Batman : Series 2 - Ideas Part Two

Hey Everyone

Earlier this month I released my first series of Batman Action Figure Adventures, if you haven't seen them there up on my YouTube Channel now. The series itself did really well in terms of the way it was received, I'm really pleased that people enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun to make, and offered me a new diversity of doing different projects and expressing my interests in the DC Comic stories and in my interest I have in Batman, it also allowed me to be more flexible in terms of story writing, filming, etc in comparison to doing something like a Doctor Who for example.

The first series, was in every sense a trial and error thing just to see how the series would be received and to see if Batman had a future. Obviously my subscribers are used to all the Doctor Who's I've done over the past six years, but now I have flourished and there are loads of new projects coming in and ready to blossom.

Now that Series 1 of Batman is done and dusted and out of the way, It's time to start preparations for series 2, now the second series of Batman could come back quite quickly, It might not. We shall have to see how I do in actually filming and editing it to insure it's up on YouTube as early as possible. The second series will be different to the first series, there will be more stories, more villains and more action, but that's good because I think what people crave is a desire to see more of what they enjoy.

I have started to write the scripts, and the camera plans for the first 2 episodes of Series 2, and I hope to be done with all the planning and preparations by the end of July.

Characters

I don't think there is any harm in telling you some of my ideas for Series 2 as a sneak peak into what I have planned for the series. There will be more characters involved, and more enemies for Batman to face. In the first part I showed you five villains that are in the series, now I will be showing you some more. As well other nice added bonuses.

 

Bane

Bane grew up inside the walls of a prison on the island nation of Santa Prisca. Serving time for his own father's acts of rebellion against the island's corrupt government, Bane was brutalised by his experience. His aggression made him a perfect test subject for the experiment Venom steroid.

With tubes pumping venom directly into his bloodstream, he gained vastly increased physical strength and broke out of prison. Fascinated by Batman, Bane set his sights on challenging himself to defeat him. Having been traumatised by Bats as a child, Bane considered the destruction of Batman his way of getting revenge.

Bane is one of Batman's most intimidating foes, and was once associated with the Secret Six.

What I love about Bane is his patience and the way he calculates his plans in his head, he really thinks through and plans strategically a great deal. Which makes him a worthy adversary for Batman. This was portrayed in The Dark Knight Rises and as much as I love The Dark Knight Rises. I don't see Bane as the dictator or liberator The Dark Knight Rises portrayed him to be.

However, Bane is an excellent character and I will certainly be portraying him in my own individual way. I will achieve this by researching into the character a bit more, so that I can include more into his background when it comes to writing the script. I have one or two little ideas in my head, but that will expand once I have the plot of the story which includes Bane.

 

Man Bat

Scientist Kirk Langstorm's study of bats went horribly wrong when an experimental serum transformed him into half a bat, half a human monster. His animal instincts overrode his human intellect and soon he was terrorising Gotham every night until sunrise.

Like a true bat, Man Bat can fly and can sense his surroundings through echolocation. Dr Langstorm's wife Francine has also been alternated by the serum and she has become the She-Bat.

The concept behind the creature is fascinating, I like the name Man Bat, gives a nice twist to Batman. I like the bat qualities and the fact the mutations have changed the physical construction of the body to adapt to that of a bat. It's really quite creepy concept if you think about it.

Anyway I have a fantastic story planned to which I have already got started on. The only problem is working out how I'm going to get Man Bat to fly realistically with action figures...

Killer Croc 

Killer Croc is an interesting one, one I wasn't considering fully having him as a main villain in a story. The original idea was to introduce him as a sub villain to add more to the impact presence of another villain. But then I got thinking and that thinking turned into brainstorming, then before I knew it. I was researching on Killer Croc's aspects which constructed me to include him as the main villain in a story for Series 2.

Killer Croc was born Wayne Jones, a child afflicted with a strange, progressive condition that triggered the emergence to primitive traits in his gentic code. Over time he grew to resemble a massive crocodile, developing pembbly skin, a tooth filled snout, a powerful tail, and a tough protective hide. 

Taking the name Killer Croc after finding work wrestling alligators, he realised his superhuman strength could help him become a powerful. wealthy figure in Gotham's crime scene. Prone ti fits of bestial rage, Croc was responsible for the murder of Joseph and Trina Todd, and act that inspired their adoptive son Jason to take up the role of the second Robin.

The ideas are coming in and are starting to form a potential story. I think what needs to be done is just more research into the character, who he is, where he comes from, etc. In retrospect he's a very interesting character and diverse in his reptilian quality which makes him stand out from a normal human, not just by appearance but by mannerisms as well.

I think it would be good to play around with this and possibly have Killer Croc the leader of a mob gang in gotham. That would be a good plot and would tie in very well with the Jason Todd storyline. The eye for an eye connection with Robin.

 

Two Face

In series 1 I made various nice little mentions and  nods to Harvey Dent and how he was in the running to become Gotham Mayor. Well, now in the second series, Harvey gets his chance to shine as he tries to make Gotham a better place, by gaining the people's trust so that they will vote for him in the elections.

The story goes that Harvey Dent is made out to be the idealistic Mayor for Gotham city, abolishing scum off the street, cleaning up the city, concentrating on the city's political concerns. He does all these things really well, then a mob informant throws a vail of acid against one side of his face. The trauma causes him to become Two Face, who views the world through the polar opposites of order and chaos. 

He does this by deciding what to do by flipping a coin, whatever side the coin lands on will decide the fate of his victims. It is literally a 50/50 streak. Anyway I'm eagerly keen to flourish the Harvey Dent character into the series properly and also introduce him as Two Face. As that's what's so playful, comparing the two contrasts of Harvey Dent and Two Face. Two Face and Harvey Dent. 50/50.

