7/31/2019 Batman Coming to Theaters

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SUN SETS ON NOLANS KNIGHT

By Gina Josephgina.joseph@macombdaily.com;@ginaljoseph

What directionwill ChristopherNolan take thistime with thecaped crusader?How will thingsend or Batman?Will we see himagain? Some othese questions

will come to light on July 20 with the open-ing o The Dark Knight Rises.

Who knows what the uture will bring,said Michael Uslan, executive producer othe Batman ranchise o motion pictures.This is the man who took the Pop! Wham!Dork! Batman character that TV audi-ences had come to know (and jokeabout) and restoredit to its identity asa darkly serious

creature o the night, stalking criminalsrom the shadows.

Itscertainlythe completionothe Christo-pherNolantrilogy,Uslansaidin atelephoneinterviewromhisNew Jerseyhome.

Nolansirstdirectiono theChristianBaleBatmanthatyoungergenerationshavecometoknowandemulatewasBatmanBegins,ollowedbyThe DarkKnightwhichisthesecondhighestgrossingilmsoall time.NolansensembleoBale,MorganFreeman(LuciusFox),GaryOldman(JimGordon)andMichaelCaine(Alred)istogetheragain,joinedthistimebyMarionCotillard(MirandaTate),JosephGordon-Levitt(JohnBlake),andAnneHathaway (SelinaKyle/Catwoman).

Also in the cast is Tom Hardy,who plays this storys villain

Bane, a terrorist leaderintent on destroying

Gothams nestorcing the

return o the Dark Knight, eight years atertaking the all or Two Faces crimes. Its atough role, not just because his characterspeaks through a muzzle but because hesthe new villain. Still resh in everyonesmind (and nightmares) is Batmans lastenemy, played by the late Heath Ledger,whose lunatic perormance as Jokerearned him an Academy Award.

But, i theres one thing Uslan is sureabout, its Nolans choice o actors.

His casting is so genius, and unexpect-ed, Uslan said. Prior to Dark KnightHeath Ledger would not have been onmost directors radar, let alone a choice orJoker. (Yet)... it was a perormance o alietime, Uslan said.

Ledgers dark and serious interpretationo the Joker was so real, it was terriy-ing. Gary Oldman is another example oNolans ability to see what others cannot.(Oldman) has always been known in theindustry as the altering chameleon, andor him to be the perect human element, isincredible, Uslan said.

For the generation that grew up inthe 1960s, Gordons character was

a silver-haired senior citizen,who panicked at every

turn. In Nolans tril-ogy, he is noble andstrong, Gothams most

incorruptible cop,who takes on villainswhether Batman hashis back or not. Uslancredits Nolan orcreating such great

characters onscreen, yetit is really his vision audi-

ences are seeing.

When I bought the lm rights to Batmanin 1979, no one wanted to make a Batman

movie, well, not a good one, anyway,said Uslan, in a report released to thepress. First, the president o DC Comicstried to convince me not to buy the lmrights. He told me that no one wanted tomake a Batman movie, but I made thedeal anyway.

As discouraging as it was or Uslan,the guy was right. For 10 years, Uslanbanged on doors in Hollywood, pitchingthe idea o restoring Batmans image.I was rejected by every studio in town,multiple times, beore I was able to con-vince people that Batman would be vi-able as a serious interpretation and notas a comedy, said Uslan. He attendedComic Con-like events when they wereheld in feabag hotels rather than posharenas and shares the angst o his questin the newly released memoir, The

Boy Who Loved Batman (ChronicleBooks). What we proved with the Dark

Knight was that we could use comicbook-based material to transcend thegenre and simply make a good movie,period.

Could Batman earn an Oscar?Maybe, but more important to Uslan is

what Batman means to the world.This includes young people like the

students at West Point, who named theDark Knight as the character that mostrepresents the honor o cadets. Uponaccepting the award Uslan told the youngmen and women headed o to ght realvillains, You are Batman! And to thisthey replied in unison, I am Batman.

