In the March 3 newsletter:
It's Batman Week at The Ringer! Ahead of Friday's release of the much-anticipated The Batman, we rank the Caped Crusader's best villains, look at the history of Gotham's design on screen, and hear from Matt Reeves himself.
The Long and Twisted History of Designing Gotham City
Jonathan Bartlett
Batman and his city are inextricably linked, and in developing their Dark Knight movies, filmmakers from Tim Burton to Matt Reeves have always paid special attention to how that city looks.
The Batman's box office success should be a foregone conclusion, but the real question is what fans want out of a Batman movie in 2022, and whether a multipronged approach to the character can be successful for Warner Bros.
The Batman Franchise Had to Adopt the Dark. Will It Ever See the Light Again?
Jarett Sitter
After being panned by critics and rejected by filmgoers, Joel Schumacher’s cheery, campy Batman & Robin had the unintentional effect of forcing later installments to become darker and moodier.
Over the past 15 years, the newest Batman has been telling stories about befriending elephants, selling pornography, and watching clowns die. None of them is true.