Black Mask

Keep following 'Gus Cleese' I'm not finished with him yet. Gus was the villain in Episode 3 of Series 1 'The Cat & Bat' he's a man overcome by greed and averous. He tried to kill Batman and Catwoman in a bid to take an expensive prized valuable painting for himself. I'm going to bring Gus back for Series 2, so just keep following this character.

Black Mask was a character that was going to be in Series 1, however due difficulties in the script writing process we just couldn't fit him in, as we only had 4 spaces. Now we have more spaces and more ideas. It would be silly not to use Black Mask in Series 2. So this is a kind of make up for delaying the ideas I had for him for Series 1. It was a shame because the ideas we had for him were really good. 

Most of Gotham's underworld is controlled by Black Mask.

Black Mask was originally known as Roman Sionis, a wealthy businessman who was jealous of Bruce Wayne. His mask is in actual fact the wood of his dead father's coffin. The mask was later burned to his face. His gang are known as False Facers, because they all wear masks.

He is well known for his methods of torture, and killed the fourth Robin, Stephanie Brown. He's totally ruthless, and psychotic. His aims are to control all of Gotham's crime syndicates. He was killed by Catwoman and replaced by Dr Jeremiah Arkham who is more schizophrenic in his madness. All in all, a very mellow and dark character to get my type fingers into.
  

 Scarecrow

Dr Johnathan Crane is trained in the psychology of fear, a subject he learned well during an unhappy childhood that was dominated by playground bullies. As an adult he studied phobis in a clinical setting, and developed a gas to activate the fear centres in the brains of it's victims.

Dressing up in rags and calling himself 'The Scarecrow', Crane forces the people of Gotham to face their worst nightmares. His fear toxin makes his victims hullucinate, so that they belive that their worst phobias have come to life.

The Scarecrow can also resort to physical combat, using a style called 'violent dancing' based partly on boxing and the crane style of kung fu. He was once an associate of the Injustice Gang.

He is a worthy adversary to Batman's character and imposes enough of a threat in order for Batman to take him seriously.

I think what Scarecrow has that the other villians do not is an understanding of people, he understands he take something such as 'fear' for instance and our belief in it and turn it against us as a weapon.

I think it would be productive to explore different avenues down his character and relate to alot that has happened to him previously in the past during his childhood. I would also probably explore his knowledge as a scientist and challenge how clever he is against Batman. In retrospect Scarecrow would be an ideal villian to be in Series 2.

Catwoman

Catwoman appeared in Series 1 in 'The Cat & The Bat' in that story she stole a painting from the Gotham museum, the painting was incripted with data codes that were useful to her. She intended to use the codes to start a new life somewhere else, with a criminal with a record such as hers, Catwoman knew she needed to get out.

She stole the painting, and wouldn't return it to the Gotham Museum. The last time we saw her she abandond Batman clueless. Since then Batman has been doing some research on Catwoman, and has notified Gordan to report her to him should she ever turn up in Gotham again. The good thing about Catwoman is she's not that sinical about everything she can still trust enough to let her guard down a bit, which she does and that results in her getting into trouble.

She returns for Series 2 and will be included a lot. There's much more to her and Batman's relationship that was portrayed in 'The Cat & Bat' because then Batman was still confused by Catwoman, now he's got some more background on her he feels he understands her better, but there is still a sparkle of anxziaty to want to find out more about her as he goes a long.

So you got a master criminal like Catwoman, on the streets of Gotham and Batman who is fasinated by her and her orgins. Batman's relationship with Selina Kyle has always been complicated. As the costumed Catwoman, Selina has an eye for expensive treasures. especially if they have a cat theme, and she has no qualms about stealing them. Stealthy and agile, Catwoman is also a skilled martial artist. Batman can't condone her criminal side but he is still drawn to her flirrarious playfulness.

Killing is against Catwoman's moral code, and her main targets for thievery at the moment are mobsters and gangsters. Armed with a whip and ten face scratching claws, Catwoman often helps the Dynamic Duo but she can never truly be trusted.

It would be refreshing to pick up from where I left off with her character and explore the differnet avenues that eventually lead into the realtionship between her and Batman going deeper. It also means allowing more story to come through in the episodes which is a great bonus.


Robin

As the Dark Knight's squire, Robin fills a vital role in Batman's life. Many have worn the Robin costume in the years since Dick Grayson first coined the name, and Batman and Robin continue to live up to their public name : The Dynamic Duo.

The Robin that will focusing on is Jason Todd. Jason first met Batman when he was caught trying to steal the Batmobile's tires, and their relationship has been a tempestuous one ever since. For a time Jason adventured as the second Robin, but his rebellious nature made him a problematic partner for Batman.

He met a brutal end when The Joker took his life with a time bomb blast after a vicious beatdown. Jason later returned due to the reality warping effects of the Infinite Crisis, now possessing the cruel edge of a killer and still carrying a grudge against Batman for failing to prevent The Joker's act.

I think it would be good to add Robin into the equation just to spice the writing up a bit. I think that would help audience's engagement in my Batman stories a lot more. The action would be better, Batman would have some one to talk to other than Alfred and Jim Gordan and Robin would be a permanent regular, an ideal companion for Batman.

Obviously Series 2 will raise the bar. And I want to raise the bar because I think I owe it to my loyal subscribers that I can deliver. I promise things will take off and you won't be disappointed with the end result.

I'm working on it now, I hope to deliver some really appealing, dark, mellow and contemperate scripts for you to love. Series 1 may have been a trail an error now that's done. I can enter a new form of comfort zone with Batman and really warm to it.