Batman/Superman: World's Finest Ideas

Batman/Superman logo seen at SDCC  

Hey everybody! I'm Ryan Howitzer and you're in The Line of Fire! I'm sure many of you out there have been keeping your ears open for news from San Diego Comic Con, however, I'll repeat the announcement for those of you who haven't heard yet. Warner Bros. has announced that the Man of Steel sequel that was fast tracked is in fact a Batman/Superman team-up movie! Zach Snyder will be directing the film. Also returning are writer David S. Goyer and Superman himself, Henry Cavill. No titles, characters, plots, release dates, or possible actors for Batman have been announced, but what good would I be if I didn't have an opinion on all of those things. In a previous editorial, I discussed my choices for Batman. I'll also get the simple idea out of the way first; the title of this film needs to be Batman/Superman: World's Finest. Here are some other ideas I have for the movie though:

Story (mild spoilers for Man of Steel):

Alex Ross's depiction of Batman and Superman

In the end of Man of Steel, we see that Metropolis is in ruins. From this point, the story writes itself. Clark Kent begins investigating reports of vigilante activity in other American cities and discovers that two vigilantes, Batman and Arrow, have been active in Gotham and Starling City respectively for some time. Captain of industry Lex Luthor steps forward and places the blame for the destruction of Superman. He also enlists the help of billionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne in the reconstruction of Metropolis. Bruce, however, does not trust Lex Luthor and is in fact in Metropolis to investigate Intergang and its ties to the crime families in Gotham as Batman. This brings Batman into contact with Superman. The two do not trust each other, however, they are united in their distrust of Lex Luthor. The two heroes discover that Luthor is in fact tied to Intergang. This leads to an all out war with Batman and Superman battling Intergang and the Gotham crime families. The end of this film should show Batman and Superman begin to recruit other heroes for a team to defend the world from dangers that are both domestic and alien. The story should show Batman and Superman go from uneasy allies to comrades who trust each other enough to reveal their secret identities. It should avoid having the two heroes battle each other and it should only briefly tell Batman's origin. I'm sick of origin movies.

Characters:

Deathstroke

As far as characters go, this movie should be chock full of DC characters. Bruce's trusty buttler Alfred Pennyworth is an absolute must for this movie. Gotham City Police Department Commissioner Jim Gordon (played by Bryan Cranston, please) should appear and be established as secretly pro Batman.

Bryan Cranston is perfect for Jim Gordon

 Lex Luthor is of course necessary if the plot is similar to the one I presented above. If Intergang is involved, then Bruno Mannheim (Head of Intergang) should be in the movie too.

Bruno Mannheim in Superman The Animated Series

 The Gotham crime bosses should be Rupert Thorne, Penguin and possibly Black Mask. Falcone and Maroni would be a little too repetitive seeing as how they were prominently featured in Christopher Nolan's series. When gangs are involved, so are hit men. This leads me to the conclusion that Deathstroke or David Cain should be in the movie on the Gotham families side. Intergang, being funded by Lex Luthor, should obtain pieces of Krypton known as Kryptonite and use it to make weapons and, for the climax of the film, Metallo.

The Kryptonite powered cyborg Metallo

An appearance from the original Red Hood would be welcome too. I'm not suggesting all these characters show up in the same movie, but maybe have Deathstroke and Metallo be the main villains with Luthor, Mannheim, Penguin and Thorne being the behind the scenes villains. These are just a few ideas though.

Batman/Bruce Wayne:

I've said this on here many times, but I'm gonna say it again. I want a Batman with at the very least one year of experience under the cowl. i'd honestly prefer three or four years. I want a Bruce Wayne who is 29 at the very youngest. again, I'd prefer him to be in his 30's. Batman should be a highly skilled martial artist (with cool fights this time, not suckish ones) and detective. I'd love to see a lot more detective work this time around. I also wanna see the classic gadgets and for the love of God, give Batman the classic grey and black color scheme! It can look awesome too!

It doesn't have to look cartoony

   This could be the greatest movie ever. I am literally about to lose my mind over this announcement. If you aren't excited about this movie, you suck. Until next time, this is Ryan Howitzer reminding you to keep your head down because you're in The Line of Fire!