Does anyone remember the days when Justice League: Mortal was actually on the road to being made? Well director George Miller had the cheek to hire an actor to play Batman, who wasn’t Christian Bale. (This was before The Dark Knight was released and dominated the world, so I will let him off slightly). The actor goes by the name of Armie Hammer, and E! Online spoke to him about the (now deceased) movie.

Hammer still hopes the movie will get made, and he told E! that he and his castmates went through several months of intense physical training before production stopped:

“I would spend hours training with actual guns to prepare me for this stuff,” Hammer said. “It was very intense. Our workout regimens were so rigorous that most of us would vomit.”

He added, “We weren’t trying to get ourselves aesthetically good looking. We were trying to get ready for the demands of shooting.”

He also talked about being fitted for the Batman costume, making it sound like they were pretty far along in the preproduction on the movie:

He’s already been fitted for the superhero costume, which he says features functioning equipment, including trademark Batman weapons like spring-loaded titanium Bat-erangs. “I was looking down, and I was thinking, This is the best,” Hammer said off the first time he put on the entire ensemble. “Then I stood up, and they turned me around, and I faced a mirror—there was Batman. But then it hit me like a ton of bricks—it’s not just Batman, it’s me!”

After the success of The Dark Knight I don’t think I could accept anyone else playing Bruce Wayne within the next decade. Thankfully, the Justice League movie won’t be happening anytime soon so we don’t have anything to worry about.

I wonder if Armie saw The Dark Knight?

Ever wondered what an episode of The Simpsons would look like if Iron Man, Spider-Man and Batman dropped in for a visit? Well Springfield Punx have done the very cool thing of Simpson-izing a truckload of well known characters from movies, comic books, TV and games, so we don’t have to wonder any more.

You can see some of them below!

With the recent release of The Dark Knight it is hard to think of anyone other than Christopher Nolan who could tackle Batman (even though they have in the past). However, there are a lot of what if’s in the superhero movie world. What if James Cameron directed Spider-Man? What if Warner Bros went with Tim Burton’s Superman?

The latest one to add to the ever growing list is: What if Joss Whedon directed Batman?

Whedon regaled MTV News with the details of his proposed plan to reboot the “Batman” film franchise before Director Christopher Nolan got the gig.

“Well, I actually did pitch a ‘Batman’ film when [Warner Bros. began developing "Batman Begins"], and it wasn’t what they did but the vibe was very similar,” said Whedon. “Mine was a bit less epic. It was more about the progression of him and it was more in Gotham City. He didn’t go to Tibet and meet cool people, but it was very similar in vibe [to Nolan's "Batman Begins"].”

After a little prodding, Whedon opened up a bit about his “Batman” idea, even going into detail about what villain he planned on using…or not using.

“In my version, there was actually a new [villain], it wasn’t one of the classics — which is probably why they didn’t use it,” he laughed. “It was more of a ‘Hannibal Lector’ type — he was somebody already in Arkham Asylum that Bruce went and sort of studied with. It was a whole thing — I get very emotional about it, I still love the story. Maybe I’ll get to do it as a comic one day [ed. note: HINT HINT, DC Comics... ].”

I am glad Warner Bros went with Christopher Nolan as Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are amazing movies, however it is always interesting to consider what could have been if someone else was sat in the directors chair.

“If Robin crops up in one of the new Batman films, I’ll be chaining myself up somewhere and refusing to go to work.”

-Christian Bale on the inclusion of Robin in future Batman movies

Last week we got Batman vs. Batman vs. Batman and now we have Batman vs. Hellboy. I’m loving all of these trailer mash-ups, and long may fanboys with video editing software continue to make them!

Black20 have done it again. They usually create cool and funny trailers, such as Iron Ma’am and the PG 300 trailer. However, this time they have created something even more amazing.

Enjoy!

If you are eagerly awaiting the DVD or Blue-Ray release of Batman: Gotham Knight then you may want to grab this widget and put it on your Myspace, Facebook or blog.

The widget points out that everytime someone places the widget somewhere, the Bat-Signal will become a little brighter. I suggest we get everyone we know to put this widget on their pages. The Bat-Signal will get brighter and brighter until it is brighter than the sun. I can see the headline now!

‘Breaking news! Batman widget destroys retinas worldwide’

Who’s with me?

Bruce Wayne is known for using gadgets and his surroundings to get the advantage during a fight, however I would never have thought he would use a nearby bird as a weapon.

It’s not who I am underneath, but my poultry of choice that defines me!

Batman: Gotham Knight is an animated direct-to-DVD film, consisting of six animated short films which are set in between Batman Begins and upcoming The Dark Knight. If you are a Batman nut then you will probably already know this and will have pre-ordered your DVD. However, for those of you who aren’t familiar here are some extremely cool images and a trailer to get you interested.

Batman Gotham Knight will arrive July 8, 2008 on DVD and Blu-Ray disc.

There are a lot of great movie soundtracks out there, however my favourites include The Lord of the Rings (Naturally), 300 (Spartans!!!) and Batman Begins. Christopher Nolan’s first take on the Batman world is regarded as one of the best superhero movies ever made, and the music by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard just adds to the greatness. It is dark, emotional and just simply amazing. So the fact that Zimmer and Howard were re-teaming for The Dark Knight gave my ears a twitch, like that of a drug user who needs his fix. Hans Zimmer has said a few times that he deliberately held some pieces of music back from Batman Begins, as he felt that Bruce Wayne hadn’t earned it yet. We are certainly in for a treat!

Amazon.com has now made the score available to pre-order. It will not be released until July 1st, two weeks before The Dark Knight is released on the big screen. To pre-order yours click here!