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Starring the late, great Adam West, who completed his voice work before his passing, Burt Ward, Julie Newmar and William Shatner as Harvey Dent/Two-Face.
Interesting, but it seems more serious than I would've expected. I wonder, if the original show had done Two-Face, would they have kept his Harvey Dent backstory, or just gone with the duality gimmick as his whole schtick? Well, I guess they did do the occasional story with a villain who had a less evil alternate persona -- King Tut with his split personality, Zelda the Great having a change of heart -- so it's possible. (And yes, I know about Harlan Ellison's so-called "lost episode" that was adapted into a Batman '66 comic, but that was never a scripted episode, just a story outline that the show didn't end up using, probably because it was too ambitious for the show's budget, and perhaps because Two-Face was too gruesome for TV.)
Although the way they've reworked Two-Face's origin is suitably campy -- he's hit by the extracted evil juice of the villains during a mad-science experiment! Anyway, these movies definitely aren't in continuity with the Batman '66 comics, since their version of Hugo Strange is quite different -- he looks more like Kevin Hagen, for some reason, and his revelation as a secret evil mastermind happens differently (in the Batman '66 Meets The Man from UNCLE crossover, in fact).
I'm surprised we didn't see Catwoman in the trailer. I wonder what her role will be in what seems like quite a densely packed story already. EDIT: No, there she is briefly in what seems like a scene of Two-Face auctioning off the Duo's secret identities to Gotham's villains. But it's just one shot.
Also, Hugo Strange's assistant is pretty clearly supposed to be Harleen Quinzel. I wonder if she'll actually appear as Harley Quinn.
Anyone know who's playing Hugo Strange? He sounded kind of like Dee Bradley Baker, I think.
Yeah, that does look a bit more serious than I would have expected.
Not sure who that was as Hugo Strange, there is no Wikipedia page, and IMDB doesn't have Strange on it's cast list.
Interesting how Hugo Strange has made a comeback in modern Batman media. He was Batman's first recurring foe, predating the Joker by two months, but he was only in a few stories and apparently died less than a year after his debut. He wasn't seen again until Steve Engelhart resurrected him in the '70s (well, resurrected him, killed him, then had him come back as a ghost or something). And he's been used a lot in the past couple of decades. He was in B:TAS, The Batman, Young Justice, Gotham, and the Arkham video games, and now both the Batman '66 comics and this.
I'm trying to imagine who could've played Hugo Strange if he'd appeared in the '66 series... but what comes to mind is that Vincent Price would've been a great choice if he hadn't been Egghead instead. For that matter, Egghead has a lot in common with Strange -- a bald supergenius villain with facial hair, and smart enough to deduce Batman's secret identity.
Funny enough, Two-Face gives us an idea how an animated Star Trek with more robust production values might have looked. (Though that one shot of Dent on the phone the handset hiding his mouth is very much one of the labor saving techniques Filmation (and other studios) employed.
That was a very good trailer. I liked "Return of the Caped crusader" a lot (even if the voice acting of some of the people was a bit...not great, outside of Burt Ward who was surprisingly good and not just compared to the other two) and this looks even better. Hopefully it will end up being a good adventure to end Adam West's time as Batman.
(Though that one shot of Dent on the phone the handset hiding his mouth is very much one of the labor saving techniques Filmation (and other studios) employed.
I read it as being meant to conceal the fact that Dent is talking to himself. I take it that it's from a point in the movie where the hypothetical novice viewer is supposed to believe Harvey and Two-Face are two different people, before the "shocking" reveal that they're the same man, so his mouth is hidden when Two-Face is talking.
I had the audio muted as I am at the office, so I didn't know what was being said or with what tone of voice. Visually, it just reminded me how Filmation would occasionally depict Kirk speaking with his hand covering his mouth, thus saving time and effort to animate his lips.
Just saw it. Both of the animated releases are genuinely special, but I'm leaning toward "Two-Face" as being the better outing and I have only seen 20 minutes of the Two-Face adventure so far (quick break to get gushy over how great it is so far!)
RIP Adam West,am grateful that his TV era was remastered and put onto Blu-Ray as well as two awesome animated adventures. Leave the audience wanting for more - always. And, he did.
That was a very good trailer. I liked "Return of the Caped crusader" a lot (even if the voice acting of some of the people was a bit...not great, outside of Burt Ward who was surprisingly good and not just compared to the other two) and this looks even better. Hopefully it will end up being a good adventure to end Adam West's time as Batman.
The leads, the original voices, all do a great job - especially considering they're in their 60s or 80s. The replacement voiceovers do vary from good to sublime, but I didn't expect
King Tut/Victor Buono's inflection to be impersonated so well.
These two adventures definitely are in the right spirit of the 60s original but also add to the era as opposed to phoning it in with overtly-recycled plots and trying to look new.
This was pretty good — not quite as good as Return of the Caped Crusaders, but a nice job at adding Two-Face to the ’66 mythos. The chronology is a bit confusing — it seems like it’s trying to weave an ongoing Two-Face narrative into the run of the show, and the moment with Lucille Diamond in Catwoman’s costume feels like it’s intended to be an origin for Lee Meriwether’s Catwoman, yet there’s a lot about it — especially the Batman/Catwoman romance, and Robin’s apparently greater maturity and independent thinking — that feels like it’s meant to come after Return. I guess I shouldn’t worry about such things, but this is me we’re talking about.
