Would you Mind a Smallville Style Bruce Wayne Show

[SicSexSix]

The first 1/3 of Batman Begins was my favorite part of the film, and I always thought how interesting it could be to go more into depth, but I can't see a weekly show running season after season after season of Bruce touring the world & training with various mentors not turning out to be overkill. One season max, any more and it'll go all stale-city. That, I would thoroughly enjoy. Some kind of Bat-family show would be great too, as someone above outlined - - have it centered around the core members minus Bruce (keep him reserved for special occasions), because I think Nightwing, Red Robin, Red Hood, Oracle and/or Batgirl could do a fine job carrying a show. Have the GCPD as secondary characters, Bullock, Montoya, Allen, etc. And you've got plenty of cross over potential with Arrow to have not only him show up, but Huntress & Deathstroke too. That could totally work.

[theDarkJAww13]

A show who's primary reason for existing would be to show the entire progression of the Bat-family (of course with liberties taken to make it work for TV) - now that's a fanboys wet dream lol. Imagine how cool that'd be? This is how i'd assume it'd look if it ever went down:

Season 1 would follow Bruce touring the world getting trained. A 'Smallville' vibe in this season which would lead to the "Library Scene" and the unveiling of the first Batman costume in the finale.

Season 2 would be the "Year One" season, showing Bruce put the lessons and training he got in Season 1 to the test and getting used to life as Batman. Set up Harvey Dent, Selina Kyle, Jim, Barbara and James Gordon, among others here. Use some early/non conventional Batman villains like Dr. Hugo Strange, Man-Bat & Doctor Death to fill the season. Maybe introduce to Dick Grayson (who I think would have to be at least a teenager by this point). Make them know each other before Dick's parents die. Have the finale be the creation of Two-Face - with a cliffhanger of Dick 'finding out' that Bruce is Batman.

Season 3 could follow Batman & Robin. During the season premiere, Grayson's parents are killed by Zucco while Two-Face's rise to crime-lord becomes inevitable. Grayson would now become Robin, since he knows Bruce is Batman. Have Babs become Batgirl in this season, start building the Bat-family. Introduce the Joker in this season, maybe by the mid-season point - drop hints about him to the viewer throughout the first two seasons with the first "Joker story" taking place here. Introduce Jason Todd somehow as a minor character in this season. I'd see a finale with Batman & Robin dealing with Two-Face once and for all - leading to Dick resigning as Robin.

Season 4's main conflict would be Dick becoming Nightwing and having Batman need to deal with that for a while - I'd write it so Bruce would feel a little jealous over this, feeling a little bit bitter about Dick leaving which forces him to rush into making Jason Todd the second Robin. Maybe introduce Bat-Woman in this season for a little bit, just to show off the Bat-family growing. I'd also include Ra's and Talia Al Ghul in this one if I didn't already introduce them in an earlier season. The Finale would see the return of the Joker - who would kill Jason.

Season 5 would be dark for Bruce. He'd be feeling his biggest failure in letting Jason die, and also still have the resentment toward his former side-kick Nightwing for leaving. For the first half of the season, it'd deal with Batman being a bit more reckless in his fight against crime, opting to go it alone from now on. He'll find himself in much harsher situations than when he had help. Somewhere along the lines, Tim Drake would be introduced. In a mid-season finale, I'd introduce Red Hood to the audience and use the rest of the season as a vehicle to prove to Batman that a bat-family can help him. In the season finale, we'd have pretty much the "Under the Red Hood" climax- with Batman, Red Hood and the Joker. But i'd also have it focus heavily on Nightwing, Batgirl & Batwoman trying to track down those three in order to help Bruce. Eventually it'd come down to Tim helping Bruce the most despite not being a member of this ever-growing "Bat-Family."

Season 6 would then of course deal with Batman and Robin (Tim Drake) as they work with the Bat-Family to keep major villains down. More Joker, Catwoman, maybe the return of Two-Face, etc. Red Hood would be viewed as an anti-hero throughout this season, trying to find his own way in a world where he is no longer accepted by the Bat-family. In the season finale, however, I'd have Jason Todd save Tim Drake's life - something he probably wouldn't have done for Batman's first Robin, Dick Grayson. This would show the hope in Jason but ultimately he'd run off and most likely fight Nightwing or something.


Whoa. K I just spent too much time fantasizing about that haha. I could go on and on I'm sure but if any channel had to compact the Bat-family into a show, that is the way i'd have the first 6 seasons go down haha.

[Aquacatlungfish]

"Smallville" worked because there was a basis for Clark meeting his enemies when he was younger. Not so much for Batman.

Smallville didn't work and there's much more of a basis for a Bruce Wayne show than a Clark Kent show. Bruce Wayne's origin is actually interesting and has potential. Clark Kent's is dull and boring. Just him moping around about destiny. The only interesting part is him in Africa but Smallville skipped that for just making him Superman without the costume.

