Anyone that knows me knows that my favorite superhero has always been Batman, from the many comic iterations of him over the years to the actors who have played him over the many great films and especially the amazing cartoons.. Now with DC’s “The Batman” film currently in limboish and with the fact Ben Affleck might be walking away from the DCEU. I thought of a great way for everything to come back and challenge Batman and the idea of him as never before. While also allowing Ben Affleck’s Batman to take more of a back seat in the Justice League…Anyways onto my idea!

The Idea

So imagine this, a new vigilante by the name of The Judge starts taking out Batman’s rogues gallery, not like Batman where he would capture and let justice be served by the courts. The Judge is of the courts and believes he is delivering true justice. In Synder’s Batman V Superman, Batman crossed that line of no kill and stopped and lets say after Justice League, crime starts rising even with the return of the Superman. Where as the Judge comes in, is  due to crime returning cause Batman has returned to his no kill rule. Now what if there was no public outcry against this new vigilante, cause what if after a while this Judge started curbing public opinion against Batman not being able to do what needs to be done. Does Batman go against the public? Or does he side with the Judge?

Also my idea stems from a mirror idea where The Judge teams up with the new DA and works to tackle crime the hard way especially with the rogues always laughing and making a mockery of the courts. This allows for more a razors edge approach and a mirrors look at how a public can become so polarized and taken against the heros that were once there.

Where It Came From

Dipping into Batman’s rogue’s gallery, The Judge is more of a abstract one off character that appeared in the Batman Animated Series with Kevin Conroy. Now what if we mixed that with the new comic of Batman: White Knight where the Joker turns the public against the Batman, in addition in the new 52 storyline. Bruce Wayne gives up on being batman for a time. This could very well be a way for Ben Affleck to step away from the mantle and hand it to someone else such as the Red Hood or even introducing Nightwing.

Now the Judge was one of my favorite one off characters, he was definitely a mirror image of Batman and I wish they went further with it cause I haven’t seen him appear or even mentioned in the new Arkham games or even in any comics since his appearance in the new comics. I know you are probably thinking how I would handle the twist with the Judge and who he really is…well I have had a few ideas from various comics that could twist it all and bring back the shock and awe factor I had when I found out the truth as a kid. Also I found that the episodes of Batman the Animated Series to always have superior weight to them especially the ones done by Paul Dini, cause they make you get emotionally involved to the characters and I believe that could help bring back The Batman. Check out the episode Baby Doll if you want to get all the feels.

Could It Work?

I think with this new age of politics, with how some people no longer care about the rules unless things are getting done. I try to translate it into the idea that what if a new District Attorney is working with someone who has rules but will kill someone if they have broken the law. If the public no longer cares about if Batman were to kill someone or someone stepping up to that level and helping to bring crime down unlike Batman who just sends them to Arkham. I pull from the reason why the Nolan films worked so well is that the films were about Gotham and the police and the people living there. What if we brought that into it and flipped the public’s trust against Batman. I think having Batman question the publics view on himself could make him very well question his nature as Batman. Does he give up and walk away or turn against the Judge and the new DA with a public on their side and not his?

I currently have been working on a script, I have mainly the opening done and the summary complete. The opening is pretty bold in my opinion and would help make a mark on the DCEU. Imagine someone going after the Joker and the Joker thinks Batman has found him and all of his henchmen are killed but at the very end The Joker faces this new character The Judge which ends up killing the Joker. Yes I believe killing the Joker would have a profound impact on not only Batman but his allies as well. This will allow us to introduce the Red Hood and Barbara as Oracle and make them turn against Batman cause this new person did something Batman could never ever do and thus things change and goes to fracture the bat family.

Now how would it end? Honestly I could see it as being a way to give Bruce a sort of happy ending such as in The Dark Knight Rises and of course maybe pursing a romance and building the Wayne empire to continue helping people. But the call of Batman could always happen cause Batman always comes back eventually. Also it could give Ben Affleck a way to step away and live happy for a while or even sticking to making smaller cameos in other films as more of a money backer to how he was in a few of the comics where everyone knew he paid for stuff in the Justice League and for the Bat family.

IN CONCLUSION

With the new Batman film and Ben Affleck’s Batman future up in the air I see this as a way for him to hand off the cape to another person and become like a supporting superhero that bankrolls the Justice League. I really do think he did a great job as Batman and Bruce Wayne but the WB got greedy and didn’t allow for the directors to fully realize their visions and it all fell on the actors who do great jobs with what they are given. As all things, this is just an idea but hey WB if you like it give me a call!

see you space cowboy…