Hunting the Dark Knight: Twenty-First Century Batman

Description

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. Cover Page Author Bio Endorsements Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Acknowledgements Prologue : Batman of Many Worlds 1: The Nolan Function : Authorship 2: The Batman Matrix : Adaptation 3: Dark Knight Lockdown : Realism and Repression 4: Carnival on Infinite Earths : Continuity and Crisis 5: The Never - Ending War : Deconstruction and the Dark Knight Epilogue : Time and the Batman Notes Select Bibliography Index