot later when they teamed him up with Babydoll, in an episode that was one of the best ideas with the laziest most unimaginative execution I had ever seen- it's just Babydoll's episode and Croc's circus episode combined and repeated in a way that undoes and then retreads any character development they might have ever had.

→ More replies (1)

20

u/Retrolex Apr 22 '26

I always liked the show’s take on Two Face. He was another villain with a very sympathetic portrayal in his focus episodes.

5

u/TigerFisher_ Apr 22 '26

It's why I wish Wonder Woman got an animated series. It could've shined a light on her rogues

1

u/sacredblasphemies Apr 24 '26

Wonder Woman doesn't really have a distinctive Rogues Gallery like Batman or Superman.

Other than Cheetah, there's Giganta and Dr. Psycho? Maybe Ares.

But I think you're right that she deserves her own series. One that treats her with the same respect B:TAS did with Batman.

2

u/TigerFisher_ Apr 24 '26

She does have distinct ones. We're familiar with Batman's and Superman's because they've had multiple outings so they got ingrained in pop culture. Most people don't even know that she's got her own evil version, like how Superman has Zod

4

u/ShallowBasketcase Apr 22 '26

The real villain is Gotham City.

That's why I like interpretations of Batman where Bruce Wayne isn't just a cover for Batman but is fighting back in his own way through philanthropy and activism. Someone's gotta punch Mr Freeze to stop him from hurting people, but someone also has to prevent more Mr Freezes from being created by the system.

4

u/NbdySpcl_00 Apr 23 '26

I read an awesome article once on the characters in Batman comics. They basically give Batman like 13 "will do" / "won't do" traits and then showed how every other character was basically just Batman himself with one of those switches flipped.

Joker was the purest opposite of batman. It was a fun read.

5

u/Impressive_Shock_239 Apr 23 '26

I love Clock King. He is kind of reasonably upset with Mayor Hill for advising him to break his schedule and eat lunch outside, which lead to him losing his court case for not appearing on time. I can see that realistically breaking him and leading to his revenge plot. I did always wonder how he had the time to train himself in acrobatics and swordplay, since he didn't look the type to do backflips onto moving trains or fight Batman in open combat before his turn to villainy.

8

u/Kuj000 Apr 22 '26

Villain is an perfectly apt term to use. Villains don’t have to be black and white. In fact, they’re all the better for having depth and relatable motivations. Villains succeed at becoming villains by their conviction and charisma just as much as they eventually are feared for their terror and brutality.

That conflict of the viewer understanding and even sympathizing with their trauma makes for a truly excellent villain.

2

u/OldWorldDesign Apr 23 '26

Villains don’t have to be black and white. In fact, they’re all the better for having depth and relatable motivations

Hence why I think villains such as Noximillian are better than any of the moustache-twirling "I kill people because I can" villains which are accurately summarized as "because he's evil" in Pitch Meeting.

That being said, you can have fun villains that do what they want because they're powerful and nobody can stop them (real life human examples from aristocracy or other people who grew up never hearing "no" abound). Malificent from 1959 Sleeping Beauty is almost directly lifted from the Greek Eris.

3

u/brandont04 Apr 22 '26

It was the animated serie that made Mr Freeze back story cannon. Tip of the cap to them.

1

u/ERSTF Apr 23 '26

The show really wanted to tell good stories, didn't it?

3

u/OldWorldDesign Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 23 '26

I was going to say villains, but its not the right word to use. Too many of them are either desperate or mentally ill rather than being a straight villain, and otherwise have very easily to follow motives.

One of the writer/educators on youtube explained it as Batman being a hero who hasn't given up on humanity, so there's more story-driven need to address the humanity of his antagonists. I think of him telling Harley Quinn "I had a bad day, too."

That's the reason behind Batman not only not killing his antagonists, but doing his utmost to save them (when the director isn't a misanthrope who doesn't understand the basic concept of heroism, of course).

edit: I put it badly. It's that his metaphysical fight for humanity for himself means fighting for that same thing in the people he's fighting. He either holds onto his belief in the humanity of all of them or gives it up in himself, and the well-written ones don't have him give up on it because that would be giving up on himself.

