Geeking Out About Cinema #5: The Unofficial Batman Sequel Killer Croc Scene

So, speaking as someone who not only has a strong background in horror cinema, but was also pretty close to pursuing a filmmaking career, I couldn't help but entertain the idea of creatively inserting my vision into a recent movie that I absolutely loved. That movie being Matt Reeve's The Batman. With the cinematic direction and horror-noir tone that was beautifully established, my mind went into overdrive in thinking up several different ways in which this franchise could insert some of Batman's rogues gallery in the sequel(s) to come. In this article, I'll be entertaining the idea of inserting a Killer Croc scene in an unofficial version of The Batman 2. So without further ado, here's my little entry (catering to horror-lovers like myself). 

The scene essentially plays out like a found footage news clip that's released to the public of a woman walking through the dark, murky, and creepy sewers in Gotham at night assumably searching for a child. You can the woman's frail voice behind the camera sounding deeply paranoid and terrified yelling out the child's name while also fanatically moving around her flash light and camera. The woman then yells out in the darkness of a tunnel "You took her away from me! Tell me where she is!" which is followed by an eerie animalistic yet human-like growl coming from the shadows ahead.

The woman begins to increasingly quiver in fear and distress as the disturbing groaning in the distance gets louder and louder while her shaky flashlight and camera fails to keep focus on where or what the source of the sound is. The woman then cries out "Where is she?! Give her back you monster!!". Now what was a mysterious loud growling shifts into a spine tingling loud screeching to which the light from her flashlight catches a tall, freaky looking silhouette with yellow piercing eyes slowly closing in on the woman. The figure looks to be a large severely disfigured malformed man from the vague details that can be seen in the shadows yet certain features seem bizarrely reptilian.

The woman screams after seeing this distorted shadow and her screams lead to the figure rushing towards her as the light finally briefly exposes an utterly frightening, nightmare fuel, extremely deformed reptilian-like face with sharp teeth and piercing drugged out looking eyes. The woman then lets out an even more blood curdling scream as the man attacks her off camera. The camera drops to the floor showing rushing water in the distance as a chilling animal-like screech is heard alongside what sounds like a body being mauled to shreds. The footage then abruptly ends.

Cut to Bruce Wayne watching the footage on the news and the camera cuts to his hands trembling as Alfred looks in complete disbelief at the TV. Alfred turns to Bruce and says "We've been taking down gang members and serial killers for years now master Bruce but this...we've never prepared for..this". Bruce looks down at his shaking hands and tightly clenched his fists. He then looks back up at the TV. The image on the screen is a static image of the monstrous silhouette. Cut back to Bruce’s facial expression being one of determination yet shaking with what appears to be anxiety. Bruce turns to Alfred and says "Then let's get to work."

Bonus Thoughts

So, You've Made It This Far...

I was so delighted to have seen such positive feedback from my alternate take on the Halloween movie franchise. I've decided to continue in that creative spirit now taking on the Matt Reeves-directed Batman franchise. The question came up recently online about which villain adaptation might be next for the series and which might be a bit too "fantastical" to work with Reeves' more grounded take of Gotham. The approach that I took to mind personally was to craft a scene that implemented a larger than life Batman villain deemed too extreme by utilizing cinematic trickery to present him in a way that might tonally work. I wanted to double down on the horror atmosphere that Reeves already established and present a truly terrifying and unsettling scene that invokes a found footage creature feature without ever fully crossing the line. 

Film scenes that I referenced in mind were: Rec. 1's final act introducing the character of Tristana, The Fourth Kind's ending possession segment, Andrés Muschietti's Mama's camera flash ghost encounter scene, the 2003 Texas Chainsaw Massacre's ending police footage segment, and The Descent's introduction of the cave dwellers scene. I was recalling how effective the direction was in conveying the idea of someone having a nightmarish encounter with the unknown. Is this a legitimate crocodile-man mutant combination lurking within the sewers of Gotham City or is it a mentally disturbed man suffering from a never-before-studied skin disease? 

Perhaps something more misunderstood due to being out of context? It's that balancing act of science fiction horror and semi-grounded medical science that I wanted to cautiously dance around with the introduction of this particular villain. Hopefully, I succeeded in making Killer Croc a genuinely scary villain to appear in a Batman sequel while keeping in tone with what was established prior. Thank you guys for reading and I hope you enjoyed my little creative exercise. I look forward to seeing what Matt Reeves and the crew does with the series.