While the DCEU may have been struggling to come up with an exceptional film that the fans could rally behind, the folks over at the DCAU were bringing some of the most amazing stories from the pages of DC Comics to life via animations.
Among the plethora of movies from the cinematic universe, the story of Batman from his story arc Batman: The Long Halloween sticks with the audience.
Considered one of the finest animation films brought to the big screen in terms of its story and narrative, it was also considered to be a bold and ambitious film since the second part of it was R-rated while the first was PG-13.
When asked about this, supervising producer Butch Lukic said that he wasn’t going to compromise the graphic nature of the story to make this film more appealing to the masses, something that every major production could learn from.
DCAU Producer Butch Lukic Wasn’t Going To Compromise With Batman: The Last Halloween Story
There have been several times in the past when fans of comic book films were left disappointed by producers and filmmakers when they toned down the graphic aspect of a superhero story to fit well with the highly sought-after PG-13 rating certification to appeal to the masses.
And then, there have been productions that have let it all hang out by sticking true to the source material, even when it meant that fewer people would get access to that offering.
In 2021, the DCAU proved to be the cinematic universe that was sticking to what the source had to offer, even if it meant not caring for CBFC certifications. In a past interview with Comic Book Movie, producer Butch Lukic talked about the odd decision for the second part of Batman: The Long Halloween to have been made with an R-rating since the first part was rated PG-13.
This decision for his film, which features Jensen Ackles as the titular vigilante, was taken when Lukic made up his mind to make the film as true to the source as possible. Since the comic’s story is of the Noir genre, it had to be dark and gritty with a sizable amount of graphic violence, which would’ve meant an R rating, and Lukic didn’t care. He said:
“I was just going with the flow of the story and if it was going to lead to an R-Rating, then so be it. Generally, this is a crime film, so you’re going to have blood and comic book violence, so you’re going to have to show that. At the time when we did this movie, DC Comics wasn’t concerned about R-Ratings or anything, but by the time we finally got this released, then they were concerned. Part One was a PG-13 and Part Two is Rated-R, but only because there wasn’t enough stuff I could cut out and leave it a coherent story.”
And that decision did wonders for the film series as a whole as the extremely visceral aspects of the movie enhanced the narrative to a whole new level. Thus, the MCU could strictly learn a thing or two from this.
How Marvel Studios Can Learn From This
The one thing that has plagued the MCU for quite some time now is their unwillingness to take risks and make the story more grim and dark, which translated into making safe and borderline boring films in recent times.
Although shows like Disney+’s most recent MCU mini-series Echo have done an amazing job of taking things to a more rustic side, it has still not been quite there yet in terms of the visceral nature. However, with the release of the upcoming Deadpool and Wolverine being the first R-rated film in the MCU, all of this can change.
But in order to uplift the franchise once more, Marvel Studios would have to keep that change constant going forward.
Batman: The Long Halloween Part One, available on Apple TV.
