14 Cinematic Questions We Demand To Have Answered in 2013
Since the advent of the internet, the relationship between film-makers and fans has changed considerably, and fan communities online are driven by questions relating to upcoming and unannounced films: who will play this character, who will direct that adaptation, why would anyone cast Rob Schneider...? As fans, we demand information beyond the drip-feed of trailers, casting tid-bits and teeth-meltingly boring promotional featurettes that other film websites pride themselves on endlessly running - in this age of commercialism and the promotion of information as currency, we want to know everything.
But while we wait for everything, here are the 14 most pressing cinematic we demand to have answered in the coming year of film releases...
1. What The New Batman Will Be
Despite envisaging The Dark Knight Rises as a full-stop on the end of his trilogy, Christopher Nolan actually posed more questions than he answered with the epic (but deeply flawed) trilogy-ender. There was the issue of succession, which implied progression beyond Nolan's tenure that a story-teller like Nolan simply wouldn't allow to fly off into nothingness without exploration, and the fact that Bruce Wayne remained alive, having turned his back on the cowl and cape in one of the most arrogant characterisation decisions in the history of cinema left a thread that someone somewhere could very willingly pick at.
So, the biggest question for Batman fans is what comes next? Will the potential JLA movie be all we get of a new Batman? Will it lead to another set of films with a new Batman, or Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the lead? Or will Warners really follow through on their mooted desire to reboot entirely?
I know what I'd like, but the film industry is a difficult arena to place bets when major money is involved.
Oh, and as a second part to the question - if we do see a continuation of Nolan's universe (in any way, including the JLA movie), will we see the return of the Joker? Because that would be the kind of narrative kicker the JLA film could really use, as well as answering the much-recycled question of his whereabouts during the events of The Dark Knight Rises.