It may not have been the best kept secret in the world, but Warner Bros has officially confirmed Lego Batman 2, and yes — it’ll feature some of DC’s other heroes.

Outed earlier last year by promotional materials, Lego Batman 2 will see the cubed, knight teaming up with The Man of Steel to stop the Joker and Lex Luthor from wrecking havoc in Gotham City. Other DC characters are expected to appear, Robin, Wonder Woman and The Green Lantern have already been confirmed.

The game is scheduled to be released this summer, let’s hope this is the Lego game we finally get online co-op in.

Yet to beat Arkham City but you really want to lay waste to gang members and Nolan North as Frank Miller’s older and more grizzled Batman from The Dark Knight returns? You’re in luck!

Warner Bros and RockSteady Studios has announced that as a thanks to fans and the media showering the game with praise, a “cheat code” is now available in Arkham City that allows users to instantly use any of the Batman skins they’ve acquired for the game. Don’t have any suits yet? Later today a free download of a skin based off of Grant Morrison’s Batman Incorporated Storyline.

To activate the code, press left, left, down, down, left, left, right, up, up, down at the main menu (right after you select your save slot).

Great news considering I’ve said all along what you shouldn’t have to wait to use DLC you’ve bought.

Three-time Emmy Award winner Bryan Cranston flips to the other side of the law as the voice of Lieutenant James Gordon in the animated retelling of Frank Miller’s landmark comic in “Batman: Year One,” the next entry in the series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies.

Produced by Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, the all-new, PG-13 rated feature was released today on DVD, Blu-ray and digital formats.

Cranston earned Emmy Award nominations in three of his seven years as the lovable, goofy father on “Malcolm in the Middle.” It took a shift toward the dark side as chemistry teacher-turned-meth dealer Walter White in AMC’s “Breaking Bad” to start a record-tying run as only the second actor in history to score three consecutive Emmy wins.

As Gordon, Cranston gets to find a middle ground between his two best known roles – providing a moral center for the gritty tale of two men striving to bring their own idea of justice to an unjust world.

Cranston is joined in the stellar voice cast by Ben McKenzie (“Southland”) as Batman, Eliza Dushku (“Dollhouse,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, and Katee Sackhoff (“Battlestar Galactica”) as Detective Sarah Essen. Alex Rocco (“The Godfather”) is the voice of crime lord Carmine Falcone.

Following his initial recording session for “Batman: Year One,” Cranston had the chance to discuss his thoughts on initially turning down the role of Jim Gordon, his love of the inner monologue, the inward journey afforded by comic books, his chances of one-day playing a certain Edwrd Nigma opposite a live-action Dark Knight, and much more.

QUESTION: You were Warner Bros. first choice for the role of Jim Gordon, but the feeling wasn’t mutual – you initially declined. What made you change your mind?

BRYAN CRANSTON: I always talk about the writing – I’ve gotten to a point in my career where I don’t want to just take a job, I want to be part of great storytelling. I always say that I don’t care if it’s a children’s play, I’ll do it so long as it’s great writing. I’ve done some animation work and, quite frankly, I haven’t loved all of it. So when they first offered this to me, I turned it down. I didn’t want to do something that I just assumed was goofy or cartoony.

Fortunately, my representatives convinced me that I needed to give this material a fair shake – and I’m so glad they did. I had no idea that animation could have such depth and sophistication. This is adult storytelling, handled in intrinsically adult ways. It’s interesting and thoughtful and dark and nothing that I thought I’d find in an animated script.

Jim Gordon is trying to find his moral center. He keeps getting shot down. He doesn’t want to work in this hellhole of a city, hated by his fellow cops, hated by his superiors. His wife is pregnant and he’s conflicted about bringing a child into this troubled world. He’s on an island. I was really surprised – in a good way. This script was well-written, unpredictable, good storytelling. And so I happily ate my hat because I’m so glad they forced me to read it.

QUESTION: The name in the film’s title is Batman, but this is just as much Jim Gordon’s story, isn’t it?

BC: What I was first attracted to in reading Batman: Year One was that James Gordon actually is the star. That’s the way I look at it, anyway. That was really unexpected, especially the way he’s portrayed. My first experience with Batman was through the comics, but the Batman television series really had an impact. So I thought, “Oh, Gordon’s an old Irishman with that big, thick over-the-top brogue.” But there was no comic book silliness – there were twists and turns, darkness and light, and truly human mistakes that I’d never anticipated. And it’s as much Jim Gordon’s story as it is a story about Batman’s origins.

QUESTION: So is this your chance to finally put that education in police work to use?

BC: (laughs) In thinking about James Gordon, basically I used my own background. I went to college to become a police officer. There’s a certain similar decorum that all police officers have – it’s a skepticism and a curiosity and a bit of cynicism, too. And what I found in reading the script was that all those elements seem to be in place for the character. So all I wanted to do is to bring out that sensibility and make him real. He has to be a real guy, someone you believe could be this police officer, in order for you to accept the plight and the dismay that he’s going through, and trying to do the right thing in a city that is surrounded by corruption.

QUESTION: So all that time on Malcolm In The Middle, playing that great dad, you really were just waiting for some truly dark roles to present themselves?

BC: Malcolm In The Middle was a great seven years. We had a great time. And I think what made that story work is that at the core you had a real family that was striving to do the right thing. And when you look at what Gordon is to Batman: Year One, he is a guy who’s still striving to do the right thing. Anytime you have that, an audience will even allow you to do the wrong thing if they know that you’re trying to do the right thing. So they’ve got you. It’s like they know that, at the core, you’re a good person, and that’s what he is. So when an issue comes up that forces him to walk a fine line between what is right and what is wrong, and certain things pull him in one direction or the other, the audience empathizes with his struggle. That makes it interesting.

QUESTION: What makes Batman an interesting character to you?

BC: As a character, Batman is someone who has a righteousness about him. And yet, it’s not pure. He is a vigilante. He’s taking matters into his own hands. So you could say that he’s doing good things, but I don’t know that you could say he’s a good guy because of the manner that he approaches his actions. That’s what always makes characters more interesting, that they walk the line of good and bad.

QUESTION: Was there any element of the script that you particularly enjoyed?

BC: I didn’t have any particular favorite lines or scenes, but what I really appreciated about doing Lieutenant Gordon was the inner monologue. I don’t remember having (a role) that had that kind of sensibility that allows the character to be honest and open, vulnerable, and let the audience then determine if they’re welcome into this man’s soul or not. So that was probably my favorite part – to be able to have that running inner monologue going on, which I find fascinating.

QUESTION: What’s your take on comic books?

BC: To a kid growing up in the ’60s and ’70s, comic books were pretty much one of the only written material that was a diversion for kids. There were three television stations, and movies were few and far between as far as access to them. So you’d get together with your friends and you’d open up comic books when you got tired of playing football in the street, or baseball or whatever. And then you’d allow your imagination to go and to wonder. And the great thing about comic books is that it allows the reader to be his or her own art director. You can see a glimpse of Gotham behind in the tall buildings and you start to imagine the heights of the building, Batman looking down. And when he swoops down, you put that all into your head and fill in the blanks. Sometimes in the comic books, it appeared to me like it was like an impressionistic painting. Where (you thought), “What’s that in background? I can’t quite make out what that is, but it feels real.” So you fill in the blanks, and that makes it more interesting and like you’re a part of the storytelling itself.

QUESTION: Must you take a different acting approach when playing a real-life individual or a fictional icon – as opposed to a character specifically written for the page?

BC: Yes. You approach each character with a little different idea of how and what you need to shape him. I played Buzz Aldrin in From The Earth To The Moon about the Apollo project for HBO, and that I did approach differently. This is a real person, an American hero, a worldwide hero, and he’s still alive. And there’s something in the back of your head that says, “I really want him to be proud of this. I want him, above all else, to be able to say that I gave an honest depiction of the sensibility of what was going on then and who I was at that time.” I think that’s, in a sense, the same when working with an iconic figure like Jim Gordon in Batman: Year One. Everybody has a pretty good idea of Gordon – who he is and how he sounds – so you can’t go too far against that grain. You need to be in the ballpark. He’s an established character, but the script will give you a good idea of how far you can stretch here or there.

QUESTION: There are a few fan sites spreading a rumor that you’re going be the The Riddler at one point or another in a live-action Batman film. Any truth in these rumors?

BC: I would love to be able to jump into a character like that – whole hog – and play The Riddler. That would be fun. Although I haven’t been lobbying for that, and there’s a certain part of me that is really fatalistic about (rumors like) that. It’s like, if it’s supposed to happen, then it’s supposed to happen. But I can only say that I’d be interested in playing something like that and see how it turns out.

I still remember the moment I fell in love with Batman: Arkham Asylum. No surprise, it was pretty early in the game, I entered a warehouse type room filled with the Joker’s henchmen, but rather than merely having me go rough ‘em up, I was challenged to find a new way around them, to think in essence, like The Batman. I used my surroundings, I stalked my prey, I turned their own fear against them. It was after this section that I realized that developer Rocksteady wasn’t just giving me the opportunity to play as The Batman; they were giving me a chance to feel what it would be like to be the Dark Knight.

With the sequel, Arkham City, a lot could have gone wrong. We all know most sequels suck and what are the odds of two Batman games in a row being exceptional right? Turns out pretty good. Everything you loved about Asylum returns, but only now they’re tweaked and reconfigured almost to a point of perfection.  Arkham City is a sprawling and gorgeously detailed environment, and Bat-fans are sure to enjoy the little nods to the caped crusader’s past. It may not be perfect, as some of the flaws that hindered the last game are still naggingly present, but Batman’s latest adventure is still a damn good one.

Arkham City picks up mere months after the end of the last game; the asylum’s former warden Quincy Sharp is now Gotham’s mayor and has had the wonderfully smart idea to move all of the city’s most dangerous criminals out of Arkham and into a walled off area in the center of the city. Millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne isn’t a fan of the idea and stages a press conference outside of the newly named Arkham City to oppose it, but it’s not long before he’s arrested under strange circumstances and thrown in himself.  This begins Arkham City proper – and it’s one of the most dynamic openings in recent memory.  From the moment you enter the prison, and an inmate yells “Welcome to hell,” you can’t help but be amazed by the scale of it all, and how theatrical the presentation is this go-around.

THUNK!

These superb presentation levels extend themselves throughout most of the entire game. Arkham City is a decaying mecca in the heart of downtown Gotham City; and it feels like it.  There’s plenty of back alleys and side streets to get lost down if you’re the gutsy exploring type, and the whole thing is done in striking light balance and detail. It’s almost awe-inspiring in certain moments when you’re on top of a building high above Arkham city taking in the scope and detail of the world around you. Of course, it still does suffer from occasional graphical pop-ins, and that damn camera that always seems to turn at just the wrong moment – but more on that later.

Much like the original game, Arkham City will have you ting out thugs and henchmen en-route to taking on Batman’s rouges gallery in an effort to uncover the conspiracy at hand, and that’s one area that this game does a ton better than its predecessor. Batman has perhaps the most well known villains in pop culture, and the first game had a few of them, but they pale in comparison to what Arkham City is packing. Throughout your journey you’ll take on The Joker, Mr. Freeze, Two-Face, the Riddler and a number of surprise guests from Batman’s past that are too cool to spoil here. Interestingly enough, the actual boss fights with the legendary characters aren’t that memorable and can be passed quite easily, but it’s the way Rocksteady built up these events with fantastic pacing that truly make them memorable.

