HDD: You clearly have a love for Batman. What is it about the caped crusader that captures your interest?
Michael Uslan: He’s a super-hero who has no super-powers. His greatest super-power is his humanity. I could strongly identify with him and believe in him. Also, he has the most primal origin story that anyone can relate to on a deeply emotional level. And… he has the world’s best super-villains!
HDD: Did you face a lot of rejection when trying to get the 1989 Batman film made? Tell us about some of what you went through.
Michael Uslan: I was told I was crazy, that it was the worst idea they ever heard, and every studio turned me down. Favorite rejections: "Michael, Batman will never succeed as a movie because 'Annie' didn’t do well." "Michael, Batman and Robin won’t work as a movie because the movie Robin And Marian didn’t do well." "Michael, nobody’s ever made a movie out of some old television show!" "Michael, audiences will only remember and love that Pow! Zap! Wham! funny guy with the pot belly." "Michael, Superman is the only super-hero from the funny papers who is big enough to be made into a motion picture feature."
HDD: After Batman Returns the franchise went in what many consider to be a very unpleasant direction, culminating in Batman & Robin, which upset fans and scored poorly with critics. How did you feel about the film?
Michael Uslan: It was the TV series Redux.
HDD: Which of the Batman films is your favorite and why?
Michael Uslan: Batman because it was my dream-come-true after well over ten years, Mask of the Phantasm because some of the best stories about Batman ever made came from the brilliant folks on the animation side, and the Christopher Nolan trilogy.
HDD: What can we expect from the new film? Is there a worry about living up to Heath Ledger's much praised portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight?
Michael Uslan: July 20, 2012. Fasten your seat belt!
HDD: You pushed to get Batman into theaters and a comic book movie boom followed. Do you feel that your efforts influenced the movie landscape as it is today? Michael Uslan: The first Batman film in 1989 was revolutionary. To this day, Burton’s vision, Furst’s designs, and Elfman’s music seem to reverberate through all genre pictures. Their influence has been enormous and pervasive. Nolan taught Hollywood the art of the successful reboot and Bond, Star Trek, Superman, Spider-Man, et al owe what they are doing to his influence. I’m happy to let history answer this question over the years.
HDD: Tell us a little bit about your book, The Boy Who Loved Batman.
Michael Uslan: It’s intended to motivate young people so that if they burn with a passion for something in life, my story will prove to them that if they get up off the couch, forfeiting their sense of entitlement that the world owes them something, and instead make a commitment to knock on doors till their knuckles bleed, maintaining a high threshold for frustration, they, too, can make their own dreams come true.
HDD: What's next for you? Are you sticking with Batman or do you intend to keep branching out like you did with Constantine and The Spirit?
Michael Uslan: I have many fun and favorite projects in the works from the pages of some famous and historic comic books and comic strips and now there’s strong interest in my turning my book into a feature film a la A Christmas Story.
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