CONCEPT PITCH: The Legend of Bruce Wayne

For those of you who read my previous COMIC PITCH on Spiderman, this is going to be very similar. The only difference is that instead of talking about a comic book, this is a TV show concept. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, check out my previous post here.

Alright, so let's get into it. Basically this would be the "Smallville" of Batman. Saying that will probably make most of you cringe, but it's easiest way to say "Batman before he became Batman". I don't mean it'll be some soapy drama for seven seasons before it gets its act together.

The show would for the most part take place during Bruce's training with the League of Shadows. He was clearly there for a few years before he returned to Gotham so there is definitely a few seasons worth of television there. I envision the show to be a bit more serialized, following a single thread for more episodes than not (it's a lot easier to keep people's interest that way). The overarching plots would probably involve Bruce aiding the League of Shadows on missions.

Now you may be wondering how classic Batman characters would be involved in the show. For the earlier seasons, I don't think they would be. People like Commissioner Gordon or Alfred wouldn't be present until later in the show, then Bruce finally returned to Gotham City. Instead I see characters like Ra's Al Ghul being Bruce's mentor, and his daughter Talia being a romantic interest for him as well. I'm sure there would be more supporting characters, maybe a fellow recruit that Bruce has befriended, etc. Other characters would change depending on the League's current location.

 Now with a TV show like this, sticking to the mythos is impossible. Some things will need to be changed. For example, the times at which certain characters enter Bruce's life. If the League is on a mission in South America, why not have an episode with Bane in it? Sure in the comics they encounter each other in Gotham City when Bruce is already Batman but still, the audience needs some extra excitement every once in awhile and playing around with where and when to insert classic villains is exactly the way to do that.

Then there's the eventual return to Gotham City. Like Clark did in Smallville, he finally began embracing who he was without fully becoming who he was meant to be. So even though Bruce will return to Gotham and live in his mansion with Alfred, he wouldn't have the batsuit or anything like that quite yet. Instead he would have a suit similar to what he used in the beginning of Batman Begins: an armored suit was a mobile, but looked nothing like the actual suit.

It's at this point I see the show evolving to become more a detective drama. Bruce would begin investigating corruption in Gotham to weed it and out destroy it. This also represents an opportunity for Gordon to appear, as well as other classic characters. Whose to say that at this point Barbara Gordon couldn't become a supporting character similar to Chloe in Smallville. What if Harvey Dent began as a someone fighting the good fight, but over the course of the show began his descent into Two-Face. There is a lot of room for great television here and it can all be done without showing Bruce Wayne as Batman (for whatever reason, WB has a huge stigma against that sort of thing, it kind of explains why the Smallville finale was the way it was).

 Speaking of Superman, who's to say we can't have special guests on every once in awhile? While WB was real stingy about showing major superheros on Smallville, maybe further down the road they wouldn't be so ridiculous about it. How awesome would it be to have Superman in an episode? He doesn't even have to be in the suit (though that would be appreciated). There are many comic book stories out there about how Clark and Bruce met each other without really meeting each other. The opportunities here are endless.

Another great thing about this show would be the ease in which to film it. What I mean by that is that Batman is not a heavy FX superhero - unlike Superman. The show would be able to better utilize its budget for better action scenes, set pieces, guest stars, etc.

===================================================================
So how does this sound to you? Would you watch a show about Batman before he was Batman? What are your thoughts on it? Suggestions? etc. I'm open to everything.
===================================================================
Daily Challenge: Read some Batman. There are some wonderful stories out there. The Long Halloween, Hush, No Man's Land, etc. They're all worth checking out.
===================================================================

Contact Info:

Steam: Superman1138

Twitter: Peter_Freeman

AIM: bigbossextreme

PSN ID: Rising_007

StarCraft 2 ID: Rising.145