Batman

Someone light the Batsignal again, it looks like The Batman is in need of another new director. A week after he was tapped to helm Ben Affleck’s solo Batman movie, Matt Reeves wants out. He’s exited the talks and is hard at work on post-production on War for the Planet of the Apes.

Lego has never been at a shortage of simple and easy sets for its fans to build. Sure the more extravagant pieces get all the attention, but sometimes you just want a budget-friendly little set for your desk to show off your construction skills. This past San Diego Comic-Con saw Lego take that idea even farther, and offer small character building sets in the vein of Funko Pops called Lego Brickheadz. Originally only available as two-packs exclusively at SDCC, the Lego Brickheadz are finally available for the rest of the collecting public. Featuring some of your favorite characters from the Marvel and DC universes, Lego Brickheadz might finally give Funko a run for its money in the emotionless pop culture figure arena.

The Lego Batman Movie is the perfect film to escape into for ninety minutes, and its message of friendship, co-operation, and teamwork is downright inspiring. A lot of the film's emotional strength is reflected in its original songs, including the touching "I Found You," which features the cherubic Dick Grayson recounting the happiness he discovered in his adopted family.

Nowadays, actors are often straight-up forbidden from doing their own stunts so that they don’t suffer from any lasting injuries. Some, like Tom Cruise, have the star-power needed to convince a director he wants to be strapped to the side of a jetliner while it takes off, but most of the time it’s the stunt-doubles doing all the work. Not so for Burt Ward, who played sidekick Robin in the original 1960’s Batman TV show. He recounts a time during production during which he had to perform a stunt so dangerous he was sent to the emergency room.

Like any job, writing about the latest news in the world of entertainment can wear on you after long enough, so you gotta appreciate the little pearls of amusement where you can get them. Personally, watching the latest solo Batman project fall apart in slow motion has been a perverse thrill over the past couple of months: star Ben Affleck was gonna direct (maybe) the film titled The Batman, then he was definitely gonna direct it, then he backpedaled a little bit, then he requested that people stop asking him about it, then he face-planted onto the sidewalk with the costly flop Live By Night, and then look at that, he wasn’t taking the director’s chair after all. The indignities kept coming, as Warner Bros. ordered sweeping rewrites to this floundering project before landing Planet of the Apes remake maestro Matt Reeves to fill the directorial vacuum.

Since announcing that Ben Affleck would no longer be directing the upcoming standalone The Batman film, Warner Bros. has been in a full-blown crisis mode, working overtime to find a talented new director and prove all those “Is the DC Cinematic Universe doomed?” articles wrong. Back in January, Forbes reported that the Warner Bros. shortlist featured several interesting names, including George Miller, Denis Villeneuve, and Matt Reeves. And now, less than two weeks after The Batman lost its director, it appears that Warner Bros. has settled on its replacement.

When you think about who has the coolest rogues' gallery in all of comic books, you know in your heart of hearts the answer if Batman. With so many spins on the character and so many different interpretations of his classic villains, there's no set of bad guys more iconic or memorable, but we want to know which are the ten that give The Dark Knight a run for his money like no-one else can.

The LEGO Batman Movie, now playing in theaters (and Palace Cinema LEGO sets) everywhere, works perfectly well for any audience, regardless of their familiarity with Batman, LEGO or otherwise. For viewers who do know the nearly 80-year history of its title character, however, the film is a treasure trove of references. Following his debut in the pages of 1939’s Detective Comics #27, Batman quickly became one of the most famous heroes in all of comics, and eventually spawned television shows, movies, toys, video games, and countless pieces of merchandise, almost all of which get referenced in Chris McKay’s LEGO Batman Movie in some way, shape, or form.

Ahead of Toy Fair 2017, Mezco held a special event for the media showcasing some of its upcoming products. Due to the weather on the east coast, we were unable to attend, but Mezco didn't want everyone to miss out on the sneak peeks offered at the exclusive event. Shortly after it ended, the toy manufacturer posted a number of teaser photos of some One:12 Collective figures coming in 2017 and beyond. While expected Batman and Wolverine toys were nice to see, it's the likes of Popeye and Doctor Strange that have us itching to get our hands on Mezco's planned products.

These are dark days for the Dark Knight.