BATMAN by Sam Hamm Reet easFADE IN: The place is Gotham City. The time, 1989 -- once removed. The City of Tomorrow: stark angles, creeping shadows, dense, rowded, airless, a random tangle of steel and concrete, elf-generating, almost subterranean in its aspect -- as if hell had erupted through the sidewalks and kept on growing. A dangling fat moon shines overhead, ready to burst. ‘EXT._CATHEDRAL - NIGHT 2 Amid the chrome and glass sits a dark and ornate Gothic anomaly: old City Cathedral, once grand, now abandoned -- long since boarded up and scheduled for demolition. on the rooftop far above us, STONE GARGOYLES gaze down from their shadowy, windswept perches, keeping monstrous watch over the distant streets below, sightless guardians of the Gotham night. One of them is moving. EXIL_GOTHAM SQUARE > NIGHT 3 The pulsing heart of downtown Gotham, a big-city corruption, almost surreal in its opp: Pushers wave to hookers. Street hustlers slap high-fiv with three-card monte dealers. They all seem to know each other ... with one conspicuous exception: A TOURIST FAMILY, Mom, Dad, and little Jimny, staring straight ahead as they march in perfect lockstep down the main drag. They’ve just come out of a hit show two blocks over; the respectable theatre crowd has thinned out, and now == Playbills in hand -- they find themselves adrift in the predatory traffic of Gotham’s meanest street. MOM For God’s sake, Harold, can we please just get a taxi?? DAD I’m trying to get a -- (shouting) TAXI!! Three [Link] past and disappear. MOM grimaces in frustration as LITTLE JDMY consults a subway map. oma We're going the wrong way.2. Nearby, STREET TYPES are beginning to snicker. DAD surveys them nervously, gestures toward the subway map. DAD Put that away. We’ll look like tourists. TWO COPS lean on their patrol car outside an all-night souvlaki stand, sipping coffee and chatting with a HOOKER. The HOOKER smiles at JIMMY. JIMMY smiles back. MOM yanks him off down the street and glowers at DAD. DAD (cont.) We'll never get a cab. Let’s cut over to Seventh. oIMMY Seventh is that way. DAD I know where we are! [Link] STREET = THAT MOMENT - NIGHT 4 A deserted access street lined with the husks of stripped- down cars. MOM, DAD, and JIMMY take a deep breath and march inte the darkness. VOICE Hey, mister. Gimme a dollar? The VOICE belongs to a DERELICT -- nineteen or twenty, acni scarred -- who sits between two garbage cans, his palm out stretched. MOM, DAD and JIMMY stare at his ratty t-shirt -- ‘I LOVE GOTHAM CITY’ -- then move on, pretending not to hear. DERELICT Mister. How about it. one dollar? (standing up) One dollar, man. Are you deat? Are you deaf? -- Do you speak English?? The TOURISTS cross the stre: doesn’t follow. + Mercifully, the DERELICT They pick up their pace. They don’t see the SHADOWY FIGURE in the alleyway. They don’t see the GUN until a GLOVED HAND brings it down, butt-first, across the back of DAD’s neck. He crumples. MOM grabs JIMMY and backs up against a brick wall, too terrified to scream. The DERELICT races across the street to join his confederate, the STREET PUNK, who's Already searching for DAD‘s wallet.\/ 3. MOM gasps in panic. She’s just about ready to snap -- until the STREET PUNK trains his gun on JIMMY. STREET PUNK Do the kid a favor, lady. Don‘t screan. The poor woman is horrified. TEARS stream down her face. But she keeps her wits, stifles the urge to shriek, and hustles JIMMY off down the street. The two PUNKS watch -~ then chuckle and race off in the opposite direction. EXT. ROOFTOP - NIGHT 5 Six stories up. The PUNKS -- NICK and EDDIE -- hunker down on the tar-and-gravel roof, sizing up their take. NICK empties the wallet: NICK All right. The Gold card. (tossing the credit card at EDDIE) Don’t leave home without it. A chill wind whips across the roof as NICK extracts the cash and counts it. There’s a distant, metallic CLANG; EDDIE hears it and tenses up. EDDIE Let’s beat it, man. I don’t like it up here. NICK What are you, scared of heights? EDDIE I dunno. After what happened to Johnny Gobs = NICK Look, Johnny Gobs got ripped and walked off a roof, all right? No big loss. 7 EDDIE No, man. That ain‘t what I heard at all. (beat) I heard the bat got hin. RICK Gimme a break, will you? Shut up.EDDIE Five stories, straight down. There was no blood in the body. NICK It was all over the pave- NICK has no patience with EDDIE’s campfire tales -- but here on the roof, in the pale moonlight, he can’t ignore the Slight tingle at the base of his spine ... EDDIE ‘There was no blood, man. (beat) ~ My brother says ... all the bad things you done ... they come back and haunt you ... NICK God! How old are you? There ain’t no bat. EDDIE My brother’s a priest, man. NICK No wonder youre such a chickenshit. Shut_up. i (conclusively) There ain’t no bat. As they speak our attention shifts to a point at the opposite corner of the roof, some fifteen yards away ... where, at the end of a line, a STRANGE BLACK SILHOUETTE is dropping slowly, implacably, into frame ... EDDIE You shouldn’ta turned the gun on that kid, man. You shouldn’ta -- NICK Do you want this money or don’t you? Now shut up! Shut up -- BOTH PUNKS FREEZE at the sudden, inexplicable sound of BOOTS CRUNCHING ON GRAVEL. They turn slowly. Their JAWS DROP. At the edge of the roof, bathed in moonlight — is 2 BLACK APPARITION. EDDIE stands rooted to the spot, a choked gurgle in his throat. ‘The BLACK FIGURE advances and spreads its arns, Slowly, majestically. GREAT SHADOWY WINGS flap in the wind.On its chest is THE EMBLEM OF A BAT, in an oval yellow field, glowing like a target in the darkness NICK drops to the gravel, grabs the gun, and FIRES TWICE TWO CLEAN HITS. The strange black figure is knocked bodily to the roof. NICK I/m gettin’ outta here. He bends to retrieve his loot. EDDIE lets out an odd, pre- verbal squeal ... ++. and NICK sees THE HUMAN BAT, BACK ON ITS FEET, NIGHT- MARISH, UNDEAD, MOVING SLOWLY AND INEVITABLY CLOSER. Panic. Sheer, raw, unrelenting panic. Stolen money flut- ters out of NICK’s hands as he scuttles frantically across the roof. The BLACK SPECTRE is blocking his path to the fire escape. Trapped like a rat, NICK FIRES WILDLY. EDDIE is frozen in place, his face drained of blood. The BAT treads calmly past. A LEG snakes out. A BLACK BooT catches EDDIE high on the chest -- -- LIFTS HIM CLEANLY OFF HIS FEET -- -- AND SENDS HIM FLYING THROUGH THE AIR. EDDIE slams into a brick chimney and slumps to the roof unconscious, a broken, weightless puppet. THIS ACTION IS SO SMOOTH, SO AUTOMATIC, THAT THE BAT DOES NOT EVEN BREAK HIS STRIDE. NICK sees his chance and CHARGES past the black wraith, scrambling for the fire escape ... A GLOVED HAND slices through the air, and NICK pitches forward, his legs ensnared in a tangle of WIRES. Screaming now, he drags himself across the gravel roof, the looming figure of the BAT at his heels ... ++. until there’s no place left to go. NICK cowers on the ledge, his pants torn, his hands and knees bloody. He has dissolved into total mindless hysteria. Almost by reflex, NICK keeps shooting. He'd do better if he could manage to open his eyes. By now the hammer is falling on an empty chamber, but NICK continues, obsessively, to pull the trigger. He weeps; he moans; he wails ... THE BAT grabs NICK by the shirt, and with supernatural ease HOISTS HIM into the air. NICK Don’t kill me -- don’t kill me...