Dark Knight Detective: Knights & Jesters

Dark Knight Detective: Knights & Jesters (or just Dark Knight Detective) is a Batman reboot created by ElectricMayhem in his search to make the perfect Batman movie. It stars Michael C. Hall as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Sharlto Copley as the infamous Joker, and Jackie Earle Haley as Waylon Jones/Killer Croc.

Plot

Bad Jokes

The film starts with a narrator telling the story of an unknown man who later became a legend. However, the legemdary man's name is unrevealed. The film cuts to Jim Gordon talking with Jeremiah Arkham about the Joker. Jeremiah states that if the Joker is as tough as he says he is, then he is unstoppable. Gordon gives Arkham a suspicious look. Then Arkham realizes Gordon thinks that he is Joker. Suddenly, a bunch of thugs bust the door down and attack. In all the confusion, Joker comes in and shoots Arkham. Joker has his thugs tie Gordon to a chair so they could have a little chat. Joker warns Gordon that if he really wants to protect Gotham he should give up. Suddenly, the Batman comes crashing through the window. He knocks out most of Joker's thugs, but is thrown through the open door by Joker. Batman falls down the stairs, but is caught by Jason Todd, a young police officer. Batman thanks Jason, then charges back into the room, followed by Jason. Joker mumbles a few curse words and shoots Jason in the leg. Jason falls backwards and starts groaning in pain. Batman grabs Joker's gun, takes it, and throws it out the window. Batman begins fighting Joker, but Joker uses his gadgets to get the advantage. Joker tosses Batman across the room. Batman crashes into a book shelf. He picks up a book and throws it at the back of Joker's head. With Joker distracted by Batman, Gordon gets up with the stair still tied to him and runs out of the room. Joker snaps his fingers and some thugs jump out of their hiding spots and tackle Gordon. Batman manages to get the upper hand and knocks Joker to the ground. Then Batman runs over and saves Gordon. However, while Batman saves Gordon, Joker gets up and jumps out the window laughing. Suddenly, a truck drove by one of Joker's thugs comes by and Joker lands on top of it. Joker starts car-surfing and laughs maniacally as some police cars chase after the truck. Batman unties Gordon. Then Gordon asks about Jason. Batman tells Gordon he's going to take Jason to the hospital. Suddenly, the Batmobile crashes into the building and drives up the stairs into the room that Gordon and Batman are in.

A Death Before The Family

In the Batcave, Bruce Wayne is looking at his (small) list of clues at who Joker really is. Alfred comes in and asks Bruce how it's going. Bruce tells Alfred that nothing really makes sense about Joker.  Alfred tells Bruce that no crimes really make sense. Then Bruce has a flashback of that dreadful night that his parents were shot dead by Joe Chill. Bruce then tells Alfred that the night his parents died was different. Alfred tells Bruce that no deaths are really that different from other deaths. Bruce realizes Alfred is talking about Jeremiah Arkham. Bruce tells Alfred that if he could go back in time and save Arkham that he would. Alfred tells Bruce that if you can't save somebody you might as well avenge them. Bruce tells Alfred that since he just started (being Batman) a few months ago it's impossible for him to already be an expert on how crime-fighting works. Alfred tells Batman that Green Lantern seems to have it all under control. Bruce chuckles.

