Batman's Nemesis.. Steve?

If you want to watch the "The Dark Knight" trailer, It is up. Here. A big "Thank You" to Superhero Hype, for the tipoff.

I watched a crappy bootleg version of the trailer a few days ago, and thought "I don't really like the Joker", but figured maybe, somehow, it was the fault of the low quality handheld recording. It wasn't. I think maybe I just Don't Really Like The Joker.

I have devoted a lot (and I mean a lot) of time and attention to the Joker's upcoming film treatment, and I have to say, my questions have still not been answered. And what's worse is that I have been assured that my questions will not be answered!

Several different online interviews have made clear that the origin of the Joker will not be addressed in this movie. Which leads me to say. HUH!? If you are not going to address The origin of the Joker... Then why put "The Joker" in your movie at all? Why not just have a guy named Steve? I mean "Steve" could just as easily rob banks and kill people with knives and explosives and stuff, and he would save money on makeup and purple trenchcoats. This guy is not Steve. He's the JOKER! and something, somewhere, somehow, turned him INTO the Joker. Batman's origin story made a terrific movie, and his beginning was so important to the movie that they called it "Batman Begins"! But the Joker doesn't get to begin? He Just Is? He has Green(-ish) hair! He wears crazy clown stuff! Why? He has horrible facial scars! From Where? The Public Has A Right To Know!

I have heard wonderful raves about Heath Ledger's performance, and I have no doubt that he will be able to portray the Clown Prince of Crime in a way that will make his character (painfully) clear, but Origin stories, when dealing with superheroes or villains, are the Best stories. They are necessary stories.

In the Comic books, at least in my comic books, the origin story is encapsulated in a couple of sentences right at the beginning of every single issue! Because you have to know why you are seeing this guy flying around in a jetpack, or swinging on webs, or picking up trucks and throwing them at people. You need a reason for your characters.

I know that the Joker, while the most visible by a long shot, is not the only baddie in this movie, and I only hope that the omission of his origin is to make room for the even more awesome origin story of my favorite villain, Harvey "Two Face" Dent.

So Mr. Nolan, I'm gonna give you a pass (for now) on this Joker thing, but if you screw up Two-Face... It. Is. ON!

More "Batman:The Dark Knight" News.

OK, so I laid off on the Batman news for a while, because a lot of my readers were quite probably sick to death of hearing about this marketing campaign in excruciating detail, and because I had been waiting for the next big surprise or reveal.

Those of you interested in the subject most likely saw the new Joker picture that was the conclusion to the Whysoserious scavenger hunt, (Although if any of you were looking at the site without your speakers on, then you missed the Joker audio that accompanied the new picture.) Here is the in-focus portion of that picture.


I was not sure what to make of the finger protruding in front of his face in this picture at first, then I realized (after some while) that he is frozen in the act of steepling his fingers in front of his lips in standard evil-genius pose #26. You can only just see the other black-gloved hand against the deep shadows along the right side of his face. Caught mid-steeple (or pre-steeple?), it looked to me at first as though that were a lone middle finger, extended in the "Bird of Disfavor" position. The Evil-Genius pose makes more sense though, considering that's what he is.

Anyway, today we got more news, and much more exciting news, and it doesn't have to do with the viral marketing campaign that started off with the "I believe in harvey dent too.com" site. Instead it comes from a good old fashioned leak.

Kellvin Chavez of LatinoReview.com dropped this little gem this morning. Remember the 7-minute-long IMAX preview I got so excited about? Well, we now have a synopsis of what will occur in that scene. For the full description, and another, far clearer, picture of Heath Ledger as The Joker, just clicky the linky.

One more thing before I go. This Batman is completely unrelated to the Michael Keaton Batman from, like, a million years ago. Right? I mean the origin story is different, right? But according to one interview excerpt I read, this movie will not depict the origin of the Joker, only his "rise to power". Which raises the question: "What IS the origin of this Joker? He has scars along his cheeks, from what? Acid? A Knife? A Katana? Lupus? The old "Head locked in a box with starving rats" trick? The Mutagenic "Ooze" that made the Ninja Turtles?

And in Batman 1, Jack Nicholson's Joker Face was permanently bleached white. He wore fleshtone makeup to pass for reasonably human in a few scenes. Heath's whiteface looks like it is intentionally applied. (and in the new pic, coming off in places.) In the immortal words of Jerry Seinfeld, "What is the deal with that?"

I hope that they give us some explanation for the Joker's physical origin and not just his political/psychological origin, or "rise to power". That would be disappointing. Disappointing indeed. And when I get disappointed, Mr. Bigglesworth gets Angry. And when Mr. Bigglesworth gets Angry, people die!

By the way, Dr. Evil's Curled-Pinky-To-The-Lip is standard evil-genius pose #44.

