The Year of the Bat Begins!

"I shall become a bat....................."

It's almost 75 years since Bob Kane and Bill Finger gave us the Caped Crusader and he's gone from cold killer to goofy super-hero to the dark knight we know today. Along the way, he's managed to become the most popular super-hero to have graced the earth (puny human!) with a slew of TV series, animated films and live-action movies. But that's the past and while poor ol' Bruce may never outrace it, we look forward to more Batman in 2014.

2013 was Superman's year and we got an animated movie (so-so) and a live-action one (which was good but very polarizing) but Batman was there as well, as he shone in comics and animation alike. Not to mention Beware the Batman came and went.

2014 is upon us and lets see what our favourite super-hero has to offer:

1. Comics

Scott Snyder has been hitting it out of the park, belting one great arc after another. Zero Year is currently on and will end mid-year. Elsewhere, he plays a major part in Forever Evil as well. Detective Comics Vol 2 #27 is almost here (Batman was first featured in Detective Comics Vol 1 #27!) and it has some of the best writers on it. A new weekly Batman Eternal is coming up and will be shepherded by Scott, replacing the Dark Knight comic series in some ways.

Speculation #1:  We may get a new Robin this year. There are two main candidates (Harper Row and Carrie Kelly), but there may be more appearing. Who do you want?


2. Animation

Justice League War is coming up and while the arc (New 52 Justice League #1-#6) it is based on did have some 'wow' moments, I hope they cut out one particular Batman-GL moment. The voice cast is still questionable, but the film looks good and may actually improve on the comic book arc (but no Aquaman! There is no justice!)..

Then Son of Batman is coming up and apparently it is based on Batman and Son arc. Maybe with Ninja Man-Bats and all. But how much of the story will it have? Will it be Son of the Demon+Batman & Son? Or Batman &Son+Batman Inc?

Assault on Arkham is also coming up later in the year and as it has already been reported to be a Rocksteady/WB Montreal Arkhamverse game tie-in, I hope it's a prelude to the next Rocksteady game.

Finally, Beware the Batman was to return in January but is still in hiatus. Has it already been canned? And if so, is another show on it's way.

Speculation #2: JL War coming out in February is the first New 52 adaption. So, is it possible the New 52 JL series rumored to happen going to follow it on DC Nation, replacing Beware. Beware was just finding it's footing and while it will be a shame, a New 52 JL series sounds interesting.

3. Live-Action

Well, nothing much on the film front with Batman vs Superman coming up next year. But we may see a teaser or Ben in a Bat-suit before the end of the year.

Fox is also starting a new show Gotham for the 2014-15 season. While that seems to be based on Gotham Central and pre-Zero Year (yes, it's not pre-Year One anymore), a young Bruce Wayne is going to accompany Gordon while he investigates the Wayne double homicide in the pilot apparently. I do hope they keep Bruce to a minimum and focus on people like Flass, Loeb, Bullock and maybe even Montoya and Crispus Allen while keeping villains like Black Mask, the Penguin, Zsasz and the Falcone/ Maroni mafia.

Speculation #3: Hopefully they will be able to get Ben to do some cameo near the end of the first season cause Batman not being there will feel weird after some time. This will tie Gotham and BvsS together and give more back-story on the ancillary characters when the new Batman film comes up.

4. Gaming

A new Arkham Origins DLC was announced and the picture seems to hint a Mr Freeze appearance. An actual DLC (Initiation was good, but it was just a glorified Challenge Map) will keep us busy but what I really want is for Rocksteady to announce a sequel to Arkham City. The Batman Assault on Arkham points to a prelude to the next Arkham game and hopefully is.

Speculation #4: While WB Montreal did have a rocky start with Arkham Origins, I hope they continue to flesh out Batman's years pre-Arkham Asylum. We haven't got the Ventriloquist, Court of Owls/Talon etc and Hush and Azreal have just appeared. Also, the scope of widening the Arkhamverse to include Lex Luthor and the Justice League, while daunting, is possible.


So, that is that.

We have so much to look forward to 2014 Batmanwise. Hopefully that will include more goodies as the year wears on. Join the discussion and give your opinions!

All hail the Sons of Batman!