Undoubtedly the game is at its best when it does what the previous one did so well, make you feel like the world’s greatest detective. It’s not uncommon to walk in to a room of ten or more thugs and still feel like you’ve got the upper hand. Though this go-round did feel a bit more linear than the previous game, just how many ways you can go about taking out your enemies is pretty impressive.  You could go in and let your fists do the talking or you could go the route I did and use your wits and gadgets to take them out strategically.  Disappointingly, it’s these large fights that also disappoint most in Arkham City as just like in before the game’s camera system can be incredibly frustrating. I remember one boss fight in particular where I kept having to run away just so I could get enough distance between myself and them to center the camera.

The level of detail throughout Arkham City is impressive.

After you’ve completed the campaign (which you can jump back in to with all of your upgrades thanks to a new game plus mode), Arkham City still offers a ton of content for your money. Challenge maps are back, and much more plentiful, as are the Riddler’s trophy challenges, but what you’re really going to want to check out is the Catwoman mission pack. A code for these missions is included in each new copy (you’ll have to buy one if you’re buying it preowned), and they add a ton of backstory to the game’s main campaign and are best experienced when played in the context of the game itself. I was also surprised at just how much I enjoyed playing as Catwoman; she’s a lot quicker than Batman and is a lot of fun to decimate baddies with.

Rocksteady also must be commended for their remarkable job in delivering fan service to the legions of Batman fans with Arkham City. Exlploring those back alleyways and side streets will prove to be a fruitful endeavor as there are plenty of references and nods to Batman’s impressive history in pop culture.  We’re still finding secrets in Arkham Asylum  to this day; meaning there’s plenty to be found in the game as well.

The Blast Factor: Any game that can make you feel like The Batman is doing something right – -and Arkham City does that very well.  Rocksteady has taken everything from Arkham Asylum and tweaked it enough to create one hell of a love letter to DC’s Dark Knight.  It’s a great licensed game, but perhaps most importantly, it’s a fantastic game in general.

Batman Arkham City is available now for the PS3 and Xbox 360 from Warner Bros Games and Rocksteady Studios. It will be available this November for the PC. A Xbox 360 copy of the game was provided by the publisher for this review.

Eliza Dushku has become Catwoman.

The star of “Dollhouse” and “Tru Calling,” and of course “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” Dushku provided the voice of Selina Kyle/Catwoman for “Batman: Year One,” the next entry in the ongoing series of DC Universe animated original movies. A few short months later, Dushku was quick to accept a return to the role as the title character of the DC Showcase animated short Catwoman.

We interviewed Dushku in 2009 when she was voicing the main character in the video game Wet. Following her initial recording session, Dushku was happy to download some of her thoughts regarding a number of subjects related to Catwoman, the Batman legacy, felines, bad girls and comic books. And here’s what she had to say …

QUESTION: You seemed to easily groove into this character. Where did you go to discover who Selina Kyle is?

ELIZA DUSHKU: I found the attitude for this character deep down in the Eliza Dushku archive of bad girls (she laughs). They’re in there somehow, somewhere for some reason, and I tap into them when I need them. They’re characters with an edge. I grew up with three older brothers in Boston, and my mother was a single mom. So I spent my early years running the streets with the boys. After I fell into the film and television business, I went back to public school in Boston, and kids didn’t think it was that cool. So I had to kind of fight for my street cred. I adopted this really sort-of-hard exterior, and got in a couple fights. So by the time I graduated high school and came out to make Buffy The Vampire Slayer, it was really art imitating life. I was fighting for my life.

QUESTION: Does being part of the Batman mythology have any special significance to you?

ED: It’s incredible being part of the Batman legacy. It’s iconic. It’s Batman. I grew up with brothers and we would play Batman and Robin. Well, I would always try to get in and play, but usually they would let me join the game as some character or another, and they would immediately kill me off (laughs). So, I used to watch from afar. So now look brothers – I get to be a part of this and you don’t. (laughs hard)

QUESTION: Do you have a pet cat? How do you feel about cats?

ED: I had hobo cats growing up. We had cats that would climb up on the roof of the house. We would get them off the roof, then two nights later they would be meowing on the top of the roof again. They have little attitudes, too. I ended up with dogs, mainly, but if a cat could act like a dog and could play like a dog and can play rough, then those cats got along with me. I just don’t want house cats or Siamese cats – they’re a little too snooty for me.

QUESTION: Did you enjoy attempting to bring a comic book to animated life?

ED: I love that in the DC Comics world, the stakes are high from the get-go. A week ago, I was watching The Dark Knight. I love what they did, but it’s different from what we did for Batman: Year One and Catwoman. When you’re recreating comics, there’s different intonations and character strengths that come out. That’s what I was focused on bringing forth. It’s a little exaggerated, a little nuanced, a little more dramatic. But it’s also full of layers and seething with this very cool energy.

QUESTION: Do you enjoy voice acting?

ED: I’ve had a great time doing voiceovers. It started with videogames – the first was a Buffy The Vampire Slayer videogame – and really I did it because I thought it would be cool to have my nephews be able to play me on their videogames. They won’t talk to me right now – they’re at that stage of being a teenager – so I thought maybe we could have a connection through the videogames. I did a videogame called Wet last year that was a lot of fun. Then I have some friends over at Family Guy. And then, more and more, I’ve been sort of reaching out and peeking around to see what things are available to build my voiceover resume. It’s fun for me, and completely different from what we do in live action. Voice acting is really invigorating. It still feels like you have to bring the same amount of character and energy into the room. And then to watch it morph into the animated version is really kind of magnificent.

QUESTION: Was there anything you wanted to personally add to the character that made the experience of voicing Catwoman that much more fun?

ED: Well, I wanted to purr, and they let me purr – so that was really like getting a bit of extra credit. I wanted to get in there and really emphasize her relationship with her cats, as I think it’s very feral and very significant. And everyone was really cool about letting me play around with my ferocity.

QUESTION: What is it you enjoy most about working in this genre?

ED: I love my fanboys. Without my fanboys, so many of the projects that I’ve done wouldn’t have had the extraordinary life that they’ve enjoyed. The fanboys have been there with enthusiasm and the support, and their loyalty and their love has made this so rewarding and exciting. It makes me just want to give them more, more, more, more.

QUESTION: The Whedonverse has provided many actors for the first 16 DC Universe Animated Original Movies. What do you think makes Joss Whedon’s casts fit so nicely in the DC Universe?

ED: Joss is such a die-hard comic book fan himself that there’s a natural connection. And when you play in his worlds – worlds that are fantasy-related with all this metaphorical, deep magic going on, it sort of preps you to think the unthinkable and go places with your character that most projects don’t give you the opportunity to do.

QUESTION: Your parents are educators. Did comic books fit into place as literature in your house?

ED: My father was actually a fourth grade elementary school teacher, so we had a lot of fun with dad growing up as far as comic books and trading baseball cards. That was actually one of the things that my brothers and my father and I did together – play with action figures and Star Wars and G.I. Joes and Transformers, and trade and read comic books and baseball cards. My dad actually worked at and had a baseball card shop for a while, and he had comics in there. So comic books were definitely a huge part of my childhood.

Produced by Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, the all-new, PG-13 rated Batman: Year One arrives October 18 from Warner Home Video as a Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD, On Demand and for Download. Batman: Year One is also now available in a special download-for-purchase early window through iTunes, Xbox Live, Zune, VUDU HD Movies and Video Unlimited on the PlayStation Network & Sony Entertainment Network.

In a move that should surprise pretty no one, Warner Bros has confirmed that Batman: Arkham City will use a pass system for it’s online suite as well as a few of the game’s features.

Each new copy of the game will come with a code for the online pass as well as the Catwoman missions and Riddler challenges. Buying a used copy? You’ll have to pay 800 MS Points or $9.99 in real people money on the PSN.

Stick with Blast for more on Arkham City — we’re hard at work on our review. Spoiler — we really like it. Oh crap, we’ve already said too much!

Warner Home Video will present the world premiere of “Catwoman,” the latest addition to the DC Showcase Animated Shorts series, as part of its DC Universe Animated panel on Friday 3-4 p.m. in the IGN Theater at New York Comic Con.

Catwoman is included in the October 18 Blu-ray/DVD release of “Batman: Year One,” the next entry in the ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies.

The panel includes animation legend Bruce Timm, nine-time Emmy Award-winning dialogue director Andrea Romano, and the fan favorite voice of Batman, Kevin Conroy. The panelists will discuss the Catwoman short, the upcoming release of Batman: Year One, and next spring’s release of Justice League: Doom.

The world premiere of the Justice League: Doom trailer is another New York Comic Con exclusive to be unveiled during the panel.

Catwoman/Selina Kyle is voiced by Eliza Dushku, well known for her television roles in Buffy the “Vampire Slayer,” “Tru Calling” and “Dollhouse.” The 15-minute short is penned by respected comics/animation writer Paul Dini.

The short finds Catwoman posing as an “entertainer” in a strip club to get close to black market diamond smuggler Rough Cut — who doesn’t take kindly to Catwoman’s interference in his business, leading to an all-out battle through the streets of Gotham City.

“When Alan Burnett and I first started discussing the idea of a Catwoman short, we both agreed that we wanted to make the story and the settings as adult as we could,” Dini explains. “The world of burlesque has returned in a big way to the contemporary consciousness, and that proved to be a very natural setting for this Catwoman story. At the time I wrote the initial screenplay, I didn’t know the short would be paired up with Batman: Year One, but the steamy setting that Selina inhabits in that book also proved to be ideal for the short.”

For the short, Dini created the character Rough Cut, a villain whose smuggling interests beyond diamonds catches Catwoman’s attention.

“I liked the idea of a villain who was obsessed with diamonds, but as this story takes place in the down and dirty side of Gotham, I felt the bad guy couldn’t be too glamorous,” Dini said. “I came up with the name Rough Cut both to describe the man and the kinds of crude, unfinished diamonds he pedals. There’s always a market for industrial diamonds, but lately Rough Cut has been feeling the economic pinch, so he’s smuggling more precious cargo. That’s what brings Catwoman into the picture.”

Dushku was very happy to return to her Batman: Year One role, having already taken equity in the part of Catwoman/Selina Kyle. Dushku has definitely found a clear understanding of her character’s emotional make-up.

“A lot of people are familiar with the characters I’ve played – these strong and vicious women who are, very deep down inside, really wounded women with an entirely unexpected side, so there’s nothing black and white about them,” Dushku said. “I think people identify with the characters I play because even though they do terrible things, there’s a humanity there. They’ve got lots of layers. They’re not just good or evil. Selina is a prostitute, and she’s abrasive and in your face, but she also has this maternal, protective, loyal quality to her. Her relationship with Holly is a perfect example – it shows a side you might not expect.”

Ben McKenzie plays a wealthy young man on a personal quest for justice in TNT’s hit series “Southland.” Now the actor heads to the streets of Gotham City as the voice of another rich young adult with a need for righteousness in Batman: Year One, the next entry in the popular, ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies.

McKenzie makes his maiden voyage into animation voiceovers as Bruce Wayne/Batman, the title character of comics legend Frank Miller’s classic retelling of the Dark Knight’s gritty, formative days.

Produced by Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, the all-new, PG-13 rated Batman: Year One arrives October 18 from Warner Home Video as a Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD, On Demand and for Download. Batman: Year One will also be available in a special download-for-purchase early window starting October 11 through iTunes, Xbox Live, Zune, VUDU HD Movies and Video Unlimited on the PlayStation Network & Sony Entertainment Network.

McKenzie rose to fame staring in 92 episodes of “The O.C.”

