Ep 47: The Dark Knight 10th Anniversary Special

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Dark Knight’s theatrical release, episode 47 of The Electric Shadows Podcast has gone big. Across four hours, Robs Daniel and Wallis and Bat-expert Ian Bird discuss Nolan’s landmark trilogy. Plus, a wider discussion of the Caped Crusader in comic books and on the small screen, both animated and live action. Our trio delve deep into the Bat cave, covering a range of Bat chat. From Nolan’s career, to the making of the trilogy, Nolan’s influences, the impact of Christian Bale’s Batman, Heath Ledger’s Joker and Tom Hardy’s Bane, and the difficult-to-repeat legacy the films left behind. Not that the discussion is just a rhapsody. Ian and the Robs discuss some of the brickbats thrown at the trilogy, particularly the divisive The Dark Knight Rises. There’s even disagreement in the discussion. Rob Daniel champions the epic sweep of the third instalment, Ian Bird is unconvinced. Elsewhere, the episode goes into Batman 66, Tim Burton’s Batmans, the campy collapse of Batman & Robin and the what-might-have-been of Darren Aronofsky and Frank Miller’s aborted reboot. But wait, there’s more. Ian takes us to the beginnings of the Batman and troubling question of authorship around those creators who were recognised and those who were not so fortunate. The thorny issue of female representation in comics and comic book movies is tackled, along with the notorious tendency of fridging female characters. And there is more. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is compared to what Nolan did with his trilogy. Somewhere Hollywood great William Devane will try to sell you gold. It all makes sense when woven together. Alongside the talk, there is a liberal (some might say undisciplined) use of illustrative clips to further celebrate the legacy of The Dark Knight movie, this incredible trilogy, and the enduring appeal of the Caped Crusader character. If you are left wanting more at the end of this Batpod, we strongly recommend you go to Mr Carapace. Here, Ian delivers addendum thoughts on Batman, how it relates to Matt Wagner’s classic comic Grendel, and more fascinating insight into comic book creation in general. It’s a big episode to be sure. But, we trust there is plenty of brain food (and humour dessert) to keep you entertained. Here… we…go….