With Gotham gearing up for a fifth season, and Pennyworth in development, we look at 5 more elements of the Batman mythos that can be stripped of all their intrigue in a network TV show
Following the announcement of Pennyworth, a prequel series about Batman’s butler, we got to thinking. What other parts of Batman’s mythos can be over-explained and drawn out into a TV show. Here are our best five results.
5. Stone Cold Fox, The Lucius Fox Prequel
Lucius Fox is one of Batman’s great allies, responsible for financing Wayne’s nocturnal endeavours. Fox was famously played by Morgan Freeman in the Dark Knight trilogy, but maybe we can expand the character. Lucius Fox is a savvy businessman, but we’ve already seen this side of him in the Dark Knight Trilogy and on Gotham. Do you know what we haven’t seen him do? Play College Football.
DC could break into the lucrative sports drama genre with a series that focuses on Lucius Fox’s career as a beleaguered wide receiver for a struggling college football side. Does it relate to Batman in any way? No, but why should that matter?
Maybe a team-mate could get in trouble with the law, and the policeman could be Jim Gordon’s third cousin! That’s the kind of interconnectivity that DC fans want.
4. ACE Chemicals, set in the 1930’s!
Ace Chemicals is the fictional company in the DC universe that invents all kinds of nasty stuff. Notably, they are associated with the Joker, but why see the company when the Joker is involved? Let’s go back 80 years and see the company in the 1930’s.
Remember the bits in Iron Fist where it was just people talking about pharmaceutics? Well DC could tap into this huge arena, and also make it a period piece. Imagine the entertainment.
Did you know that Martha Wayne’s parents were once involved with ACE chemicals? That’s Batman’s grandparents. If there’s one thing that existing Batman movies and shows are missing, it’s a thorough depiction of the lives of Batman’s grandparents.
3. Hooked on You, a rom-com about the inventor of the grappling hook
The grappling hook is one of Batman’s most famous gadgets. When he needs to get away, you know that the grappling hook will be his first port of call. We’ve seen the grappling hook in action in several movies and tv shows, but we’ve never explored the romantic life of its inventor.
Let’s dive into this topic, but set it in the DC universe! What if the inventor of the grappling hook visited Gotham one day! “My invention sure could be useful here” he would think, while in the midst of a romantic dilemma between his secretary and his childhood sweetheart. I don’t know when the grappling hook was invented, or where, but boy, it would sure make for a fulfiling Batman prequel!
2. The Mask of Zorro, but as a show!
Batman’s parents are famous for exactly two things: giving birth to Batman, and being shot. The second of these events occurred after the family left the theatre, having just watched The Mask of Zorro. What if we were to see this story, the very same story that Batman once watched, but as a five-season network tv show? That would explain so much about Batman’s past!
The series would have a bittersweet end, as once the final episode ends, we know that somewhere in the DC universe Batman’s parents are about to get shot, and I think that feeling will more than justify over 100 episodes of Zorro. It’s tragic that, despite seeing the Wayne’s get shot multiple times, no movie or tv show has ever depicted the film they viewed before getting shot as its own tv show.
1. Wayne Enterprises, Bruce Wayne just does business
What if Bruce Wayne never became Batman? What if Harvey Dent never became two-face? What if the joker never got joker-fied? These are unanswered questions, and we as fans deserve an answer.
Wayne Enterprises. would see Bruce Wayne running a successful business in a Gotham without superheroes or villains. How would the man who is Batman in an alternate universe respond to a changing of the tax thresholds? We need to know. Wayne Corp has all the key ingredients of a perfect Batman show.
- No Batman
- The ability for characters who become superheroes or villains in the comic to appear
Think about it, it’s the perfect show. As a Batman fan, I could imagine anything better.
Do you have any ideas for better Batman prequel shows?
Gotham is inexplicably still going, Pennyworth is set to launch soon.
Fantastic Fools 