Neeson & Freeman Confirmed for Nolan's Batman! Source: Variety Thursday, February 19, 2004 Morgan Freeman and Liam Neeson are confirmed to have joined the cast of Warner Bros.' new Batman film, reports Variety. Freeman will play Lucius Fox, a respected businessman and the CEO of billionaire Bruce Wayne's mega-conglom, based in Gotham City. Liam Neeson plays the villain, Ra's Al Ghul, a wealthy international terrorist. Christian Bale stars as the Caped Crusader in the Christopher Nolan-helmed project which will start shooting March 16 in London. Also cast are Michael Caine (as butler Alfred), Cillian Murphy and Katie Holmes. http://www.superherohype.com/batman/index.php?id=872
You don't even need villains for a good batman flic. That's half the problem. Explore Batman himself you movie nimrods. That's the story. That's always been the story. If you want a good villain then they need to build his character (only one villian please) and make batman an afterthought in the movie.
I have a really good feeling about this movie. Bale is awesome, Neeson is awesome, Caine as Alfred is perfect, and Nolan is a legit talented director.
Exactly. The magic of Batman is the fact that he's a psycho, pure and simple. You have a maniac who dresses up like a bat and parades around taking out his rage on other psychos. Here's a man with some serious issues. Get into that head and you've got a great story.
Good luck Bolo Yeung. http://www.filmjerk.com/nuke/article822.html At this time, the production is looking to cast an “enormous” Asian man, who will be involved in a fight scene. Producers are not specifying an age range for the character, saying it can be “any age as long as he is enormous,” as well as looks dangerous and is able to speak in broken English.
that's why i thought the first one was so good. keaton captured that darkness in a way i didn't think he could. it's why i liked spiderman, because they didn't dress up peter parker to be anything other than a guy with a ton of insecurities. that character development is what i pay to see...the action sequences are icing.
Correction: Neeson's not playing Ras. Variety issued a correction today regarding their BATMAN casting article from yesterday. The trade had reported that Liam Neeson would be playing R'as al Ghul, the main villain in the new BATMAN film. However, Neeson isn't playing a bad guy at all; instead, the Irish actor has been cast as businessman Henri Ducard, a friend and mentor to billionaire Bruce Wayne. That leaves the role of Ghul open...but for whom? http://www.cinescape.com/0/editoria...tion=page&type_id=&cat_id=270338&obj_id=40882 I wasn't sure Liam was right for Ras. Wonder who it's going to be?
I heard they wanted Viggo Mortenson originally, but he passed as did the actors they wanted for Gordon (Quaid, Kurt Russel, and Chris Cooper) I guess they decided to change the character of Ducard, when I looked him up, some comics data base said he was a French Detective who taught Bruce everything he knows about crime solving.
Ther had better some new, cool Batman technology and decent fights. And I hate the fact that in the movies Batman always shows his face to the woman of the moment.
Ducard is a mercenary detective/professional assassin Detective Comic #600 (I just dug this out of my collection) told part of their story. Apparently, a young pre-Batman Wayne helped Ducard track a terrorist but was horrified when Ducard finished the job - by shooting the terrorist. Interesting development and definitely a more realistic villain. Perhaps Ducard will return to tempt Batman to pursue a more ruthless path.
The Variety correction says he isn't a villian and that Ducard is a businessman/mentor to Bruce. The movie hasn't even been made yet, so I guess we'll all find out eventually. But Ra's Algul is confirmed as the villian, whou do you guys think should play him? I like Gary Oldman or Jeremy Irons.
Well, this just gets better and better. Nomar is gonna love this. Watanabe to join cast? A MAJOR plot twist in BATMAN? Friday, February 20, 2004 (second update): According to a new BOF scooper, actor Ken Watanabe (THE LAST SAMURAI) will soon be announced as a member of the BATMAN cast. And it is a MAJOR character--one that I won't reveal right now (Suggestion--go to the Cast/Crew section--Jett). I will say that it is a villain....This source also let me in on a HUGE plot twist that is cool as hell--and that I know to be true beyond a shadow of a doubt. And one that I wish I didn't know, to be frank with you readers. And I'll never reveal it (So DON'T email me and ask--the answer is NO!), because I respect this film....This same source has told BOF that a young Harvey Dent--not Two-Face--is indeed in the script as speculated. BOF has long reported that Dent was included in the screenplay by Goyer and Nolan. So, who is playing him? Well, if the guy they wants takes the gig, at least he's worked with Nolan before. http://batman-on-film.com/b5news.html Man, Watanabe would be awesome as Ra's. Considering his race isn't exactly defined in the comics, I see no reason why a Japanese man couldn't play him, especially a fine actor like Watanabe who also knows his way around swords and is 6'2", just like Ra's. As for the actor playing Dent, I hope it's Guy Pearce but it might be Larry Holden.
Dude, Watanabe is ****ing awesome. That is so badass that he is in Batman. I hope they make him a total badass, and not chump change him with some douchebag villain.
An interesting excerpt on the possible look for the dark knight's costume. http://www.superherohype.com/batman/index.php?id=887 Also, the site was recently send a possible description of the costume... It is made of silicone and a material similar to the "Spider-Man" costume. It has a armored look to it around the chest area. There is no yellow oval--the Bat symbol is like it is in the current comics. It may be part of the chest armor. The suit is dark, but not totally black. From the description that I got, it's dark gray. The cape, cowl, boots, and gloves are black. I've heard two descriptions for the ears. One report said that they are shorter than they were in the previous films. Someone else told me that they are "Kane-style;" based on the orginal look of Batman back from 1939. I've also heard two reports on the eyes. I've heard it had lenses, and I've heard it didn't. I'm sure that costuming experienced with both. The utility belt will have pockets, but with a sleek look to it (nothing like what Adam West wore). This is of course all unconfirmed, but stay tuned for more on the above bits.
It's actually kind of implied in the comics that Ra's is Middle Eastern/Persian/South Asian. According to the comics at least, "Ra's al Ghul" is Arabic for "head of the Demon." So I hope that Watanbe is Ra's. While there's no doubt in my mind that Jeremy Irons or Daniel Day would be great as Ra's, my preference would be for a nonwhite actor to play him. Just for the sake of realism -- I wouldn't want a short guy to play Yao Ming in a movie, for example. Oh, and Guy Pearce would be a great Harvey Dent. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high, but it seems like they're doing everything right so far ...
