The Heroes Creed

Variety is reporting that production on The Flash, starring Ezra Miller, has been pushed back to late 2019. That means the film will not be in theaters until 2021 at the earliest.

In releasing that information, Variety also hinted that Warner Bros./DC Comics may be moving forward without Henry Cavill as Superman and Ben Affleck as Batman. I'm not sure whether Cavill's schedule is conflicting with him suiting up as The Man of Steel again, or what. Affleck is currently undergoing rehab. There's not been any word on a sequel to the 2013 Man of Steel film, or any further on Cavill as Superman. Affleck's solo film as Batman has been in development for some time now.

Here's what concerns me about this whole thing. Warner Bros./DC Comics has been trying to "Marvelize" these icons. Make them more relatable by giving them angst, and maybe, real-world problems. It works for Peter Parker to have issues, complications and stress that are either compounded or lifted by The Amazing Spider-Man. What about a carefree millionaire-philanthropist-playboy? King of Atlantis? Amazon Princess?

Smallville imagined Clark Kent growing up trying to define himself. We got to see what made him a Man of Steel. My problem with that show was that in addition to the mistakes he made, He somehow landed a job as a crack, star reporter at The Daily Planet without a college education. There seemed a number of fumbles along the way. I say that with fervent passion: I loved watching that show with my boys after bringing them home forever from Ukraine.

I get that it makes sense to be real, and human and show how a person picks themselves up and moves on after making a mistake. We're not really doing that very well in real life, though, are we? Just look at James Gunn. Fired, and seemingly unforgiven, by Disney for a mistake he made years ago that he admitted, regretted and apologized for.

My concern is more for Affleck, and then, Batman.

I remember once hearing Clayton Moore talk about how they acted in public, off screen of The Lone Ranger. The Lone Ranger had a creed that the actors themselves followed.

"Kids nowadays aren't so quick to worship heroes. The world is a lot more complicated; we don't seem to believe in absolute good and evil - white hats and black hats - anymore. It's fashionable to think of virtue and honor and bravery as naive, outmoded emotions. Deep down, I believe that people still cling to those ideals. When I first appeared on television as the Lone Ranger, Jay Silverheels (Tonto) and I used to do a lot of public appearances. Years earlier, when George W. Trendle created the Lone Ranger for the radio, he gave his writers a code of behavior that the Lone Ranger and Tonto must live by. Jay and I were heroes to millions of kids, and to avoid disappointing them, we lived by Trendle's original rules."

- Clayton Moore

There is a story that the late Jay Thomas told on The Late Show with David Letterman. Every Christmas, Letterman would have a decorated tree with a giant meatball on top. He would invite Thomas on the show to knock the meatball off with a football. Thomas would throw the football to knock the meatball off. Then he would tell the story of working in radio and doing a life broadcast, or remote, at a car dealer with Clayton Moore. After the live broadcast, Thomas was Moore's chauffeur to the airport. Thomas' car was cut off in traffic by another motorist. Thomas chased him down and confronted him. The driver scoffed, asking Thomas who they would believe. 

I get chill bumps when Thomas relates how Clayton Moore, in full The Lone Ranger costume rises out of the backseat of Thomas' beat-up Volvo and tells the motorist in his deep, rich baritone, "They'll believe ME, citizen."

I want my superheroes and my actors who play my superheroes to be more like THAT.

Let's expect more, and stop settling for less.    

Batman 1966 Casting Call: Leslie Thompkins, Julie Madison and Kathy Kane

Ben Affleck has just been inducted into an elite fraternity: The League of Batmen. He joins Michael Keaton, George ("Franchise Killer") Clooney, Val Kilmer, Christian Bale and Adam West. He also joins the likes of Olan Soule, Gary Owens, Frank Welker, Jeremy Sisto, William Baldwin, Bruce Greenwood, Rino Romano, Diedrich Bader and Kevin Conroy - just to name a few! - who have voiced The Batman for animation. A petition is being circulated to undo Affleck's casting. At last count it had reached 25,000 signatures. Warner Bros. received 50,000 letters from irate Batman fans about Michael Keaton's casting. Pick one of the many actors to portray Batman, and I'm sure someone is dissatisfied with the performance. I liked Keaton's Batman; his Bruce Wayne was a bit on the weak side. Bale's Batman is much to coarse for me, but I liked his Bruce Wayne. I would describe it as affable. Kilmer was like George Lazenby, the "transitional" Batman. Kevin Conroy managed to capture the best Batman and the best Bruce Wayne with just his voice. Adam West will probably be forever stereotyped as the character.

 

 

The 1966 live-action Batman television series starring Adam West and Burt Ward was a groundbreaking, landmark series. It was such a pop-culture phenomenon that EVERY body wanted to be on it.