What Would Joker Do?

The Evil Overlord List, as mentioned in previous posts, is located at http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html. Go ahead and give it a read, if you are unfamiliar with it. It has been around for a very long time, and you may have first seen it in an e-mail forward sent to you by someone who does that sort of thing.

It was first mentioned (By Liz, in the comments) in conjunction with a post about Batman's famous nemesis, The Joker, so I thought it would be fun to see how many of the rules the Clown Prince of Crime would almost certainly break in the upcoming movie. Here are the ones that stuck out.

He doesn't even get past number one.

#1 - My Legions of Terror will have helmets with clear plexiglass visors, not face-concealing ones.

In the opening sequence henchmen are wearing clown masks. All the Face-concealment of the worst helmet, but with none of the protection.

#6 - I will not gloat over my enemies' predicament before killing them.

Very Un-Joker-like.

#11 - I will be secure in my superiority. Therefore, I will feel no need to prove it by leaving clues in the form of riddles or leaving my weaker enemies alive to show they pose no threat.

We already know that the Joker leaves his "Calling Card" at the scene of his crimes. That's at the very end of "Batman Begins".

#20 - Despite its proven stress-relieving effect, I will not indulge in maniacal laughter. When so occupied, it's too easy to miss unexpected developments that a more attentive individual could adjust to accordingly.

Aww, Come ON! Maniacal Laughter is His Specialty!

#29 - I will dress in bright and cheery colors, and so throw my enemies into confusion.

Hey, there is one he gets RIGHT!

#44 -I will only employ bounty hunters who work for money. Those who work for the pleasure of the hunt tend to do dumb things like even the odds to give the other guy a sporting chance.

Another one right! If you read the Story over at LatinoReview.com, then you know that he assembles his army of mobsters to go after ol' Bat-Ears by offering them (their own) money.

#56 - If it becomes necessary to escape, I will never stop to pose dramatically and toss off a one-liner.

Hey! One-Liners are his Specialty. After Maniacal Laughter, that is. One tends to go along with the other.

#61 - If my advisors ask "Why are you risking everything on such a mad scheme?", I will not proceed until I have a response that satisfies them
#64 - I will see a competent psychiatrist and get cured of all extremely unusual phobias and bizarre compulsive habits which could prove to be a disadvantage.

Madness. It's not always a good thing.

#73 - I will not agree to let the heroes go free if they win a rigged contest, even though my advisors assure me it is impossible for them to win.

I love/hate it when this happens in movies. The Evil Evil Bad Guy, who is evil enough to maim, rob, and kill to get his way, is corrupt enough to rig the competition so that the good guys can't possibly win, but is somehow honor-bound to release them when they do win anyway. Batman villains in general are susceptible to this sort of thing.

#87 - My vats of hazardous chemicals will be covered when not in use. Also, I will not construct walkways above them.

In the original Batman, this is how we got the Joker. Comic books, in general, would be in a pretty poor state if they had to do without their walkways over chemical vats.

#92 - If I ever talk to the hero on the phone, I will not taunt him. Instead I will say this his dogged perseverance has given me new insight on the futility of my evil ways and that if he leaves me alone for a few months of quiet contemplation I will likely return to the path of righteousness. (Heroes are incredibly gullible in this regard.)

I don't think Batman would buy it if Joker tried the penitent act, but I don't think the Joker would try it anyway. After all, Taunting is his Specialty! After One-Liners, that is. And Maniacal Laughter. He has a lot of specialties. He's very special.

He may break some other rules once the movie comes out, and if he does, I will let you know about it here, on The Daily Blog of the Day!

Holy Viral Marketing, Batman!

I really like superheroes, but I am really picky about them, too, which is why I typically leave the theater after superhero movies mentally dissecting what worked, what could have been done better, and what should never have even been attempted. Rarely does a Superhero Movie get it *just right*. But Christopher Nolan got Batman Begins *just right*.

Christopher Nolan is, in my book, tied with M. Knight Shyamalan for best Film Director In The Whole Wide World. And when the Best Film Director In The Whole Wide World (Nolan) takes on the Best Film Subject In The Whole Wide World (Superheroes), you get Movie Magic. So I am elated that Mr. Nolan is going back to Gotham City for seconds.

The Dark Knight, a direct sequel to Batman Begins, will be hitting theaters a year from now. The movie is currently fiming in Chicago, but the guerrilla marketing has already been underway for weeks, if not months, and is some of the most clever stuff I have seen. I don't know who the geniuses behind this are, but as long as they don't put any suspicious "Lite-Brite" toys underneath Boston Bridges, they should go on to do great things for other movies as well.