Following his initial recording session for Batman: Year One, McKenzie took some time to discuss the film, the character, Adam West and his dog’s linguistic skills.

QUESTION: What was your initial reaction to being offered the role of Batman?

BEN MCKENZIE: When I got the offer for Batman: Year One, I was very excited because I really like this particular take on Batman. It’s a darker take – a Frank Miller take – on the origin story. And I think it’s fun to play the character in a way that it is more reminiscent of his being a real vigilante. He’s a tough, tortured soul who is exacting revenge upon a criminal element that took something very important away from him. As an actor, this role gives you a little bit more backstory, so you have the chance to play him as a real person, albeit a person who is a little bit mentally unstable, perhaps, but heroic nonetheless. It’s exciting to get to play a character who is so specifically intense and unusual.

QUESTION: And how many times in the last weeks since you’ve known you got the role have you said to anyone, “I’m Batman”?

BM: (laugh) I usually wake up in the morning, go to the mirror and say, “I’m Batman.” I’ll say it to my dog, and he gives a very confused look, which he always does because he doesn’t speak English. I’ve tried to use the “I’m Batman” line on everyone from the valet to the guy washing my car. You know, anyone who will listen. No one seems to pay any attention. But I know. (laughs)

QUESTION: Did you do any research or prep work going into the recording session?

BM: I did actually read the comic again, and it was exactly how I remembered it. Really cool and kind of dark and gritty and very bold in how it approached the source material, which has been carved out into such a revered piece of comic book fiction. It is impressive that someone would do a new take on the story, summoning the courage to just throw away a lot of that traditional stuff and really focus on some of the darker elements, which is what Frank Miller did. I think it’s great. It’s cool, it’s bold, and I think the film lives up to that.

QUESTION: Is this was your first animated voiceover project, what were you expecting and how did find the experience?

BM: It’s always fun to do something that you’re not particularly experienced in, something that’s a little bit of a new skill to learn. Regina King has done a lot of voiceover stuff for Boondocks – with Andrea (Romano) – and she loves it. So it was really nice to feel like I was in good hands and that I’d be well treated. I think any job where you can stay indoors, work a couple of hours, say a few things and get paid is a good job to have. It beats Southland, where you’re out in the streets and the heat in the wool uniforms. Nobody needs that. (laughs)

QUESTION: Were there any outside influences on your performance before working on the booth?

BM: I’d like to say I was influenced mainly by Adam West’s performance as Batman more than anyone else – but it’s not quite the same take. There’s something in the way that Frank Miller wrote the comics that lends itself to a darker gravelly-voiced kind of intensity. You can’t help but go there. So maybe it’s sort of similar to the live-action version that Christian Bale is doing, but maybe not quite as much in that direction.

QUESTION: How did your familiarity with the original Frank Miller comics help formulate your approach to the acting?

BM: This Frank Miller world is an amazing place with a wonderfully dark aesthetic – it has the kind of noir-ish world of moral ambiguity that I really respond to. And I think if you’re going to play it sincerely, you have to realize that it’s written like a piece of noir with real characters and real emotional takes. This isn’t some fantasy. Bruce Wayne is damaged, he’s emotionally scarred, and he’s trying to make sense of justice in the world. So he creates an alter ego to keep some normalcy in his daily life. That’s the way he tries to make some sense of the world. He’s battered and scarred, but that sort of makes him stronger, because he’s ultimately unafraid of putting it all on the line. He’s very human. That’s the great thing about Batman – he has no super powers. He is a flawed man.

QUESTION: How did you differentiate the voice or the attitude for Batman versus Bruce Wayne?

BM: We worked on distinguishing between Bruce, who is an introvert perhaps, but is forced through his position in society to be affable to a certain degree, and then Batman himself, who is really sort of the devil within. He can really take on a whole another vocal inflection and demeanor. So we sort of wanted to play with that and make Bruce almost overcompensate in order to hide his identity, to be even more affable and agreeable than he would otherwise in order to hide the fact that he is Batman.

It’s hard to do because when you’re going through the script in the sessions, you’ll just jump back and forth. One page, you’ll be doing Bruce Wayne, and the next page, you’ll be doing Batman. So it is hard to kind of keep them separate in your mind. It requires a few takes to sort of relax into it and to switch it up. I’m sure tonight I’ll be dreaming of being Batman. (laughs)

QUESTION: Was there a focal point for you to stay on target throughout the recording session?

BM: I think the acting is really just trying to imagine being 12 again and seeing Batman in this animated form and thinking “What would you like to see? What would you really geek out on?” If you can bring that passion across on the screen, then that’s your job. I think if you were going to do anything acting-wise that got any methody, you’d be a little scary. I think it’s better to just try and have fun with it.

QUESTION: Do you have a favorite line or scene?

BM: There’s a fun scene with one of the young thuggish guys where (Batman) says something like “I know pain. Sometimes I like to share it, maybe with somebody like you.” I like that moment. The adrenaline and the testosterone really flows through you. It’s fun. It’s really fun. If you were ever picked on in high school and you just wanted to grab the bully and say, “I’m gonna beat the living heck out of you,” that’s exactly what you get to do as Batman.

QUESTION: Did this experience give you a new perspective on Batman?

BM: Yes, absolutely. This experience has definitely reinvigorated my interest again for Batman. I’ve seen the Christopher Nolan films, and I think they’re great. When you get a chance to actually be a part of something based on the same source material, it’s really exciting. It allows you to sort of experience what that character is experiencing, which is a darkly fun take on what it would be like if you could actually fight crime, if you could actually get revenge on all of the people that you think are bad people in this world, if you could exact justice out of an unjust world. It’s kind of thrilling even to be an actor playing that part.

QUESTION: Do you see any parallels to your character on Southland?

BM: I think there is sort of a broad parallel between Bruce Wayne/Batman and my character on Southland in the sense that they’re both wealthy and they’re both fighting crime – in the broadest sense. Bruce Wayne and, really, Batman is just the extreme version. Instead of becoming a patrol officer, he spends his money creating an alter ego and going out and doing it himself. So Bruce Wayne/Batman is just the fantastical version of what Ben Sherman is doing on Southland. He’s just doing it to a more extreme level. So, yeah, there’s definitely a comparison to be made for sure.

We already know Batman, Robin and Catwoman will be playable in this month’s Batman: Arkham City, but a new achievement suggests that a fourth player, Nightwing may be added to the mix.

The achievements, as seen above from http://arkhamcity.co.uk seem to be pretty cut and dry, and point to Nightwing being unlocked via DLC for the game’s challenge maps.

For the uninitiated, Nightwing is original Robin Dick Grayson all growned-up and adult like.

A while ago we reported on the awesome new skins for Batman: Arkham City, and now it appears that its Robin’s turn.

The image above is from Arkhamcity.co.uk, which broke the news on both skin sets. It looks like users will not only be able to play as the game’s angsty Robin, but Red Robin, Hooded Robin and Robin from the animated series. While they’re cool and all, why no Robin from Dark Knight Returns to match the Batman skin? Why no classic Robin skin?

From Warner:

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment announced that the highly anticipated videogame Batman: Arkham City will step out of the shadows and onto store shelves in October, for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Games for Windows PC and the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system. Developed by Rocksteady Studios, Batman: Arkham City is the follow-up to the award-winning hit video game Batman: Arkham Asylum™ and delivers an authentic and gritty Batman experience.

Batman: Arkham City builds upon the intense, atmospheric foundation of Batman: Arkham Asylum, sending players soaring into Arkham City — five times larger than the game world in Batman: Arkham Asylum — and the new maximum security “home” for all of Gotham City’s thugs, gangsters and insane criminal masterminds. Set inside the heavily fortified walls of a sprawling district in the heart of Gotham City, this highly anticipated sequel introduces a brand-new story that draws together a new, all-star cast of classic characters and murderous villains from the Batman universe, as well as a vast range of new and enhanced gameplay features to deliver the ultimate experience as the Dark Knight.

Look, I loved Batman: Arkham Asylum as much as the next guy, but you’ve got to admit, it was missing one thing –The Dark Knight’s rouge’s gallery. Batman has always had some of the best villains in comics, but the game never had you crossing paths with them. That seems to be changing in the upcoming sequel.

The image above was found in this morning’s edition of the Play section of the Australian Sunday Herald and seems to show Bat-nemesis The Penguin and presumably one of the game’s henchmen. From the looks of the image, Rocksteady is going with a more realistic approach to the character, as opposed to the last time The Penguin was featured on film, Danny Devito in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns.

Expect much more from Batman: Arkham City at next month’s E3.

What’s better than one Batman? Try a bunch of different Bat-men. Such is the hope of Monolith Productions, who unveiled Gotham City Impostors, a new multiplayer game featuring the caped crusader set to hit PC, PSN and Xbox Live.

Players take the side of either the Batz, modeled after Gotham’s Dark Knight, or the Jokerz — guess who they’re modeled after. Since the game is multiplayer only, there’s no huge Arkham Asylum story, but there is a bit of one tying everything together; it turns out a group of concerned citizens have put on a Batman cowl because they’re sick of the Joker and his minnions.

The game is described as being somewhat like Team Fortress 2, with quick matches and easy to pick up and play controls.

No date or price has been announced for the game as of yet, but expect to see more at E3 in June.

ABC is probably starting to worry about its Wednesday prospects. The once-mighty “Modern Family” pulled a 3.7 in the demo overnight, its lowest rating of the season. That’s down from when it was regularly pulling high 4s and low 5s Perhaps its just not as funny anymore .

“The Middle” was pretty dreadful at 8 pm, earning a 1.8. “Better with You” was worse, with a 1.6. It’s sure to be canceled, while “The Middle” is happy it got an early renwal.

Compared to those two, the return of “Cougar Town” to the Wednesday lineup with a 2.4 isn’t that bad. “Happy Endings” however earned a 1.7, a sign its likely to live its ending soon.

“Survivor: Redemption Island” was sturdy if not strong at 8, with a 3.0. The rest of CBS was in repeats.

“American Idol” was a beat as usual, averaging a 6.8 in the demo over 90 minutes, but averaged more than 21 million viewers. “Breaking In” averaged 7.5 million viewers, and a 2.5 in the demo.

8 pm

American Idol (90 minutes): 6.8 demo, 21.8 million viewers

Survivor: Redemption Island: 3.0 demo, 10.5 million viewers

The Middle: 1.8 demo, 6.8 million viewers

Minute to Win It: 0.8 demo, 3.1 million viewers

8:30 pm

Better With You: 1.6 demo, 5.3 million viewers

9 pm

Modern Family: 3.7 demo, 9.8 million viewers

*Criminal Minds: 1.9 demo, 8.8 million viewers

*Minute to Win It: 0.8 demo, 3 million viewers

9:30

Breaking In: 2.5 demo, 7.6 million viewers

Cougar Town: 2.4 demo, 6.3 million viewers

10 pm

Happy Endings (1 hour): 1.7 demo, 4.2 million viewers

*Law and Order: SVU: 1.4 demo, 4.8 million viewers

*Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior: 1.7 demo, 7.2 million viewers

Warner Brothers announced today that Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt have joined the cast for the upcoming third installment in the Christopher Nolan-led Batman franchise, “The Dark Knight Rises.”

Gordon-Levitt’s casting was leaked weaks ago, and entire stories have circulated as to what his character was.

Cotillard’s casting comes after months of speculation that the film was looking to add another female lead after the casting of Anne Hathaway, who will play Selina Kyle (and presumably Catwoman).

