Reimagined Batman Media Thought Experiment

[FayetheADHDsquirrel]

I do a lot of reimagining/new episodes imaginings of series I am obsessed with which is mostly original MacGyver, original The A-Team, and various Batman media. With MacGyver and The A-Team it is mostly crossovers new episodes and inserting myself into the story lines. With Batman media it often changes some of the basic premises and involves things like preventing various villains from becoming villains in the first place or otherwise having them repent and change. I have a bit of a series worth of daydream stories in some of these and wanted to discuss one of my more common ones. It actually borrows elements from various presentations. Batman himself I haven't decided on a definite face for. I have like three different live action portrails that I fluctuate between. Either way the childhood trauma of losing his parents motivating him to protect others and his no kill rule are both maintained. In this reimagining, Riddler and Joker both make better choices and never became villains. Riddler is based largely on the Gotham version. He acts like season 1 Ed Nygma, but has the green suit of the Riddler persona. In this daydream version though, he does not have the split personality issue that is presented on the series and doesn't do any villain stuff. He works closely with Gordon and Batman borrows him for missions on occasion. Joker looks like the Anthony Misiano (a famous cosplayer) version. In this imaginary version, he has the origin that is presented in The Killing Joke ( when that gang held him to helping out with that robbery and wouldn't let him back out and he ended up falling into the chemicals) but instead of becoming a nihilistic villain he decides to never commit a crime again and instead to help people. Energy levels are reminiscent of silver age or of children's cartoon versions and this manic energy, the grin, laugh, joke compulsion, green hair, and bleached skin are all direct results of the chemical incident. In this reimagining, he kinda tags along as an uninvited sidekick to Batman much to Batman's annoyance.

So does anyone think it would be fun to watch if they ever made an official version like this. Why or why not?

 

[FayetheADHDsquirrel]

This is the version of Riddler that I picture for those unfamiliar with the show, but in my daydream version he never kills anyone and stays on the side of the law.

As appearance goes, this is the version of Joker that I picture but he didn't become a villain either so this kind of scene would not occur ( though he does still utilize things like the fake gun that just throws out a little sign and various of the other non lethal versions of his classic gimmicks such as non lethal versions of laughing gas or those chattering teeth things repurposed to assist "Batsy" much to Batman's annoyance and they still clash a bit on the order vs chaos spectrum but with no violence.

 

[FayetheADHDsquirrel]

So basically, a daydream might go something like there being a group of hostages somewhere and Gordon at the GCPD calls in Batman with the bat signal. After they talk, it could be decided that Ed Nygma's (Riddler's) help could come in handy helping to break some code or something. Ed would naturally be speaking in riddles a lot which would get on everyone's nerves, but they would still appreciate the help and perhaps there would be a friendly competition between non villainous Riddler and Batman to see who the best detective in Gotham is. Or perhaps a rescue is going down in real time and non villainous Joker pops into the midst of it uninvited but succeeds at providing a good distraction with some crazy gimmick or another and a bunch of jokes, laughter, and acrobatics that allows Batman to surprise the people that are holding the hostages. Afterwards, he would follow "Batsy" around like a puppy fishing for an acknowledgement that they work great together and won't be able to stop laughing when Gordon and Batman scold him for his rather bizarre techniques.

 

[cooljethro]

I personally take a more passive approach when watching fictional television programmes or reading books. I often just go with what the author imagines.

Unless I were to purposely/consciously try to imagine different storylines, that sort of thing doesn't happen naturally for me.

You sound like you have a positively good imagination, in any case. That is surely a good thing!

 

[FayetheADHDsquirrel]

I personally take a more passive approach when watching fictional television programmes or reading books. I often just go with what the author imagines.

Unless I were to purposely/consciously try to imagine different storylines, that sort of thing doesn't happen naturally for me.

You sound like you have a positively good imagination, in any case. That is surely a good thing!

I think having extroverted leanings but not getting many chances for positive socialization causes me to daydream to fill that need for human interactions. Odd quirky characters feel more familiar than neurotypical ones and if I feel a strong though superficial resemblance to a character that is bad, I can become rather obsessed with coming up with alternatives that are good instead yet maintain many of their core traits that aren't bad in and of themselves. It's like my brain says "You don't have to be a villain just because your odd. We're both odd but we can still do good. I need you to do good and then be real so I can have a friend that's as odd as me and quite relatable." Riddler and I both come up with original riddles and seem to gain energy from people trying to guess them and in some versions we seem to share scientific curiosity as well. Joker and I can both have really animated expressions and mannerisms and grin to widely and have trouble turning off our giggle box and tend to think in puns and get curious about things like what a button might do and love bright colors. That's why I think I get so obsessed with trying to imagine heroic alternative versions.

 

[FayetheADHDsquirrel]

If you don't like the sound of such a version, what do you dislike about the idea?