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Mark Hamill mentioned recently that the upcoming sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum will be his final performance as the Joker. Hamill has been providing the voice of the Joker for DC Comics animation and game projects for eighteen years, starting with the Emmy-winning Batman: The Animated Series in 1992.

It’s great that Hamill has been given the opportunity to do one last ‘hurrah’ as the Joker, but I’ll be sad to see him go. Hamill and Kevin Conroy (who has been voicing Batman to Hamill’s Joker) are my definitive standards for how these iconic characters should sound. Those of you out there who dislike Christian Bale’s growly Batman voice should check out Conroy’s performance, which has that perfect blend of gravel and fierce masculinity, evoking ideas of noir, opera, and Jack Bauer.

Hamill’s Joker voice is brilliant. He captures that whimsical, light-hearted inflection of a man dressed in purple suit, but infuses it with a maniacal insanity that sends chills down your spine every time you hear him laugh. It’s the laughter of a homicidal maniac who celebrates his depravity with animated giddiness.

Check out this video of Hamill explaining how he constructed his memorable Joker laugh:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCTFih-VelI

Regardless of how Arkham Asylum 2 turns out, I’ll be picking it up on release day just to hear the Joker’s laugh one last time.

(Via WordsFinest.)

Problem: the third film in trilogies tends to be the worst: Godfather Part III, Spider-Man 3, X-Men 3, and arguably Return of the Jedi and Return of the King. With “Batman 3″ confirmed and director Chris Nolan finally commenting on his plans to helm the film, I thought it would be a good time to give some thoughts on this pending third act of Nolan’s Batman saga.

• Story:  First, in order to succeed, this movie has to do something no other superhero franchise has truly had the guts to do: close the book. Batman 3 needs to feel like the final chapter of Nolan’s Batman story — particularly since we know Nolan isn’t coming back for a Batman 4, and we can’t risk another director coming in and screwing up everything good that Nolan established (a la Joel Schumacher’s Batman and Robin). 
• Theme: To do Batman 3 right, I think Nolan needs to go back to an idea in Batman Begins to bring the trilogy full-circle: the idea of becoming a legend. If this is the last part of Nolan’s Batman saga, I think we need to see the fulfillment of Batman as an urban myth and incorruptible ideal. It’d also be nice to see him do a little detective work for once.
• Casting: DiCaprio or Gordon-Levitt. They’re both in Inception. I’m placing my bet right now that one of them will be in the next Batman movie.

• Villain: This is the one everybody talks about the most. Nolan’s pretty much confirmed that Joker won’t make a reappearance in Batman 3. To be honest, I don’t really care who the villain is, as long as it makes sense for the story. Talia al Ghul, Riddler, Hush, and Hugo Strange — any of them would make sense for this story. But we probably won’t get any of them because everybody seems to want Riddler.

• Love Interest: If we have to have one, Talia al Ghul makes a lot of sense. Catwoman wouldn’t be impossible, but her back-story would need some tweaking.
• Sidekick? There should NOT be a kid in circus tights helping Christian Bale solve mysteries. So Robin’s out as a sidekick — but not necessarily removed as a character. For example, I’ve always liked the idea that Batman would take in an orphan because he needs to give a kid the childhood that Bruce Wayne was never allowed to finish.

• Film Title: The Dark Knight Returns. It grabs the attention of everyone who skipped Batman Begins but went to see Dark Knight, and it pleases the Comicon-demographic with a little literary reference.

(Via WordsFinest.)

The iPad was seen as a potential savior for the publishing industry. I was personally excited about the possibilities for digital comic books. Sixty years ago, comic books were a mainstream addiction; today, they’re an expensive novelty.

(Via WordsFinest.)

It seems that the resident sorcerer of NYC’s Greenwich Village will be the next character from the Marvel roster to get the big screen treatment. That’s right — a movie for Doctor Strange is in the works! According to Deadline, Marvel Studios has hired Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer, the writing team behind the upcoming reboot of Conan (the sword-wielding Barbarian, not the NBC refugee) to pen the legendary mystic’s live-action debut. However, with their recent $4 billion acquisition of Marvel, this film will also apparently be the first that will be released under the banner of Disney.

Besides being involved with a draft of Jon Favreau’s upcoming Cowboys and Aliens, the writing duo of Donnelly and Oppenheimer have also penned the screenplay to the upcoming film adaptation of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. (They wrote a video game movie? …Oh, boy.) At this point, details are scarce. However, it is worth noting that Doctor Strange’s name did come up in the recent news regarding Marvel potentially looking to release a series of short films staring some of its lesser-known characters. The release under the Disney banner is actually a given, considering that Marvel Studios’ distribution partnership with Paramount is down to four more films before Disney would then take the helm. It is assumed that those four will be Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, and finally Iron Man 3. While other Marvel properties like Runaways and Ant-Man remain on the back-burner, it will be interesting to see how films after the Paramount deal will take shape. If the rumor about the short films holds true, then perhaps the changing of the release strategy of some of these lesser-known Marvel comic films may coincide with Disney taking the helm of distribution.