Tim Drake

Later that night, Bruce is on a date with Selina Kyle. Selina asks Bruce why he was late. Bruce says that he had a rough day at work. Selina asks how sitting around being rich and telling people what to do can be so rough. Bruce tells her it's rougher than imaginable. The waiter walks up and asks if they're done with their appetizers. Bruce tells him yes. Bruce looks at the young waiter's name-tag and sees that it says "Tim Drake". Bruce says that the last name "Drake" is kind of familiar. Tim tells Bruce that his father worked at Wayne Enterprises before he died. Bruce, still looking at the name tag, simply nods his head. Tim walks back into the kitchen, carrying their plates. Tim walks past his friend, Michael Lane, and tells him that he saw Bruce Wayne. Michael laughs and asks if Bruce was wearing a solid gold tuxedo. Tim laughs. Later that night, back at Wayne Manor, Bruce asks if a man with the last name Drake ever worked at Wayne Enterprises. Alfred tells Bruce that Jack Drake worked at Wayne Enterprises before being found dead in his office. Bruce goes back to the Batcave and Googles "Jack Drake death" on the Batcomputer. Bruce says that nobody ever died at Wayne Enterprises. Alfred tells Bruce that Jack wasn't working at Wayne Enterprises when he died. Bruce asks where he worked when he died. Alfred says that he worked at Ace Chemicals. Bruce then looks up the name "Ace Chemicals".

The Investigation

Batman is in the abandoned Ace Chemicals building late at night. He scans the place with his special goggles, looking for clues. He notices a tiny trail of blood drops leading from what used to be Jack Drake's office to the fire escape. He follows the trail and discovers footprints. He manages to follow the footprints to an old club that used to be a base for Rupert Thorne. He sees an old, burnt-up photo on the wall. It's a picture of Rupert and an unknown man. He takes the picture off the wall and sees a news clipping behind it that has the headline "RUPERT THORNE ARRESTED." Batman calls Alfred and tells him to run a search on Ruper Thorne's crime spree.

Arkham Asylum

At Wayne Manor, Alfred shows Bruce some "interesting" pieces of information he printed out. Bruce reads them. They say that Ruper Thorne once worked at Ace Chemicals and was fired and sent to jail after using the factory to stash stolen money bags. However, one of his close friends payed his bail. Bruce begins to think that Rupert's close friend was the man who would become Joker. Later, at Arkham, police officers come in and take away Warden Sharp. Jim Gordon interrogates Warden Sharp. The Warden tells Gordon that he is not the Joker. Gordon tells Sharp that he didn't even think he was Joker. Then Gordon asks Sharp what he knows about the Joker. Sharp says he doesn't know anything. Gordon punches Sharp in the face and tells him to "cut the crap". Meanwhile, a guard finds a doctor dead in Arkham Asylum. Suddenly, several cell doors explode, letting all the patients free as Joker walks through the crazy halls giggling. At the Batcave, Alfred hears a beeping and tells Bruce about it. Bruce tells him that it's a new gadget he's trying out and that he calls it  "The Bat-Signal". Back at Arkham, Joker's thugs and tons of freed patients are destroying the entire asylum. The Batwing crashes through the ceiling of the asylum, and Batman jumps out. He starts K.O.ing several thugs and patients. Then Joker shows up and laughs at Batman. He laughs and welcomes Batman to "the madhouse". Batman tells Joker that it's over, but Joker just pulls out a flower. The flower sprays knock-out gas into Batman's face, and the screen goes black as Batman falls asleep.

Joke's On You

Batman wakes up in a dark room. He sees Joker sitting in a chair playing a DS. Joker notices Batman's awake and puts the DS in his pocket. Batman asks Joker why he didn't unmask him yet. Joker laughs and tells Batman that he's waiting for an audience. Suddenly, Harley Quinn, a female thug of Joker's, comes in and tells Joker that some cops escaped and are going to go get help. Joker, clearly enraged, grabs his shot glass and throws it at the door in anger. The glass shatters as it hits the door, and scares off Harley Quinn. Joker tells his thugs through the intercom to take some cars and start blowing up buildings left and right. Batman gets up, but gets electrocuted. He notices he's wearing a shock collar. Joker grabs the remote to the shock collar and shocks Batman 10 times in a row. Joker starts laughing wildly. Then Joker starts shocking Batman again. Batman grabs the collar and rips it off as Joker shocks him. Joker suddenly drops the remote once he sees Btaman took it off. Joker snaps his fingers and tons of thugs come in and beat up Batman. They manage to shove him into a straight jacket. Joker starts telling Batman how loyal his thugs are. Batman jumps in the air and kicks the thugs in the head. He runs out the door as the thugs chase him, followed by Joker. Batman jumps through a window into a dark room, opens an air vent, and crawls into it. The thugs enter the room but are puzzled when Batman is missing. Joker enters and, upon seeing the open air vent, punches one of the thugs in the face.