It all began, as far as I can tell, with the website "ibelieveinharveydent.com", which got a whole internet domain name to display a single picture. The picture is a political campaign-style poster featuring Aaron Eckhart's good-looking face gazing thoughtfully out into the distance from in front of a Flag background, and the words "Harvey Dent for District Attorney", "I believe in Harvey Dent", and in smaller print, "Paid for by friends of Harvey Dent"

For the Batman-Impaired amongst you, Harvey Dent is the name of the good-looking, unbribable, straight-as-an-arrow, District Attorney who is a good friend to both Bruce Wayne (as another of Gotham's Most Eligible Bachelors) and a professional friend of Batman. Harvey eventually becomes disfigured along one half of his body, marring his once-famous good looks, and turning him into the tortured, half-good, half evil character known as Two-Face.

This little teaser tells us two things. That the Character of Harvey Dent will be in the movie, and that he will be played by Aaron Eckhart. What it doesn't tell us is whether we will get to see the emergence of Two-Face in the film. This is why they call it a "Teaser".

So a Few Weeks after "I Believe in Harvey Dent" pops up, Comic-Book Shops in California start finding playing cards stamped with "Ha!Ha!Ha!" and "ibelieveinharveydenttoo.com" I won't tell you which playing card it was, but I'll give you a hint: It rhymes with "Smoker" and "Midnight Toker" (and, yes, some people call him "Maurice")

A visit to this site revealed a mirror of the original Harvey Dent site. Just the same picture as before... but the picture was changing, excruciatingly slowly, pixel by pixel, to reveal the first image of actor Heath Ledger in makeup as The Clown Prince of Crime himself, The Joker. (Hey, "Joker" rhymes with those things from the last paragraph! Except "Maurice".. wonder what that was about?)

Then 48 hours or so later, just when some people were getting the emails from their friends telling them to go check out the picture, they pulled it, and visitors to the site were greeted with The words "Page Not Found" in red lettering on a black background. Those who left disappointed missed the site's new content. written in *Black* lettering on the black background,(visible only if you "click and Drag" across the screen) was "Ha HA ha hA Ha ha...." for a disturbingly long time. Check it out for yourself here, if you want to.

People looking for some meaning to the madness found it, if they scoured among the "Ha"s for the other letters, which apparently (I've not checked - I'm not THAT nerdy! (ok, ok, I checked)) spell out the message "See you in December". The Movie will be out in Summer, so what is going to happen in December? Ah.. Another Teaser.

Speaking of Teasers, that is also the name for the 10 to 30 second advertisement for a movie that comes out before the 2 minute long "Trailer" does. It is shown in movie theaters far in advance of the movie, to generate "Buzz" and whet fans' appetites. Well, some one "Bootlegged" a very low quality recording of the teaser for The Dark Knight before it was supposed to be released, and posted it on YouTube. I found out about this and visited You tube to watch it. I saw it, but I couldn't hear it very well over my laptop speakers, so I went to get my headphones and watch it again. Before I could return from the other room, Warner Brothers pulled the plug and the Video, and when I tried to play it again, I was greeted with "This video is no longer available due to a Copyright Claim by Warner Brothers". I had watched it less than five minutes before it was pulled.

Well last week the plot thickened. Geeks of every color, shape and size were in San Diego for Comic-con 2007. Another site pops up, called whysoserious.com, with a countdown clock running on it. The site is made to look like the Joker is recruiting people. At the appointed time, people who want to join "The Joker's" forces need to be at a certain place. The place is indicated by a aerial photo, with no directions or even any indication of where it is. If you recognize the place from the air, then be there at the time appointed.

When they got there, among lots of other promotional stuff, there was a contest of some sort -a follow the clues-scavenger hunt sort of thing from he look of it. All of the participants were wearing garish, Joker-style, Clown makeup (you can see the photo at the bottom of yesterday's post), and the winner got to be "Killed" and photographed as a "Joker" body double. The Whysoserious.com website then featured the Joker's "death notice", still photos of the day's events, and the official release of the "Teaser" that I had seen before. The phrase "See you in December" came up again in the death notice. Then a bit later, they pulled the site altogether, and it now forwards you straight to "rent-a-clown.com", which seems to have no purpose (so far), other than to highlight the "mugshots" taken of the contest participants in their Joker-makeup. The fans are given ridiculous aliases which are all combinations of the same dozen or so (all-male) first names, and a few descriptive phrases; you can check it out here. (WARNING - you will want to turn your speakers waaaay down.) If there is a secret message on this site, I don't know what it is. If you figure it out, let me know, otherwise....

"See you in December!" HaHA haHA hahaha HA ha HAhahahahahaha!!!!

See You In December!

