-
io9MoviesThis Video Essay Uses Joker To Discuss How We Think About Art
Some questions don’t ever get settled. That’s what’s exciting, and frustrating, about art and philosophy: you ponder the same sorts of things over and over again. Here’s a tough one: what social responsibility, if any, does art have? What sort of art can you appropriately make about reprehensible things? I don’t remember that debate ever … Continued
By Julie Muncy -
io9Books & ComicsOld Man Bruce Wayne Dragged Titans Back to the Bad Place
Titans knocked it out of the park so well with last week’s Superboy-centric episode that it seemed as if the series might have both hit its stride and figured out how to tap into just the right amount of charming comic book absurdity to convince anyone still on the fence about the show to give … Continued
-
io9MoviesRobert Pattinson’s Batman Will Fight Paul Dano’s Riddler
When a Jonah Hill leaves, a Paul Dano swoops in, apparently. The Hollywood Reporter has word that, in the wake of recent news that Jonah Hill had exited talks to join Matt Reeves’ Batman movie, Paul Dano has signed on to take one of the alleged roles Hill was in discussions for: Edward Nygma, a.k.a. … Continued
-
io9Books & ComicsTitans‘ Brenton Thwaites on Why Dick Grayson Has to Hit ‘Rock Bottom’ to Become Nightwing
Titans’ Dick Grayson has come a long way from beating up goons in rainy alleyways and snarling “fuck Batman” at anybody who cared to listen. These days, he’s posted up in San Francisco, mentoring a bunch of young superpowered teens, reforming the Titans, and becoming the kind of mentor that Bruce Wayne always tried to … Continued
-
io9MoviesGary Glitter Didn’t Make Any Money From Joker, But a Record Label Did
Joker, a boring movie we’ve spent entirely too much time talking about at this point, has rightfully come under fire for prominently featuring “Rock n’ Roll Part 2,” a song performed by sex offender Gary Glitter. Glitter (real name Paul Gadd) is currently serving a 16-year prison sentence for “attempted rape, four counts of indecent … Continued
-
io9MoviesZoë Kravitz Will Play Catwoman in Matt Reeves’ Batman Movie
The Bat has found his Cat. Deadline reports that Kravitz (who’s been in genre hits like Mad Max: Fury Road, X-Men: First Class, and Divergent, and then also Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald) has been tapped to play Selina Kyle—the lavish socialite who moonlights as the master thief of Gotham City, Catwoman—in Matt Reeves’ Batman … Continued
-
io9Books & ComicsWhat You Need to Know About the Court of Owls, the Potential Foes of the Next Big Batman Game
It’s been a good long time since we last stepped into the world of the excellent Batman: Arkham games, but recently Bat-fans were sent all aflutter by a new teaser for what appears to be the next entry in the series being made by game developer Warner Bros. Montreal. This time, the villain seems to … Continued
-
io9Moviesio9 Discusses Todd Phillips’ Polarizing Joker, a Movie With Little to Say
What do you get when a multi-million dollar corporation decides to capitalize on one of its most popular characters by centering them in a movie that taps into conversations about white domestic terrorism in the United States, incels, and the ways in which folks with mental illnesses are often abandoned by society? You get films … Continued
-
io9Books & ComicsTitans Might Have Yet Another Death in the Family Courtesy of Slade Wilson
When Slade Wilson first crossed paths with Dick Grayson and the original Titans team, the assassin’s attack left the young heroes so devastated that once they believed they’d defeated him, they vowed never to come back together out of fear that doing so might somehow lead to more tragedy. But eventually, Titans brought the heroes … Continued
-
io9Books & ComicsThis Short Documentary Unravels the Weird, Messy History of the Joker
The Joker is having a strange moment right now. A DC icon, one of the most charismatic villains to ever to grace comics and screen, potential incel idol and an incitement to violence? In 2019, he occupies all of these cultural positions, which can make parsing the character himself somewhat hard to parse. This documentary, … Continued
By Julie Muncy -
io9MoviesWarner Bros. Thinks a ‘Lot Has Been Said’ About Joker, So It’s Canceling Red Carpet Interviews [Updated]
While the larger conversation around Todd Phillips’ upcoming Joker film continues to intensify as people reflect on how the story’s depiction of a white domestic terrorist fits into our cultural landscape, Warner Bros. is attempting to take back some control of the narrative by barring print and broadcast press access to the red carpet of … Continued
-
io9MoviesTodd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix Really Want You to See Joker Before Passing Judgment [Updated]
When it was reported that Joaquin Phoenix was either unprepared or unwilling to answer a rather straightforward question about Joker’s depiction of domestic terrorism, it suggested the actor, and by extension the studio, might have been uninterested in really engaging with the heavy subject matter being presented. But now, Phoenix and director Todd Phillips have … Continued
-
io9MoviesWarner Bros. Is Eyeing Jonah Hill to Play a Villain in The Batman
Now that Matt Reeves’ The Batman has its titular hero and is closing in on its dogged police commissioner, Warner Bros. is getting down to the important business of figuring out which villains are going to populate this incarnation of Gotham City and who’s going to play them. Deadline and Variety are both reporting that … Continued
-
io9MoviesJoaquin Phoenix Couldn’t Answer the Most Obvious Question About Joker‘s Subject Matter
Because Todd Phillips’ Joker tells the relatively grounded story of a disaffected white man who goes on a terroristic rampage because he feels as if he’s been dealt a bad hand in life, there’s been an ongoing discussion about whether the movie has the potential to inspire certain viewers to model themselves (idealistically) after the … Continued
-
io9Books & ComicsTitans‘ Murderous Villains Have the Heroes on Edge
In the span of two episodes, DC Universe’s Titans first set itself back and then took a monumental leap forward. It fast tracked the entire cast’s character development so that the series could start getting into more team-driven plot lines worthy of the “Titans” title. Now that the broad strokes of the gang’s group dynamics … Continued
-
io9Books & ComicsThis Batman Day, I Have to Admit My Favorite Batman Isn’t Bruce Wayne
He’s not even my second favorite, either. Okay, so, yeah, Batman Day is a made-up holiday, but it still has me pondering. And, honestly, I’m just not that excited by Bruce Wayne. There was a period when I was fascinated by this character, all rolled into his brooding psychological struggles and his elegant, sneaky way … Continued
By Julie Muncy -
io9Batman Just Got Upstaged By a Bunch of Teens and a Talking Dog
One would think that Batman, often said to be the world’s greatest detective, would be able to figure out a simple mystery involving a criminal dressed up in an animal costume more efficiently than a gang of meddling teenagers and their creepy talking dog. The most recent episode of Boomerang’s Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? would … Continued
-
io9GamesSome of the Best Batman Stories in Years Are Free Right Now
The twist: They’re not comic books, movies, or TV shows. And you’ll have to put aside a good few hours at your PC to experience them all. This weekend—September 21 specifically—is DC’s annual celebration of all things Batman: Batman Day, an absurd holiday that has the audacity to not even put itself on the right … Continued
-
io9Books & ComicsBatman’s Sexy Vacation Dad™ Getup Might Be His Best Costume Yet
Because everyone spends so much time going on about Nightwing’s ass and Catwoman’s inexplicably exposed armpits, it can be easy to forget that Bruce Wayne is very much a sex symbol in his own right. But artist Clay Mann has been trying to remind everyone with his illustrations in DC’s ongoing Batman series that’s currently … Continued
