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 PAUL DINI'S COMMENTS ON POSSIBLE SHOW APPEARANCE: "DOUBTFUL." My Comments: I think this character is very underrated and can make a fun and memorable villain. His origin story in the comic was quite good. In the "Knightfall" BBC radio adaptation, they had a great impressionist doing the Hollywood-obsessed Film Freak's voice, and the character was a total riot! He spoke all of his dialogue in the personas of such individuals as Peter Lorre, James Cagney, Judy Garland, etc. I think this character works best in a medium which is both visual AND auditory (which makes him a natural for the cartoon). Hopefully he'll show up someday! POSSIBLE VOICE ACTOR CHOICE: Rich Little Probably the best impressionist around. I haven't seen him in a while, but he can impersonate just about anyone. FILM FREAK'S COMIC ORIGIN REAL NAME: Burt Weston FIRST APPEARANCE: Batman #395 ORIGIN: Burt Weston's whole life was acting. Always waiting for his "big break", Weston longed to play 'heavies' - quirky villains crammed with bad guy obsessions. Like most serious actors, he felt villains were richer, more complex, more filled with life, with more chance to chew up the scenery. Burt always said good guys were worthy of nothing but scorn and even hatred. He felt them one-dimensional and boring. After many failed attempts to make it big, Weston decided to stage his own death (copying a scene in the film 'The Sting'), The 'death' was meant to be a publicity stunt because Burt's career was going nowhere. Unfortunately, the stunt didn't work. No one noticed or cared about Weston's sudden demise. So, Weston disappeared with no curtain call to say "Tada, I survived!" Three years later, he finally staged his long-delayed resurrection. Driven mad by his failures and his frustrated longing for stardom, Weston began staging spectacularly reckless crimes, more reminiscent of classic Hollywood films than real life. Every action in Weston's life, every word he spoke, was viewed by himself, as dialogue in a script. Dubbed 'The Film Freak' by the newspapers, Weston continued to plague Gotham. After his true identity was revealed by reporter Julia Pennyworth, Film Freak became furious and proceeded to stalk her, by following the plot of the film 'Psycho'. As his madness intensified, Film Freak attempted to murder all of his former associates. With the help of film buff Harvey Bullock, who recognized the film-related references in Film Freak's crimes, Batman managed to track down and finally apprehend the mad thespian. ((from Batman 395-96)) During the 'Knightfall' storyline, Film Freak was mentally taken over by the Mad Hatter, and sent to spy on Bane. Unfortunately for the Freak, Bane caught him and killed him. Of course, in the comic books, being dead doesn't mean Jack, so he could come back someday! |