[ForeverYoung8]

All things being equal (assuming good budget, cast, network, etc), I wouldn't mind a show with a set plan that would never get extended if the ratings were good. A clear plan from the beginning, say 5 seasons, centered around Wayne (the angst) , Gordon (the "older, parent-like" figure through most of the series) , and Harvey Dent (the sex appeal, psychological type character). Maybe even cut the episodes down to 12-14 per season instead of 22 to avoid filler episodes. Some eps could feature all 3, or just 1, or a mixture of whomever.

Season 1: In the pilot, I'd show the Wayne muder and young Bruce swearing vengeance (this would be a theme over the seasons, changing his quest from 'vengeance' to 'justice'). I'd adapt the flashbacks from "Batman: Jekyll & Hyde", and show Harvey losing his brother to the fire & the beginning of his 'inner voice'. And I'd introduce a young Gordon taking criminal justice classes in Chicago. Maybe he meets his 1st wife there or something.

At the end of the pilot, the 3 characters would be set up for the audience & away they would go. Through season 1, show Bruce studying 1 or 2 skills (say, fighting & escape artist stuff; could introduce Ted Grant & Zatarra (and his cute daughter Zatanna) this way. Maybe goes on a mission with Ted or something). Harvey, meanwhile, is juggling law school (been there for a few years now) & relationships, strained relationship with his father in the asylum due to the death of Harvey's brother (the coin). Gordon is in the academy.

Season 2, Bruce moves on and learns another few skills. Meets Talia. Harvey meets Gilda. Gordon marries Barbara (1st wife), completes his academy training.

Season 3, Bruce moves on and learns another skill or 2. Harvey's father commits suicide. He marries Gilda. Begins working for the D.A.'s office (a little older than Bruce). Gordon begins work for the Chicago PD. Talia shows up again, as a love interest this time. Season ends with her introducing Bruce to her father.

Season 4: Bruce trains with Ra's for half a season. Becomes disallusioned with the league, Ra's swears they will meet again. Harvey runs for D.A. (it's a comic book show, so we'll play down how this stuff works for the sake of the show). Gordon gets embroiled in a mob war, eventually gets offered a transfer to Gotham. Season finale is Bruce returning to Gotham City. Classic "bat comes through window,I shall become a bat" scene. Harvey wins election. Gordon arrives by train.

Season 5: In the premiere, we have a very loose adaptation of Year One. Batman crosses Falcone at the same time Harvey is trying to take Falcone down. Gordon is appointed to take down The Batman. Episode ends with Batman saving Gordon's newborn son, earning Gordon's trust. Episode 2 is an adaptation of "The Man Who Laughs", giving us Joker vs Batman. Throughout the rest of the season, we see the police still hunting Bats but Gordon secretly meets with him. Harvey tackles the mob. We begin to meet a few classic rogues in one-off episodes. A few eps from the end, Harvey becomes scarred. Gordon and Barb divorce.

In the series finale, Two-Face assembles all rogues introduced during the season to take down Falcone. This allows us a large battle royale between Batman and pretty much everybody. Falcone killed, Two-Face caught, Batman unveils the Batmobile, Gordon & Batman have the rooftop chat about "we won, but at what cost?", and the final shot is Batman on a rooftop with the inner monologue "I believe in Gotham City."

5 seasons would certainly compress a lot of these ideas, but I think a proper writing team could make one hell of a show around that. Again, all things being equal or a perfect world, etc.

[Cloud576]

If arrow continues to have any success, I say scrap most of the teen drama aspects of this show and embrace a heroic costume drama. You can keep the "real world" soap-opera aspects of the show but ignore any "no tights, no flights" rule.

And the biggest problem would probably be some pencil-pusher who believes that any audience is too stupid to handle more than one live-action Batman, so I say you embrace the Bat family for the main characters; make Dick Grayson the main protagonist (if the show were to show up on the CW, they could milk his Mr. Fanservice credentials for the girls), Tim Drake as a little brother protagonist and partial audience surrogate (at least for the early seasons), introduce Damian and Jason in later seasons while also dealing with some kind of Azrael, and have some mixture of more than one Bat-female character (ideally, I'd want Oracle recovering over a few seasons to put her suit back on as Batgirl, Cass as a walking action scene, Steph as a plucky heroine, and Helena Bertinelli as a 'bad girl'). Have Batman show up very rarely, and mostly over radio, and build him up through other character dialogue.

High school drama (early Smallville) can be supplied by Tim, young adult stupidity (Supernatural, all other CW shows) would inevitably be covered by Dick, you could have two female characters discussing something besides boys to attract other audiences, and I would probably try and embrace more comedically talented actors and ensure you had some light moments. I personally believe that many funny actors are just as if not more capable of pulling off very serious scenes if needed, and since our heroes would have masks, you could have stuntmen do most fight scenes.

And there are so many bad guys in the Gotham rogues gallery you could start with C-lister and gangster fodder for most episodes before making your classic bad-guys finale type of monsters. Imagine a first season featuring Rupert Thorne as the recurring antagonist before Two-Face takes over for the finale, a second season maybe having Jason Todd as the main antagonist but Talia as the Big Bad, and keep the Joker limited to one or less episodes a season. Make any Joker appearances just as heralded as any Batman appearances. And maybe the last season could feature Dick moving up to the Cowl with Damian at his side.