Shatner was pretty good as Harvey and Two-Face, and in the former role, his vocal timbre and delivery sound surprisingly similar to how they did in Star Trek: The Animated Series in 1973-4 (although with better acting, since he’s more experienced at voice work now). The character design seems influenced by TAS's Kirk model too. It was a good choice to base this around a single, “new” villain played by a noted actor from the period, rather than a bunch of returning villains played by impersonators. Really, it might’ve been better without the returning villains from the first movie. And yes, that includes Catwoman, who really didn’t contribute much to the story. I am glad they found a way to work in Lee Meriwether, though. Since they were using King Tut, maybe they should’ve brought her back as Lisa Carson instead.
Quite good, TBH, IMO, YMMV, too many acryonyms. Maybe a bit on the darker side of Batman'66, but excellent nonetheless.
Was wondering why Two-Face wore green and purple, as opposed to green and red (complementary colors on the directly opposing sides of the color where), which would fit the two-face paradigm rather better than being half-Joker-seque.
IMHO, Shatner's vocalisms had a bit more more fluidity in his voice here than in TAS. But it, in a word, feels perfect.
The impersonators all did great jobs, though Joker and Riddler do stand out the best. Joker's entire mannerisms are complete standouts, Riddler's is excellent as well - and his laugh in particular, as well as Penguin's laugh (which is his most important aspect by far) certainly seal the deal for even the weakest moments, which are fairly few.
And Christopher nailed it best; having another 60s established actor - Shatner fits in perfectly with the feel of Batman '66. Loved him doing the role of Two-Face and Harvey Dent.
Was hoping Newmar had more to do. Batman'66 was made for Catwoman.
I too had the same vibe, Lucille Diamond based on Lee Meriwether. I just looked up the cast and, wow, the voice artist really was Lee Meriwether!
Having all the major villains return - so far so good. There would be diminished returns over time, but the "Two-Face" outing has them more as useful cameos than major players, which is a refreshing change. But had the series continued I would wonder where they would have gone with things in bringing out the same four over and over. Catwoman's not a problem but from recent years with Doctor Who shoving in Daleks over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again...
...But the classic cast has the magic, coupled with writing, animation, and new casting teams that gelled far above anything people might be expecting. Somehow I suspect keeping the big bads around would somehow remain fresh for some time. It almost reminds me of Batman '66 mid-season 2 when the 4 big bads were getting coupled with new baddies, like Marsha Queen of Diamonds, Sandman, etc, with varying levels of success.
Loved the completely unexpected homage to "Match Game" - the best version of the show premiered in 1973 (hence the music used), with a PM version in 1975 that could be a bit more risqué. Hilarious stuff back in the heyday and a number of card questions remain just as hysterical today...
Shame there aren't any more that would be made and as much as Ward and Newmar are perfect, would the same series continue with a voice impersonation of Adam West? That's bigger than casting the big bads, which was a huge task in of itself.
But, in all, the animated outings feel so much in tune with Adam West's era but bring new things to the table, while keeping pretty much 100% the same feel and theme, as opposed to just copying and pasting old episode plot scenes the way Star Trek 2009 and the 1990s Brady Bunch movies had done with a larger veneer of plot outside of those. And with the freedom that animation allows as opposed to big live action sets). Audiences really get a big treat with these Batman entries.
Was wondering why Two-Face wore green and purple, as opposed to green and red (complementary colors on the directly opposing sides of the color where), which would fit the two-face paradigm rather better than being half-Joker-seque.
Shame there aren't any more that would be made and as much as Ward and Newmar are perfect, would the same series continue with a voice impersonation of Adam West? That's bigger than casting the big bads, which was a huge task in of itself.
I doubt that anyone involved would really be comfortable doing that. Which is too bad, because I would like to see more of these in theory. Although I'd like a better Penguin actor (I bet James Arnold Taylor or Billy West could probably do a good Burgess Meredith) and a better Gordon and O'Hara. And I really don't like it that Aunt Harriet's only role is to drop winking innuendos. It's dumb and annoying.
Adam West voiced Batman for animation before this. New Adventures of Batman in 1977. Plus the final two seasons of Super Friends in the 80s.
None of which was styled to match his live action series like these recent movies were. It would be a challenge but I wonder if they would consider using his older voice recording to create new movies? There would be limitations of using existing dialogue. But the other actors could record new scenes so they would not have to exactly copy the original scripts. This is more a hypothetical proposition. I am not sure how this would work with SAG in terms of original scripts for credits and pay.
The Super Powers episode "The Fear" which depicted Batman's origin outside of comics for time would be interesting to "convert" into the 66 continuity. West's performance was very strong. Maybe that could be combined with his lines from the earlier animated Batman episodes as a framework to build a new movie around.
None of which was styled to match his live action series like these recent movies were. It would be a challenge but I wonder if they would consider using his older voice recording to create new movies? There would be limitations of using existing dialogue. But the other actors could record new scenes so they would not have to exactly copy the original scripts. This is more a hypothetical proposition. I am not sure how this would work with SAG in terms of original scripts for credits and pay.
Not only would that not be likely to make for a very good story, but as I said, the parties involved might find it exploitative and disrespectful.
The Super Powers episode "The Fear" which depicted Batman's origin outside of comics for time would be interesting to "convert" into the 66 continuity. West's performance was very strong. Maybe that could be combined with his lines from the earlier animated Batman episodes as a framework to build a new movie around.
That would never work, since "The Fear" was in a much more serious vein. It was written by Alan Burnett, who would go on to produce Batman: The Animated Series and most other animated Batman productions for the next couple of decades, and it was basically a backdoor pilot for a B:TAS-like show. What made it so memorable was its atypically dark, dramatic tone, a massive departure from the way Batman had been portrayed on TV for the preceding 17 years.
