Publishing alongside the world premiere of Christopher Nolan's third Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises", Will Brooker's new book explores Batman's twenty-first century incarnations. Brooker's close analysis of "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" offers a rigorous, accessible account of the complex relationship between popular films, audiences, and producers in our age of media convergence. By exploring themes of authorship, adaptation and intertextuality, he addresses a myriad of questions raised by these films: did "Batman Begins" end when "The Dark Knight began? Does its story include the Gotham Knight DVD, or the 'Why So Serious' viral marketing campaign? Is it separate from the parallel narratives of the Arkham Asylum videogame, the monthly comic books, the animated series and the graphic novels? Can the brightly campy incarnations of the Batman ever be fully repressed by "The Dark Knight", or are they an intrinsic part of the character? Do all of these various manifestations feed into a single Batman metanarrative? This will be a vital text for film students and academics, as well as legions of Batman fans.
Autorentext
Will Brooker Professor of Film and Television at Kingston University, UK. He is the author of several books, including studies of Batman, Star Wars, Blade Runner, and Lewis Carroll.
Inhalt
Prologue
Chapter 1 The Nolan Function: Authorship
Chapter 2 The Batman Matrix: Adaptation
Chapter 3 Dark Knight Lockdown: Realism and Repression
Chapter 4 Carnival on Infinite Earths: Continuity and Crisis
Chapter 5 The Never-Ending War: Deconstruction and the Dark Knight
Epilogue: Time and the Batman
Bibliography
Index