The Dark Knight Rises, opening July20, is rated PG-13 or intense sequences oviolence and action, some sensuality andlanguage.

Online: www.thedarkknightris e.com

Jim H. of Royal Oak earned tophonors for the Daily Tribune, withthis picture of his son Nathan.The youngster is wearing the

very rst (costume) I bought forhim myself. Hes been a Batmanfan since he was born!

Andrew E. saves Mothers Day. This photo,submitted by mom, Andrea, who works inMount Clemens, took rst prize forThe Macomb Daily.

Batman photo contest winners

THE DARK KNIGHT

RISES OPENS IN

THEATERS JULY 20

TMand DCComics

Director CHRIS NOLAN during the lming of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Picturesaction thriller THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

Winner of the Oakland Press Batman-inspired photo contest is Bela K.of Rochester, who submitted this image taken at his daughters springdance competition two years ago. From left are mom Stacey, daughterWade, son Jed, and dad, Bel a.

By Gina JosephGina.joseph@macombdaily.com;@ginaljoseph

IBruceWaynehadkeptasecretjournalitwouldlookjustlikeTheBatmanFiles($100,An-

drewsMcMeelPublishing).Its meant to be something

that Batman could pass on tohis children or successors,said Matthew Manning, comicbook writer, historian, husband,ather, and as readers will ndout, keeper o the les. Its as ihe said, Im always going to behere and this is what youll needto know about me.

Mannings passion or comicbooks ueled his determinationto become a writer. Ater highschool, he headed to New York

City to urther his education andgain the opportunity to meetother like-minded comic bookpeople. The move landed himwork as an intern or DC Comicsand ater lling in or one othe Justice League editors andproving hes capable o wear-ing the writers cape, he rose

quickly through the ranks. Over

the course o his career, heswritten many comic book titlesor Marvel and DC includingBatman, Batman Strikes!Iron Man: The Ultimate Guideto the Armored Super Hero,and (news fash) an upcomingcreator-owned DC Comics sci-miniseries (set in New York

City). Theres also a matter o hiscollection o comic books: 11,000DC volumes and 5,000 Marvel. Nowonder Manning was entrustedwith the secret journal producedin conjunction with WarnerBros. Consumer Products andDC Entertainment and AndrewsMcMeel Publishing.

As readers are told, WhenMatthew K. Manning stumbledupon an unmarked box envel-oped in nondescript brown paperwrapping let on the ront stepso his Mystic, Conn., home, hehad no idea it would prove to beone o the greatest journalisticdiscoveries in recent history.Upon careully opening thesuspicious package, Manningdiscovered a large book adorned

only with the emblematic bat-symbol. One o the worlds ore-most historians on Batman lore,Manning soon realized he held inhis hands the innitely mysteri-ous and previously unknownsecrets o the Batman.

O the assignment, Man-ning said it was more un than

writing a history book, but attimes exhausting. You have toremember I was writing as BruceWayne, which can be a darkplace to live, said Manning.

Even more dicult or Man-ning was creating the outlineor the book. I wanted it to beas thorough as possible, saidManning. For him that meantincluding obscure charactersrom the 40s, 50s and 60s, peoplemight not remember like TenEyes Man, whose optic nerveswere transerred to his nger-tips; Clay Face, a guy who canchange his appearance; or ManBat, a scientist who botches anexperiment using a Bats sonarsystem to cure his deaness andbecomes hal-bat and hal-man.

He has none o the coolness oBatman, or his toys. Still, theyare unique. I really love theseridiculous characters, Manningsaid, adding that many o themwould be cool to see on the bigscreen.

Formore onthe workof Matthew Man-

ningvisit www.matthewmanning.com.

MANNING

Batmans journal released to public

The Batman Files by Matthew K. Manning ($100, AndrewsMcMeel Publishing).