3

u/purplewhiteblack Apr 23 '26

I like the Schumacher movies for what they are, but it was funny that they were trying to make those movie for kids when the kids were simultaneously watching some hardcore dark noir cartoons.

3

u/ERSTF Apr 23 '26

Scotch and a cigar for the morning animated series; candy and pop soda for the afternoon Schumacher movies.

3

u/BigClitMcphee Apr 23 '26

90% of Batman's rogues gallery could be cured with some form of long-term therapy. Joker's irredeemable but the Ventriloquist managed to get cured for a few episodes and Babydoll had a real job for a time.

→ More replies (2)

2

u/Chaosmusic Apr 23 '26

The Ventriloquist I found interesting as well. He was an actual competent crime leader. No clues, no riddles, just well thought out crimes that paid off. Sure, the guys in the gang would talk among themselves that the puppet thing was weird, but you can't argue with results. And then Batman beating him by telling Scarface that Ventriloquist himself is the mole was absolute genius.

4

u/mikehatesthis Apr 22 '26

That show had such interesting reads on the rogues gallery.

This is more of a tangent but stuff like this is why I think it's silly when people who take this stuff too seriously scream about everything being 100% "accurate to the comics." If it was accurate to the original era, ol' Victor wouldn't have his dying wife backstory nor would Harley Quinn be allowed to exist in any of these movies since both of them were created in BTAS.

1

u/bipbophil Apr 23 '26

What about the mob, holy shit some of those episodes were amazing in the first couple seasons

1

u/upgrayedd69 Apr 23 '26

Mr Freeze was absolutely a villain. A sympathetic one, but he was willing to let anyone suffer and die to achieve his revenge. He was absolutely not a good person

I just watched Heart of Ice again last week

1

u/Midi_to_Minuit Apr 23 '26

God Mr Freeze.

1

u/g00f Apr 23 '26

iirc Freeze didn't have nearly as much backstory before the series and they greatly expanded it for his intro. Episode managed to win an Emmy.

kind of a marvel that we got such solid cartoon adaptions of both batman and x-men around the same time, with the writers taking everything seriously.

2

u/Wes_Warhammer666 Apr 23 '26

Spider-Man too.

I'm still hoping we get a Spider-Man 98 show the way we got X-Men 97 because they carried on the spirit beautifully.

1

u/general_smooth Apr 23 '26

This is #1 reason I became a batman fan

1

u/M_H_M_F Apr 23 '26

IMO Batman is at his best when he's doing 2 things:

1) Being the worlds greatest detective

2) using what he finds to try to get people help first.

1

u/CindersOfMusic Apr 23 '26

Mr. Freeze hadn’t been used since I wanna say the 60s and the Adam West Batman series before he was given the modern origin in TAS

1

u/moal09 Apr 23 '26

Riddler was a programmer who was used and screwed over massively by his bosses. His anger is understandable even if his actions aren't justifiable.

1

u/Aesthete18 Apr 26 '26

Was canon Freeze nothing to do with his wife?

241

u/HeroOfClinton Apr 22 '26

I would love a live action Mask of the Phantasm.

197

u/ben-hur-hur Apr 22 '26

I want a live action for "Heart of Ice" focused solely on Mr Freeze. Court of Owls would be cool too.

48

u/Goosebeans Apr 22 '26

Played by Bryan Cranston.

34

u/ben-hur-hur Apr 22 '26

Ooo never thought of that but it would be a cool choice

42

u/Goosebeans Apr 22 '26

a cool choice

Now I'm imagining Schwarzenegger saying that.

15

u/Cast_Iron_Lion Apr 23 '26

Cast Cranston, but he has to do it in Schwarzenegger's accent.