Finally, some more movement in the The Dark Knight Viral Marketing campaign. I caught everyone up to date on what I knew back in August, but since then the "See You In December" threat has loomed over the legions of Geekdom without explanation. See what in December? What are we gonna see in December? Is it gonna be cool? Will I Be able to see it? Will it hurt? WHAT, WHAT WILL WE SEE IN DECEMBER!!!

Turns out, a Seven Minute-Long preview will (sorry, not will... might) be released in December.

In IMAX.


I am So THERE!

I had heard that this movie was being partially shot in IMAX, and let the news roll over me. I love me some IMAX, but the only Theatres are pretty far away, and expensive, and.. yadda yadda yadda... I had resigned myself that I would probably see the flick in a normal, mortal, multiplex screen...

But now, I get to see seven uninterrupted minutes of Batman/Joker Goodness Half a Year Early, AND in beautiful, full Framed IMAX Splendor? OH, JOY!

The Batman Super-Preview is expected to show along with other (far less buzzed about) hero film I am Legend, which stars Will Smith in the tile role alongside Charlize Theron. I don't know anything else about I am Legend except that I am going to see it, and I am going to see it in IMAX. In December!

So there will be a scene from the movie shown in IMAX theaters in December along with Will Smith's Perennial Holiday Action Blockbuster. OK, is there anymore info you can give, Frank? What will we see? Do we get to see the Joker? The Batmobile? Two-Face, Maybe?

Well 4 scenes were shot with IMAX cameras for this film. Obviously, the scene would be one of them. And of course, you probably won't be seeing the dramatic climax of the film, so probably an early scene, something designed to set the stage, whet the appetite. A.. "Prologue", so to speak...

This is directly from the IMAX press release about TDK (The Dark Knight)....

The first of the scenes, including a prologue that introduces Batman's arch-nemesis The Joker, was shot in April, several weeks in advance of the actual start of principal photography. Additional selected scenes are being filmed with IMAX cameras during the course of production on "The Dark Knight."

So, They shot the prologue earlier than the rest of the movie, eh? Possibly because they planned to release it earlier than the rest of the film? I think it is a safe bet that this is the scene that you will be able to see in December. Here is a picture, released along with the IMAX press release, from the filming of that scene. For a larger version, and another Imax Shot, follow this link.



Everything about this is couched in rumor and hearsay. The possibility of the 7 minute preview
was first released/leaked/invented? on the Portuguese-language Site Omelete. Those wanting to verify the original source of the rumor had better know Portuguese. Of cours Viral marketing is all about creating mystery and rumor, and these guys have done masterfully.

So will we have to wait 'til December to find out anything more about the Caped Crusader? Possibly not. Halloween plans might be in store too, because the whysoserious site has changed again. I will keep you posted, until then....

See you in..October?

Whysoserious.com UPDATE:

If you read yesterday's post, after getting all excited about the bix upcoming IMAX prologue in December, I threw in at the bottom that the Whysoserious.com page had changed again. Instead of forwarding you to the rent-a-clown.com site, which features photos of Fanboys (and Fangirls) in varying levels of atrocious Joker makeup, it now features a flash-animation of a Jack-o-Lantern.

And that's all.

Just a Jack-o-Lantern, sitting there with a flickering candle in it. Nothing to read, nothing to click, no clue as to what it means...

But Today, if you go back to the site you will see a slightly shorter candle! The candle is burning down - like a wax hourglass, or a lit fuse, counting down to something that will almost certainly happen on or around Halloween. (The Joker's favorite holiday, only he goes "trick-or-tricking")

The modus operandi of this viral marketing thing has been to put up key bits of super-coolness for 24 hours or less, and then pull them off the web, so if you don't check this site out on the day the release happens, then you have to get it secondhand. Like from The Daily Blog of the Day, for instance!

As always, I'll keep you posted!

So, What's The Latest On The Dark Knight Movie?

Glad you asked!

Well, last time I updated you on the status of the Dark Knight Viral Marketing Campaign, The Candle in the Jack-o-Lantern on the whysoserious.com site was burning down. Seemingly pointing to a Halloween event of some sort. Now we have a clue as to what the Big Reveal, this time around, will be. The Pumpkin is starting to rot... On one side. This is giving it the appearance of a famous bat-villain who happens to be my favorite. To find out who it is, take the number of Faces you have, and multiply it by Two.

(If you get the wrong answer then I am very sorry for you, because you are either badly deformed or very bad at math.)

The Big Reveal at the end of the first Online Publicity Stunt was our first look at the Heath Ledger's Joker. Could we be hours away from The Big Reveal of Aaron Eckhart's TwoFace? I think we are!

I'll keep you posted! See you in... A day and a half!
That's it for the Post-A Palooza! I'll try and keep things a little more even from now on, and not regurgitate 5 posts at once onto you.