In the Batman RIP storyline, confirming rumors we heard earlier, Bruce Wayne as Batman has been killed.

Author Grant Morrison will put Bruce Wayne in the line of fire from Simon Hurt, a gangster who claims to really be Dr Thomas Wayne, Bruce’s father.

The Sun reports Dick Grayson or Tim Drake may become Batman shortly. My vote is for Dick Grayson. Its time.

What say you, loyal fans? Is this a cheap stunt? An overdue end? Time for the manatee to become the mento?

Variety is reporting that when CW finally swings the axe on Smallville (oh, please let it be this season), they’re going to fill its place with an equally uninteresting pre-super hero show called “The Graysons.” This will follow the travelling circus lives of Dick Grayson and his parents before they fell to an untimely end and Dick was recruited into the world of the goddamn Batman.
Well, I guess I shouldn’t say its a totally bad idea. The execution might be excellent, and if it fit into the Dark Knight or even the Smallville mythos it would instantly gain a huge numbers of fans. Still, the last time WB tried to dip Batman’s sidekicks into a show, we got Birds Of Prey. Given the way WB and DC want Batman handled, its highly unlikely he’ll even appear in the show (much in the same way Smallville has no cape for Superboy, even if its beyond reason that he doesn’t by now). And though young Clark or even young Bruce had compelling backstories before being expanded (in Smallville and in Batman Begins), I have my doubts that Dick Grayson can be a character worth watching without changing him.
McG will produce the show and Dick will be called “DJ Grayson” and I think I can pretty much stop this story right here. I’ll leave you with a quote from Iron Man director Jon Favreau on Why Superhero Movies Sometimes Fail and let you draw your own conclusions.

The success of The Dark Knight means WB wants to do another Batman movie. But the success of Iron Man, Hulk, Spider-Man, X-Men, etc means WB has to try harder to do other movies.

The Wall Street Journal talks to Warner Bros. Pictures Group President Jeff Robinov, and he states that of 8 big summer movies planned before 2011, at least 4 of those will be DC properties. The good news is none of those is going to be Justice League. WB plans to launch individual films following the Marvel Entertainment model. From the article:

The studio is set to announce its plans for future DC movies in the next month. For now, though, it is focused on releasing four comic-book films in the next three years, including a third Batman film, a new film reintroducing Superman, and two movies focusing on other DC Comics characters. Movies featuring Green Lantern, Flash, Green Arrow, and Wonder Woman are all in active development.

Supermax, the Green Arrow prison break movie from David Goyer, is my big hope. Green Lantern and Wonder Woman are long overdue, and Flash has enormous potential for chases and special effects.

Let it not be said that we at Powet do not appreciate artistic talent and genuine creativity. This little gem surfaced over at ComicBoards.com as a fan-made poster based on a on the creator’s take on what the next of Nolen’s Batman movie should be.

Honestly, if this poster were a proper representation of what the real next movie would be like, I think many a Batman fan would be presently pleased. Kudos to the artist.

Welcome to the Powet Top Five, where we subjectively list the best of the best (or the worst of the worst) from the worlds of movies, games, comics, and toys.

In our first installment, in honor of The Dark Knight, I’m going to show you what I think are the top 5 fictional cars used in movies. If you think I missed one, leave a comment!

The Tumbler
When Batman Begins required a realisitc reboot of Bruce Wayne’s alter-ego, they made the drastic move of changing everything about the Batmobile. Previous incarnations, used in the Adam West TV series and in the 1989 Michael Keaton Batman movie, were nothing short of stylish and certainly fit in with the times and style of the movies themselves. What makes the Tumbler cooler than the rest is its an actual working car. Built from scratch with a Chevy 350 V8 engine, this gigantic beast does everything you’d expect from the movie version except use live ammo or jump across buildings. It will tear up a track better than any other Batmobile (top speed of the 89 Batmobile is said to be roughly 30 miles per hour), reaching speeds of 100 MPH on the highway chase scenes.
Is it practical? No way. Just because it works like it should doesn’t mean its a good daily driver, as its massive with limited visibility for the driver. Parallel parking would be a nightmare… of course you could just crush other cars and park where you want.

[Read the rest of this entry…]

The Powet Community is reeling from the midnight screenings, and more of us will be seeing The Dark Knight this weekend. Join in the Batman: The Dark Knight discussion after you see the movie. Spoilers will be filling the thread soon, so don’t peek until you been there. Trust me. Don’t wait. Skip lunch for a week to save money if you have to, but see this. Batman Begins sat atop my own personal list of favorite comic movies and this delivers far greater a story and performances. The Dark Knight is the flick to beat this summer. Sorry Iron Man, Sorry Hulk, Sorry Indy. We had fun, but you can’t kill the Batman.

The Dark Knight Thread (spoilers)

We’ve got the newest trailer from “Batman: Dark Knight”, coming this summer. This one seems to be the longest of the trailers we’ve seen thus far, and has a couple of perhaps spoilerific hints as to some of the more hush-hush details of the flick, including some prelude shots that reveal the ‘grittier’ details of Gotham District Attorney Harvey Dent.

The scenes are oh-so delicious. This movie will be well worth the wait.

Going directly to DVD just before The Dark Knight this summer will be a new DC Universe animated movie featuring the cast of the Christopher Nolan live action films.
Six anime shorts, all produced by DC animation guru Bruce Timm and written by Josh Olson, David Goyer, Brian Azzarello, Greg Rucka, Jordan Goldberg, and Alan Burnett. Each segment will have its own direction and art style and produced in Japan. Think of it like the Animatrix, but with Batman.
The story will supposedly play out in continuity following the events of Batman Begins but before The Dark Knight. Deadshot, Killer Croc, and Scarecrow are confirmed villains.
Thanks to Rabban for the heads up.