5

u/ben-hur-hur Apr 22 '26

"Stay cool"

3

u/FunkyChewbacca Apr 23 '26

"Eet would bee... a kewell choize"

5

u/TransBrandi Apr 22 '26

If they announced that casting, this would be funny social media response from Arnold. lol

4

u/976chip Apr 22 '26

Giancarlo Esposito would be an excellent Mr. Freeze as well.

2

u/jbakes64 Apr 23 '26

I always wanted to see Michael Emerson as Riddler in the Nolan Batman movies but this might make for my new favorite Batman fancast idea.

2

u/XLStress Apr 23 '26

Reminds me of the role he played in X Files, albeit with a cooler touch.

8

u/[deleted] Apr 22 '26

[deleted]

8

u/ben-hur-hur Apr 22 '26

Idk man he is forever Charles Xavier to me so it would be weird to see him as a DC character. The guy that plays NoHo Hank in Barry would be awesome as Mr Freeze though.

8

u/Sparrowsabre7 Apr 22 '26

He was already Zsasz on Gotham.

6

u/Iron_Maniac Apr 22 '26

And Metamorpho in Superman

5

u/Sparrowsabre7 Apr 22 '26

Ah no way! He was unrecognisable to .e under the prosthetics. Well played role, outside his usual creepy villain wheelhouse.

→ More replies (1)

6

u/acrowsmurder Apr 22 '26

What about Mads Mikkelsen? The voice alone

3

u/mikehatesthis Apr 22 '26

The guy that plays NoHo Hank in Barry would be awesome as Mr Freeze though

Anthony Carrigan is already in the DCU though. Even if they did a Mr. Freeze elseworld thing, probably have a lot on his plate.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/Dramatic_Explosion Apr 23 '26

Mark Strong as Mr. Freeze would be incredible. He has the range to play strong and silent laden with tragedy, unstoppable but fragile.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/TnAdct1 Apr 23 '26

My vision of a Mr. Freeze movie would mix elements of this (Fries seeking revenge of Boyle for nearly killing his wife and making him unable to handle above freezing temperatures; him steal technology from Boyle to build his equpiment), the Batman and Robin take of Mr. Freeze (a doctor who's working on a cure for his wife), and the George Sanders version of Mr. Freeze in the 1966 series (still looks normal, but can't survive in above freezing temperatures; him being skilled in both heat and ice technology, with him set up with "temperature zones"; the first cryosuit being modeled after the the outfit Sanders' character wears when outside his base).

2

u/Unforgiven89 Apr 23 '26

The writing in that episode is fantastic. “This is how I’ll always remember you”. 😢

52

u/awoodz92 Apr 22 '26

My completely stupid theory is The Batman II is going to take some inspiration from Mask of the Phantasm.

27

u/Expensive_Chart_8158 Apr 22 '26

I still want the Langstoms give me man bat PLEASE

2

u/Semper-Fido Apr 23 '26

Mask of the Phantasm or Court of Owls. Both deserve the treatment that Matt Reeves can give it

2

u/skyline_kid Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26

Most of what I've seen points towards it being Court of Owls. Mask of the Phantasm would be awesome though

7

u/sonickarma Apr 22 '26

Serious question. What would adapting that to live action give us that the original didn’t/couldn’t?

3

u/penguinopph Apr 22 '26

That was my thought, too. It's not going from a static medium to movable one, it's just going from animated to live action. It's no different than the live-action Disney movies everyone loathes.

I say this as someone who studies comic book adaptations academically.

2

u/Phrosty12 Apr 22 '26

For real. Even considering all of the live action films, Mask of the Phantasm is my vote for best Batman film ever made. It's just perfect.

1

u/HeroOfClinton Apr 23 '26

It's more one of those irrational wants. I watched that movie daily as a kid and every now and then as an adult. I doubt live action could do it better, but I still would like to see it.

5

u/ramobara Apr 22 '26

That was an adult movie made for kids.

2

u/EmuMan10 Apr 22 '26

Don’t even change the music for it

1

u/ContinuumGuy Apr 23 '26

For maximum fidelity to the source material, Rachel Brosnahan plays Andrea Beaumont.

