Smallville's a Hit... When do we Get Gotham?

[JohnCrichton]

Before I remember reading about Smallville I remember reading about a project concerning a teenaged Bruce Wayne.

Since Smallville's such a hit, Teen Batman's got to be on its way.

Anybody know for sure?

Now there's a TV crossover I'd like to see!

[Chibi Kageboshi]

Birds of Prey is in Gotham which is heading to the wb next year i believe

[Chris Sanders MSX]

That Show is actually going to be prety good because you know the first Episode will feature Bruces Parents getting killed. But who will be his teenaged friends and villians ?

Robin would be too young and other than his side kicks batman's pretty much a loner. Plus seeing as how Joker has no human identity it'd be pretty off having him on the show. I want tos ee the show but it would ahve to be full of characters we've never heard of for the most part.

[Calhoun07]

I am glad they decided to go with Smallville instead. Could you imagine a young Batman show where he was buddies with the Joker? Ugh.

[RogueMartian]

Yeah, if they make Bruce Wayne friends with a younger, more human joker that wouldn't be cool. They could make him friends with Harvey Dent, they after all were friends before he turns into two face.

[Chris Sanders MSX]

Yeah but still. The only characters we will get to see are Harvey Dent, Commisoner Gordon as a slightly older kid anda few others like the future Catwoman.

[langden alger]

definetly for the better. at first i was wishing for a young batman series instead of the superman approach. now that we've gotten a good dose of the smallville series though, i'm really glad that they didn't use batman. there's no way i could take seeing bruce tied up in a romantic teen drama that has a hint of comic book lure. you just can't do that to the dark knight. i'm not that big of a superman fan, so it doesn't bother me as much to see his universe reduced to that...don't get me wrong, smallville is a very bold, creative approach to a classic concept. it's not a bad show, but on the surface it's only really another idealized gilttery wb teen show. superman could always bend to things like that, but batman would surely break.

[Batman's Biggest Fan]

it says Harley Quinn will be in Birds of Prey and since Quinn is there it's a sure bet the Joker will be there

[Harvey Dent]

A Bruce Wayne television series would've been excellent IF the producers used Year One as the series bible. According to Batman's revamped origin, he left Gotham City when he was 12 and didn't come back until he was 25. That gives you 13 years worth of stories that you could tell in international settings. Unlike Smallville, it would be the main character in different settings; learning martial arts in Japan, studying meditation techniques in India, doing criminal research in London, and so on.

[Batman's Biggest Fan]

Originally posted by Chibi Kageboshi
Birds of Prey is in Gotham which is heading to the wb next year i believe
it's coming out this year

[kachuke]

yeah it would deft be interesting to see him going through training on the way to be the bat harvey is right it wouldn't be too difficult to add characters and people he trained with i think it would be much more interesting than smallville but then again they couldn't make it into a heart throb show that it seems it has to be to meet the wb standards.......i remember reading in the smallville tv guide how a certain rich freind of of lexes comes and visits or somethin like that basically meaning bruce so who knows what the future will bring....odds are they would probably ruin it by ripping off batman beyond but it's all bruce tryin to be the bat and having a social life and they would ruin the whole time line

[Steven C]

Where did you guys read about this at? I never heard of Birds of Prey. More info!!!!! :D

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,


Originally posted by Harvey Dent
That gives you 13 years worth of stories that you could tell in international settings. Unlike Smallville, it would be the main character in different settings; learning martial arts in Japan, studying meditation techniques in India, doing criminal research in London, and so on.

While I agree that this premise could make for an interesting TV show, I don't think it'll ever happen today. At its heart, this would be a show that would have to re-invent itself every week. The costs of doing this right (please note the "doing it right" part) would be prohibitive, especially in today's risk-averse entertainment industry. The last show to even come close to doing this was "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles," which got cancelled due to low ratings and high cost, despite much fan outcry and a built-in initial audience.

Besides, with that premise, it wouldn't make much sense to call it "Gotham," now, would it? =8^).

-- Ed/Ace

[Russkafin]

You guys are confusing two different concepts... the Bruce Wayne series is not going to happen. WB turned it down, because they want to do a Year One movie, and were afraid the movie and TV series would detract from one another. Then Tollin-Robbins turned their sights to Superman instead, and that's why we have Smallville.

Birds of Prey is a new series that is a "sequel" of sorts to the Batman legend, not a prequel. It features Oracle, Black Canary, and Huntress. Batman is in a self-imposed exile from Gotham in this series. If you want to learn more about it, I suggest you try www.gothamclocktower.com... You can see pictures of the actresses here as well as get more info on the series itself.

[Batman's Biggest Fan]

well I'm not going to watch it since Batman won't be in it

[Harvey Dent]

IIRC, the original idea for the Bruce Wayne tv show was to place him in Gotham at 18 years of age. His best friend was Harvey Dent, his uncle was teaching him the aspects of running a successful business, and the man who was controlling Wayne Enterprises was similar to Derek Powers from Batman Beyond. I don't remember much more, but it did sound interesting.

