The film quadrilogy informally known as the Kevin Porter Batman reboot series or the "Batman: HIVE" films is a quadrilogy of superhero action/adventure films based on the Batman characters from DC Comics. The films focus on a realistic take on the Batman mythos, like Christopher Nolan's interpretation, but these films do not explain the origin of Batman, it starts when he has been a vigilante for a year, and is just starting to become the legend we all know.
The films are:
1. Iceberg Lounge[]
Iceberg Lounge (or Batman: Iceberg Lounge) is the first installment in the saga. Set in Batman's second year of fighting crime, the Dark Knight stumbles upon his first great challenge: a confrontation with Roman Sionis at the Iceberg Lounge, which isn't what it seems.
Plot[]
In this film, Batman has been battling criminals for little more than a year, and is still not a professional. As billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne, he is invited to a grand card game tournament in the Iceberg Lounge, the most luxurious nightclub in Gotham City, by major Gotham figure Roman Sionis (who is secretly the super villain Black Mask). The tournament consists of three different games. The grand reward for winning all three rounds: $2.500.000. Bruce deduces that he is Black Mask with his detective skills, and that Black Mask intends to use the 2.500.000 to recover the money that Batman made him lose, and use it on building a huge army of henchmen to overthrow Mayor Gilliam and place Sionis in power. He decides that in order to stop Black Mask from causing any more damage to Gotham, he must beat him in the tournament, which consists of three rounds with a different card game for each round.
Bruce arrives at the Iceberg Lounge, dressed elegantly in a white tuxedo, but hiding his armored Batman suit underneath. He enters the Lounge, greeting the Iceberg Lounge's owner, Oswald Cobblepot, who doesn't get on that well with Bruce due to his incorrect belief that the Wayne family ruined his. Nevertheless, Cobblepot allows Bruce Wayne to enter and play in the tournament. The first game is Texas Hold 'Em Poker, which Bruce wins with ease. This frightens Sionis, who believes he should get rid of Wayne. Realizing that the next game will be on the next night, Bruce becomes Batman and commences his nightly mission. However, Sionis spotted him on the roof putting his mask on. Sionis informs Cobblepot that he knows who the Batman is (since Batman had been foiling many of Cobblepot's operations), Cobblepot tells him not to tell him who he really is, but to simply capture him and have him tortured.
Batman finds one of Sionis' goons, interrogating him into telling him what Black Mask's latest move is, the goon not knowing what it is. Just then, Batman is intercepted by a gang of mercenaries, claiming to work for the Penguin A.K.A. Cobblepot (who predicted that Batman would attack that goon at that moment). Batman knocks most of them out cold, but leaves one conscious, gets info that Penguin and Black Mask are working together on Sionis' plot to run for Mayor and obligates him to go back to Cobblepot and tell him he's coming for him and Black Mask next.
In the morning, Alfred and Bruce talk about Sionis and Alfred doubting his success, due to Bruce having never taken on a big threat before. Bruce doesn't give up though and decides to risk it, saying that they should let fate decide what happens. In Sionis' grand house, Oswald Cobblepot knocks on the door and informs him that Batman is coming for them. Sionis, not worried at all, says he can take down the Bat easily.
On the next night, it is the next game: blackjack. But Bruce realizes that he isn't wearing his armored suit underneath, only his normal leather Batsuit, which is not bullet or stab-proof (remember, he is still young and naive, and human after all. He is far from being the World's Greatest Detective). Risking his life, he decides to enter and compete in the game. Bruce plays well and strategically, but after a chat with Sionis during the game, Bruce realizes that Sionis knows he is Batman. Tense during the game, his paranoia loses him the game to Roman Sionis. Bruce feels unwell and decides to go to the bathroom, where he discovers he has been poisoned after blood starts dripping from his mouth, and falls unconscious on the bathroom floor. He wakes up in a dark room tied to a chair, wearing his Batsuit but his utility belt is in the trash nearby. Sionis (wearing his signature black skull mask) tells him that although he is going to painfully torture him, he should be grateful that Cobblepot doesn't know yet. He proceeds to whip Batman, punch him in the face with brass knuckles and inject him with a drug that would make him be unable to move his arms and legs for 10 hours, the effects would start to kick in a minute after the injection. Batman luckily manages to throw himself up with his hands tied to the chair, cuts the rope with a sharp object on the wall, and fights Sionis and knocks him out in under a minute. He grabs his utility belt and escapes the room via a window. In an alleyway is where he loses the use of his limbs (the effect of the drug). A homeless man helps Batman and manages to place him on a wooden chair nearby. The man doesn't seem to recognize Wayne's face, but knows that it is Batman he is helping. He sleeps there.
After waking up in the late morning, the homeless man is gone. Batman is slowly regaining the use of his limbs, creating a makeshift mask out of newspaper after having lost his bat cowl in the torture chamber. He uses his grappling hook to help him get back to Wayne Manor. Alfred asks Bruce if he is okay, and Bruce says: "This is war now, Alfred. Roman Sionis has to go down. And Cobblepot with him".
On the third night, just an hour before the start of the final game, Batman meets Commissioner Jim Gordon on the roof of the GCPD, holding one of Carmine Falcone's henchmen who was about to attack a defenseless family. Gordon warns Batman to be careful with what he is doing, as the Gotham police do not trust him and have tried to capture him several times, but he tells Jim that he will bring Black Mask in, tonight.
