Sam Raimi takes over the Batman Franchise.

If Raimi does Batman II, perhaps Bruce Campbell could play The Penguin's crooked lawyer if he goes with some of Sam Hamm's ideas. Sam Hamm did write a script for the sequel, and it needed a lot of work, the climax was particularly stupid. But Raimi might pick and choose the elements from that script just like Burton did. And Raimi might keep Hamm's
basic character concept for the Penguin. Basically, a vain crime boss who has just been released from prison who tries to deal with Batman by framing him for crimes committed against high society types.
 
Another issue to contend with, Burton's Batman was a murderer, even in Batman 1989, a fact that influenced every sequel that followed it. At the end of that film, he kills the Joker and his underlings, having utterly lost it having realized the Joker was the man who killed his parents. Batman Returns dealt with this fact by extending Wayne's breakdown, he murders a lot of people in that film before changing his ways after seeing them reflected in Selina Kyle. In Batman Forever, Bruce uses his past as a killer implicitly as a warning to Grayson against murdering Harvey Dent. And in a deleted scene Dent reminds Wayne that he's a "killer too."
So how would Raimi deal with the problem, given that he is not going to be starting from scratch?
If he takes over after Returns, I can see him taking the Forever path of using the killing in the first two films as a cautionary tale for Grayson. But what if he gets the job after Burton refuses to make any sequels. Would he ignore it entirely, or would he have a unique spin on it? Another issue with Batman II is that the studio wanted the Penguin, who is perhaps the least dynamic, least interesting villain available. Raimi could easily make a good film with Dent, The Riddler, hell even the Scarecrow would work better than the Penguin does. But it is what the studio wants, so can Raimi make him interesting?
 
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Another issue to contend with, Burton's Batman was a murderer, even in Batman 1989, a fact that influenced every sequel that followed it. At the end of that film, he kills the Joker and his underlings, having utterly lost it having realized the Joker was the man who killed his parents. Batman Returns dealt with this fact by extending Wayne's breakdown, he murders a lot of people in that film before changing his ways after seeing them reflected in Selina Kyle. In Batman Forever, Bruce uses his past as a killer implicitly as a warning to Grayson against murdering Harvey Dent. And in a deleted scene Dent reminds Wayne that he's a "killer too."
So how would Raimi deal with the problem, given that he is not going to be starting from scratch?
If he takes over after Returns, I can see him taking the Forever path of using the killing in the first two films as a cautionary tale for Grayson. But what if he gets the job after Burton refuses to make any sequels. Would he ignore it entirely, or would he have a unique spin on it? Another issue with Batman II is that the studio wanted the Penguin, who is perhaps the least dynamic, least interesting villain available. Raimi could easily make a good film with Dent, The Riddler, hell even the Scarecrow would work better than the Penguin does. But it is what the studio wants, so can Raimi make him interesting?
if Raimi takes over with Returns, butterflies could very well be that Wayne had his breakdown between movies and (much like in TDK and TDKR) he retires from being Batman for a while, only to return spectacularly in response to a secondary villain who's working for/with the Penguin (assuming Penguin is still the main villain). who knows? it may be that the secondary villain (i'll use Killer Croc played by Bruce Campbell for my example) is out threatening a close friend of his (maybe even Alfred or Dick Grayson) and Wayne happens to see this in his civilian persona, leaving him unable to do anything but prompt Croc to leave with his presence (being a witness and all) and maybe even having a badass moment where, in his civilian persona, he overpowers Croc and makes him think "Oh shit, this guy's tougher than he looks!". afterwards, Wayne starts thinking something's up again and decides to don his cape and cowl again and takes down Croc at the end of the first quarter of the movie, only for him to break out before the third act and be the main source of action, physically fighting Batman at the climax before being defeated in some way (perhaps it could be like in Arkham Asylum where Bats sets a trap for Croc and causes him to fall and not be seen again, though with a post-credit scene hinting at a possible return in the next sequel)
 
I do not think he would use Killer Croc. Raimi did not like using more recent villains with Spider-Man, only using Venom after intense studio pressure.

Another possibility I just thought of, the Hamm scripted Batman II used the Penguin framing Batman for murder as a plot point, one which was continued into the actual script for Returns. It does not really go anywhere in Returns, but a similar plot point could actually be a driving factor in Raimi's film. Namely, Bruce could react to the "Batman is a murderer" charges by retiring mid-film, and confessing to Alfred that, while he is innocent of the specific charges, he still feels in his heart, that they reflect a larger truth, he is a killer. He murdered Jack Napier and Napier's men. Rather than try to fight the charges and clear his alter ego's name, he backs away, consumed by guilt from that awful night when he let his passions get the best of him.

The other idea I have is that the Penguin is feuding with Dent throughout the film, and that the Penguin is responsible for Dent's fall. The last bits of the movie involve Bruce trying to protect the Penguin from Dent, and trying to keep Dent from going where he did at the Cathedral.

Just a thought.
 
I do not think he would use Killer Croc. Raimi did not like using more recent villains with Spider-Man, only using Venom after intense studio pressure.
i was just using Croc in my example, partly because he's one of the few Batman villains i'm familiar with :p it could easily be some other villain that would fit the extortionist role
 
I think this is the most likely outcome. Raimi is used to lower-budget work and would likely balk at forfeiting a play-or-pay contract such as they held with Williams.

I agree, though that raises the question of how he would use the character.

Another question is the Robin question. There was pressure on Burton to include him in both of his films and he nearly did so in Returns. Studio pressure might force Raimi to include him. Raimi would hue closer to the comics than Burton did. But the traditional little kid version would not work with Keaton. So what would Raimi do?
 
He opens with the final scenes of the original Batman with a different actor playing the Joker of course. :D

I think that would qualify as "starting from scratch", since it would be such a glaring reversal of the original, massively successful film.

Another question I have, what would these films look like? Both Burton and Shumacher's films had a distinct visual style, and presumably, Raimi would as well. Not knowing him well enough, I have no idea what that style would be.
 
i think looking at the original Evil Dead series would be a good bet for the visual style (though i've never seen them, actually)
 

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I think that would qualify as "starting from scratch", since it would be such a glaring reversal of the original, massively successful film.

Another question I have, what would these films look like? Both Burton and Shumacher's films had a distinct visual style, and presumably, Raimi would as well. Not knowing him well enough, I have no idea what that style would be.

Just look at Darkman and there you go.
 
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