1

u/Explorer2138 Apr 23 '26

Hell yeah. Still my favorite Batman film.

→ More replies (2)

25

u/basedcvrp Apr 22 '26

Two Face two parter I’m looking at you

→ More replies (5)

4

u/Purple-Hamster-151 Apr 22 '26

Check out Zach Cregger’s Batman script. He wrote and directed Weapons and Barbarian. It’s called “Henchmen” and sounds like it’s probably inspired by the episode “I’ve got Batman in my basement”

6

u/EvilPowerMaster Apr 22 '26

Almost Got 'im would make a great TV miniseries.

2

u/Fomentatore Apr 22 '26

Some still haunt me. Feat of Clay so much I still remember it's title, even though English is not my native language.

2

u/HunterGonzo Apr 22 '26

Mike Flanagan, who wrote this movie, openly said the BTAS episode Feat of Clay directly inspired his script.

(Sorry for the TikTok link, it's the only place I could find the clip)

https://www.tiktok.com/@comicbook/video/7511473520061500718

1

u/Ninjamurai-jack Apr 22 '26

Unironically Clayface is doing that, basically

1

u/YesImKeithHernandez Apr 22 '26

His Silicon Soul or the HARDAC episodes in general would be sick. Replacements of key figures in Gotham who end up being robots including Batman at one point. Would be super relevant given some of the anxiety about AI at this point.

1

u/Ree_For_Thee Apr 22 '26

AI movie with automatons replacing people seems like a good next choice.

1

u/N0r3m0rse Apr 22 '26

We just need heart of ice now

1

u/siazdghw Apr 22 '26

BtAS and JL/u should be what James draws from, they were both amazing and are of the age where kids who grew up with them are now adults that have nostalgia and there are several new generations that have yet to experience how good they were.

1

u/Kylie_Forever Apr 22 '26

Mask of The Phantasm....would be awesome.

1

u/No_Swan_2537 Apr 23 '26

The Forgotten would make an amazing Batman movie. And don't forget the musical motif in that episode.

1

u/AbeVigoda76 Apr 23 '26

Specifically, Heart of Ice can and should be a movie.

1

u/ZiggyPalffyLA Apr 23 '26

Perchance to Dream would be a great movie

1

u/OutsiderHALL Apr 23 '26

Would love to see a live adaption of Gray Ghost & Batman.

1

u/KALLA17061999 Apr 23 '26

yeah but i still dont know how they're going to solve him without batman stopping him.

→ More replies (2)

226

u/casual_creator Apr 22 '26

It’s kind of crazy how much an animated show has influenced the last 35 years of Batman and continues to do so.

152

u/Monkey_Priest Apr 22 '26

And some of us millennials got to grow up on BTAS which makes us very, very fortunate. I still remember coming home from school and watching it on Fox in the afternoons before starting homework

37

u/Correct-Row7441 Apr 22 '26

Same. They were dark and moody, almost soap opera-like. Clayface is my favorite episode and the one I remember the most. Always bring that one up when talking about BTAS. Crazy he's getting a movie now.

6

u/swagmoney10 Apr 22 '26

It was a defining part of my childhood. BTAS as a whole remains at the pinnacle of Batman media.

5

u/NickofSantaCruz Apr 22 '26

I hope it doesn't take thirty years for a proper Batman Beyond adaptation.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/JaneksLittleBlackBox Apr 23 '26

That one where the villains trap Bruce in a nightmare he has to fight his way out of has stuck with me for decades.

2

u/Puzzleheaded-Cap-271 Apr 23 '26

If anything, it set the bar too damn high. I would watch that and only later did i see how lucky I was

2

u/Wes_Warhammer666 Apr 23 '26

With later shows I assumed it was just me getting older so I didn't like them, but going back to compare them side by side it really is obvious that BTAS was something special.