As far as the possibilities for Doctor Strange as a movie, it could have the potential to be the most unique comic book film ever. Once a prominent and somewhat arrogant surgeon, Stephen Strange’s medical career ended with a devastating car accident that deprived him of his abilities. Filled with guilt over the plethora of personal tragedies of in his life, he traveled to the Far East seeking to learn of mystic powers to fix everything that was wrong in his life. Instead, he found his calling and was trained to be a mystic hero defending Earth against evil invaders from another dimension. He’s been a fixture in the Marvel Universe ever since.

Strange has the potential to be an excellent film, as long as the complexity of his character is retained. The original comic released in the early 60’s was clearly influenced from youth subculture’s prevalent interest at the time in psychedelia and Eastern Mysticism. The idea of the Marvel staff being high on mushrooms while producing the series was a long-running rumor. (Which was denied emphatically.) The film, therefore, must contain the quirkiness that embodied the comics, while casting a lead who can express the grouchiness and reluctance to heroism shown in Strange’s journey towards his destiny. In other words, he has to be kind of a pompous and sarcastic douche, yet be one that at the same time maintains a certain swagger and likability. If you ask me, House’s Hugh Laurie is tailor-made for that role. But, of course, we’ll see.

What’s your take on Doctor Strange? Can it work on the big screen? Is it too weird for average moviegoers?

(Via G4 TV — TheFeed.)

It seems that Marvel may be planning to throw a big curve-ball in the realm of its comic book films that could give some of the “B-Team” of its roster a chance to finally shine in theaters alongside their A-List brethren. According to Latino Review, a trusted source is telling them that the recently-unified Marvel/Disney juggernaut are planning to make a series of 10-minute feature films starring “secondary” Marvel heroes like (by their example,) Black Panther, Luke Cage, and Dr. Strange.

The Marvel Universe of the big screen continues to grow at a rapid rate. While it’s been a legacy of mega-hits (Spider-Man, Iron Man, X-Men,) it’s also no stranger to the concept of fail. (Daredevil, Ang Lee’s Hulk, and just about any Punisher movie.) The idea of short films was actually discussed a few months ago on CHUD. However, if LR’s source is telling the truth, then it could have the potential to change the model by which comic films are released. It could be an excellent opportunity to not only expand the consistent canon of the Marvel Movie Universe that we’re finally seeing take shape in the Avengers movies, but it could also be a helpful way for the studio to gauge the ever-changing moods and tastes of the movie-going audience. If you’re a studio who’s not willing to risk $150 million to find out if people would pay to see — let’s say, Moon Knight at theaters, then a far less risky $20–40 million venture of a 10-minute short would seem like a great compromise between a money-making project and fanboy placation.

While this is still very much just a rumor, it actually makes the field of comic films a potentially more lively place where the possibilities are nearly endless. The thought of going to the theater to catch not only a feature, but the latest “Marvel Short” evokes a very old-school kind of feel to a time (long before my time, I might add,) when a trip to the theater was an event filled with original short films and cartoons rather than just the same old trailers we see online and on TV. They’re always talking about revving-up the movie industry, well this would be a nice start!

Source: Latino Review

(Via G4 TV — TheFeed.)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF-xie5nlBc

Going to see the Jonah Hex movie later today. It is based upon the DC Comics character. I have been really impressed with the quality of comic book movies as of late, so I am hoping this is going to be good.

Character Bio and Origin

Jonah has battled alcoholism, and as an adult faced his mother’s turn to prostitution. Though he traveled extensively throughout the American West, he also ended up in South America and China. At one point he quit bounty hunting, married and had a son, and took up farming, though it did not last.

Hex’s facial injuries can be traced back to being sold into slavery by his father to some Apache for safe passage. Jonah eventually saved the chief from being killed by a mountain lion and was made an honorary member of the tribe. He was soon betrayed by the envious son of the chief while on a raid. He returned years later to challenge him in a sacred tomahawk battle, but the chief’s son sabotaged Jonah’s tomahawk. Jonah used his knife in self-defense when the tomahawk broke. The tribe saw this as breaking the rules of the sacred battle and sentenced Jonah to wear the mark of the demon by pressing a searing hot tomahawk to his face. They said his honorary relationship to the chief was the only thing that saved him from death.

Hex was transported to 2050 for the Hex series. The exact date when this occurred has been in debate. Several sources point to 1875, however a running timeline of events in Jonah’s life places this closer to 1878.

It is unknown how long Jonah stayed in the future or what date he returned.

In 1904, Jonah was shot during a card game. His corpse was stolen, stuffed, mounted, and dressed in a ridiculous singing cowboy costume, then put on display in a traveling circus. The circus owner was eventually murdered and Jonah’s body was stolen yet again. It would pass through various hands before finally being acquired by the restaurant Planet Krypton, owned by Booster Gold.

In 2010 Jonah was found by a Black Lantern ring and was revived as a member of the Black Lantern Corps.

LONDON — A murderer’s plot to escape from a British jail using a helicopter and secret codes hidden in Sudoku puzzles has been foiled.