GQ is currently running an extraordinarily insightful piece on the genesis of Joss Whedon and how he came to finally be where he is now, and while the piece as a whole is one of the most worthwhile articles I’ve read in a long time there was one particular tidbit buried in there that I think is well worth sharing.
Originally, before Nolan came along, Whedon was working to develop his own post-Schumacher take on Batman. And part of that take would have involved a small but fascinating addition to the classic mythos wherein a young Bruce Wayne tries to protect a girl from being bullied in an alley that bears a striking similarity to the one in which his parents were murdered.
“And he’s like this tiny 12-year-old who’s about to get the shit kicked out of him. And then it cuts to Wayne Manor, and Alfred is running like something terrible has happened, and he finds Bruce, and he’s back from the fight, and he’s completely fine. And Bruce is like, ‘I stopped them. I can stop them.’ That was the moment for me. When he goes ‘Oh, wait a minute; I can actually do something about this.’ The moment he gets that purpose, instead of just sort of being overwhelmed by the grief of his parents’ death.”
I know that I really like that, but what about you? Is it too on the nose, or would that bit of expansion on the classic story that we all know have opened up a whole new world of possibilities for the direction of DC’s Caped Crusader?
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