According to a press release, Cotillard will play Miranda Tate, described as “a Wayne Industries board member eager to help a still-grieving Bruce Wayne [played by Christian Bale] resume his father’s philanthropic endeavors for Gotham.” Gordon-Levitt will play John Blake, described as “a Gotham City beat cop assigned to special duty under the command of Commissioner Gordon [played by Gary Oldman].”

Most will notice, this now rounds out the cast of “Inception” appearing in the Nolan Batman franchise. Cotillard and Gordon-Levitt’s co-star Tom Hardy has also been cast in “The Dark Knight Rises” as Bane.

Fellow co-stars Ken Wantanab, Cillian Murphy, and Michael Caine have already appeared in the franchise.

While the casting notice describes Cotillard as playing Miranda Tate, speculation has run rampant that the second female lead will ultimately be Talia Al Ghul, daughter to Ra’s Al Ghul, the villain from “Batman Begins.”

Fans will have to wait until next summer to find out.

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To vocally craft the characters within the DC Universe Animated Original Movies, DC Entertainment, Warner Premiere, Warner Home Video and Warner Bros. Animation say they went to the best in the business – on both sides of the microphone.

While winners of Oscars, Emmys and Tonys alike provide the voices behind some of the world’s best known comic book characters, it is the super hero of voice directors that guides these unique talents – Andrea Romano.

Perhaps the top animation voiceover director in the business today, Romano has been instrumental in orchestrating the vocal tones behind the first 10 DCU animated films, including the anticipated February 22 release of All-Star Superman.

The eight-time Emmy Award winner (with 30+ nominations) has a voiceover casting/direction resume that spans more than a quarter century, covering the genre gamut from action (Batman: The Animated Series) and humor (Animaniacs) to contemporary (The Boondocks) and timeless (Smurfs).

Romano paused between her many current projects – including a few upcoming DC Universe Animated Original Movies – to discuss the cast and recording of All-Star Superman.

QUESTION: Are there certain writers’ scripts you find easier to direct or get an instant feel?

ANDREA ROMANO: There are several writers I’ve worked with over the years whose words I can recognize without even seeing a title page, like Stan Berkowitz, Alan Burnett, Bob Goodman and especially Dwayne McDuffie. And because I’ve worked with them for so long over so many different projects, and once they know I’m on a project, it’s almost as though they write for me – because they know exactly what information I need to know to give to the actors. So I love working with all those guys. Dwayne works so hard on being true to the source material, and yet translating it into something that can be acted. He’s really good at making that transition of honoring the material, but bringing the words off the page to make it actable and dramatically interesting.

QUESTION: You’ve directed your share of voices for Superman. How did James Denton rank in his first foray in animation?

ANDREA ROMANO: Jamie was a voiceover virgin, or he hadn’t done much, but he was outstanding to work with. Once an actor trusts that I will not let their voice go out sounding bad, and that their performance will be nothing less than the best, it becomes a very pleasant experience for all involved. Jamie was like that. He reminded me of Jensen Ackles – both are good actors, I’d seen their on-camera work, but because this form is different than what they’re used to working with, there is some insecurity with the territory. But once they don’t feel threatened, they relax into the role. Jamie was a really interesting choice – it can be difficult to cast some of these Superman films – and he brought some unique interpretations and sensitivities to the role. And that’s interesting for a director – to hear somebody else’s thoughts on what a man like Superman would sound like.

QUESTION: What are you seeking in a Superman voice that differentiates from all other voices?

ANDREA ROMANO: Superman is such an interesting character because, while he isn’t human, he has so many human qualities. He’s interesting because without the effects of certain kryptonites, his instincts are always going to be to do the right thing. But you don’t want that to come off as being a Boy Scout or one note. And so you need kind of the white knight, but to still keep him interesting. It’s like when we girls first start dating, it’s never the clean-cut nice guy that attracts us – it’s always the bad boy with the extra dimensions. That’s why I like Batman so much. But when we can give Superman some layers, that makes him interesting. And every actor I’ve used for Superman has brought some amazing layers.

QUESTION: How did you choose Christina Hendricks to play Lois Lane?

ANDREA ROMANO: I am such an admirer of her work, and I love what she does on Mad Men. It was cute because she was quite nervous coming in with no prior voiceover experience, but her acting instincts are so good, she has the ability to adjust to acting to a microphone as opposed to camera very quickly. I always give people positive feedback, but I was telling her “terrific job” and you’ll see the evidence when you see the piece. This is a very unusual, different story between Lois and Superman, and she captured everything we were looking for and then some. She was so enthusiastic about the role that she found a way to squeeze the recording into her schedule – right after getting married – and she gave us a terrific Lois Lane. I would use her again in a minute.

QUESTION: I’m guessing you’ve been angling to get Anthony LaPaglia behind the microphone for a while?

ANDREA ROMANO: The actors I tend to bring in are people I’ve admired from afar and have been looking for a specific character for them – as with Anthony LaPaglia for Lex Luthor. He is such a versatile actor, and his dialect work is so good. Moreover, he was so directable. If something confused him, he asked just the right questions – he wouldn’t blindly do it 10 times to make it be right. He’d ask a very specific question, and that makes it easy to direct, because you can answer those direct questions.

QUESTION: Do you hold actors in any higher esteem when they are able to perfectly portray an accent foreign to their own?

ANDREA ROMANO: I admire anyone who is a dialectician in addition to acting. Doing dialects is very technical, while the acting is more organic, so when they can marry those two things convincingly, it’s golden. What I find more often is that British actors can do a spot-on American accent – I think that’s often because they come to America to find work and there’s lots of casting to be done for American characters, so they’re just smart to do it. And it’s not that easy to do an American accent because there are so many regional versions – the deep south, the northeastern variations, even Southern California. They each have their own twists. Greg Ellis can do just about any accent you throw at him. Robin Atkin Downes is just amazing. Jason Isaacs does some stunning accent work – he perfected a Rhode Island accent for Brotherhood. Miriam Margolyes is another brilliant dialectician – I adore her accents.

QUESTION: At one point in the LaPaglia session, he wasn’t understanding your direction no matter how many different ways you worded it – and Brcue Timm was able to communicate your direction with a simple drawing of Lex’s face. Has Bruce done that previously/often over your 20-plus years working together?

ANDREA ROMANO: When Bruce did that for Anthony, I thought that was one of those great moments where a picture is actually worth ten thousand words. One of the things Bruce has done a million times before is, when someone comes in to play a role, he’ll draw the character right there on the spot. That almost always helps an actor establish a voice.

QUESTION: What’s the most unconventional casting of a villain you’ve ever done?

ANDREA ROMANO: Bill Macy as a villain in Batman Beyond. I thought I’d do it just to let him be the bad guy, because at the time he was getting all the hapless, milquetoast, endearing good guy roles. So I thought it would be fun to switch it around and, of course, he was brilliant.

QUESTION: This film has a lot of smaller that make an impact, and you spared no expense in bringing in some lofty talent like Matthew Gray Gubler as Jimmy Olsen, Frances Conroy as Ma Kent, Ed Asner as Perry White and even cult favorite Alexis Denisof as Dr. Quintum. What was your thinking behind some of those casting choices?

ANDREA ROMANO: I think Matthew is such a talent. He just did an episode of Criminal Minds where his character was suffering a migraine throughout the entire episode, and he was so good that you actually felt his headache. What I love about Matthew’s voice is that it’s got a naturally youthful quality, and there’s something interesting he does naturally where he almost ends every sentence with a question mark. It’s a very specific speech pattern. His sentences tend to go up at the end. He’s a perfect Jimmy Olsen – sweet, endearing, slightly nerdy. If I had a role for him in every project, I would always hire him.

Frances Conroy – first, let me say that she is not related to Kevin Conroy, which is kind of funny because they know each other very well, and they even went to Juilliard together. I’ve admired her work on everything from Six Feet Under to Maid in Manhattan, and when I heard she was doing voiceovers, I was so jealous somebody else got her before I did. While there weren’t many lines for Ma Kent, it’s always a pivotal role – it’s the woman who helped shape Superman’s sense of right and wrong. And Frances just has that quality about her voice that is mothering and warm and thoughtful, and what she did with such few lines of dialogue was wonderful and exactly what I was hoping to get.

Alexis has such an interesting quality to his voice. I loved Dr. Quintum, he’s such an odd character, and the voice matches perfectly. I’m never 100 percent sure when doing the casting if I made the right decision. It’s not until it comes back in animation that we really know that it actually did work. Alexis as Dr. Quintum is definitely one of those circumstances that worked well.

QUESTION: Beyond the on-camera actors, you tend to appear to have the best times directing when you have a room full of full-time voiceover actors – like on this project with John DiMaggio, Kevin Michael Richardson, Robin Atkin Downes, Steve Blum, Fred Tatasciore, Michael Gough and so on. What’s that group session like?

ANDREA ROMANO: Often when I cast my ensemble players for some of the secondary characters, and that is to say secondary characters by the number of lines they must perform, I treat it almost like a casting party. I want to put together people who enjoy being in a room together, that are going to bring something to the party, and that they’re somebody with whom I want to spend a few hours locked in a room together. Okay, sometimes it should be a padded room. I find that I get a core group of actors and I almost want to carry them with me to every different project I’m working on – the end credits of my films and series probably back that up. When I get the chance, I also like to cast those guys in major featured roles, like John DiMaggio as the Joker in Batman: Under the Red Hood. The thing about these actors is that they’re so versatile that I could assign three roles to each before they walked into the room, and I could change it when we walked into the room and they’d have no problem playing the other characters instead. It’s always fun to work with that group, but sometimes it is like being a kindergarten teacher with an over-crowded class.

As information and media starts to come out for Batman: Arkham City, the sequel to the sleeper hit of last year, we’re starting to get a clear picture of what we can expect from the title, but nothing has gotten me more excited than the above piece of concept art.  Stick with Blast for more on the game as we approach its late 2011 release date.

DC Universe Online MMO won’t be making its scheduled release, as Sony has announced that the game has officially been delayed until sometime in 2011.  The official canned reason is that Sony wants to use the time to “address player feedback.”

“As the game heads into external beta testing, this extra time will allow us to address community feedback in a meaningful way,” said Sony Online Entertainment President John Smedley. “When we get deeper into external beta, we’ll be able to share more information regarding the new launch date.”

“DC Universe Online is the first game of its kind, and a truly massive undertaking — the first action MMO set in the DC Universe, the first MMO on the PlayStation 3, and the first time the entire DC Universe will be accessible to the millions of fans who are eagerly anticipating its release,” said Smeadley.

There is good news however. Players that have pre-ordered the game, or do so before November November 15 will have access to the beta before November 30th. Those who have a VIP invite card will get beta access as early as next week.

Bruce Greenwood and Andrea Romano

Romano has been instrumental in orchestrating the vocal tones behind the character’s non-live appearances for more than two decades. From Kevin Conroy and Rino Romano to Jeremy Sisto and William Baldwin, Romano knows precisely what voice will best fit the tones of a particular story or series.

Enter “Batman: Under the Red Hood” and all of its deep, emotional undertones. Romano has outdone herself once again, balancing the veteran acting chops of Bruce Greenwood as Batman with the youthful, pained intonations of Jensen Ackles as Red Hood, and tossing in Neil Patrick Harris as Nightwing for humorous resonance.

All in a days work for Romano, who recruits the best in the business — winners of Oscars, Emmys and Tonys alike — to provide the voices behind some of the world’s best known super heroes for the DC Universe Animated Original Movies.

