Summary
TheBatmanstory that helped inspire large portions of Christopher Nolan’sDark Knighttrilogy is perfectly positioned for the future of Robert Pattinson’s Dark Knight. The ending of Matt Reeves’The Batmanand teases from the upcoming seriesThePenguinseries imply that big changes are coming for Gotham City. To that end, part of that evolution could result inThe Batman - Part IIsimilarly adapting large sections ofThe Long Halloween(just like Nolan’s trilogy).
Largely considered a quintessential Batman story from DC Comics,Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’sThe Long Halloweenis a definitive tale that establishes much of Gotham’s overall mythos, taking place early on in the Caped Crusader’s career (much likeThe Batman). Establishing key origins and the changing status quo of the city’s criminals in response to The Dark Knight,it’s not hard to see the elements ofThe Long Halloweenin both Nolan’s movies and the first Reeves film. However,The Batman - Part IIcould easily be set up byThe Penguinto adapt the iconic Batman story even further.
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Chris Nolan Was Always Right About The Long Halloween
“It’s An Epic Tragedy”
Christopher Nolan wrote the forward for one of DC’s trade paperbacks ofThe Long Halloweenalongside his fellowDark Knighttrilogy screenwriter David S. Goyer. In it,Nolan confirms that"The Long Halloween is more than a comic book. It’s an epic tragedy.“He and Goyer then go on in the forward to describe just how much they were both influenced by this key Batman story, particularly the triumvirate of justice that was Batman, the GCPD’s Jim Gordon, and D.A. Harvey Dent as they sought to fight back against Gotham’s seemingly insurmountable corruption.
That said,The Long Halloweenis far more thanHarvey Dent’s tragic origins and dark transformation into the villain Two-Face. It also showcases how the city began to change over an entire year as members of the Falcone and Maroni crime families were murdered by the mysterious Holiday Killer/s, including both heads Carmine Falcone and Salvatore Maroni. With both families having turned on each other during the killings, Gotham begins evolving, deviating from organized crime alone as more super-criminals and “freaks” begin permeating and chaotically disrupting the traditional flow of Gotham’s underworld.
Keeping that in mind,it’s easy to see where and how Nolan and Goyer were inspired byThe Long Halloween. The emergence of Christian Bale’s Batman began the shifts in Gotham’s status quo. Likewise, the triumvirate of justice was formed before it was undone by Dent becoming Two-Face, and agents of chaos likeHeath Ledger’s Jokermassively disrupted the city’s organized crime.
However,Reeves’The Batmanfeatures its own exciting inspirations fromThe Long Halloween,including Carmine Falcone’s murder and his connection to Catwoman as her secret father. The movie also starts on Halloween night, which is a clear nod as well. There’s also a similar concept from the comics that Batman’s mere presence generated the creation of his rogues, such asPaul Dano’s Riddler, somethingThe Dark Knighttrilogy also suggests at the end ofBatmanBeginswith the idea of escalation and Joker’s debut.
The Penguin Makes A Long Halloween Adaptation Possible
Introducing The Falcone Crime Family And The Dawn Of A New Gotham
At the end ofThe Batman,the implication is made that Carmine’s death at the hands of Riddler created a major power vacuum, one Oswald “Oz” Cobblepott intends to fill. This idea aligns with the comics where Penguin took over the majority of organized crime in Gotham following the deaths of Falcone and Maroni, having the ability to navigate both the old world of Gotham’s traditional corruption and the new with the emergence of Gotham’s classic rogues and “freaks”. Now,the upcomingPenguinseriescould help introduce and establish more characters and arcs fromThe Long Halloween.
Seeking to claim a bigger piece of the pie,it looks as though Penguin will have to contend with bothThe Batmanuniverse’s Salvatore Maroni (Clancy Brown) and the rest of the Falcone Crime Family.Alongside him inThe Penguin’s castare Carmine’s children, Sofia (Cristin Milioti) and Alberto. Alberto (Michael Zegen) is a particularly noteworthy addition to the cast ofThe Penguin, seeing how he was one of the Holiday Killers inThe Long Halloween(the one who killed Maroni).The Penguinseries will also debut members of the crime families who were Holiday Killer victims in the comics, such as Johnny Vitti and Milos Grapa.
The Penguin
Cast
Created by Lauren LeFranc, The Penguin is a crime-drama spin-off television series of 2022’s film The Batman. Set shortly after the events of The Batman, Oz Cobb, A.K.A. the Penguin, begins his rise in the underworld of Gotham City as he contends with the daughter of his late boss, Carmine Falcone, for control of the crime family’s empire.
Please DC, Make The Batman 2 The Long Halloween
Long Halloween Is Perfect For This Version Of Batman
The overall tone of Gotham that was created in the first movie lends itself quite well to depict the epic tragedy of corruption and evolution that isThe Long Halloween.Additionally,Robert Pattinson’s Batman has already proven himself to be the right kind of early Caped Crusaderto make a version ofLong Halloweenwork. While gifted at detective work,Pattinson’s Batman is still refining his crusade and how to protect Gotham City using the best methods possiblein the face of its often overwhelming levels of corruption and evolving status quo.
With any luck,The Penguinseries will help set the stage for Matt Reeves' to create his very own full-fledged adaptation ofThe Long Halloween. The basic framework is there, and several more key characters will have made their debut in this version of Gotham by the end of the upcoming HBO series. At any rate, it should be very exciting to see howThe Penguinwill set up the next chapter inMatt Reeves’sBatmantrilogy, especially considering all these elements which are strongly pointing to some kind ofLong Halloweenadaptation.
The Penguinis set to release on Max this Fall.The Batman - Part IIis currently still in development.
The Batman Part II
The Batman Part II is the sequel to Matt Reeve’s The Batman, released in 2022, and will continue where the original film left off. The film shares a universe with the HBO Max original Penguin series and sees the return of the Riddler and a different incarnation of the Joker.
