Author John Jackson Miller gives details about his upcoming novel Batman: Resurrection, the sequel to Batman ’89.
The novel is supposed to be a more direct sequel to Batman ’89 the movie. Timeline-wise, it takes place between the original Tim Burton film and Batman Returns. Miller was careful not to mess with whatever stories Sam Hamm and Joe Quinones are doing with their comic series Batman ’89 and Batman ’89: Echoes.
Michael Keaton as Batman
We aren’t specific [with the timeline], but it’s several months after the events at the Joker’s parade. This was a deliberate decision on my part, because there’s three years (or more) in between Batman and Batman Returns. As I have already found in my work in a galaxy far, far away, you can put a LOT of stories into a period that size. This is one of them. By setting the work in between the two movies, we’re able to be distinct from what Sam Hamm and Joe Quinones are doing in the Batman ’89 comics. Those are set well after the second film.
Since it is only a few months after the first movie, the novel will deal with the immediate aftermath of the film’s events. This includes the traumatic experience where the Joker tired to poison the entire downtown Gotham City during his anniversary parade. The book will deal with how various people were affected by this, from Commissioner Gordon to DA Harvey Dent, and to a seedy industrial business man Max Schreck.
Yup, Max Schreck will be a pivotal character in Resurrections- which sets up where he is at in Batman Returns.
Vicki Vale Returns in ‘Batman: Resurrection’
Speaking of Batman Returns, we will also get a more definitive answer from a lingering plot thread: What happened to Vicki Vale? Returns heavily infers that Vicki couldn’t handle Bruce Wayne and Batman’s dual identities and broke up with Bruce. But in the book, we will see more about how that affected her. Miller teased that this will be an ongoing plot in the book.
Vicki at the end of the first film seems adjusted to the idea that he’s continuing to be Batman even after the Joker’s defeat—but we also know that her opinion changed. We delve into some of that. At the opening, she’s away on assignment—but we learn fairly soon that it was more than just opportunity that drove her away.
And this is something the book really gets into. Alfred has had a lot more time to become adjusted to Bruce’s activities, but even he has concerns—the same ones that caused him to invite Vicki into the Batcave in the first place. I think by the book’s end, we have a clear picture of how all these relationships work and how they’ve changed.
These are all awesome ideas. It is great after 35-ish years, we’re finally getting some answers about Vicki or even Alfred.
For more on the interview, including Batman’s character arc in the novel, click here.
Batman: Resurrection hits bookstores on October 15, 2024.
Source: DC.com
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