\ When NICK finally opens his eyes, he realizes THE BAT is standing on the ledge of the roof -- HOLDING HIM OUT, at arm’s length, over six stories of nothingness. The black ghost speaks, in a rasping whisper: BATMAN I won‘t kill you. I want you to do ne a favor. NICK looks down. Far, far below, CARS wink silently past. He looks up. And BATMAN’s eyes shou: stricken face. s, in the mirrored lenses where be, the twin reflections of his own BATMAN (cont.) fell your friends. Tell all your friends. NICK HOWLS. Almost as an afterthought, THE BATMAN heaves him roughly back onto the tar-and-gravel surface of the roof. And then -- casually, without a moment’s hesitation w+ STEPS OFF THE LEDGE, INTO MIDAIR. Trembling, NICK crawls to the ledge and looks over ... finding ABSOLUTELY NO TRACE of the Batman. NICK is still screaming as we PAN UP to the bilious yellow globe of Gotham’s moon. MAIN CREDITS ROLL: ‘BATMAN INT. GOTHAM CITY DEMOCRATS’ CLUB - NIGHT 6 A_CAMPAIGN POSTER fills one wall: "A NEW GOTHAM. HARVEY DENT FOR DISTRICT ATTORNEY." Down below, the man himself -- determined, dynamic HARVEY DENT -- addresses a crowd from behind his’ podium. DENT Across this nation, the words ‘Gotham City’ are synonymous with crime. our streets are overrun, but our public officials do nothing. Ladies and gentlemen, ve must attack corruption at the root! On the dais behind DENT, CIVIC BIGWIGS applaud wildly. As they do, we SEE a SINGLE EMPTY PLACE SETTING at the end of the table -- and an engraved placecard which bears the name "BRUCE WAYNE."7-8 DENT If elected, my first act as district attorney will be to return an indict- ment against Boss Carl Grissom! CUT TO: OMITTED 7-8 DYL._APARIMENT - NIGHT 9 A woman’s apartment, decorated in pastel pinks and mauv Original paintings and sculptures everywhere. The pla reeks of money. In the foreground: a MAN’S HAND, long, elegant, and manicured, manipulates a DECK OF CARDS -- doing a one-handed shuffle with extraordinary finesse. In the background: a TV set tuned to the 11 o’clock news, with highlights of HARVEY DENT’s campaign speech. DENT Together we can make this city safe for decent people ~~ ‘THE HAND sets the deck on a table, turns up FOUR JACKS off the top. This unique deck sports a .22 calibre BULLET HOLE straight through the middle. JACK NAPIER Decent people shouldn't live here. They'd be much happier someplace else. JACK NAPIER, 32, is right-hand man and chief enforcer to Boss Carl Grissom. His features are delicate, almost feminine, and he takes a vain, gangsterish pride in his appearance. He has no more conscience than a turnip. He trains a cold eye on DENT’s image ALICIA HUNT -- 26, beautiful, Carl Grissom’s kept woman -- glides over in her Regligee and snuggles up. ALICIA : Anything new? : JACK The usual gas. If this clown could lay a hand on Grissom ... I would’ve had to kill him by now. ALICIA finds JACK’s necktie and knots it playfully about his neck.10 ALICIA If Grissom knew about us ... he might kill you. JACK seems uninterested in her affections. His eye darts back and forth between the TV and his own reflection in a nearby vanity. JACK Don’t flatter yourself, angel. He’s a tired old man. He can’t run this city without (pause) And besides, he doesn’t know. JACK gets up, reaches for his topcoat, and stands in front of the vanity. He runs a hand through sculpted hair, checks out his Albert Nipon ensemble. ALICIA You look just fine, Jack. He smiles at himself before turning to the door. JACK +e. I didn’t ask. EXT. _ALLEYWAY - NIGET 20 ‘The scene of the earlier mugging, off Gotham Square. Only now, the deserted alleyway is a beehive of activity: police cars, an ambulance, a forensics van. EDDIE THE PUNK goes past on a stretcher, catatonic. Watch- ing him are a POLICE MEDIC and a porcine cop, LT. ECKHARDT, who jots on a notepad: ECKHARDT No, let me guess. A gigantic, menacing, supernatural form ... in the shape of a bat. MEDIC Yeah, just like the others. -— Lieutenant? What exactly are they seeing up there’ ECKHAROT Damned if I know, but it must be pretty hairy. The commissioner’s keeping a file. We got twelve of these ... "sightings" in just under a month.MEDIC It doesn’t make any sense. What would a giant bat be doing in -- ECKHARDT Looks 1ike he’s doing our goddamned job for us. (under his breath) oh christ, it’s Knox. At the mouth of the alley is ALEXANDER KNOX, 30, & crime jorter for the Gotham Globe. He waves cheerily as he saunters up to ECKHARDT. KNOX Hiya, gents. I hear we got another bat attack. ECKHARDT Sorry, Knox. Strictly routine. At this exact moment two uniformed PATROLMEN drag a brain- fried NICK past the mouth of the alley. NICK A bat, I tell you, a giant bat! He wanted me to do him a favor... ! KNOX smirks. ECKHARDT and the MEDIC trade disgusted looks. KNOX Now boys. Talk straight for once. There’s something up there. ECKHARDT That scumbag’s stoned out of his mind. KNOX Ask around on the streets, lieutenant. Every punk in town is scared stiff! ECKHARDT ‘These punks of yours. Any of ‘em ever seen this ... whatever-it-is? . NOx Yeah. They say he drinks blood. They say he can‘t be killed. They say — ECKHARDT Z say you're full of shit, Knox. and you can quote me on that. ECKHARDT snorts in disgust and turns away. KNOX calls out:10. KNOX Lieutenant. Is there a six-foot bat in Gotham City? (shouting) If so, is he on the police payroll? If so, what’s he pulling down after taxes? EXE, STREET = THAT MOMENT - NIGHT aa LT. ECKHARDT emerges onto the side street -- and spies a STRETCH LIMO idling nearby. Leaning on the hood, waving hi, is the dandyish JACK NAPIER. JACK swaggers up and hands ECKHARDT a fat brown envelope. The cop throws a nervous glance back in KNOX’s direction and stuffs it quickly in his coat. ECKHARDT Sorry I’m late. We had another bat sighting. JACK Shut up and listen. -- Harvey Dent is locking into our front companies. and that means someone’s been talking. ECKHARDT bristles. There’s no love lost between these two. ECKHARDT I’m on top of it. If there’s a problem -= Suddenly, JACK grabs ECKHARDT by the lapels of his topcoat. JACK Eckhardt ... our problems are your problems. ECKHARDT (knocking his hands away) I answer to Grissom, punk. Not to you. JACK : Why, Eckhardt. You should be thinkin about the future. ECKHARDT The future. You mean ... when you run the show? (laughing in his face) You got no future, Jack. Youre an A-one crazy boy and Grissom knows it.12 ai. JACK claps a hand on ECKHARDT’s face and shoves him full- force into a WALL. The fat cop, stunned, turns bright red. His hand goes instinctively to his gun. JACK whips a .38 from his pocket. Holding it by the barrel, he offers it to ECKHARDT -- daring him to take it. JACK Here. Use mine! He doesn’t. JACK LAUGHS insanely. He pockets the gun and, with a final sneer at ECKHARDT, turns to go. But ECKHARDT has an ace in the hole. When JACK is out of earshot, the crooked cop MUTTERS menacingly: ECKHARDT Where you been spending your nights, pretty boy ... ? DISSOLVE TO: ‘INT. GOTHAM GLOBE - CITY ROOM = DAY a2 Gotham’s leading tabloid daily. KNOX saunters in, spots BOB THE CARTOONIST at his drafting table, with several amused REPORTERS looking on. REPORTER Well, well. count Dracula! BOB ©h Knox -- I got something for you. BOB holds up a drawing of a HUMAN BAT, with an awful, fang) rodent’s face, wearing a business suit. The caption reads: "HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN?" The REPORTERS crack up. KNOX, who’s used to the ribbing, takes it in his stride. He smiles, nods appreciatively: KNOX (cont.) Very nice, boys. Maybe a little more gore on the fangs, huh? fi (under his breath) You ignorant jerkoff: He moves on. A bespectacled COLLEAGUE spots him passing: COLLEAGUE Hey Knex, you got a visitor. KNOX I’m real busy, Clark. Be a pal and @ust him, okay?a2. COLLEAGUE This one you might want to dust your- self. His curiosity piqued, KNOX moves toward his desk ... and stops in his tracks.’ Propped up on the desk are a PAIR CF LEGS. The legs -- exceptionally nice ones -- are attached to a WOMAN leaning back in KNOX’s swivel chair, napping, her face obscured by a big outrageous HAT. NOX «+. Vicki vale. The hat tips back. VICKI VALE, her face framed by a shock of bright red hair, flashes a dazzling smile. - VICKI How’d you know it was me? KNOX Honey, I would know any randomly selected square inch of Vicki Vale. =- Plus I had a hint. He points at the oversized CAMERA BAG on his desk. It bears the monogram "V.V." VICKI catches on, makes a face at hin. KNOX (cont.) The globetrotting photojournalist. Where you been? Majorca? The Riviera? VICKI Corto Maltese. KNOX Corto What?? -- you’re shitting me. She reaches into the camera bag and pulls out a sheaf of COMBAT PHOTOS -- exploding jeeps, burning huts, bodies in pil Corto Maltese, it saems, is in the midst of an especially bloody revolution. KNOX is impressed: ‘KNOX ft God, Vick, a girl could get hurt this way. =~ I thought you were kind of the glamor type. VICKI I felt like a change of pace, okay? Now what’s your new obsession? es his desk. It’s littered with police reports and doodles of BATS.13. NOX Oh. -- Seems we got a six-foct bat in Gotham City. VICKI see A bat? KNOX Yeah, he’s terrorizing the underworld. I figure it’s some nut in a suit, but still, a masked crimefighter -- it could be the story of the decade. VICKI Well, congratulations. KNOX But nobody believes me. Commissioner Gordon won’t even answer my calls! He sinks into a chair, despondent. A sly look crosses VICKI’s face: VICKI He/d be at that benefit, wouldn’t he? The one Bruce Wayne’s throwing for the D.A. campaign? KNOX Sure. -- Unfortunately, I don’t seen to be on the guest list. Sulking, he doesn’t notice VICKI reaching into her camera bag. He doesn’t see the small white INVITATION until she DANGLES IT right in front of his no: KNOx (cont.) Aw, Vicki, Vicki, SHIT!! Got a date’ She flutters her great big eyelashes, shakes her head no. FNOX grabs her face and plants a kiss on her forehead, nearly knocking her out of her chair. KNOX st Vicki, baby, I love you, I’ve always’ loved you. ‘Will you marry me? VICKI Neo. KNOX Well, I’m starving. Will you at least buy me a hamburger? She laughs. overcome with glee, he offers her his arz.a3 cur To: BF! - 13 A HUGE PLATE GLASS WINDOW opens on the best view in Gcthan. This spectacular penthouse suite is just one of the Power Berks available to CARL GRISSOM, criminal kingpin, fat, fifty, and utterly without charm, His LIEUTENANTS -- bloodless white-collar types as well as a few outright GOoNs -- are sprawled nearby in easy chairs. LIEUTENANT How do we go? Strike a match? ACCOUNTANT Arson gives you a nice writeoff. on the other hand, we do have a history of unexplained’ tires. The big boss waves a copy of the Globe -~ with HARVEY DENT staring out from page one. GRISSOM Say this son of a bitch does get elected what kind of damage are we looking at? ACCOUNTANT If he ties us in with Ace Chemical, we're dead and buried. (clearing his throat) We should move immediately. JACK NAPIER slouches in an easy chair at GRISSOM’s right, doing his trademark one-handed shuffi. JACK Why not a break-in? Trash the office, make off with the books ... call it "industrial espionage." GRISSOM Smart thinking, Jack. That's the way to go. In fact -- r’a like you to handle this operation personally. gaAcK +++ Me? YACK’s hand FREEZES over the lucky deck. Nerveusly, he furns a card off the top. It’s not a jack; it’s a JOKER -- & Joker with a neat, round, .22 calibre HOLE through its face.14 15 as. At this exact moment, METAL DOORS slide back -~ and ALICIA HUNT steps out of GRISSOM’s private elevator with an arzfu) of SHOPPING BAGS. GRISSOM Hello, sweetheart. JI wonder if you’d mind waiting in the other room. ALICIA’s gaze meets JACK’s as she vanishes through a side door, The eye contact is not lost on GRISSOM. GRISSOM (cont.) Thank you, gentlemen. That’s all for now. GRISSOM’S CRONIES file out. JACK, troubled, lingers behind. JACK Why me? It’s just a simple break-in. GRISSOM Jack, it’s an important job. need someone I can trust. (beat) Now don’t forget your lucky deck. JACK, resigned, pockets the deck and leaves. GRISSOM leans back in his plush chair and GRINS WOLFISHLY. GRISSOM (cont.) My friend, your luck is just about to change. ALICIA appears in the doorway, modeling her new purchases for him. He smiles at her as he reaches for the phone. GRISSOM (cont.) Get me Lieutenant Eckhardt. EXT. HAYNE MANOR - ESTABLISHING - NIGHT 4 A vast, rambling mansion on sixty wooded acres a half-hour’s drive from Gotham: old money, and how. out front, a team ct red-jacketed VALETS are parking expensive cars. INT._BALLROOM - NIGHT as It’s casino night at Wayne Manor; the ballroom kas been outfitted with roulette wheels, blackjack tables, etc., and the various members of Gothan’s pover elite are eageriy throwing cash into Harvey Dent’s campaign kitty.16 16. DENT is surrounded by a gang of political cronies. VIcKI’s off in another group, looking luscious. And, in a corner of the room, all alone in his cheap suit, stands KNOX -- staring inquisitively up at the ceiling. A butler, ALFRED, appears alongside KNOX with a trayful of champagne glasses. He too looks up at the ceiling. KNOX How high up would you say that. is? ALFRED I’d say about thirty feet, sir. NOX You know, if you cut your bathroom in half, you'd have my apartment. ALFRED Which bathroom is that, sir? KNOX The small one. XNOX takes a drink and ALFRED moves on. A moment later, VICKI appears at KNOX’s side. KNOX Man, I feel like Robin Leach actually know all these peopl VICKI Some. I ama rich bitch, remember. (nudging him) I’m quoting. You KNOX winces at the reminder. She smiles and takes