If you grew up in the 60’s, Batman and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. may have been two of your favorite television shows. Which means that you might be sad that Batman was never as fun as Adam West’s incarnation, and that The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was such a flop that it was pretty much forgotten from the day it was dropped. This doesn’t mean that it has to spell the end of the fun, though. Why are we excited about a possible Man From U.N.C.L.E. sequel? Because DC Comics is giving us a possible route to an awesome new team-up possibility.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that this Christmas, DC Comics is publishing a two issue miniseries entitled Batman ’66 Meets The Man From U.N.C.L.E.. That’s right, Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin will be teaming up with the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder to fight crime both superpowered and just plain devious. With the retro fun that this team up promises, and the fact that Warner Bros isn’t afraid of breaking the Batman franchise across various other franchises, such as the LEGO Batman film we’re getting, now’s the good time to talk about how this comic could turn into redemption for Guy Ritchie’s underrated summer blockbuster.
Stay with us here. This could be fun. The first, and probably most popular, option would be to get Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck involved in the possible crossover that would ultimately serve as a Man From U.N.C.L.E. sequel. Though some may feel that this isn’t the most advisable idea, considering Cavill’s other role as Superman in the DC Cinematic Universe, the universe of Batman ‘66 is as loose and as hysterical as the original show. Not to mention, using Cavill and Affleck would help boost the film presence of both the DC universe, as well as the possible U.N.C.L.E. franchise – thus putting the Ritchie series back on track for another possible solo mission at the box office.
But say that’s too confusing for fans. Hell, say that the Batman ’66 Meets The Man From U.N.C.L.E. feature film is something that Warner Brothers and DC want to do a different way. Well, there’s another, equally awesome, option the studio could take: a DC Animated Movie!
Considering DC has done everything from adapting The Flashpoint Paradox to creating an adventure where Superman was Hispanic and Batman was a vampire, the DC Animated Universe is pretty much a haven for kooky, far out ideas. So try this one on for size: considering the promo art we’ve seen so far denotes that not only is Adam West’s Batman in play, but also Robert Vaughan’s Napoleon Solo, why not get the band back together to voice an animated shindig that can fully embrace the 1960’s vibe? Better still, Burt Ward and David McCallum could participate – particularly with the latter playing Alfred twice before in the animated films Batman: Gotham Knight and Batman Vs. Robin. With an animated approach, you can go as weird, as groovy, and as adventurous as they want to with the entire Batman ’66 Meets The Man From U.N.C.L.E. story; with the best part being that this is the throwback fans of the classic formula could be begging for!
It’s all just spinning wheels at this point, but if DC Comics is ready to test the waters with Batman ’66 Meets The Man From U.N.C.L.E., then they should be ready to go the full mile and commit it to film. Not only does it sound like too good of an idea to just let sit on a comic page, it’s also a good way for DC to combat their image of being a humorless grump that only cares about gritty reboots and dead parents. Here’s hoping that the powers that be at DC decide that they’re in a groovy mood, and decide to greenlight either of these entertaining options.
Batman ’66 Meets The Man From U.N.C.L.E. has its first issue hitting shelves on December 23rd; at the same Bat Time, same Bat Comic Stand you buy your regular issues.
