While The Avengers
has been taking the world by storm, The Dark Knight has been brooding in his
cave and waiting for the right time to strike.
The earth’s mightiest heroes are a box office behemoth the likes of
which no one could have foreseen. They’ve
proven to be much more than just formidable opponents. Not to be outdone, the Batman has finally and
truly arisen from his slumber with a bevy of gifts, some of which are quite
wonderful.
The marketing blitz started with a truly wretched poster
which superimposed an image of Batman over last year’s teaser. Then, as if in apology for that debacle, six
new character posters were released. Three
were made for the domestic market, and three for the international market. The domestic ones are busier and more
detailed, but also far more interesting.
They convey the mood of the film much better.
Then there are a series of strikingly cool banners, my favorite of which
depicts an inner-city standoff between Batman and Bane. Three show Gotham in the midst of anarchy,
and two depict Bane as its ringmaster.
Bane's army resembles an urban militia, while Batman seems to have the entire
GCPD at his command. Now that, my
friends, is a showdown for the ages.
Looking at these Banners, I can’t help but to think of The Dark Knight’s detractors, many of
whom have deluded themselves into thinking that Nolan has been wildly faithful
to the source material. So far, Nolan
has incorporated elements Batman: Year
One, Batman: The Long Halloween,
and The Killing Joke into his
trilogy.
The scenes depicted in these banners call to mind The Dark Knight Returns, in which Batman
enlists the mutant gang to restore order to Gotham after the city is hit by an
electromagnetic pulse. Either way, these
banners are marketing gold. One
currently rests atop my Facebook page as its cover photo.
Last but not least, there are two new TV spots, the first of
which plays up what I like to call the Rocky
angle. During its opening moments,
Batman is shown striking a statuesque pose high atop Gotham just before a young
boy asks “Do you think he’s coming back?” Soon after that, Bruce (Christian Bale)
looks at Lucius Fox and whispers “I need you to get me back in the game.”
This film is starting to look like a mashup of Superman II and Rocky III, which doesn’t strike me as a bad thing at all. It shows a hero both defeated and missing in
action, and that means drama. It also seems
to have a slightly more adventurous bend than its immediate predecessor. The
less said about the second TV spot the better.
It focuses more on Catwoman, whose presence in this film is something I truly
dread.
Overall, these materials get my blood pumping. They reaffirm both my faith in Nolan’s vision
and my anticipation for The Dark Knight
Rises. Those looking for Batman to
prematurely deliver a concession speech will hopefully be put in their place
come July 30th. He’s the most
resilient and versatile superhero around, and it’s highly unlikely that he’ll
go down without putting up a hell of a fight.
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