The Pitch: Batman - Battle for the Cowl

Ever since Warner Bros announced radical changes to their plans for the DCU film franchise[s], it seems like every nerd with an internet connection has taken a swing at "pitching" their version of a Batman film. Whilst many of these I've seen come under the banner of "fan-fiction", there have been quite a few good ones as well, so I decided why not me as well? Not to toot my own horn, but I'm probably a little more "qualified" than most, with my background in Film and Television and being, perhaps, one of the more prolific, non-academic, writers on the subject of superheroes. As the man said, "Here... we... go!" 

Batman - Battle for the Cowl 
Batman has been protecting Gotham city for a long, long, long, long time and for almost all of that time, he's been Bruce Wayne. However, even a living legend can't keep it up forever and time is taking a toll on the Dark Knight. Increasingly reckless, violent and unreliable, Batman's friends and family come together to try and turn things around and protect the legacy of the Caped Crusader. Meanwhile, a rash of arson attacks are stretching the emergency services of Gotham to the limit.

Plot 
This one's pretty basic and divides nicely into a three-act structure. Act one, arson attacks across Gotham push an ageing Batman to his limits, and forcing the Dark Knight to compromise his values, even hospitalising looters because he physically cannot keep up the pace he used to. Bad goes to worse when the situation gets so dire, Batman is forced to use a gun to stop a criminal getting away. He only wounds the guy and the gun comes from another thug, but the impact is still there. 
Act two, Alfred, Oracle and Robin (Tim Drake), unable to talk sense into Batman, make the difficult decision to call in Nightwing (Dick Grayson), from Bludhaven, to confront his erstwhile mentor. As has happened in the past, Bruce and Dick come to loggerheads, the argument spiraling to the point where the pair come to blows, Nightwing coming off worse because he holds back. Enraged at the perceived betrayal, Bruce throws all of his friends and family out of the cave to focus on the arson investigation. 
Act three, Bruce figures out that the fires are being set by Garfield Lynns, aka, Firefly and prepares to confront him. An extended battle across Gotham via jetpack and Batwing leaves a trail of destruction, forcing Dick to suit up and try and bring down both Batman and Firefly. During the confrontation, Bruce and Dick have to work together to defeat Firefly, their years of teamwork coming to the fore as they save the city as "Batman and Robin" one last time. 
Epilogue; in the Batcave, Bruce sits at a console alongside Oracle, tracking a major criminal operation in the city. The instant the Batsignal goes up, Bruce calls up the Batmobile where we see Dick Grayson, in the Batman cowl. The torch has been passed. 

Tone
Darker than Batman (1989), but not as dark as The Dark Knight; think Civil War, things are serious, but we can still have fun. The entire narrative drive of the film is the old giving way to the new, so the "grimdark" Nolan and Snyder styles can be dropped in favour of something new. Personally I'd like to see something more along the lines of Justice League Unlimited, where things are serious, but characters can crack jokes and make references. Nightwing is a major character in this narrative, do we really want him grim and dour all the time? I don't.

Cast 

Batman/Bruce Wayne: Now, I'm going to be accused of being a fanboy here, but I'm saying Michael Keaton for this one. 

But stick with me on this, ok? This isn't an attempt to, somehow, keep Batman (1989) "in continuity" with current DC films or to give fans my age a thrill to see Keaton in the suit again. I would cast Keaton in this role because he would be the best actor for the part. At 66, Keaton is old enough to have the maturity needed for the part, but is still amazingly fit and has only become a better actor in the time since strapping on the cape. His recent acting efforts have clearly displayed that he can carry the emotional intensity needed for an ageing Caped Crusader close to the edge of snapping. 

Nightwing/Dick Grayson: Again, I'm sure the assumption here will be me pushing some personal agenda, by there really is more to it. I'd cast Michael B Jordan. 

I swear this isn't a social justice thing, Jordan is just a fucking good actor. Hell, if I were heading up the film, I would literally not even mention his race; he's Dick Grayson, we can throw in death of his parents if we feel like it. However, this isn't a Nightwing origin story, so the main idea is for everyone to just assume that this is business as usual and why would we point out the Dick is black when he's always been? Jordan has shown that he has the chops to work with far more experienced actors, so he would be perfect in the scenes where Bruce and Dick have to argue ideology before/whilst throwing punches.

Honestly, the rest of the cast is far less vital to the construction of the narrative, roles like Tim Drake and Oracle would be good for young and hungry actors looking for a decent break. Alfred and Jim Gordon would, once again, be already-successful character actors and Firefly would have to be the big "flavour of the month" action actor in order to sell the film to the studio. 

Crew
This film is really more about the relationship between Bruce and Dick than fighting Firefly, so the Director should really be someone who has experience filming those scenarios interestingly. Ideally, I'd like someone along the lines of Kathryn Bigelow, but George Miller has a good track record with personality-driven, visually interesting action. Hell, with a tighter reign than he usually gets, even Neill Blomkamp would work fine. 

Pretty basic one this time, folks. I just had this rattling around my head and felt like I needed to get it out there. Something more unique next time, I promise.