“Batman: Under the Red Hood” is the next entry in the popular ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original PG-13 Movies from Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The full-length film will be distributed by Warner Home Video on July 27 as a Special Edition version on Blu-Ray and 2-disc DVD, as well as being available on single disc DVD, On Demand and for Download.

Romano took a few minutes to offer her perspective:

QUESTION: Let’s take the cast one member at a time. What made Bruce Greenwood right for the role of Batman in this particular film?

ANDREA ROMANO: One of the coolest finds of this past year for me was Bruce. I’ve seen so much of his work over the years, and he can do so many things so convincingly. I knew I’d have to offer him a big role. Something with meat. And I knew he would really sink his teeth into the material and make it his own. I don’t need to tell you what a wonderful actor he is — but for this film, he gives a terrific, sensitive performance. This is the most tortured we’ve ever seen of Batman and, without overplaying it, Bruce really showed us a lot of the guilt and issues Batman has in his luggage. It’s an exhaustive, emotional piece, and he carried it perfectly.

QUESTION: How did Jensen Ackles perform in his maiden voyage in animation?

AR: When you get a first-timer in the booth, there are often risks involved, particularly in understanding the techniques involved in working with the microphone. Jensen picked it up so quickly and was so effective in this very difficult role. Red Hood is written as such an embittered, angry, verging-on-insane character, and it can so easily be overplayed. But Jensen found just the right level of energy and flair. I loved his acting. His quality was dead-on, and he really offers a perfect balance with Bruce (Greenwood).

As a director, you live the emotions with the actor. There’s one scene where Jensen has to let his emotions completely bubble to the surface. I had to work really hard to see my script through the tears that I was crying with him as he let his emotions come through.

QUESTION: Who better than Neil Patrick Harris to break up all the emotional drama of this film?

AR: Who doesn’t love Neil Patrick Harris? He’s charming, talented, friendly, and remembers everyone he works with. He can sing and dance, not that I need that talent for Red Hood (she laughs). And in this instance, he did the unthinkable — he came to record for us on his way to the airport as he was going to New York to host the Tony Awards. Nightwing really does give a comic balance to this intense story, and Neil brought that spunky, funny instinct to the character with his usual effortless performance. He’s completely believable whether he’s doing drama or comedy, and he really added to this film. If I could, I would use Neil on every single project I do.

QUESTION: Jason Isaacs is such a nice guy. Why’d you have to make him play a villain again?

AR: Jason Isaacs is a delight. And you’re right (she laughs) — nice guys sometimes make the best villains. I’ve worked with Jason several times, and he’s absolutely fantastic. For Ra’s, I needed something slightly exotic. He’s a great, unusual character, but we had to fight against him getting too cartoony — and I knew Jason had the chops. He’s also a wonderfully intelligent actor — during the recording session, he had so many ideas, and would so respectfully suggest them to Bruce (Timm) and I — and I honestly don’t know that there was one we didn’t use. He helped edit the copy, he added beats where we didn’t even see them, and really nuanced the performance.

QUESTION: The Joker has had some very memorable live-action and animated performances from some notable performers. How did John DiMaggio fit into that legacy?

AR: If I weren’t in love with my husband, it would be John. He’s such a versatile, talented voiceover actor. The Joker is such an intense character, and I knew I needed somebody with great range — and John was delighted to come in and play, and he gave it some beautiful new twists. Because he has such a deep gravely voice, and he’s good at comedy, and he’s a good actor, I knew John already had covered most of the points of the Joker. But I didn’t want a light, thin reedy voice, I wanted a voice with some mass to it. That’s John.

QUESTION: You’ve placed Vincent and Alex Martella as the Young and Younger Robin voices. Had you ever cast brothers in the same film?

AR: This is the first time I’ve ever cast brothers in the same film. I was familiar with Vincent’s work and had been looking for something for him, and this was a great, interesting opportunity because I needed to cast the younger version of this character at two different ages. Vincent has a younger brother named Alex, who has only just begun in the industry, but because siblings tend to have very similar qualities to their voices, it was kind of a no-brainer to cast his younger brother as his younger self. And they were terrific — Vincent was pure dynamite in his performance, and I actually think Alex learned from watching his older brother record before him.

What really surprised me was in their attention to detail. They had to set up this character’s life for another actor that they weren’t even going to act in the same room with, and I thought the transitions were seamless.

QUESTION: What set this cast apart from the first seven DC Universe films?

AR: Each one of these actors had something to bring to the party above and beyond what was required of them. They had questions, they had input, they had ideas and, because the piece is so adult, complex, intense and dark, they knew they weren’t coming in to play The Smurfs. In order to make sure they were in the right head space and had the right tone, they asked a lot of questions. And that’s always a good sign. When the actors are that involved with their characters and the story, that challenges Bruce (Timm) and I to truly think through everything even more thoroughly, and then it becomes a much more collaborative effort. I’m not above telling an actor how to read a line. But I’d prefer that the actor comes up with the idea himself and I’m able to just tweak things here and there. We all need a challenge, something that keeps us on our toes, and recording this film was one of those experiences. A very, very positive experience.

For more information, visit the film’s official website at www.BatmanRedHood.com.

Rocksteady Studios’ 2009 surprise hit “Batman: Arkham Asylum” was just that, a sleeper success, but publisher Eidos wants more.

The Batman: Arkham Asylum Game Of The Year Edition, according to Eidos and the below shots, will come bundled with glasses for 3D viewing.

Game Of The Year Edition

The GOTY edition comes to North America May 11 with the aforesaid 3D glasses and six challenge rooms. Enjoy!

Those glasses look ultra-gimmicky. Just saying.

Hot off this morning’s Warner Bros. Batman news, the company today announced a new Batman game for Nintendo platforms Wii and DS.

Based on the animated series, Warner Bros. will bring “Batman: The Brave and Bold The Video Game” to Wii and DS this year. Gamers will be able to play as DC Universe characters Batman, the Green Lantern, Robin, Blue Beetle and Aquaman in the cooperative game.

Batman.

What’s more, the game will feature Wii and DS connectivity. If you own both you’ll be able to unlock the Bat-Mite as a playable character and using the DS as a controller will be able to control the little guy in the Wii game.

Sure, it’s no “Arkham Asylum 2,” but Wii and DS gamers with Batman on the brain have at least something to look forward to.

No screenshots or video is available for the game just yet, but when it surfaces, we’ll be on it.

Source: Destructoid

The Beatles: Rock Band, Band Hero, and Batman: Arkham Asylum. What do these titles have in common?

They’re all half-off, and just begging you to buy them before they’re gone.

Arkham Asylum, one of the finest Batman titles of all time, and one of our personal favorites for the year, is now only $30, when purchased in the Microsoft store.

Right next to it are two stellar music titles, both of which we loved to death, Band Hero and The Beatles: Rock Band.

At 50% off, these deals are mighty, mighty slick, and the only mistake you’re making right now is reading this post instead of hopping over to the MS Store and buying these before they’re gone.

As you could have guessed, the deals are good for Xbox 360 only.

Batman: Arkham Asylum, Beatles Rock Band, Band Hero @ Microsoft Store via SlickDeals

Remember that shady DLC announcement we told you about last week? The one we didn’t know much about other than it’s release this Thursday and the fact that it’d be free? Well now we know. The downloadble content for Batman Arkham Asylum is indeed dropping for all consoles; PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC this Thursday, September 17, absolutely free.

Dubbed “Insane Night,” the DLC will feature two challenges; the “Predator” challenge, in which the Batman must use his stealth skills, and the “Totally Insane” combat challenge, where the Dark Knight need slay countless amounts of escaping crazies.

Look for “Insane Night” this Thursday on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network.

Batman didn’t really need to get better.

Already one of the greatest comic book characters of all time, Batman has had a bit of resurgence in the last 5-10 years, accruing massive popularity deriving mostly from the latest installment of cartoons, merchandise and, of course, films.

Still, other than the super-cute Lego Batman game, the Caped Crusader has yet to leave his mark on the video game world, especially in the 21^st century.

Until now.

Say hello to Batman: Arkham Asylum, one of the newest releases from developers Rocksteady Studios and publishers Warner Brothers and Edios Interactive.‚  This multiplatform action adventure title has had a lot of hype surrounding it leading up to its release in late August.‚  So, the big question about Arkham Asylum wasn’t if the game was going to be highly anticipated, but rather if it could live up the excitement.

Having getting a chance to demo it at Comic-Con this year, I felt the heat that Arkham Asylum was generating even with the most casual of batman fans.‚  Yes, even I decided to join the Arkham hype-machine with my hands-on preview, hoping and praying that somehow this major release from a small, independent developer could live up to all I had come to expect from it.

Would Arkham be that great title everyone has been craving or would it end up being just another over-hyped letdown?‚  I guess you’ll have to read through and find out”¦

What would any video game review be without a short overview of the plot?‚  Batman: Arkham Asylum takes place on — wouldn’t you know it? “" Arkham Island.‚  This island is home to Gotham City’s most famous maximum-security correction facilities where Batman has recently delivered the Joker.‚  Though he is being processed and surrounded by many security guards, the Joker’s actions still seem suspicious to Batman.‚  Unfortunately for the Dark Knight, everyone’s worst fears are confirmed when the Joker escapes the clutches of the Arkham security personnel and creates total chaos.‚  It is up to players to use Batman’s strength, tools and allies to stop the Joker and his plans to destroy Gotham City.

The very first thing one notices when playing Arkham Asylum is its very effective cinematic approach to the game’s cut-scenes.‚  Driven by Mark Hamill’s incredible vocal portrayal of the Joker, Arkham Asylum really set a new standard when it comes to incorporating quality voice acting in games.‚  The dialogue was well written for every one of the characters and the visual aspects found a perfect blend between comic book stylization and realism. ‚ Furthermore, the in-game music for both the cinematic and action portions of the game coupled well with Arkham’s tremendous thespian endowment.

However, though most of the verbal talent was quite impressive, some of the most dry and uninteresting acting came from Batman himself.‚  Whether this is tribute to Batman’s stoic nature or just more proof that the Caped Crusader’s enemies are just much more interesting and complex than he, I wish we could’ve gotten a little more out of the protagonist’s lines.‚  Still, no one should be surprised if Arkham Asylum is used as a prime example of how effective direction and acting can help a great game become legendary.

Arkham Asylum did not only look good, but it felt good too.‚  Running on Unreal Engine 3.5, this title ran smoothly and beautifully.‚  Like many games that use the engine, Arkham Asylum has many characters that have an “epic” look to them.‚  That is, many of the character models are large, muscular and overall physically fit.‚  With this in mind, the folks at Rocksteady made a great choice with the Unreal Engine.‚  As I discussed in my preview for Batman: Arkham Asylum, Sefton Hill, director at Rocksteady games, told me that the developers wanted to make sure Batman looked and played like he was someone who was in chief physical condition.‚  Batman’s (as well as other character’s) sturdy, brawny build went well with the graphics engine without looking too over-the-top in terms of physique.

Batman would need to use all of that strength of his if he wanted to survive the high-intensity third-person gameplay that Arkham Asylum features.‚  Most of the combat involved an easy, free-flowing hand-to-hand fighting style.‚  With an Xbox 360 controller, a few taps of the X button would string together impressive and dynamic bone-breaking combat combinations that could be effective against many enemies at once.‚  When one of the Joker’s thugs is about to strike (as evident by attention-grabbing stripes protruding from said thug’s head), pressing Y will perform a jaw-dropping counter-attack, which can also be used in massive fighting combos.‚  When armed foes arrive, pressing B will make Batman spin his cape, disorienting anyone in range, turning potentially dangerous enemies into exposed and vulnerable beings.