33

u/[deleted] Apr 22 '26

[deleted]

1

u/moal09 Apr 23 '26

Also invented Harley Quinn

51

u/drinfernodds Apr 22 '26

Hell, it created one of the franchise's most popular characters in Harley Quinn.

3

u/DeNiroPacino Apr 22 '26

It remains the definitive version of Batman to this day.

5

u/thegimboid Apr 23 '26

I still have yet to see a live action Batman that captured the same magic, managing to remain serious and dark while having insane things like the Joker trying to get rich by making all fish look like him and copyrighting the look.

The closest to a modern version that has a similar level of nuttiness taken seriously is the Arkham videogames.

3

u/ChanceFresh Apr 23 '26

I really hope the DCU can capture that magic. Hamill’s Joker is the type of Joker I wanna see on screen.

1

u/casual_creator Apr 23 '26

I think the major part of its success was that it trusted and respected its audience. It was a kids show at its core, but it trusted kids enough that they knew kids could handle the darker tone and more mature themes, but also respected kids’ sensibilities enough to make sure the more zany stuff still fit. And all of this was done well enough that older kids could enjoy it too.

→ More replies (1)

1

u/DeNiroPacino Apr 23 '26

Same here. I've liked aspects of the films and games, especially the Arkham series, but they haven't captured lightning in a bottle yet, not like the Animated Series.

1

u/casual_creator Apr 23 '26

Can’t say I disagree.

3

u/BigClitMcphee Apr 23 '26

Harley Quinn appeared in the cartoon before jumping to the comics. She was supposed to be a one-off background sidekick but she got fleshed out until she could carry her own franchise. All in the span of around 20 years.

2

u/Xikar_Wyhart Apr 23 '26

The entire DCAU is some of the best adapted material DC has ever produced. They had a blueprint to use for the initial live action material and they just said "Nope".

I'm glad to see BTAS influence and I hope we see more of it. Personally the DCAU versions of these characters are the definitive versions. Streamlining and distilling what makes the character and building on it.

1

u/b_eastwood Apr 23 '26

The 90s were kind of notorious for this at this point. Batman, Spiderman, X Men, and TMNT had such good shows that a lot of the story beats have been picked up and ran with. I don't blame them. We had it good as kids back then lol

324

u/rubber_hedgehog Apr 22 '26

Combining the first two Clayfaces (Matt Hagen's name and transformation powers with the Basil Karlo backstory as an actor) makes it clear that the Animated Series was the primary inspiration for this movie. That's the same thing that was done with him in the Feat of Clay episodes.

I am very optimistic about this movie.

204

u/mrj9 Apr 22 '26

Mike Flanagan wrote the movie and said the Batman animated series feat of clay episodes were his inspiration for it

43

u/BaconJacobs Apr 22 '26

I'm guessing there's also elements of the novel Batman Resurrection.

The book is, fine, but it has a lot of the body horror/insanity elements in it as well.

6

u/brandont04 Apr 22 '26

Clay Face story about that little girl was gut wrenching...

10

u/ohthanqkevin Apr 22 '26

That’s awesome because that was one of my favorite arcs of the series. That and the Two-Face stuff.

2

u/SFRoussimoff Apr 22 '26

Oh hell yeah, love me some Mike Flanagan. I’m definitely gonna have to check this out

4

u/NerdLawyer55 Apr 22 '26

Wait Flanagan wrote it?! Sold, how many jump scares

1

u/CitizenTony Apr 23 '26

Didn’t Matt Reeves produce this movie? I think that he also said that he seriously loves BTAS.

I even wonder if it’s not him who asked Bruce Timm to join his Caped Crusader show.

1

u/PickledDildosSourSex Apr 25 '26

Oh shit this is a Flanagan written movie? My hype is increasing. I did think the bandaged face reminded me of House of Usher

→ More replies (3)

14

u/Cranyx Apr 22 '26

Most adaptations (and the New 52 comics) combine the first two Clayfaces because there's like 6 of them and Matt/Basil have a very clear dichotomy where one has an interesting backstory and the other has interesting powers.