Lyle Waggoner lost the role to Adam West. I think he would make an awesome regular cast-member as Gotham City District Attorney Harvey Dent. Dent was played in the 1989 film by Billy Dee Williams - also known as Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars films - Tommy Lee Jones opposite Val Kilmer in Batman Forever, and Aaron Eckhart in The Dark Knight. He was voiced on Batman: The Animated Series by Richard Moll, Bull from the '80's sitcom Night Court. The character really shined in both the O'Neil-Adams era of the Batman comics and the Timm-Dini animated universe. Instead of Stafford Repp's memorable Chief O'Hara, I would have loved to see Lyle Waggoner transform from DA Dent into Two-Face.

 

Alongside Waggoner's Dent, I would add Jessica Walter as Pamela Isley. It would be cool to watch these two actors unravel over the course of a season. Walter's Isley would reveal herself as the pernicious Poison Ivy; Waggoner's Dent would descend into the tormented Two-Face.

As much I like Dick Grayson's aunt Harriet Cooper, I would introduce a character that was introduced much later in the comic books: Dr. Leslie Thompkins. She was introduced in 1976, and became a surrogate mother-figure to a young Bruce Wayne. She and Alfred Pennyworth watched Bruce Wayne grow into The Dark Knight. She would know about both Bruce and Dick's dual idnentity, which would eliminate some of the inherent camp and silliness. Leslie could have added a sense of melodrama and philosophy to the series. The Donna Reed Show was just winding down in the Spring of 1966, I would have cast Donna Reed as Dr. Leslie Thompkins. I would have cast her as a series regular to get around her stance on guest-starring roles.

I would also cast Julie Madison, Bruce Wayne's actress fiance from the early years of Detective Comics. I would cast the character as recurring in a romantic triangle for West's Bruce Wayne. She would be a bit self-obsessed and oblivious to others around her, which would explain why she wouldn't discover Bruce's dual identity. It wouldn't matter. I think she would be the perfect first season romance. She would be in competition for Bruce's affections with the much more adventuresome Kathy Kane. Why these two women were never used on the television series is beyond me. It would be interesting to see Bruce deal with his feelings for Julie, Kathy and the alluring Catwoman. Here's who I would see as Julie Madison: Raquel Welch.

 

I wouldn't see Bruce and Julie lasting the complete run of the series. Remember, Bruce is supposed to be something of a ladies' man. So, he would be engaged to Julie at the start of the series. She would be perfect as a younger version of Aunt Harriet. Oblivious and clueless. She would be cast in a film at the end of the season, and due to busy schedules, the engagement would be called off.

The other figure in the romantic triangle would be the daring and adventurous Kathy Kane. She would be inspired, much like in the comics, to become Batwoman. not only would she be the perfect counterpart for Bruce Wayne; but, the ideal female counterpart to Batman, before the debut of Batgirl. It would be interesting to see some competitiveness come up between Batwoman and Batgirl. Kathy would be hard to cast, because like Yvonne Craig's Batgirl, the role would be somewhat physically demanding. But, I would cast the late Meredith MacRae in the role. At the time Batman debuted, she was in-between My Three Sons and Petticoat Junction, so she could have been available as Kathy. She could have stayed blonde, and then thrown on a brunette wig as Batwoman.

 

Most series have a limited licensing. The Batman television series would have a license to use characters related to Batman and appearing in Detective Comics and Batman. So, that would limit the use of Justice League and Teen Titans characters respectively. However, DC could have beat Joss Whedon by decades if they had begun with either The Adventures of Superman, or Batman. With the death of George Reeves in 1959, the potential for Superman to make a guest-starring or cameo appearance opposite Adam West would fall to Mission: Impossible's Willy Armitage, played by Peter Lupus.

 

Lupus made several commercials as Superman. He has the physique and the look of the Man of Steel. Special effects might be tricky to pull of his appearance; flying being the biggest challenge, but take away the flying, like showing Two-Face's horrific scars, and Superman and Batman could have had been The World's Finest before Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck.

To complete the Trinity, I would have cast dancer Cyd Charisse as Wonder Woman. Diana Prince would have added yet another female lead to the series, and another romantic link, and possibly another romantic triangle; this one between Lupus' Superman and the Amazing Amazon.

It would be cool to see a three-part episode with Superman, another three-part episode with Wonder Woman; and then, a full four-part episode, or two-hour television event with Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. 

Batman could have been one of the longest-running super-hero television series in history. Still, forty-seven years later, we're still enjoying it, and the newly minted merchandising and a DC Comic of original stories based on the landmark series.

As always, I'm open to suggestions. I'd like you to share your comments and thoughts below.