his arn. NOx Yeah, I guess we move in different circles. -- Though I did meet a one- eyed pimp last week. ANGLE ON JAMES W. GORDON ‘ 16 Gotham’s Police Commissioner, a distinguished gent in his late fifties. He’s at a craps table, blowing into his fist. ONLOOKERS cheer as he lets the dice fly. Snake eyes. He passes the dice as KNOX and VICK: wander up. NOX : Commissioner Gordon! What do you hear trom our pointy-eared friend?nn 17 18 as 20 22 17. RNOX puts his hands up behind his head and wiggles his fingers like little bat ears. GORDON groans. GORDON Knox, for the ninth time, bat. If there were, we would find hin w- we would arrest him -- KNOX Aww, Commissioner, There’s gotta be gng honest cop in Gotham city. HARVEY DENT ambles up, claps a hand on GORDON’s shoulder. DENT How’s your luck, Jin? KNOX Mr. Dent. What’s your stand on winged vigilantes? DENT exchanges a meaningful look with GORDON. DENT Mr. Knox, we have enough real problems in this city without worrying about ghosts and goblins, don’t you think? cur To: EXT. ACE CHEMICAL CO, - ESTABLISHING - NIGHT v7 A NEON SIGN reads: "ACE CHEMICAL. THE FUTURE IS NOW." From the SIGN we PAN to a METAL SLUICE GATE -- dumping TONS of CHURNING TOXIC SLUDGE into Gotham’s East River. INT._VAN = THAT MOMENT - NicHT 18 Parked outside the complex. In the rear-view mirror, JACK NAPIER is meticulously applying BLACK CAMOUFLAGE PAINT to his face. He could be getting ready for a date. JAGK‘S Pov — THROUGH WINDSHIELD as The SECURITY GUARD in a booth at the entrance to the lot. One of JACK’S BOYS creeps up and takes the GUARD out; JACK turns the key in the ignition, shifts into first. ‘OMITTED 20 ‘NT._WAYNE_MANOR - LIBRARY = NiGET KNOX and VICKI have wandered off from the party to take an unauthorized tour of BRUCE’s luxurious digs. KNOX goes goggle-eyed as they enter the library.18. KNOX Vicki. We found the arsenal. One wali is lined to the ceiling with leather-bound volumes. On the other walls hang EXOTIC WEAPONS. Halberds. Mac. Blowguns. Bolas. Thugee ropes and samurai swords ... every arcane implement of death the human mind has ever devises. FNOX lets out a low whistle. RNOX (cont. ) Who is this guy? Where'd he get all this sturt? : VICRI All over, I Likes to kill? VICKI I don’t think so. He bankrolls half a dozen charities. (smiling) Women find him magnetic. NOX I bet they like him for his big charity balls. VICKI His bankroll’s even bigger than that. KNOX Well, you know me. The more they’ve got, the less they’re worth. (scanning the room) This guy must be the most worthless wan in America. VOICE FROM BEHIND You disappoint me. Why not the world? WNOX turns. We get our first look at BRUCE WAYNE: 32, aris- tocratic, urbane -~ and intensely handsome. RNOx I assume in my usual charming manner I’ve just insulted the host. (extending @ hand) Alexander Knox. BRUCE Bruce Wayne. — I’ve read your work. I quite like it.19. KNOX Great. Give me a grant. BRUCE I might, if you introduce me to Miss Vale. KNOX blinks at VICKI. BRUCE already seems to know who she is. KNOX shrugs and forges bravely ahead: KNOX “This is Miss Vale." -~ That felt redundant. i BRUCE (to vrexz) I saw your photos from Corto Maltese. -- You have an extraordinary eye. BRUCE is laying on the charm now. KNOX, his territorial instincts aroused, pipes up: NOx Some people think she has two. VICKI (a sidelong glance at KNox) Don’t mind my friend. He’s a little nervous tonight. KNOX, chastened, calls off the dogs and sizes up his compe- tition. BRUCE is charming, all right, but there’s something formal, even calculating about it -- he could be reading his compliments off cue cards. It’s almost as though he’s an actor doing a brilliant imitation of charm. + KNOX doesn’t like him. But VICKI'-- who’s used to seeing male charm turned on and off, at will -- doesn’t seem to mind at all: VICKI (cont.) What an amazing house. I’d love to shoot it sometime. BRUCE : I don’t ... seek Publicity. -- will you be staying in Gotham for a while? VICKI As far as I know. BRUCE Then I hope we/ll meet again. ALFRED, the butler, appears in the doorway behind then.22 23 20. ALFRED Sir? Commissioner Gordon was com- pelled to leave -- very unexpectedly. He asked me to convey his regrets. BRUCE Thank you, Alfred. (to VICKI and KNOX) I hope you’ll excuse me. It was a great pleasure meeting you. Without bothering to shake hands BRUCE does a sharp 180 and strides briskly out of the room. KNOX I know the rich are different, but that guy is real different. (no response) Hello? vicki? VICKI oh. Sorry. I was thinking. KNOX What were you thinking? VICKI Yum, yum, NOX Well, he must like the way he looks. He’s got a mirror in every room. And indeed, the two of them are standing before an enormous WALL MIRROR, eight feet wide, running from floor to ceiling. VICKI I get it. Bruce vain. She pokes KNOX. He groans at the dumb pun. And suddenly we CUT To: REVERSE ANGLE - THROUGH THE MIRROR 22 looking DOWN ON KNOX and VICKI THROUGH ONE-WAY GLASS. Behind the mirror ... recording everything that happens in the room... is a small, silent, state-of-the-art SURVEILLANCE CAMERA. SIOSEUP - VIDEO MONITOR 23 showing KNOX and VICKI in the library. The screen we’re watching is only one in a whole vast bank of monitors -- a control center showing everything that happens in the house.24 25 21. The background is blurry, indistinct ... but we seem to be in the midst of a vast, dark CAVE. On another screen, GUESTS move backward with exaggerated speed as a videotape REWINDS. At the panel, BRUCE WAYNE hits a button -- and watches COMMISSIONER GORDON talking to a uniformed PATROLMAN. PATROLMAN =- anonymous tip. ‘The Ace Chemical Company. GORDON Good Lord, if we could put our hands on Jack Napier we’d have Grissom. (obviously agitated) Why wasn’t I told about this? Who’s in charge of the -- PATROLMAN Lt. Eckhardt, sir. GORDON Eckhardt. Oh my God ... And suddenly COMMISSIONER GORDON is grabbing for his coat. The monitor goes black. BRUCE stands up, unbuttons his dinner jacket. cur To: EXT._ACE CHEMICAL CO. - PARKING LOT - NIGHT 24 UNMARKED POLICE CARS pull into the lot. ECKHARDT circulates among his ARMED SWAT TEAM, handing out xeroxed copies of a MUG SHEET: JACK NAPIER, front and profile. ECKHARDT Shoot to kill. INT._ACE CHEMICAL = FILE ROOM = NIGHT 2s SPARKS FLY. A SAFECRACKER, in welder’s mask, trains a blow- torch on the office safe. Behind him, JACK’S HOODS are at work on the filing cabinets. : The SAFECRACKER kills his blowtorch and opens the metal door of the safe, giving JACK a good look at its contents: SAFECRACKER «+. Empty. ROOD I Just like the file cabinets.26 27 28 29 22. HOOD II I don’t get it. If this place is cleaned out already, why do we need five men? JACK shakes his head. His boys are antsy, ready to nutiny. By now it’s depressingly obvious: they’ve been set up. Then, as if they needed any proof -- a SIREN blares outside. OMITTED 26 INT._ACE CHEMICAL ~ THAT MOMENT 27 JACK and his HOODS ducking out of the office. It’s two stories above the refinery floor, accessible by a