Has there ever been a summer that proved to be as important – not just personally, but historically - to comic book fans as 1989? Surely the last decade or so has produced its share of must-see superhero adventures, but before Tim Burton's Batman was release on June 23, 1989, the idea of wall-to-wall wallcrawlers was little more than a cobweb stuck to the bottom of discarded studio call sheets. Burton's aggressive, dark reimagining of Bob Kane's iconic character quite literally changed the face of comic book adaptations, and ushered in the era of superhero movies, even if it would take another ten or fifteen years to find the right balance between real-world grit, splash-page heroism, and tongue-in-cheek self-awareness.

Meanwhile, the rest of the summer of '89 was no less exciting, featuring sequels, comedies, dramas and plenty of fare that defied categorization – which, in all likelihood is why it defied the box office gods en route to home-video glory. And while we could no doubt devote countless column inches to recounting every film from that fateful summer, here's a decidedly more svelte list of the entries that most aroused our imaginations and inspired us to suckle at 1989's summer-movie teat.

Back in December when new Batman rumors were swirling faster than the wind between buildings in Gotham City, the Brits from across the pond were having a blast chucking out one false casting rumor after the next. The truth at the time (and it still is to a degree) was that Christopher Nolan hadn't even started work on a script for the next Batman movie, and casting the thing was still a ways out.

One rumor that popped up had to do with Eddie Murphy becoming The Riddler in the new film. We all knew it was bullsh*t at the time, but it was finally confirmed by the man himself, Eddie Murphy, during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien last night. The clip isn't online yet (I'm sure it'll hit Hulu in the next day or so), but Conan actually brought up the Riddler rumor to Eddie and the actor laughed it off as such after acknowledging that he heard it too and thought it was hilarious. After that, though, he did say that he'd actually like to star in (and I'm paraphrasing) "one of those Batman type films," which means we could see Murphy donning a tight superhero suit one day soon. Will he be The Riddler? Probably not. But I wouldn't be surprised if Eddie gets in on this superhero craze in some way, shape or form in the near future.

Update: Thanks to commenter John for reminding me that Murphy said he'd love to play Egghead instead of Riddler, and proceeded to do the Egghead voice as Vincent Price. Funny stuff.

Update 2: Video of this interview is now available at NBC's site. And I'm not reminded that they also discussed James Brown, and Eddie said he'd love to see Wesley Snipes take on the role.

And don't forget to vote for your favorite all-time Eddie Murphy character over at Moviefone.

Not long ago we brought you two great photography projects: The Secret Life of Stormtroopers and The Real Lives of Superheroes -- and now Toronto based photographer Ian Pool has arrived with another fantastic superhero-related photo spread that shows what some of our favorite heroes and villains are up to on their days off. I chose to feature the Darth Vader image (see above), only because it cracked me up to see a little flowery decorative sign hanging outside his bathroom that reads, "May the dark side of the force be with you."

But to tell you the truth, I really love both the Batman and Spider-Man images most (though the Wonder Woman one is kinda hot), because they both give off this deep, depressing loneliness vibe. I imagine the Batman photo being taken at 3am on a random Wednesday while the streets of Gotham City are silent and asleep next to their loved ones. The Spider-Man image, which shows the superhero urinating on a wall late at night, is funny and sad at the same time -- after all, where else is the guy supposed to go to the bathroom while he's out keeping the streets safe? Meanwhile, the Doc Oc one is just ... well, see for yourself.

Check out a few of the images below, and head on over to Ian Pool's site for more.



[via io9]

Here's what we currently know about Christopher Nolan's between-Batmans project, Inception:

• It is not, as initially asserted by a commenter, concerning "a war for the colonization of Venus."


• It is more likely along the lines of a sci-fi action film "set within the architecture of the mind" (which, coming from the brains behind The Dark Knight, The Prestige, and Memento, is a scary-thrilling thought).


• Currently on board are Leonardo DiCaprio (as some sort of CEO), Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy, and Michael Caine...

...and, according to THR, rounding out the ensemble (for now) are Ken "Batman Begins" Watanabe as a blackmailing villain and Tom "apparently awesome in Bronson" Hardy as a colleague of DiCaprio's.

Sorry to be Avatar-level vague, but with a cast like this and a crew like that, there's little left to do but twiddle our thumbs and hope for the best between now and next summer. Either that, or Nolan just recast most of the third Batman film and doesn't want Christian Bale to know...

The latest trailer is out for the new Batman video game, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and it's a pretty rad Harley Quinn character preview. Quinn (voiced, of course, by Arleen Sorkin) is just one of several Batman villains featured in the game, which has already received rave remarks from fans and gamers alike (with some going so far as to call it the game of the year). Though she'll be joined by the likes of the Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc and Mr. Freeze (all of whom will most likely get their own trailers too), Quinn is no doubt a fan favorite and a villain folks (including myself) would love to see show up in a live-action film.

Of course with the Joker situation the way it is right now, chances are that won't happen for a good while -- but after watching this all-too-brief trailer (and scoping out the screengrabs below), I can't help but be seduced by this gal's sexy wickedness -- she almost reminds me of a nurse-turned-stripper-turned-serial killer ... and, on paper, that's a pretty awesome villain. Check out the gallery of screengrabs below and the trailer after the jump.

What do you think -- is there a way to work Harley Quinn into the next film? Please ...

