DCCU: The Story Bible

Batman: Year One (2002)

A film.
This is a special case... because it's a film about a younger Batman. 25 years old in a comic-accurate Gotham.

Directed by Martin Campbell, whom I looked up to be a filmmaker that rejuvenated the Bond franchise with Goldeneye (1995) and directed Daniel Craig's debut in Casino Royale (2006) in our timeline at least.

Ben Affleck is Batman. We begin the movie in his career, taking down criminals and we find out Joker is pulling the strings all the way from prison.

However, the main plot of this film is the origin story. Much like Batman Begins, although there is no Rachel, and Ra's al ghul is not played by Liam Neeson. It all plays out quite similarly albeit with a more comic-accurate style. We get to know the Waynes as people for a bit and then watch them die, with a better child actor for Kid Bruce. Joe Chill is wearing a clown mask.

Alfred is played by Jonathan Hyde. We get to see the classic chemistry between Bruce and Alfred, ripped straight out of the pages or off the screens from Batman: The Animated Series. One of my favorite parts.

The film feels like a James Bond film, just as Ben Affleck put it in our timeline when he talked about doing Batman films. And with Campbell at the helm, that is clear.

The writing is solid, it's almost as good as The Animated Series. If not, feels almost a live-action adaptation.

The score is amazing and perfectly captures the vibes of Gotham, composed by Mark Isham, who worked on Blade (1998).

In terms of visuals, Gotham looks exactly the way we see it in our 2022 Batman film. Greg Fraiser isn't the cinematographer, so the similarities are merely a coincidence.

Back to the plot, we are introduced to Ra's al ghul and the league of assassins like in Batman Begins but this time with Talia al ghul, played by Maggie Q who is great! She has this cunning feel to her allure, and the actress even has experience doing action scenes —- perfect for Talia!

However, I've seen glimpses of an alternate casting for Talia in the form of Rana Almuddin. She resembles her father better, and looks to have better chemistry while still capturing the feel of Talia al Ghul.

Ra's al Ghul is played by Ghassan Massoud, I think he's perfect. He captures Ra's al Ghul's physical appearance in the comics and demeanor very well.

Bruce's training plays out differently, as he'd already trained under various other martial artists around the world as he mentions.

Like in Begins, he goes on to become Batman in Gotham. We get to watch the founding and formation of the Batcave, the creation of the Batcomputer and the Batman suit being made.

Accurate to the pictures below, these scenes get you pumped up and feel ready to watch a comic-accurate Batman kick ass despite having already seen that in the beginning.

We get to see how he first meets the Joker, played by Joaquin Phoenix —- wearing a comic-accurate purple suit with an orange undershirt, but his make-up still resembles that of what we saw in OUR Joker 2019, as well as his longer hair that reaches over to his shoulders. Joker does an old-fashioned bank robbing and tries to blow up a hospital.

Batman punches Joker in the face for the first time, breaking his nose as the clown prince of crime laughs it up.

The way the movie does everything. Nowhere close to what Tim Burton did with both characters, as this film was more grounded and cinematic compared to Burton's more outlandish and macabre work. As said before, we get to watch this more comic-accurate Batman put on film, and who actually gets to move his neck since they've fixed it by using different materials.

And no, Batman doesn't kill in this film. It stays true to the spirit of the comics and even has him make that very clear right at the start of the movie. Although he almost finishes off the Joker, a learning experience for his character in that scene after apprehending and beating him into a pulp for the first time.

Remember all the best *good* Joker moments in our Joker (2019) as well as the sequel? All of them are rolled up into this film, the ones where he's goofing and jumping around right after kicking someone's head in. This is something I ALWAYS wanted to see from Joaquin Phoenix's version of Joker, and I am THANKFUL for this timeline where at the same time we even have Ben Affleck play Batman for nearly 20 years.

Let's talk again about the batsuit. It keeps the trunks on Batman, while having this realistic and gritty material over the spandex. Still looks flexible. Also, Batman has no white eyes. I was surprised to see that, along with the weird black eyeliner method they did with Keaton the filmmakers kept.

After he establishes himself as the Batman, Caped Crusader of Gotham City, we cut back to the present. Where Ra's al Ghul and the League of Assassins come to Gotham to blow shit up. So Batman now fights with more ninjas, Talia, a multitude of practical and CGI giant man-bats unrelated to Kirk Langstrom, and finally Ra's.

After all the bruises and streets debris'd up, Batman nearly kills Ra's as he did to the Joker —- meaning this was also a new challenge for him and may or may not help improve his psych and fighting prowess later down the line.

So Batman bests Ra's, sparing him but then proving his dominance so he banishes Ra's and the League of Assassins to run back home and threatens them that if they ever step foot again in Gotham City, they will have to ask the Batman permission first.

Eventually, Bruce finds out it was the Joker who made contact with the League of Assassins by sending one or two of his goons to inform them of Bruce Wayne's location, after he had ran away from them. We get a talk scene between Batman and Joker in an asylum visit, where Ben Affleck and Joaquin Phoenix's chemistry shines.

The movie ends with Bruce visiting his parents' grave, a scene that feels ripped from Mask Of The Phantasm but with a more hopeful direction.

Heck, we also get a glimpse of Nora Fries' grave as the camera just cuts and emphasizes it before cutting back to Bruce.

And since this is the frst film in the DCCU, this is also where we get our first credits scene.

After all of the credits, we are shown Batman struggling to fight what looks to be a huge actor playing Solomon Grundy. He doesn't outright say his name, but we see the appearance.

Out of nowhere, Sandman and Alan Scott Green Lantern pop up and help Batman by taking down Grundy.

After that, Batman looks over at them and goes... "Who... are you people?"

Sandman takes off his mask and finishes the movie. "Just two guys from the Justice Society of America."

"Thought you were the only hero in the world?"