An hour later, Alfred drives Bruce to the Iceberg Lounge. He wishes him luck before driving away. The final game is revealed to be baccarat: a game that Bruce always found particularly challenging, but remembers a time from his early adolescence when Alfred used to play baccarat, poker and blackjack (without the use of real money) with him. Putting on a good poker face with his acting skills, refusing to take a drink (knowing that Sionis may have likely poisoned it) and thinking wisely about his decisions, Bruce wins the tournament, and the huge amount of money.
Sionis leaves the Lounge, worried. Bruce quickly goes to the bathroom, changes into his Batsuit and grabs the Penguin (Cobblepot), interrogating him into revealing where Sionis went to, Penguin of course refusing to submit. Batman injures him even more to get information out of him, but Penguin then calls a huge amount of goons to surround Batman. He easily takes them all down super quickly with his martial arts skills and finally finds out from Penguin that Sionis has gone to his apartment complex in the Industrial District. Batman calls the Batmobile and drives after Sionis, who he luckily manages to spot starting to drive off.
A grand chase scene occurs which leads them to the complex, in which the battle happens. Black Mask puts on his black skull mask before Batman enters, and throws flaming Molotov bottles at him which hit the wooden walls. As they fight (Batman easily winning but Black Mask doesn't give up), the entire apartment they're in starts burning from the Molotov. When he realizes that the room is dangerous, Sionis decides to flee and let Batman burn in there, but the Bat grapples him with his Batclaw and as he is getting closer to Batman, who prepares to knock him out with a powerful punch, Sionis moves his head to the side, which makes him fall over next to Batman and land in the fire face first. Batman tries to help him and pull him out while Sionis face painfully burns, the latter shoots some unstable wood from the ceiling to make it fall on top of him. Batman takes all the wooden rubble off, but all he finds is a hole in the floor, no body. But he does find a ring, with the image of a bee hive on it. He leaves, believing Black Mask is dead.
The next morning, Bruce learns that the Penguin escaped after calling Commissioner Gordon with his secret Batphone, but is not worried at all, telling Alfred that finding Oswald Cobblepot is an easy task. That night, Batman talks to Gordon on the roof of the GCPD again, but this time Gordon has a gift. He finally convinced the rest of the police to install a Bat Signal on the roof, to summon Batman whenever he is needed.
Cast[]
- Kevin Porter: Bruce Wayne/Batman
- David Suchet: Alfred Pennyworth
- Karl Urban: Roman Sionis/Black Mask
- Toby Jones: Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin
- Bryan Cranston: Jim Gordon
(And other minor actors and extras as thugs and wealthy Iceberg Lounge players)
2. Question Of The Night[]
This plot section is in need of expanding, you can help.
Question Of The Night, (or Batman: Question Of The Night) is the second installment in the saga.
Plot[]
A year later, Bruce Wayne is a much more experienced crime-fighter than in the previous film, having taken down the Maroni Crime Family. However, Gotham City remains suspicious of the Batman's nocturnal activities. Meeting Commissioner James Gordon on the rooftop of the GCPD, he is shown a photograph of the bodies of two Gotham City cops beneath a large question mark spray-painted on the wall of the History Museum accompanied by what seems to be a riddle: What has branches and leaves and no bark? Bruce analyzes the riddle in the photo with his butler Alfred's help, and deduces that the next crime is set to occur at the Gotham Library after he figures out the answer to the previous riddle: a library.
Batman drives in his Batmobile to the library, where he finds a man holding three more policemen hostage. The man introduces himself as the Riddler, and plants another riddle which Batman would have to solve in ten seconds or risk the deaths of the three cops...
(The bee hive logo returns at some point)
Cast[]
- Kevin Porter: Bruce Wayne/Batman
- David Suchet: Alfred Pennyworth
- Zöe Kravitz: Selina Kyle/Catwoman
- Bryan Cranston: Jim Gordon
- David Tennant: Edward Nygma/The Riddler
- Toby Jones: Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin (brief role)
3. The Long Halloween[]
The Long Halloween, (or Batman: The Long Halloween) is the third installment in the quadrilogy. The film is mostly based on the comic The Long Halloween, with some plot elements attempting to connect some dots with the last two movies, specifically with the mysterious "bee hive" organization.
Plot[]
This plot section is in need of expanding, you can help.
Cast[]
- Kevin Porter: Bruce Wayne/Batman
- David Suchet: Alfred Pennyworth
- Zöe Kravitz: Selina Kyle/Catwoman
- Adam Driver: Harvey Dent/Two-Face
- Bryan Cranston: Jim Gordon
- Toby Jones: Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin (brief role)
4. HIVE[]
HIVE, (or Batman: HIVE) is the fourth and final installment in the quadrilogy. In this film, Kevin Porter's Batman stumbles upon a dark truth: that the last 3 cases he has solved are all interconnected, all pointing to one culprit organization: HIVE, controlling not just Gotham's criminal underworld, but also having pawns within the law. All under the command of one Jonathan White, someone with ties to Bruce Wayne's childhood...
Plot[]
To be added
Cast[]
- Kevin Porter: Bruce Wayne/Batman
- David Suchet: Alfred Pennyworth
- Jude Law: Jonathan White/The Joker
- Zöe Kravitz: Selina Kyle/Catwoman
- Adam Driver: Harvey Dent/Two-Face
- Bryan Cranston: Jim Gordon
- Toby Jones: Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin (brief role)