This sounds pretty damn awesome if I say so myself. I would love that.

[flottanna]

I don't love the idea but I would defiantly give it a shot.

[vampiric_cannibal]

I don't love the idea but I would defiantly give it a shot.

That's right! Fight the power, read Smallville-Bats.

[andthegunslinger]

Awesome, I'd watch that.

[Fate's Faith]

Have the series deal with the Waynes themselves with Bruce a toddler. Make the show not only about the life that Bruce would lose soon but how Gotham was decending into a city that would give birth to a Bat-Man.

[Mat001]

You know what would set that precedent? A show in which Batman met some of his villains while younger. Just saying "It was never done" isn't always a convincing argument against.

The thing is that Batman's enemies were the response to his public debut. Superman's aren't that much, especially when taking Superboy into account. Lex could have gone evil at any point in his life. Mxy was already causing problems for centuries before meeting Clark. But the Joker? That's the result of Batman's existence. Not Bruce Wayne's. Harvey Dent is Two-Face because he went against Maroni. And so on.

Smallville didn't work and there's much more of a basis for a Bruce Wayne show than a Clark Kent show. Bruce Wayne's origin is actually interesting and has potential. Clark Kent's is dull and boring. Just him moping around about destiny. The only interesting part is him in Africa but Smallville skipped that for just making him Superman without the costume.

When Clark was Superboy, he had his adventures. Without his costume in "Man Of Steel" and "Birthright", all you had was just Clark's simple upbringing until he traveled the world after turning eighteen. "Smallville" had Clark doing heroic deeds without a costume for eight seasons, while also dealing with his personal life. They didn't skip going to Africa, because it isn't as essential to the story. What was essential is Clark gleaning experience and learning the lessons that make him Superman. But the show mixed those elements together. Bruce's time traveling the world is more essential than staying in Gotham, which the show would be. Essentially, Bruce already has the training, he just didn't have the costume. That's what the Bruce Wayne series was. There was no going to China, Japan, Nanda Parbat, Africa, France, Alaska and so on.

[robowizard]

Smallville worked because Clark Kent was an 'ordinary' kid growing up. whereas Bruce Wayne would grow up in a place where everyone knew his name. He would be the child who's parents died and he was a billionaire who lived with his butler. This would make many other kids envious of him. Good concept and I'd definitely watch it but I very much doubt they'd make one.

[Aquacatlungfish]

When Clark was Superboy, he had his adventures. Without his costume in "Man Of Steel" and "Birthright", all you had was just Clark's simple upbringing until he traveled the world after turning eighteen. "Smallville" had Clark doing heroic deeds without a costume for eight seasons, while also dealing with his personal life. They didn't skip going to Africa, because it isn't as essential to the story. What was essential is Clark gleaning experience and learning the lessons that make him Superman. But the show mixed those elements together. Bruce's time traveling the world is more essential than staying in Gotham, which the show would be. Essentially, Bruce already has the training, he just didn't have the costume. That's what the Bruce Wayne series was. There was no going to China, Japan, Nanda Parbat, Africa, France, Alaska and so on.

The OP isn't asking about the idea proposed as it would be completely godawful and we all know that. Jack Napier should be banished from the universe of fiction and never seen again. Clark Kent learning the lessons of Superman isn't interesting, it's just him learning how to inspire people and be good. The idea of someone taking a road trip all across the DCu and learning how to be a badass. There are several lesser known Batman villains that are great and deserve portrayals in film and TV. The sho will never be made and if it did get made it would probably be awful.

[Mia]

I would have loved to see the Bruce Wayne concept that was talked about years ago, before Smallville was made. The Script and outline looked great, would still like to see it made.

Yes, this topic has been brought up a couple of times. We would have a young Bruce Wayne,early 20's (?) who just came back to Gotham from adventuring.
He would be joining the Wayne Enterprises which he struggled to take back. And keep on training for Batman at night.

He would be the anti-Clark Kent. Much along the lines of Ferris Bueller or Sebstian in Cruel Intentions.

[dupersuper]

Smallville didn't work and there's much more of a basis for a Bruce Wayne show than a Clark Kent show. Bruce Wayne's origin is actually interesting and has potential. Clark Kent's is dull and boring. Just him moping around about destiny.

That's a valid complaint about his Smallville origin, but Clark has had a lot of origin stories...

The thing is that Batman's enemies were the response to his public debut. Superman's aren't that much, especially when taking Superboy into account. Lex could have gone evil at any point in his life. Mxy was already causing problems for centuries before meeting Clark. But the Joker? That's the result of Batman's existence. Not Bruce Wayne's. Harvey Dent is Two-Face because he went against Maroni. And so on.

Meh. That usually strikes me as a villains excuse.

[andthegunslinger]

Have the series deal with the Waynes themselves with Bruce a toddler. Make the show not only about the life that Bruce would lose soon but how Gotham was decending into a city that would give birth to a Bat-Man.

Yeaaaah I'm not too sure about this. Where would the punching come from?