However, though it can play like one, Batman: Arkham Asylum is not your simple brawler.‚  In fact, it is more of a stealth game (albeit a VERY aggressive stealth) than a fighter.‚  Being the world’s greatest detective, Batman has to do a significant amount of snooping and sleuthing during the game’s campaign.‚  This is where Detective Mode comes in handy.‚  This mode, toggled by the LB on 360 controllers, accentuates key details in environments necessary to solve puzzles, find clues and identify proper courses of action.‚  For instance, say you want to determine how to attack a group of enemies in the next room.‚  Simply activate detective mode to see where the thugs are, how many of them have weapons and even how scared they are (based on BPM).‚  This information will be key in determining how and when to attack.

Detective mode also comes in handy when following or tracking NPCs and completing the Riddler’s numerous and very addicting challenges.‚  Batman also has many tools at his disposal, progressively adding more and more to his repertoire throughout the game.‚  Look forward to using Batarangs, Batclaws and Explosive Gels to your advantage.

Finally, no review of Arkham Asylum would be complete without an overview of the extra goodies that are in the game.‚  First, Batman: Arkham Asylum rewards players who complete tasks and find clues with Character Bios.‚  These bios give each gamer deeper insight into the Batman Universe.‚  Each bio includes background stories and physical details of each enemy, friend and family member of Batman identified throughout the game.‚  This is a great way to get hardcore Batman fans and newcomers involved in the same game.‚  Also, players can find recorded audiotapes of therapy sessions and interviews from supervillians like Scarecrow, Poison Ivy and even the Joker himself.‚  Again, this is just another way to add depth and intrigue to an already interesting game.

While all the previously mentioned features were very entertaining, Arkham Asylum is not without flaws.‚  There are two main problem areas that come to mind: Boss Battles and Riddler Challenges.‚  Both of these aspects were both fairly lackluster in my very humble opinion.‚  Though the boss battles were challenging, they often got repetitive and came to unspectacular conclusions.‚  Similarly, the Riddler’s challenges were solid, but also become more tedious than entertaining at times.‚  I would have been more satisfied with my experience if my reward involved more than a few gamer points and a sense of achievement.

Blast Factor: Still, all things considered, Batman: Arkham Asylum is probably the best game of the year so far.‚  In fact, I think it would be fair to say that Arkham may be one of the best 5-10 games you can get for Xbox 360 and possibly the PS3, as well.‚  It is beautiful, addicting and, most of all, very fun. ‚ It is not often that a ultra-hyped game can truly live up to the excitement that surrounds it, but Arkham really broke from the mold here.‚  Batman: Arkham Asylum is a title that every gamer should own and, coming from an independent developer in Rocksteady Studios, it’s a title that every gamer can feel good about owning.‚  I’m glad to give Arkham Asylum the highest grade I’ve ever bestowed on a game.‚  Go buy this one ASAP.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is available for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 for a suggested retail of $59.99

As the hot summer months careen towards a saddening end, the real blistering heat looms on the horizon, as a slew of triple-A titles are due out in the next 30 days beginning with Batman Arkham Asylum this Tuesday, August 25.

Scroll your eyes a bit lower to view this week’s new releases and let us know if you’ll be dropping any currency on something shiny and new!

Monday (Aug. 24)
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (DS)
The Sims 2 University Life Collection (PC)
Time of Shadows (PC)

Tuesday (Aug. 25)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3, 360)
CrimeCraft (PC)
Cursed Mountain (Wii)
Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP)
Emergency Room: Real Life Rescues (DS)
Fallout 3 Game Add-On Pack: Broken Steel and Point Lookout (PC, 360)
Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming (DS)
Harvest Moon: Magical Melody (Wii)
Imagine: Teacher Class Trip (DS)
Logic Island (DS)
Mahjongg Ancient Mayas (DS)
Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy (PS2
Nancy Drew Dossier: Resorting to Danger (PC)
Princess Lillifee’s Magic Fairy (DS)
Raven Squad: Operation Hidden Dagger (PC, 360)
Reel Fishing: Angler’s Dream (Wii)
Sudoku Ball Detective (DS)
The Clique: Diss and Make Up (DS)
Warriors Orochi 2 (PSP)
Wizards of Waverly Place (DS, Wii)

Wednesday (Aug. 26)
NBA 2K10: Draft Combine (360)
Watchmen: The End Is Nigh Part 2 (360)

Friday (Aug. 28)
Beach Fun Summer Challenge (Wii)

In 2007, “Spider-Man 3″ topped the box office charts with a $336,530,303 intake. “The Dark Knight” followed last year, grossing an amazing $533,316,061, with Iron Man coming in second with a $318,298,180 total. Meanwhile the entire comic book industry, the original creators of these cash cows, made just under $500 million last year during the Hollywood comics boom.

This lack of financial recognition of one of the most original forms of American entertainment has caused film veteran and Newbury native Miguel Cima to create “Dig Comics” a 15 minute call to arms to comic fans to bring the ink and paper to the masses and have the general populace embrace the medium.

The documentary is one part history lesson about the American comic book and one part ideology speech. Cima begins by explaining the rise of comic book popularity in World War Two era America, when everyone from service men to housewives could openly enjoy any number of comic genres from monster stories to fluff romances. From there Cima dips into the McCarthy era of the Cold War, when a juvenile deliquesce scare caused Senate hearings to examine the comic book industry more closely. From that point onward, poor distribution, lack of invitation to the populace and stagnation of genres are put up as the main cause of the comic book industry’s shortfalls.

Featuring the opinions of comic greats like Jehb Loeb, Scott Shaw and Dame Darcy, the movie goes on to explore the possibility of the comic culture becoming a dominating feature of the American entertainment industry once again. Sighting the popularity and recognition of comic properties from their movie adaptations, the 9 billion dollar manga industry of Japan, and the varying styles and genres of the comic industry that can appeal to most if not all tastes, Cima ideal is straight and to the point.

The short documentary will be next made into a full length documentary by Olmos Productions, in the coming months. More information on Dig Comics can be found at digcomics.com.

Tune to Blast in the coming days for an interview with Cima.

I’m not huge on comics, but I am a fan of Batman. Since I’m also a fan of gaming, Batman: Arkham Asylum is starting to look like a dream. Today, we get a look at Poison Ivy’s trailer; sure, she’s not Uma Thurman, but at least the game is guaranteed to be better than that movie was. Plus, my favorite Uma character is still The Bride, and I’ve tried to block out much of the pre-Christopher Nolan reboot from my brain anyways.

Back on topic, be sure to check out the trailer, and come back to see more information about the game as its release nears.

Blast got the chance to ask a few questions of animation legend Bruce Timm, the originator of the classic “Batman: The Animated Series.” Timm also produced DC’s latest animated feature “Wonder Woman” which was released on DVD and Blu-Ray yesterday.

Kellen Rice: How was the experience working on Wonder Woman different from on Gotham Knight?

Bruce Timm: Wonder Woman has been completely different in that for “Batman: Gotham Knight,” most of the pre-production work was done by the Japanese creators and animators – and they were all half a world away. The actual process was completely different, right down to having to do a scratch track of all the dialogue for the initial animation and then recording the actors in ADR. “Wonder Woman” allowed us to be much more hands-on, working closely with the writer and director and crew throughout the entire process.

KR: The first short in “Gotham Knight” was about the different concepts of Batman thanks to the huge variety of Batmans (Batmen?) in the comics, cartoons, and films. Did the comparative lack of modern material on the solo Wonder Woman make the film more or less challenging for you as a filmmaker? In short, how is it working with a lesser known character versus, say, Batman?

BT: There’s plenty of material on Wonder Woman, and we pulled from a lot of the best of it. What was liberating in some ways was that we didn’t have a set story to follow. This film wasn’t based on one single graphic novel or comic series. In “Superman Doomsday” and “Justice League: The New Frontier,” one of the things that gave us grief – and I know it bothered the fans – was that we had to trim pieces of the original material to create one cohesive, tight, 75-minute story. We got to work the opposite way in “Wonder Woman,” building a story that not only fit the time constraints but also told an entire story without having to omit key plot points or things the fans were hoping to see translate from the comics to the film.

KR: The voice talent in this film was outstanding. Aside from making the film as good as it can be, what effect do the big-name stars have on the film and its reception?

BT: The conversation surrounding casting for the DCU films always starts with a focus on who will be the best voice for each part, which actor will best fit each role, and who will bring something special to the table. We do seek “name” talent to help our marketing and publicity teams, but never to the detriment of the film. I think we’ve been quite successful thus far in finding great, new voices for some classic roles, and bringing back some old favorites. And in terms of talent, I think the casts speak for themselves.

KR: You’ve worked with Nathan Fillion on “Wonder Woman” as well as a great deal of the so-called Joss Whedon crew – David Boreanaz, James Marsters, Alexis Denisof, Juliet Landau, etc. Do you plan on watching “Dollhouse” and if so, do you plan on using any of the actors for future DC projects?

BT: I am watching “Dollhouse,” and I am enjoying it. I’m intrigued by it, and I don’t know where it’s going yet. Joss has got a real eye for acting talent, so I kind of use as many of those people as I can. I do that because one, I’m a fan, and two, they’re all terrific talented actors.

KR: After years of being a part of what today’s grown-up fans consider definitive works, how do you view your past work? What’s your reaction to viewing, say, “Heart of Ice” from “Batman The Animated Series” today? How do you think you’ve changed as an artist since then?

BT: I actually find it difficult to go back and watch my old stuff. I appreciate its relative value, especially considering the time during which it was made, and the restrictions we had in terms of technology and such. These days there’s so much competition and there’s such a variety of terrific stuff in animation that it really keeps me on my toes, and have to keep pushing the outside of my own envelope.

KR: How have you changed or evolved as an artist?

BT: Don’t have time. Don’t have time for that answer! I’m too close to myself to know how much I’ve changed. I know that the Batman shows had an enormous impact on, not just animation but spilling over into the comics. It’s cool, and it’s also very weird that I see people out there, where even if they’re not directly influenced by me, they be influenced by somebody by somebody two generations earlier — influenced by somebody who was influenced by somebody who was influenced by by me. So it’s weird to have all these great-grandchildren. It’s flattering, but it’s also kind of weird. It makes me feel old.

Blast had the chance to sit down with New York City Comic Con Guest of Honor Michael Uslan, an executive producer for all of the Batman movies and the foremost authority on comic book history and legacy today.

A lifetime fan and attendee of comic conventions, Uslan had to be pried away from the impromptu autograph queue that was left over from his hours at the autograph area in order for us to get a few minutes to sit down.

When I commented on his enthusiasm to interact with fans, (“That’s just who Michael is,” said his assistant), Uslan said, “the fact that they made me a guest of honor this year, and had me deliver the keynote this morning, just means a lot to me. It really means a lot. As I told everyone at the keynote, I’m one of you.”

In that light, I asked him how it felt to see The Dark Knight succeed so extraordinarily. Had he expected it to be such a resounding success?

Michael Uslan:‚ Since the day I first dreamed of making dark and serious Batman movies and returning him to the creature of the night, I always knew in my head they would be successful and well-received. I don’t think anybody can‚ anticipate‚ something to the effect that your movie is the second biggest movie in history. That’s incredible to process.