I've begun to notice a curious divide when it comes to the geek franchises – and it may be a flight of fancy or pure ignorance on my part. But sitting on the edge of summer with so little to talk about leaves me no choice but to explore it, and try to convince you to read it. I apologize.

Geekdom is notorious for how eagerly it borrows and pillages from every single genre. Everything from Greek mythology to Unforgiven has been borrowed and reworked – sometimes into iconic brilliance such as Superman or Wonder Woman, or into pulpy fun like Mark Millar's Old Man Logan. Discovering what inspired Star Wars, Blade Runner, or Dune is a favorite topic of discussion for the hardcore geek. Scholars hold conferences on the influences of Joss Whedon. It's what keeps the whole machine of sci-fi, video games, and comic books ticking.

Doesn't it feel like we've stalled out on that? Last week, I wrote very optimistically about a renaissance of sci-fi and while I genuinely believe that can happen, I wonder if inspiration can spring from watching Marvel and DC the way it has from reading them.

There are recent movies that suggest that it can. We finally had original superpower stories with Hancock and Push. Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor draw on comic books and video games for their manic filmmaking, using the immortality of Batman and Super Mario Bros as a perfectly good reason to keep Chev Chelios around. The world of Shoot 'Em Up seemed ripped from the pages of Vertigo, but wasn't. I want to believe that it's the first
first creative stirrings of a generation raised on a frenetic diet of comics, video games, and Star Wars. Why wouldn't that pop culture concoction spawn some original superpowered stories?

Tell me you wouldn't want to invite that dude over for dinner this weekend. This may belong in the "Things You Already Know File", but for those who don't ... Conrad Veidt was a German actor whose role in the 1928 film The Man Who Laughs is said to be one of the main inspirations for the appearance of the Joker. In the film, Veidt plays a character named Gwynplaine whose father offends King James II and is sentenced to death via iron maiden (the torture device, not the metal band). Gwynplaine, because of his father's actions, is then forced to have a surgeon permanently disfigure his face so that -- as a title card states -- he'll be condemned "to laugh forever at his fool of a father." It's a freaky premise, and Roger Ebert once said of the film that it's a "a melodrama, at times even a swashbuckler, but so steeped in Expressionist gloom that it plays like a horror film."

Anyway, as the legend goes, Bill Finger -- co-creator of Batman -- is said to have brought this picture to Bob Kane, and that Veidt's creepy grin -- along with a Joker playing card -- is what kicked the whole thing off. That playing card, however, was given to Kane by Jerry Robinson, who also claims to have created the Joker. Either way, judging from that image of Veidt up above, I think it's pretty obvious that mug had a lot to do with one of the greatest villains of all time, and, honestly, I think it's pretty awesome that all these years later the comic book character is still relevant enough to earn an actor an Oscar. So thanks Mr. Veidt. You sure as hell look creeptacular, but you did good. Real good. Check out more images from the original 1928 film below.



[via LaughingSquid]

Okay, so what are we going to do about Superman? Obviously Bryan Singer is done with the Man of Steel; he's moved on to other projects. Meanwhile, Mark Millar (the brains behind Wanted and Kick-Ass) has been extremely vocal in his quest to take over the superhero franchise ... but his (and our) cries and screams seem to have been ignored by Warner Bros. Now, however, Millar has returned to update fans on his blog and unfortunately it doesn't sound very promising. He says, "Warner's talked to us and a few other writer/ director teams, but things seem to be in stasis right now. As far as I understand, nothing is happening with Superman at the moment and so the director and I are just working on another project. If it happens, great. If it doesn't, no biggie."

Millar went on to vent a little more, adding a cheap shot or two ("The idea of taking notes from the guys who liked the idea of Superman lying in bed for the final act of Returns doesn't sound good to me"), and looks to be just about out of the running for a reboot that really needs to succeed this time around. And that's probably why Warners is taking so much time with it -- they desperately need to get Superman right, and they desperately want that one-two punch of Supes and Batman. As Millar notes, "I think Avika Goldsman (Batman and Robin dude) has been charged with rethinking them to match the Marvel juggernaut."

But how do you reboot Superman in an age where folks want their superheroes dark and a little bit dirty? Do you start from the beginning or pick it up somewhere in the middle, like Singer did? What do you want to see? Which villains should they include? And who the hell do you get to play the big S?

It's the sort of story that puts Christian Bale's un-Batman-like rant into perspective -- Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan's brother may be a murderer.

Matthew Francis Nolan, 40, is wanted in Costa Rica for the kidnapping and murder of a Florida businessman. Nolan allegedly presented himself to the now-deceased Robert C. Cohen as an investor, claiming he wanted to do business in South America. But his real mission, authorities say, was to get $7 million that Cohen owed another man in Florida.

Nolan's accomplice, Douglas Mejia, has already been convicted of kidnapping Cohen when he and Nolan attempted to extort the money from Cohen's family. When that failed, cops say that the pair killed him.

Nolan was already under investigation by the FBI regarding an unrelated $700,000 bank-fraud scheme. He's now being held in the U.S., awaiting extradition.

Christopher Nolan collaborated with another brother, Jonathan, on the scripts for Memento, The Prestige, and The Dark Knight, and Jonathan is credited with the upcoming Terminator: Salvation -- it looks like they don't have to search too far to find inspiration for the darker themes in their screenplays. A lot of families have black sheep, but who knew that Nolan's own brother might be the Joker?