network of steel ladders and CATWALKS running between the walls. A COP, stationed behind a bank of machinery, shouts out: cop Freeze! One of the hoods OPENS FIRE. Half of his colleagues dive back into the office, looking for a rear exit. The others take off across the CATWALKS. «FACTO! OR = NT 28 COPS SHOOT BACK as the HOODS scatter. All at once, a CORRUGATED STEEL DOOR rises -- and COMMISSIONER GORDON marches in with a squadron of UNIFORMED COPS. He grabs a startled ECKHARDT by the shoulder: GORDON What the hell is going on here? ECKHARDT Christ, what are you trying to do — blow the collar? GORDON I’m in charge here. Not Car] Grisson. (shouting) I WANT JACK NAPIER TAKEN ALIVE. I: REPEAT -- ANY MAN WHO OPENS FIRE ON JACK NAPIER WILL ANSWER TO ME! AL = THAT 29 TWO HOODS are running down a tiled corridor in the office Section of the complex when A CAPED BLACK SHADOW steps intc their path. It EXTENDS ITS ARMS — like giant WINGS — to reveal the yellow insigne on its massive chest. BATMAN._ 30 3a 32 33 One second later, the HOODS are racing back in the opposite direction. THE BATMAN reaches into a packet on his belt and flings a handful of STEEL BALL-BEARINGS across the tiled floor. HOOD I tumbles to the floor and lands hard, losinc his breath; HOOD II rolls and pulls a GUN. BATMAN hurls a BOOMERANG -- its edges scalloped, like a bat‘’s wing. It wedges in the wall; HOOD II finds his gun hand PINNED by the twin prongs of the BATARANG. BATMAN strides briskly toward them. He grabs HOOD I by the hair, lifts his head off the floor, KNEES HIM IN THE FACE. He turns to the petrified HOOD II. A TALON springs from the end of his glove. He strolls past HOOD II, reaching out to give him a QUICK, TINY NICK on the chin -- and HOOD IT slumps against the wall, unconscious. ANGLE ON JACK 30 down on the floor, racing along a wall, THROWING SWITCHES anything to create a diversion. GIGANTIC MACHINES roar to life. OVERHEAD CHEMICAL TANKS rotate into place above giant basins and spew out their contents. JACK SEES a squad of COPS on his tail. He SHOOTS AND RUNS. LE_ON Ci 32 HOODS III and Iv on the elevated walkways, FIRING at the police. Their HEADS TURN at the sound of a sudden CLANG -- = as BATMAN drops onto the catwalk from above. For a moment, they gape in disbelief. Then HOOD IV takes off running; HOOD III turns and LEVELS HIS GUN at BATMAN -- >> who goes to his belt for a miniature SPEAR GUN and FIRES at HOOD III ... planting a BARBED HOOK in the HOOD’S JACKET, SPINNING HIM AROUND. HOOD III drops his gun, slips, and -- with a terrible shriek -- TOPPLES OVER THE RAILING. The hook in his jacket jerks him up short ... leaving him to DANGLE thirty feet above the factory floor! ANGLE ON COMMISSIONER GORDON 32 His gaze whips upward from the dangling hood to the figure on the catwalk. As he/s just realized ... there is a bat. GORDON My God ... it’s hiz. OMITTED 3334 35 36 24, TOR, - 34 JACK looking for an exit. Behind him, a STEEL DOOR begins to rise -- more cops. His eye falls on a nearby FORKLIFT, Parked behind a mountain of shipping crates. ANGLE ON cops 35 They enter -- and SCATTER as the FORKLIFT barrels full-tils toward them. JACK jumps clear as the forklift rams into a wall lined with CHEMICAL SUPPLY TANKS. An awful CRASH ... and the forklift is DRENCHED in a gusher of DEADLY TOXINS. ANL._EACTORY FLOOR = A MOMENT LATER 36 A RIVER OF CHEMICALS courses out into the main refinery. COPS reel backwards, gasping, SLIPPING and SLIDING on the wet surface of the factory floor as the CHEMICALS combine +++ Sending up a dense cloud of ACID FUMES. JACK RACES ALONG behind the spreading wall of smoke. Above him, vats of CHURNING CHEMICAL SLUDGE -- and SLUICE GATES opening on the East River. It’s the waste dump! Up on the catwalk, BATMAN has a clean view of JACK. If JACK can make it to the sluice gates without getting shot, he’ll reach the river. BATMAN hooks a rope to his Batarang, FLINGS IT at a catwalk across the floor. JACK sees his chance and bolts for a Jacob’s ladder mounted on the back wall. And just as he does -- BATMAN leaps off the catwalk and swings down toward him! An instant later, he’s on top of JACK. But just then... VOICE HOLD IT! Hoop Iv has circled back behind the cops. Now he’s got a GUN pointed DIRECTLY AT COMMISSIONER GORDON’S HEAD. HOOD IV Let him go or I‘1l do the geezer. A tense moment passes -- then BATMAN releases JACK and stands clear. With a satisfied smirk, JACK moves to the Jacob’s ladder ... and begins to CLIMB. No one moves. HOOD V stands there, his gun hand shaking as he waits for JACK to climb safely out of shocting range. ECKRARD?’s hand drops to his side. He’s half-tempted to pull a gun and get the Commissioner plugged.4 37 38 25. ANGLE ON JACK 37 groping his way along the catwalk. He reaches a paneled glass window propped open by a supporting rod. it’s a forty-foot drop to the swirling black currents of the East River ... and freedox. Then his eye falls on a .38 AUTOMATIC -- which lies, aban- doned, on the gridwork floor of the catwalk mere yards away. ANGLE ON FACTORY PLOOR 38 With his gun at the Commissioner’s temple, HOOD IV backs slowly toward the door. A VOICE breaks the tensio: JACK ECKHARDT! ! ALL EYES TURN to the catwalk overhead, where JACK stands poised with the .38 in his fist. A SINGLE SHOT drops ECKHARDT cleanly. The moment is all BATMAN needs. He hurls a NINJA WHEEL -- a small, ratcheted, razor-sharp disc -- at the FOREARM of HOOD Iv. A sudden SHRIEK -- and GORDON IS FREE. The HOOD’S GUN drops to the floor, DISCHARGING ACCIDENTALLY. AN UNGODLY HOWL OF PAIN echoes out from the catwalk above. JACK REELS and STAGGERS, CLUTCHING AT HIS CHEEKS. BLOOD GUSHES from between his fingers. JACK NAPIER HAS BEEN SHOT THROUGH THE FACE. Doing an agonized pirouette, he pulls the trigger convul- sively. A YOUNG COP, unnerved, draws his gun and SHOOTS -- GORDON Nol! v> striking an OVERHEAD TANK. A SPRAY OF CHEMICALS catches JACK full in the face ... and the COPS look on helplessly as he plunges TWO STORIES DOWN into a CATCH BASIN full of BUBBLING TOXIC WASTE, SCREAMING ALL TEE WAY. GORDON (cont.) Goddammit, we had him. We — And suddenly, with JACK out of the picture, all attention focusses on THE BATMAN, COPS reach for their guns, circle warily around hin. He backs off slowly, HANDS ON BIS BE: GORDON (cont.) Hold it right there, Mister. Take off that_mask.39 40 26. BATMAN raises his hands in a gesture of surrender. As the COPS advance, he flicks TWO TINY CAPSULES onto the floor. A BLINDING FLASH OF LIGHT. COLORS BURST in a wild pyrotech- nic display. COPS stumble backwards, momentarily dazzled, as a THICK WALL OF BLACK SMOKE conceals BATMAN from view. A TINY GRAPPLING HOOK rockets out of the dense curling cloud and CATCHES on a catwalk overhead. cop LOOK! The COPS are firing wildly into the smoke. But it’s too late. At the end of a cord, THE BLACK MAJESTIC FIGURE OF THE BATMAN whips upward, rising out of the smoke like an avenging angel and DISAPPEARING into the shadowy heights, safely out of range. : GORDON HOLD YOUR FIRE! CoP +++ Who is this guy? GORDON I don’t know, but he’s one hell of a showman. Oo. = = 39 A BLACK SHADOW scurries across the roof. From the illumina- ted sign with its neon ace, WE PAN DOWN past the chemical Biuice to a SECOND ACE ...'a card from JACK’s lucky deck, Pierced by a neat, round bullethole, bobbing on the oily Surface of the foul, polluted river. Gradually, OTHER CARDS from the deck swirl past: a nine. A deuce. A jack. And finally, a JOKER -- sHoT CLEANLY THROUGH THE FACE. A BONE-WHITE RAND BREAKS THE SURFACE as we SHOCK CUT To: ANL._GOTHAM GLOBE ~ CITY ROOM - pay 40 A UBANNER EEADLINE on the late edition of the Globe: "BAT MAX FOILS ROBBERY. WHO IS MASKED VIGILANTE?" Behind the newspaper, feet propped up on his desk, is a Jubilant KNOX. “He’s'on the horn to COMMISSIONER GORDON.l-~ 27. KNOX Commissioner. Do us both a favor. Don’t tell me some lie you/1l have to retract later. CLICK. KNOX hangs up, lowers the paper, finds hizsels jooking up at the smiling face of VICKI VALE. He points out the headlin KNOX (cont.) Check it out, Vick! I’m a genius after all. -- Why the dopey grin? VICKI Guess who’s got a date with Bruce Wayne. KNOX Bruce Wayne? Date? He called you up and asked you for a date? .. (shouting) HEY MIRANDA! "C/MERE! (to VICKI) I want you to pay close attention to this. Miranda -- tell my friend here what you told me about Bruce Wayne. A SUPERANNUATED SOUTHERN BELLE toddles over. MIRANDA REITZ, 60, is the society editor of the Globe. MIRANDA You mean Mister One-Nighter? NOX Yeah. "Mister One-Nighter." -- Because that’s the average length of his relationships with women. MIRANDA The current record is almost two weeks. That cover girl -- what’s her name? You must know her, Vicki -- RNOx Tell her about the peanuts. : VICKI Peanuts? NOX Yeah, peanuts. Which is how he goe: through women. MIRANDA Like Planter’s Peanuts,(~n ar 42 VICKI breaks out into helpless giggles. She stands up: VICKI Alex, I’x very flattered that you’ve gone out and done all this research. KNOX (blushing suddenly) Aw, come on, Vicki, I’m a reporter. I’m curious. I do this for a living. (indicating telephone) There’s a phone. You can call him up and cancel. . VICKI shakes her head and laughs. KNOX fumes. She takes his face in her hands, plants a kiss on his forehead. VICKI (cont.) You’re awfully sweet to be concerned, but it’s really not necessary. 1/11 call you, okay? She exits. KNOX stands there looking poleaxed. KNOX ++. What was that? MIRANDA That was one of the most gracious kiss-offs it’s ever been my pleasure to watch. What a nice girl. KNOX, totally flustered, sighs and sinks into his chair. KNOX Miranda, I’m busy. Go be productive. ’ TATE = = 4a BRUCE and VICKI gallop up on horseback. They dismoun’ BRUCE leads the horses inside. Then — smiling, exhausted ~- they wander up gently rolling hills to the main house. EXT. WAYNE MANOR ~ PATIO = DAY ‘ az A broad patio behind the manor, looking out on the estate. Vick: You're quite a horseman. BRUCE I keep falling off. You should see ne -- I’m one big mass of bruises.23. vICKI Maybe we can arrange an examination. ALFRED appears with a tray of drinks, cocks an eyebrow at BRUCE, and disappears discreetly. BRUCE grins, sinks into a wrought-iron chair as VICKI takes a sip of her drink. BRUCE Look, I bore myself silly. Tell me about you. How’d you wind up in a war zone? VICKI Because ... the stuff I was doing w. essentially useless. i covers -- I mean, it paid well, but -- (shrugging) I wanted my work to matter. And Corto Maltese, well -- people have never really seen what goes on down there. BRUCE What did you see? VICKI Suffering. -- Terror. BRUCE There’s terror everywhere. If you know where to look for it. VICKI Oh. Like here? BRUCE looks around at his opulent estate and CHUCKLES. VICKI, afraid she’s offended him, decides to lighten up. VICKI (cont.) I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be so dramatic. BRUCE Oh, I think it’s very admirable wish I had your courage. VICKI I’m not criticizing you. I just . BRUCE Vicki, I’m the first to admit. I ap “the most worthless man in America." He LAUGHS -- and VICKI joins in. If this is a come-on, it’s like no come-on she’s ever seen.43 30. VICKI You are not. You’re a total nut, but you're not worthless. BRUCE Vicki, when people look at me they see a lot of power, and a lot of money, and that’s about it. So I’m always surprised when someone takes the time to look a little harder, that’s all. The guy’s a chessplayer, but on the other hand he’s also rather touchingly, almost childishly, sincere. Before she knows it, VICKI finds herself melting. VICKI +++ Ido have an extraordinary eye. BRUCE (taking her hand) Two. ‘+ WA = G) 43 A vast, darkened entry hall, framed by long semicircular stairways on either side. BRUCE and VICKI, in evening clothes, enter; she’s giddy, all champagned up. VICKI It’s not fair. I’m half drunk and you’re not even -- BRUCE Two drinks and I start swinging fron the rooftops. (teasing her) Don’t want to take advantage. 1/11 drive you home if you’d like. VICKI God. Gentlemen. They make me sick. (sidling up to him) Why don’t you have just one drink. as an experiment. BRUCE Well I gave Alfred the night off, and I’m a piss-poor bartender (pause; then, smiling —, Kiss me hello. VICKI +++ Hello. They embrace. A FLASH OF LIGHTNING transports us to:44 45 46 47 ode [Link] BUILDING - ESTABLISHING - NIGHT 44 Broken windows, graffiti on the walls: a waterfront rathole. . ’ - 45 TIGHT ON a face swathed in bandages. The patient sits erest in a wooden chair, surrounded by the grimy Paraphernalia of an unlicensed gangland doctor. The DocTOR, an itchy little ferret with the bedside manner of a back-alley abortionist, steps up with a scissors. DocTOR Well, Mr. Napier, let’s se did. how we He begins to snip away. As the bandages come off, we get: JACK NAPIER’S POV 46 The last strands of gauze peel back. The DOCTOR stands there, looking at his handiwork. His mouth falls open. His eyes bug out. He GAGS. JACK (V.0.) Mirror. The DOCTOR just stands there staring AT CAMERA, stock-still, transfixed by the sight of JACK’s face. JACK (V.0.) Mirror. ANGLE ON DOCTOR 47 He clears his throat, reaches apprehensively for a hand mirror, and passes it out of frame to JACK. Two beats. Then, the sound of GLASS SHATTERING as the mirror drops to the floor. The DOCTOR gulps hard. DOCTOR You understand the facial muscles were completely severed -- , JACK begins to laugh. The DOCTOR turns uneasily away, gestures apologetically at his seedy equipment. DOCTOR (cont.) ~>_you can see what I have te work with here — MORE LAUGHTER. The trembling DOCTOR covers his face with one hand, whining now, not daring to look at JACK.LA ~~ aa 49 50 51 DOCTOR (cont.) I’m sure that with proper recon-- recon-~ reconstructive surgery -- A DOOR SLAMS. JACK is gone. The grateful DOCTOR breathes a sigh of relief and steadies himself on an operating table as JACK'S AWFUL LAUGH echoes in the hall outside. OMITTED 43 wy a = 49 VICKI nestled peacefully under the covers. Beside her