The most important aspect of that for me is the respect and credibility that it brings to seventy years of of comic book artists, writers, and editors who toiled in obscurity largely, who are now rock stars. Their works are now hanging in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian and the Louvre. It’s a recognized American art form. People are acknowledging that it’s a modern day mythology. It is our contemporary American folk lore. To be part of that process after working in the trenches for thirty-three years, to get this kind of‚ recognition‚ for the art and for the business and creators, that’s been the biggest payoff in the world for me.

BLAST: To what extent does “The Dark Knight” responsible for that, do you think?

MU: It’s played a huge role, it truly has. One of my real true goals in the beginning of what turned to out to be my life-long journey, was to attempt to erase from the consciousness of the collective world culture, the three words “pow,” “zap”, and “wham.”

I was there in seventh grade — the night Batman came on TV for the first time — and was simultaneously thrilled and horrified by what I was seeing. Somebody spent a lot of money on a color version of Batman with a really cool Batmobile, and there it was on prime-time TV, but I knew everyone was laughing at him and that killed me.

To be at a point now where people can go in and appreciate a dark, serious Batman rather than a pot-bellied, funny Batman, where you can have a movie that resonates with people because it deals with critically-important themes and that many critics have hailed as the most important movie to deal with 9/11 and post-9/11 issues, it’s like we’ve turned the world on its it head.

BLAST: After so many years of Batman and so many different versions — like you said, Adam West’s Batman in the sixties and now Christian Bale — which incarnation is your definitive Batman?

MU: Well, to answer that generally, there have been so many completely different interpretations of Batman of the years just in the comic books themselves, and then you have the cartoons and live action series and the movies — my point is everybody has their one true version of Batman. If you grew up in the sixties, [for] the bulk of the people their true version was that TV show “pow, zap, wham.” If you grew up in The thirties, it was a darker Batman. if you grew up in the forties or fifties, it might be the Super-Batman of Planet X. So it really depends on when you’re reading this stuff and when you were exposed to it.

For me, when the smoke clears, I think Christian Bale’s Batman, and more importantly, Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne, is the ideal interpretation, the truest interpretation that fans of all periods and all translations of the character known as Batman, can sink their teeth into and say, “This is truly Batman.”

BLAST: You mentioned Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne. In Batman Begins, a solid hour of the film deals exclusively with the man, not the mask. Is it that real man, that flesh-and-blood greatest superhero, what makes Batman resonate the most with you?

MU:‚ The word is human. Batman’s greatest superpower is his humanity. That’s what resonates. That’s what works. That’s what people can identify with. That’s what people who sit in the movie theater watching “The Dark Knight” feel that they themselves are on those ships and that they are forced (to wonder), “would I press the button and blow up the other ship to save my own hide?”

[Batman] is one person who believes he can make a difference in the world. And he is willing to commit to that and go through hell in order to stay committed to that and prove that he‚ can make a difference in the world. That is so primal, that is so inspiring, that is so basic — as is his origin. The concept of a kid watching his parents murdered before his eyes is as primal as we can get. And I think people can truly relate to that and understand what drives him, what pushes him to the edge to the point where he’s so obsessed to get the guys who did it, to get all the bad guys, so that he’s driven to the fine thin line of being psychotic.

And I think if you add to that the Jerry Robinson Joker, who to me is the greatest supervillain ever, you’ve got this opera of two figures of opposing equal strength, representing goodness and evil. But the evil is wearing the mask of the carnival, covering the horror that lurks beneath the surface. And the good guy is dressed like a‚ terrifying‚ bat. The dance that they do is an incredible dance that again, anybody can relate to.

BLAST: Yeah, in “Dark Knight” the line that stood out most to me was the line, “the unstoppable force meets the immovable object” and I just sat back in my seat and said, “Whoa.” And then, of course, there’s the other line “I think we’re destined to do this forever.”

MU: Yeah, exactly. And in the first Batman movie, with that operatic dance going on in the bell tower – “I made you, you made me, one can’t really live without the other.” And in all history there will always be order and chaos, and black and white, and what I think Chris Nolan was saying is that in our world today, there is not as much black and white as there is gray. And comic books and comic book heroes must become more complex, more textured and layered, and the themes must be more carefully considered.

BLAST: Speaking of villains — well, we were sort of talking about villains – is there a villain that you haven’t yet seen on screen that you would love to see or that hasn’t yet been portrayed in the way that you imagine it?

MU: I can’t answer that in terms of the movies, but I can answer that in terms of comic book fan Michael. I always loved Man-Bat. I thought, here was another great story. That Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde thing. I always had a problem with the Hulk films because the Hulk I read growing up was the story of Frankenstein and the story of Dr. Jekyll and and I went to the movies and it was the story of King Kong. And it didn’t work for me, I couldn’t figure that out, I couldn’t make that transition. I think Man-Bat has a true Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde thing that I find fascinating. So I’ve always loved him as a villain.

I always seemed to like the edgier villains. The Penguin was always a little silly to me. Going back even earlier, there were villains called Tweedle-Dee and Twiddle-Dum. On the TV show, King Tut was a a little too silly for me. so I like the edgier ones, I like Two-Face, I like the Joker, I like the Reaper.

BLAST: And about Two-Face – it’s been said that at the end of “The Dark Knight”, Two-Face could still be alive.

MU: (laughs) I say the same thing that we said at the end of the first Batman movie, where people weren’t convinced that Joker was dead, that he could still be alive. And I said, “what makes you think so?” and they said, “Well, I’ve probably read a thousand Batman comics in my lifetime, and probably eighteen times the Joker has been killed and keeps coming back,” as do all the villains. Speak to a Superman fan! I thought he was dead, but he’s back.

BLAST: And Batman RIP right now. But I still don’t believe that, so –

MU: Yeah, lets’ not talk about that. I’m still waiting month by month for Captain America to pop back in.

BLAST: Same here! There was a Captain America downstairs and I was like, see, I told you, he’s still alive!

MU: (laughs) It’s comic books. You know, it IS comic books.

BLAST: We’re running out of time — I see your assistant waving me down — so let’s get in a few last questions. Do you have a favorite sequence from any of the films?

MU: Oh, I have many that still give me the chills.

BLAST: What was your favorite from The Dark Knight?

MU: Virtually Heath’s entire performance. It’s the performance of a lifetime.

BLAST: And is there anything at all you can give me on a possible sequel?

MU: (smiles) No.

BLAST: (laughs) Well, would you like to do it?‚ Have you spoken about it with Chris Nolan at all?

MU: How ’bout them Yankees?

NEW YORK — From commercial cover artist to rogue to video game director, Jim Lee’s signature is synonymous with modern comics’ culture.

Lee is the executive creative director for Sony’s upcoming DC Universe Online, a massive multiplayer online role playing game. In an interview with Blast, Lee said he hopes to bring his art and the stories of the DC universe into houses that would never have heard them.

With a hat shielding his face from the bright florescent lights lining the room, it was almost hard to see the bags under his eyes. Clearly tired, he still managed to put on his game face. Over this long New York Comic Con weekend, he had done a couple panels, several interviews, and now, a party for a game he is a very big part of.

DC Universe online brought out a completely new challenge for Lee.

Talking about his role in DC Universe Online, Lee laughs as he remembers his official title of “Executive Creative Director.” Sounds a bit on the bland side, but he explains that his job is to effectively make the skeleton in which this game will rest upon.

“I’m involved with a lot of the concept art, and it’s my job to report back to DC if the game looks right or not,” said Lee describing the multiple facets of his new job.

Lee did most of the conceptual artwork for not only the heroes and villains, but also the cityscape and landmarks throughout the game. Sony explained that more than 300 city blocks were designed just for a game demo and that’s only a very small fraction of the game. “Metropolis is huge,” Lee said, “There is just so much going on there that it really takes a while to grasp it all. You have S.T.A.R. Labs, Centennial Park with the big Superman statue and of course the Daily Planet.”

Lee said he was very excited about the game and the concept of it being a MMORPG. He says he’s a gamer, and it’s clear he means it, making mention of macros and zones, both familiar aspects to those who have played games of this genre, to pad his cred. “I’ve been playing MMO’s for a while now: EverQuest, EverQuest 2, Warcraft. But I like shooters too”

DC Universe online brought out a completely new challenge for Lee. He had to do something that had never been done before: design all of Gotham City and Metropolis. In all the years of Batman and Superman comics, no one has ever had to make a layout of their iconic cities. Sure, comic fans know what landmarks are in each city but not how they are placed on the map. Lee explained that comic tradition is to use the location to aid the story, rather than the story to be defined by the location.

“If in one book, the Daily Planet was 50 stories tall and next time it was 75, no one blinked an eye, because it was for the story to progress.” Now suddenly, Lee needed to define everything, and that was a problem. It was a new issue to someone who had spent 20 years drawing books, and that isn’t something you see every day in the world of comics.

Getting things like arms and shoulders to render just right took patience

To compound the problem, he needed to add in landmarks to make every area unique so that players can tell the difference and assign meeting places. “I needed to go through and add in all these little nooks and landmarks. Everyone knows the Daily Planet and Centennial Park, but we didn’t want everyone gathering at only those places,” Lee said.

Things that were just background in the past, suddenly needed to be the focus.

“Sure, it was challenging, but I think we got it right,” Lee said. “Sometimes stuff just falls right into place.”

The whole basis of the game is that you get to design and in essence, be your own superhero in the DC universe. Jim talked for a bit about the challenges of making interchangeable designs, to allow for maximum uniqueness, and then explained another overlooked part of the design process: character silhouette.

“We spent a lot of time creating iconic silhouettes,” Lee said, noting that it was one of the most important aspects to him. “It’s important that from far away, you could see someone like Superman, and still knows its Superman because his shape is unique. Not many characters in the DC Universe have weird or awkward shapes, so we made a few standard bodies to pick from.”

His eyes perk up when talking about the transition from being a comic artist to a concept designer. He explained that his biggest personal problem. “I need to clean up my lines,” Lee said. He was referring to the anatomy of the characters he draws day in and day out.

“When I draw for comics, things are more stylized. I tend to draw females with longer legs and guys with sloped shoulders,” Lee said. Those may look right in place in the 2D world, but when put in the third dimension, they make them look awkward and sometimes “downright monstrous”, as he put it.

“Functionally, my biggest problem was the shoulders. They didn’t articulate well,” Lee said.

Evil Iguana Productions has finally posted their sequel to Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight.” You can view it here:

For more information on Evil Iguana Productions, read our cover story from November here.

Evil Iguana Productions first attempt at a dark drama.

Taking place 2 months after Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight.” The Joker has broken out of Arkham Asylum and is now holding a family hostage on Christmas Eve. His goal is to once again prove that one bad day can break anyone. Now with Gordon and Monotya trying to devise a way to save the family, he must quickly prove his point and escape.

Directed By: Craig Deering & Allen Murphy
Produced By: Craig Deering & Allen Murphy
Written By: Kyle Bridges
Edited By: Craig Deering
Director of Photography: Allen Murphy
Lighting Designer: Tony Jordan

Joker-Craig Deering
Gordon- Kyle Bridges
Batman- Joe Korbel
Montoya- Katie Diedrick
Father- Tom Skobel
Chuckles- Tony Jordan
Grumpy- Daniel Drake
Grumpy’s Voice- Jon Drummer
Weepy- Tom Lavys
Mother- Adrianna Lombardo
Male Child- Zach Jones
Female Child- Kelsey Petersen
Police- Mark Deering
Patrick Clemens
Maynard Tan
Jeff Burnett
Franco Battista
Alreds Voice- Kyle Bridges

Evil Iguana Productions chose Blast Magazine to premiere the trailer for their upcoming “Silent Night,” a serious drama set in the Batman universe.