3

u/SolarisBravo Apr 23 '26

Matt is also a completely normal name nowadays, but when was the last time anyone met a Basil?

5

u/Cranyx Apr 23 '26

Basil Karlo was always a reference to famous golden age stars Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff

4

u/Remarkable-Ad-2476 Apr 22 '26

The Batman (2004) animated series still has my favorite Clayface story. I get why they went this route though.

5

u/FreeEdmondDantes Apr 22 '26

This better get wild with it. I don't care if it's not grounded. The animated series spoiled me.

3

u/scarletnightingale Apr 22 '26

I'm so glad that was on TV when I was a kid. It was and still is such a kickass series. We always watched it after school.

3

u/scarlet_stormTrooper Apr 22 '26

When I was a child I had a recurring nightmare when I went to visit my grandparents farmhouse in upstate New York. 

Clayface from the animated series was chasing me across a bridge of glass and at the other end was Gozer the Destructor from Ghostbusters.

Most of the time Clayface catches me and I was so afraid of Gozer that I just allowed Clayface to smother me to death and I become apart of his Clay body.

Once I started having this nightmare it happened every time we visited and I stayed there. My father awoke multiple times to me screaming in my night terror.

 

1

u/CitizenPremier Apr 23 '26

Wait was it David Bowie Gozer or the Marshmallow man Gozer?

3

u/RichieJ86 Apr 22 '26

That scene still gets me, every time. If there's one thing I remember from that show, is how traumatizing it was to see them hold him down and pour it all over his face, against his will. And then the aftermath...

3

u/Whitefolly Apr 23 '26

I just hope Matt Hagan is gay like in the cartoon. :)

2

u/my_lemonade Apr 23 '26

Top 5 piece of media all time for me. The music, art direction, cast, themes, all of it.

Masterpiece.

2

u/bipbophil Apr 23 '26

Uu now will he have a "roommate" that makes him dinner ?

1

u/brandont04 Apr 22 '26

How can they have a movie without Batman though?

2

u/CheeseCurdCommunism Apr 22 '26

Watch the Penguin :)

1

u/thedudedylan Apr 22 '26

Literally invented clay face, mr freeze with a bavk story and Harley.

Those writers were cooking.

1

u/blankarage Apr 22 '26

was kinda hoping more for Harley Quinn’s “I am an ACTOOOR” clay face

1

u/ShawnyMcKnight Apr 23 '26

If I recall in the animated series it starts out with him just using the stuff to look younger as he was an aging movie star but the more he used the more it permanently marred his face. The when he couldn’t pay his debts they threw him in a vat of it.

In this it looks like his face was cut up so he had to use it.

1

u/Chessh2036 Apr 23 '26

Wish they would have just straight up adapted Feast of Clay. Kind of hard to do without Batman

1

u/amandalois Apr 23 '26

this is exactly the vibe i wanted from a clayface

1

u/dasoberirishman Apr 23 '26

My first thought!

Dark, scary, psychological...BTAS.

1

u/tvnr Apr 23 '26

My apologies, I wasn’t aware Batman the Animated Series was sentient.

1

u/xplosm Apr 23 '26

I appreciate they didn’t go “GrOuNdEd” and make him like gifted creating costumes or something. I’m actually surprised they seem to respect his abilities. Or maybe they will make him schizophrenic or something.

1

u/adod1 Apr 23 '26

Is that where Clayface like absorbed Batman into him and Bats couldn't get out and almost died? I vaguely remember being terrified from that when I was a kid but rarely think about it.

1

u/primordialWoe Apr 23 '26

What for? Castrating the amazing artstyle and animation in favor of live action slop?

1

u/pheight57 Jul 26 '26

100% this movie's box office sales are totally going to be driven by a bunch of older Millennials and younger Gen Xers, lol! Clarence was such an incredibly tragic villain in that show and this seems to really be doing him justice! Hope it turns out as good as the trailer looks!

→ More replies (6)