[TimTwoFace]

I also recall that a lot of the BATMAN: YEAR ONE series would go into his training in Japan, with Zatara and Zatanna, and so forth.

I think it COULD work, but it would be much different from the SMALLVILLE series, which, though excellent, is still kinda light and fluffy. (I still think it would be cool to involve some of the other villains...seriously, I think they could fit Brainiac in there somehow and still keep it from getting corny.)

-Tim

[Barb Gordon]

Although I'd love to see Batman as a tv series, WB turning the idea down makes a lot of sense. A "before Batman" series would have easily crashed and burned in my opinion, just because there isn't enough writing material there as there is once Bruce is Batman. With Superman on the other hand, there is a lot of writing material that writers can have fun with concerning his high school years, as we have seen in Smallville. And BBF, if Birds of Prey ever makes it to television, I think you should give it a chance. Just because Batman isn't in it doesn't seem like that valid of a reason to not watch it, but of course everyone is entitled to their opinions.

Barb^-^

[Caped Crusader]

I don't know if any of you Smallville fans have heard this rumor or not, but I read in a issue of Wizard magazine (I think it was March, but I'm not 100% sure) that Bruce Wayne was supposed to make a guest appearance in the show's first season, but they couldn't do it because of copyright reasonings. Now, they're hoping they can do it as early as next season!


The article said that a young, brooding Bruce Wayne goes to Smallville (don't ask me why he'd go there :rolleyes: ) during his travels while training to become Batman, and runs into Clark. Naturally, the two don't get along very well.

I'm not really a Smallville fan, therefore, this article didn't interest me very much, but I wanted to pass this information along to the people that are fans. :)

BTW, I apologize if everything I wrote wasn't completely accurate--it's been a while since I've read it.

[mosszonedotcom]

The first appearance of a so-called Bruce Wayne on Smallville in definitely the last episode that I ever watch.

[X-human]

Well, a script for the pilot is floating around the internet (I've got it around here somewhere...) but I'm not postive how "real" it was. What I read of it was a flashback sequence narraterd by Alfred as he wrote in a journey reflecting on the past, as if Batman wasn't around anymore. (that's just my recollection)

The series would have been about Bruce's 13 years of training, they were actually working on tying it into Year One, but I guess TV to Film then back again never really works out.

[TimTwoFace]

The producers definately want to involve Bruce Wayne in SMALLVILLE next season - ideally for a three episode arc, I've read. I think it could work; given the writing on the show, and the fact that they're moving away from the "kryptonite villain of the week" formulas, this could be a series highlight. With Luthor around, it's very easy to tie Bruce into the whole mess.

Who said that he's never been to Smallville before? There could be SOME reason for his training to take him there. There's a lot we don't know about Bruce's past, ya know.

-Tim

[The_NewCatwoman]

Originally posted by Caped Crusader
I don't know if any of you Smallville fans have heard this rumor or not, but I read in a issue of Wizard magazine (I think it was March, but I'm not 100% sure) that Bruce Wayne was supposed to make a guest appearance in the show's first season, but they couldn't do it because of copyright reasonings. Now, they're hoping they can do it as early as next season!


The article said that a young, brooding Bruce Wayne goes to Smallville (don't ask me why he'd go there :rolleyes: ) during his travels while training to become Batman, and runs into Clark. Naturally, the two don't get along very well.

I'm not really a Smallville fan, therefore, this article didn't interest me very much, but I wanted to pass this information along to the people that are fans. :)

BTW, I apologize if everything I wrote wasn't completely accurate--it's been a while since I've read it.

YESSSSS! I read that too, I can't wait to see who they pick to portray him, and how he, Lex and Clark get along. I also want to see him make a play for Lana and Clark get all super-jealous! :D

[Fish]

How old are Bruce and Clark? Isn't Clark younger than Bruce?

<>< F I S H ><>

[Craig Byrne]

I have read the "Bruce Wayne" pilot script that was done for Tollin-Robbins Productions by Tim McCanlies, and yes, it is real. Actually it was written a year before SMALLVILLE -- but as I understand it the movie division wanted the story of Young Bruce Wayne for themselves.

It's really too bad. The show had a lot of intrigue and turns that were quite unique, in some ways superior to SMALLVILLE and the upcoming BIRDS OF PREY. The Bruce/Alfred dynamic was *great* and the use of other characters was good as well.

The show started a few days before Bruce's 18th birthday. After his parents' death him and Alfred travelled the world, now he was returning to Gotham to sign off Waynecorp to let its trustees run the place. However, if Bruce were to die the trustees would *own* the company. So more or less, the trustees try to kill him. Along the way Bruce learns a bit about corruption, etc. and takes the paths that turn him into a Dark Knight.

Barbara Gordon was present.. as a 13 year old, and her father I think was a mere detective.

I should add a "Bruce Wayne: The Series That Never Was" page to my Gotham Clock Tower site. Maybe this week :-)

With BIRDS OF PREY coming along, I'd say there's no chance BRUCE could ever happen, which is sad, because that and SMALLVILLE would make a great pair. However, I am still quite excited by the prospect of BIRDS, so, we'll see.

-- Craig
http://www.gothamclocktower.com