“We thought we would take a quick break from comedy for a little while and attempt a dark drama,” said EIP’s Craig Deering.

Cast:
Craig Deering as the Joker
Kyle Bridges as Gordon
Joe Korbel as Batman

Featuring Katie Diedrick and Tom Skobel

Directed by Craig Deering and Allen Murphy

Evil Iguana’s team is nervous about this movie, because it’s their first attempt at a “non comedy.”

“At first we where all very afraid at attempting a drama but after looking at some edited footage and seeing the trailer we are very excited now and hoping others will have the same reactions,” Deering said. “It took a little over a month to film, and now we are in the post production aspect.”

We offered our warmest “thank you” and a big hug to the Evil Iguana guys:

“No problem haha we are glad you guys can premiere it, hopefully you guys will enjoy it as well,” Deering said.

The filmmakers took a break between shots to adjust the camera and lighting for the next take. As they reviewed the previous shots, their star received a make-up touch-up. The bright lights were causing his white face paint and green hair dye to run.

When they were ready to resume, the actor once again repeated his lines, strutting around in his green vest and purple suit, flicking his tongue out over his lips in an awkward habit.

The filmmakers cut the scene and congratulated each other on the success. They were filming a new Batman movie that took place two months after the conclusion of July’s blockbuster, “The Dark Knight.” It was their first filming session, and the groups of filmmakers were making great progress.

Their star went to drink some water between takes and was greeted by the owner of the house they were filming in. “Nice makeup,” she said.

They were not on a sound stage or the lot of a billion-dollar production. The actor playing The Joker was not a Hollywood prima donna but mild-mannered 21-year-old Craig Deering of Illinois.

The house’s owner was Deering’s best friend and fellow film maker Allen Murphy’s great aunt Mary’s. While watching the filming, she told her nephew that while she always supported the arts and was glad to help, she had not expected college students running around her house dressed as Batman and an evil clown.

“She watched a little bit through a window and like peered in a couple time, and I think she might have freaked out a little bit,” said Deering.

“In my family, she should have known better,” Murphy, 20, joked.

With their initial success tucked away, the guys decided to venture into feature-length territory. (Photo by Dan Drake)

Deering and the rest of the filmmakers are part of Evil Iguana Productions. The group creates and posts their films on YouTube and suddenly blew up when they spoofed “The Dark Knight” trailer in the summer.

The filmmakers are a bunch of college kids who have been making movies together since high school with nothing but Deering’s father’s video camera and some editing software.

It wasn’t until July when the group released “The Dark Knight” spoof that they became stars. In the four months since its release, the video has received over 5 million views. Their new Batman movie is a follow-up to their spoof of “The Dark Knight” trailer that they released in July.

“I am like really happy that it is getting that good of reviews and like people are still watching because, honestly, when we were making it, and we were about to release it, I was so scared to release that video because I thought we were going to get shot down,” said Deering sitting down to chat with Blast recently. “(I thought) everyone was going to yell at us for like trying to spoof Batman and telling us it was crap, and I was expecting to take it down. But, all the positive feedback and stuff is great.”

Deering is the director and editor of all of the Evil Iguana videos, and also came up with the ideas for the “The Dark Knight” spoof, as well as the mockeries they made of “Twilight” and “The Number 23.”

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After the success of their Batman spoof, Deering and the rest of Evil Iguana decided to venture into unknown territory — a 30 to 45 minute serious film about the Joker, set in Christopher Nolan’s Batman universe.

Deering said that making the drama was a challenge and a big change from their previous work.

“This is like by far the most professional we’ve been with a movie, which I thought was really cool, because usually we just get our camera and improvise a lot of stuff,” said Deering.

Two buds

“I was a total nerd (in middle school): big glasses, comb over. ‚ I think my graduating class was like 21, it was really small. I tried my best to fit in with the rest of the class, though‚ I was never considered one of the “cool” guys, but it was alright,” said Deering.

Today, Deering has people requesting to be his friend on Facebook whom he has never met but feel they know him through his Youtube series, “The Allen and Craig Show,” and his various film spoofs.

It’s no real secret as to why the Lego games appeal to a wide generation of gamers. While the younger set enjoys the run and jump style platforming and easy accessible gameplay, the shall we say, more seasoned of us will appreciate the nostalgic heart, and subtle nods to some of the most famous movies of all time. While, Lego Batman, the newest title to be released in the Lego series does retain the familiarity of the the Star Wars and Indiana Jones titles, it’s fails to deliver much more.‚ 

The heart of the previous Lego games comes from the fact that the story-lines are ripped directly from the films. Half the fun comes from watching developer Traveller’s Tales comically recreate some of the most memorable scenes from movie history in block form. Though the cut-scenes are completely void of any sort of dailauge or captions, they’re done so creatively that the emotions portrayed by the Lego characters are enough. Rather than base the story of Lego Batman on the films, the title features an all new story based more on comics. Though it’s a novel idea, it does cause the game to lose some of it’s heart, becoming just another run of the mill platformer. Sure, you’ll crack a smile at some of the antics, but that charm that made the earlier games great is notably gone.

There have always been two sides to the Batman mythos. Theres’ the family friendly, Saturday morning cartoon like Caped Crusader that kids love, and then there’s the dark, vengeful Batman as seen in this Summer’s blockbuster; The Dark Knight. Though technically the same character, the two worlds couldn’t be more different. Unfortunately, Lego Batman suffers from a bit of an identity crisis as it attempts to create a Batman world with influences from both ends of the spectrum. While the villains, supporting cast (especially Robin — who’s role is nothing more than blundering comic foil) and story feel like they could be from a lost episode of the campy Adam West television show, the protagonist is a complete contrast. Lego Batman’s main character is a stone faced, brooding hero — who is a complete and utter bore to play. While Batman’s rouges gallery has always featured some of the most interesting characters to ever grace the funny books, it’s a problem when it feels like a chore to play as a game’s title character. Though, it is a nice touch that the developers didn’t take the easy way out bu only including the well-known Bat-villains; as names like Hush and The Mad Hatter are not only represented, they’re playable.

Gameplay wise, Lego Batman is solid — ‚ even if it’s all been done before. Though the game follows the same run, jump and collect formula as those before it; it’s still quite fun — especially for the younger crowd. For those new to the series, you control two characters from the Bat-world, as they traverse a Lego themed Gotham city. Some of the levels are incredibly puzzle heavy, which can be good, but also can be downright annoying as some of the puzzles border on annoyingly frustrating. Often times you’ll spend hours trying to solve one, and end up banging your head on the wall once you find out how easy the solution was.‚ 

There’s no doubt that Lego Batman will sell like crazy, it’s the kind of game that kids will flock to and those in the market for a quick, light-weight platformer will find much to like about Lego Batman, but anyone looking for something more will want to stick with previous installments.

Hot off the heals of the mega-successful blockbuster The Dark Knight, comes word that Rocksteady Studios and Eidos are hard at work on a brand new Batman title. But don’t expect “Batman: Arkham Asylum”. due on shelves sometime in 2009 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC to have much in common with Christopher Nolan’s recent film — due to legal limitations, (EA holds the video game rights to the Batman films) Asylum will take it’s story cues from the Batman comics.

In a story written by Paul Dini, Asylum will take place in and around the it’s namesake — Arkahm Asylum; the home for Gotham’s worst of the worst, which has been taken over by the Joker. Game Informer Magazine describes the game’s action as similar to that of BioShock or original Xbox sleeper hit The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay in the sense that the action takes place in one consistent location, rather than numerous sprawling areas.

The folks at Rocksteady are aiming to make the game deeper than most recent superhero games by focusing on more than just combat. In true Batman fashion, players will be presented with detective-like puzzles and investigative work.That’s not to say that combat won’t be used at all though, as the developers are putting a heacy emphasis on stealth and speed, using a control scheme that utilizes only three buttons (attack, stun and throw) — a fine departure from the hack and slash style of recent games.

Recently, a set of in-game images were released to the net, showcasing a new, dark, yet realistic art style by the Team at Wildstorm comics. These images were promptly removed. Be sure to stay with us for more information on Asylum as it becomes available, same Blast Time, same Blast channel.

A slight whimper was heard the world over when Microsoft officially canned the highly anticipated Marvel Comics MMORPG. Luckily, fan boys the world over will still have a chance to realize their spandex clad dreams – just in another universe entirely.

This week, Sony Online Entertainment released details on its upcoming DC Universe Online in the newest issue of Edge magazine. While the PS3 and PC game was officially announced earlier this year, little was known about it besides the fact that it would be the first online title to be set in the fabled universe home to Batman and Superman, even though players will not be able to directly control the legendary heroes.

Much like long running action title City of Heroes; gamers will create their own hero or villain from scratch, setting everything from your character’s look to his superpowers. Much like any other RPG, players will level up as they progress through the game but unique to DC Online – leveling up will give players access to new moves and abilities based on their original choices. Choosing flight as your ability will give you immediate access to the skies, but only through leveling up will you be able to pull off unique acrobatic maneuvers mid-air.

Although you won’t get to actually control any of the DC heroes or villains, they will show up – and play a major role in the game’s events. Wannabe heroes could end up teaming up alongside one World’s Finest, while a villain looking to make a name for himself may be able to force a showdown with big blue by causing enough carnage.

With an ever expanding and changing universe, DC Comics is well aware of the marketing potential it has on its hands. “We can tie-in future DC tent-pole events and translate the stories for the gaming world, and have them occur simultaneously,” said executive creative director Jim Lee. “The possibilities are numerous and very exciting.”

While no release date has been set for the superhero sim, it’s widely believed that gamers will have take to Metropolis, Star City and Gotham sometime in 2009. DC Universe Online is expected to be on display at this year’s E3.

It sounds like a late April Fool’s joke, but later this year gamers will be able to pit Sub-Zero against Batman, Rayden against Superman and even Martian Manhunter against Aquaman.

Yes, its official, the much teased, and rumored eighth Mortal Kombat game will feature the superheroes from the DC Comics universe.

Midway officially announced MK VS DC at it’s Gamer’s Day press event, with new art and the first official in game movie. While only Sub-Zero, Scorpion and Batman were the only characters officially announced, it’s largely expected that many of the major (along with a few obscure) characters from each universe will be playable.

While crowds at the press event reacted to the video with cheers and excitement, the reaction on the internet has been less enthusiastic.

“Mortal Kombat is something I have taken with me from my childhood since I grew playing (Mortal Combat 1) at the arcade. I didn’t enjoy deadly alliance or the following games and was hoping this could be MK’s rebirth, since Boon was talking about it being very dark and gritty,” said one fan on the game’s official message board.

“Well, goodbye Mortal Kombat. At least the trailer made me laugh. Batman flying through the air in his tights fighting Sub-Zero? Yeah, that’s the rebirth the series needed. Congrats, my MK faith is officially gone!” said another.

“Every console generation we like to wipe the slate clean with Mortal Kombat,” said Ed Boon, one of the creators of the game series. “With this generation we’re starting new with both the new fighting engine, and as you can see, the story mode. We’re very excited about the new fighting mechanic that marries the intense brutality of Mortal Kombat with the signature moves from DC characters like Batman and Superman.”

Perhaps what is getting gamers more angry than anything else is the fact that DC Comics management will not allow the game to include fatalities — the gory and over the top finishing moves that made the Mortal Kombat series famous. I guess there’s something about seeing Batman ripped limb from limb, or the Green Lantern with his skull ripped off the doesn’t sit well with their plans.