Under The Asylum

Under the asylum, a doctor and 2 police officers are trying to escape. However, they hear footsteps and discover taht they're not alone. They turn around and see Harley Quinn and a group of thugs. Harley chuckles and pulls out her gun, but a Batarang knocks the gun out of her hand. While Harley and the thugs are distracted, the doctor and the police officers jump into the watery depths below. They swim away quickly, but the current is too fast and they're all pulled underwater. Meanwhile, the thugs are still trying to find out where the batarang came from. All of the sudden, an electric batarang hits Harley Quinn in the chest, electrocuting her. She is knocked unconscious by the shock. The thugs look around. All of the sudden, Batman jumps out from an air vent and attacks them. He manages to defeat all the thugs. Batman notices a security camera. He throws a batarang at it, and it explodes. Then he walks away, looking for away back into the Asylum.

Knight Vs. Jester

Batman finds a ladder that leads to a small room. He walks outside and finds himself outside the asylum.

Cast

• Michael C. Hall as Bruce Wayne/Batman - A rich orphan boy who grew up and became Batman in order to avenge his parents' deaths.
• Tobin Bell as Alfred Pennyworth - Bruce Wayne's loyal and wise butler.
• Adrianne Palicki as Selina Kyle - Bruce Wayne's mysterious girlfriend.
• Sharlto Copley as The Joker - A mysterious criminal out to destroy Gotham.
• Jackie Earle Haley as Waylon "Killer Croc" Jones - A homeless cannibal living in the sewers who was born with a skin disease that made his skin scaley and his grow outward.
• Avan Jogia as Tim Drake - A young man whose father mysteriously died while working at Ace Chemicals.
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Michael Lane - Tim Drake's life-long street-smart best friend.
• currently unknown as Jason Todd - A police officer and friend of Batman's.
• J.K. Simmons as Jim Gordon - The comissioner who is on the case of discovering Joker and Batman's true identities.
• Will Smith as Aaron Cash - A guard at Arkham Asylum who was killed by Killer Croc. Flashback only.
• currently unknown as Thomas Wayne - Bruce Wayne's dead father. Flashback only.
• currently unknown as Martha Wayne - Bruce Wayne's dead mother. Flashback only.

Refferenced

• Hal Jordan/Green Lantern
• Jack Drake
• Victor Zsasz
• Waylon Jones's mother
• Waylon Jones's father
• Waylon Jones's siblings

Sequel

It was announced that the film will be the first in a new trilogy. Part of the sequel's script was leaked online, but removed from the internet shortly after. The leaked part revealed that Mister Freeze will appear and Selina Kyle will be returning. This started a rumor about Catwoman, but ElectricMayhem confirmed that Selina is not going to be Catwoman, but he slightly implied that Catwoman will appear in the final film. It was confirmed that Tim Drake will be in the sequel, and that actors Karl Urban, Guy Pearce, and Ewan McGregor will appear.

Trailer

The first trailer was shown at Comic Con and showed Bruce Wayne falling down into the sewers as several clips played. The second Bruce hit the ground, it cut to a clip of the Joker giving his little speech in front of the police station.

Similarities to other films

• Joker taking over Gotham and giving a speech outside the police station with Batman gone was compared by several fans and critics to the previous Batman film, "The Dark Knight Rises".
• Batman's talk with Killer Croc in the sewers was compared to Bilbo and Gollum's game of riddles in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey".
• The film was also compared to Iron Man 2.
• Another Batman film this was compared to was Batman Returns, mainly because some similarities found in the opening scene.

Reception

The film has been nomianated for two DCMF Academy Awards.