is BRUCE: hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. He doesn’t know what to do with himself. It’s almost as though BRUCE is not used to sleeping. He looks at VICKI. She’s terribly lovely. But despite all that, we can’t shake the feeling that BRUCE ... would really rather be somewhere else. OMITTED 50 7 1 51 The private elevator hisses open. JACK steps out, bundled up in a trenchcoat, muffler, and slouch hat -- his face concealed from view. He plops in the big plush chair behind GRISSOM’s desk and stares out at the skyline. GRISSOM (0.S.) That you, sugar bumps? GRISSOM waddles in unsuspectingly. He’s fresh out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his impressive girth. He’s using a smaller towel to dry his hair, and so it’s a moment before he sees the intruder at his desk. GRISSOM (cont.) Who the hell are you? JACK It’s me. "Sugar Bump: GRISSOM Jack? 3 advancing cautiously) Thank God you’re alive. I heard you’d been -- JACK Is that what you "heard"? JACK stands, gestures him over to the empty chair. GRISSOM doesn’t move until he sees the GUN pointed at his belly.JACK YOU SET ME UP! You must be insane! GRISSOM surreptitiously reaches for a desk drawer. JACK (cont.) Keep your hands on the desk. GRISSOM It’s not the girl, Jack. Sooner or later you would’ve tried to take me. You may get me now, but your life won‘t be worth a dime. JACK I've died once already. It wasn’t so bad. -- In fact I recommend it. GRISSOM (beginning to panic) Jack, listen -= we’ll cut a deal -- JACK JACK? JACK? DO I LOOK LIKE A JACK?? He flings away the hat. RIPS THE MUFFLER from his face. And -- as GRISSOM gasps in shock -- STANDS REVEALED in his full horrendous glory. His flesh is bleached bone-white. His hair is a luminous seaweed-green. And his cheeks are torn and puckered fron the bullet wound, TWISTING HIS MOUTH INTO A HIDEOUS, PERPETUAL HARLEQUIN‘S GRIN. JACK I’m not a Jack any more. (pause; cackling) You made me a Joker! THE CACKLE BUILDS INTO FURIOUS, HYSTERICAL LAUGHTER. GRISSOM, revulsed, edges back toward the window. GRISSOM : Jack — wipe that lunatic grin oft * your face! JACK HA! That’s the best part. I CAN’? JACK pulls the trigger. And fires. And fires again’ until the CLIP IS EMPTY.34. 52 EXT. GRISSOM’S BUILDING = NIGHT 52 We TILT UP the facade of the skyscraper, arriving finally at the TOP FLOOR: a PLATE GLASS WINDOW spiderwebbed with cracks where Jack’s bullets hit. 53 ’ = = 52 Darkness. JACK -- or, as we’ll know him from this moment on, THE JOKER ts in GRISSOM’s swivel chair and surveys the moon-drenched city, JOKER Our little city. Tt always brings a smile to my face. He reaches for a glass of bourbon and glances down at GRISSOM -- who lies dead on the floor, the towel still wrapped around hin. JOKER (cont.) Guess it’s py little city now. Wonder what it/1]1 look like when I get done with it. (pause) I bet it’1l be something real fine. DISSOLVE TO: 34-553 OMITTED 54-55 $6 INT. GLOBE ~ CITY ROOM = pay 56 KNOX examines the morning Globe. He’s turned to page six -- the gossip page -- and there, under Miranda Reitz’s byline, is a picture of VICKI. It seems she and BRUCE are the talk of the tow. KNOX snarls in jealousy: KNOX +++ Peanut. COPY Boy (handing him a folder) : Here’s that morgue file you wanted. ; The file is labelled “BRUCE WAYNE: 1982-1989." KNOX opens it and begins to leaf through old clippings from back issues of the Globe. On top is a column from the society page: "BRUCE WAYNE ARRIVES IN GOTHAM CITY -- Socialite Returns from Five-Year World Cruise." Then: "WAYNE FOUNDATION TO FUND LOW-COST HOUSING.* "MILLIONAIRE HEADS CHARITY DRIVE FOR GOTHAM HANDICAPPED."37 58 59 35. fa igs in dismay. Every article seems to be telling us just how swell a rich philanthropist can be. KNOX Come on. Gimme some dirt! Then he notices something odd. in the whole fat file of Clippings, there are no pictures of Bruce Wayne ~- with two partial exceptions. One is a group shot, Bruce in the middle, waving at the camera and blocking our view of his face. The other is an ancient picture of a collegiate Bruce, stern-faced, hair down to his collar. The caption rei BRUCE WAYNE IN 1973" == years out of date even when it ran in the paper. KNOX «+» Why don’t you want your picture taken? OMITTED 87 . = 58 ALICIA, with an armload of groceries, lets herself in -- and is startled by a VOICE FROM BEHIND. VOICE Honey -- I’m home! She pivots. Her eyes widen. She SHRIEKS. Sitting cross-legged in an easy chair, a twisted grin on his loathesome face, is THE JOKER. He’s in a smoking jacket and slippers, reading the paper, a dry martini at his side. This grim parody of domesticity sends poor ALICIA into a dead faint. IND._PENTHOUSE SUITE - DAY 59 At a long table sit GANGLORDS and RACKETS BOSSES from every corner of the city. They stare suspiciously at the head of the table. JOKER (0.S.) So that’s how it is, gents. Until Grissom decides to come up for air I’m running the show. They’re looking at THE JOKER, dressed flamboyantly in a big Slouch hat. His FACE is layered with flesh-toned makeup, and his HAIR’s been rinsed black. Unfortunately ... he can’t conceal his ghoulish SMILE.36. GANG BOSS Why don’t we hear this from Grissom? RACKETEER There’s something I’d like to know. How come you’re wearing that stupid Sairk? JOKER ‘Cause I got an army, chum. I got. Grissom’s army. And this city is CARMINE ROTELLI, an exceptionally eily mobster, speaks up: ROTELLI I don’t like taking orders fron Grissom. And I especially don’t like taking orders from Grissom’s goon. JOKER I’ve considered that possibility. ROTELLI And what happens if we say no? JOKER Nobody wants a war, Carmine. If we can’t do business, we shake hands and part friends. ROTELLI That’s it? JOKER That’s it. THE JOKER extends a hand. shake it. He doesn’t 6 JOKER’s palm. ROTELLI shrugs and reaches out to the JOY BUZZER concealed in the 40,000 VOLTS course through ROTELLI’s body. He drops back into his seat a blackened husk, SMOKE pouring out from his sleeves and shirt collar. ’ The CRIMELORDS recoil in horror. Before they can make a move, a squad of ARMED THUGS burst into the roon. JOKER Carmine got a little hot under the collar. CRIMELORD +++ You‘re insane!37. Agitated, the JOKER removes his hat and mops sweat fron his brow, exposing a patch of CHALK-WHITE FLESH -- to the bevil- derment of the ONLOOKERS, JOKER That‘s what they said about Lee Iacocca. Now GET OUT OF HERE. -= And THINK IT OVER!! The sickened CRIMINALS file out cautiously. ‘That leaves THE JOKER alone in the room with the charred corpse of ROTELLI. THE JOKER sinks into a chair and -- as is his wont -- ADDRESSES THE STIFF: JORER (cont.) Heck, they’re not such bad guys. I say we give ‘em a couple of days to come around. (thoughtful pause, We-e-11 ... maybe one day. (then, casually) Aaah, screw it. Let’s grease ‘en. CUT To: 60-62: OMITTED 60-61, 1 62 EXT. MUNICIPAL DISTRICT - pay 62 amid the pedestrians we catch BRUCE and VICKI, all smiles, strolling down the sidewalks on the way to lunch. VICKI ++. To tell you the truth, I/d just about given up waiting. BRUCE I said I’d call the minute I got free. And I did. == And here we are. VICKI (teasing hin) Ma hmm. Lunch. Not even dinner. He stops in his tracks, takes her by the shoulders. BRUCE Vicki, I wish I had more time to give you. I think about you every pipute. (grinning) Now. Are you going to waste this lovely afternoon being mad at me? All this, of course, is delivered with devastating sincer- ity. VICKI finds herself totally disarmed.63 64 38. vICKI Okay, I’m a sucker. You sound so much ike someone I used to ... (stopping suddenly) Bruce? I know this is silly, but -- you’re not married, are you? He stops and laughs. She smiles crookedly, takes his arn. EXT. _CITY HALL - THAT MOMENT 63 PRILLY RICORSO ~- another CRIMELORD from the boardroom -- q@merges, flanked by a LAWYER and a pair of PAID BODYGUARDS. They’re instantly met by a small group of REPORTERS. LAWYER The charges are totally without merit. My client is a law-abiding citizen ON BRUCE AND VICKI 64 4 PAINTED STREET MIME walks alongside then, feeling his way along an imaginary wall. VICKI groans. VICKI All street mimes should be executed. BRUCE +++ Looks like a convention. And indeed, there are HALF A DOZEN STREET MIMES converging on City Hall. RICORSO and co. duck the REPORTERS and start down the City Hall steps. Nearby, ANOTHER MIME reaches into a trash bin “> and pulls out a MACHINE GUN. SUDDEN SCREAMS OF TERROR from the onlookers. VICKI turns to BRUCE. Before she can get his name out, he’s HOISTED HER BODILY and THROWN HER behind a parked car. SERIES OF SHOTS 6s BRUCE’S EYES darting birdlike around the street —- INTERCUT with the following PoV SHOTS, ALL IN SLOW MOTION: ~~ TWO MIMES with machine guns. One of them taking aim at PHILLY and co., the other holding the CROWD at bay: —- A WOMAN in the crowd fainting. A THIRD MIME gleefully imitating her swoon, to no one’s amusement: ~~ PHILLY and his pals, COWERING, hands in the air, as OTHER MMES cruelly mimic their terrified poses ...66 67 rir and suddenly BRUCE is RUNNING FRANTICALLY, looking for a cluded spot, an alleyway, anything. No go. He's out in the open, with onlookers everywhere. In his civvies, he’s just another citizen ... TOTALLY IMPOTENT. He darts around a corner, backs against a wall. WOMEN, CHILDREN, GROKN MEN race past Z: + He’s practi-~ cally quaking now, in the throes of sone terrible anxiety. He looks up at the sky overhead, terrified. A BRILLIANT SUN bears down on him as MACHINE GUNS CHATTER. ANGLE ON PHILLY AND BODYGUARDS 66 BODIES JERKING as the MIMES blast away. ANGLE ON BRUCE 67 his back arched, his mouth agape, his face drained of blood as the sounds of carnage echo through the streets. It’s almost as if the bullets are striking him. A moment later, it’s all over. VICKI rounds the corner and finds BRUCE slumped against the wall, nearly catatonic. As if by reflex he reaches out and GRABS HER BY THE ARMS -- with a grip so strong it could crush bone. She GASPS, looks up ~~ and sees, in his traumatized EYES, a look so raw and desperate that it virtually defies comprehension. VICKI (cont.) BRUCE! ! He blinks rapidly. He relaxes his grip. Before VICKI’s eyes, he’s changing ... becoming the BRUCE she knows. BRUCE Oh my God ... are you all right? He reaches for her. Involuntarily, she steps back. He sees her reaction and his face goes slack -- frightened, pleading. This time she lets him embrace her ... but her face is full of bewilderment and doubt. INEERT> TELZVIsrow screen i sa A TV CREW broadcasting live from the Massacre site. ANCHORWOMAN This gangland-style execution is the third in’a rash of underworld killings. I’m here with newly-elected District Attorney Harvey Dent ...an 6 on ~~ 40. The minicam angle WIDENS to include HARVEY DENT. The ANCHORWOMAN thrusts a mike in-his face: ANCHORWOMAN (cont.) Mr. Dent, we've all heard the rumor: Isn’t your prime suspect the myster- ious costumed vigilante known as ‘Batman’? DENT hems and haws onscreen as HYSTERICAL LAUGHTER fills the air. CAMERA PULLS BACK from the TV, placing us in the JOKER’s boardroom. Behind the big desk he SWIVELS INTO VIEW, phone in hand. JOKER All reet! I think it’s about time ve called another meeting, huh? DISSOLVE To: INT. _VICKI/S APARTMENT ~ DAY 6s VICKI on the phone to Wayne Manor. VICKI Please tell him .., I’m not trying to make his life difficult. ‘I/d just -- I’d like to know what’s going on. - ’ - 69a ALFRED on the other end, a feather duster in his hand. BRUCE sits a few feet away, obviously distraught. He looks at ALFRED, shakes his head no. ALFRED I’m sorry, Miss Vale. I’ve given hin your messages. That’s all I can do. He hangs up. BRUCE, disgusted with himself, gets up to leave the room. ALFRED (cont.) Sir, couldn’t you speak to her? fi BRUCE é Ifve let it go on too long as it is. It’s better to end it. ALFRED glowers reproachfully. BRUCE TURNS in the doorway. BRUCE (cont.) Alfred ... what I want doesn’t matter. We've already begun. It’s too late to turn back now.4.. 70 ’ = = 70 Depressed, VICKI putters around aimlessly. she’s at the stereo, flipping through records, when she hears a KNOCK. She goes to open the door and finds KNOX -- wearing a big, Cheshire-cat smile. KNOX Hiya, peanut. I got something I/d like you to see. 71 INT._GOTHAM GLOBE - MORGUE ROOM - DAY 7 A MICROFILM MACHINE. As VICKI looks on curiously, KNOX -- all eagerness now -- threads up a roll of film and begins cranking through back-issue newspapers. He finds the one he wants and stands back. : NOX Okay, here we go. Check it out. VICKI stares at the screen. A BANNER HEADLINE reads: THOMAS WAYNE MURDERED Prominent Doctor, Wife Slain in Robbery Unidentified Gunman Leaves Child Unharmed Beneath it, a PHOTO: cops kneeling over corpses. Medics with stretchers. And off to one side, a YOUNG BOY -- BRUCE WAYNE -- his arms wrapped around the waist of a BEAT COP. The BOY stares straight at the camera. His face is a mask. Of UNFORGETTABLE AGONY. You can’t take your eyes off it. KNOX Nice snap, huh? Pulitzer Prize, 1963. VICKI ©h my God ... Bruce ... TIGHT ON THE BOY'S contorted face, staring out in shock and disbelief, his features recognizable across all the years —- Permanently, indelibly traumatized. ‘ KNOX Yep. He watched the whole thing happen. - Recognize the beat cop? Zim_Gorden VICKI Allie, the look on his it'swhat do you suppose this could drive a guy to? ‘INIL_GLOBE = cITY Room ~ pay 72 KNOX at his desk, showing VICKI the contents of his rapid?: gypanding file on Bruce Wayne. It’s lunchtime, the place is almost empty, but he speaks in hushed tones nonetheless. VICKI Xou are cn drugs. NOX He walks out on his own party. Half an hour later, who turns up? Batman. Sees an execution, freaks out in some alley. No place to change. VICKI Are they paying you for this nonsense? KNOX Everybody needs a hobby. (holding up a clipping) “Five-year world cruise," hah!! -- Probably off in Tibet with some kung fu master. VICKI This is ridiculous. He’s best friends with Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent. They would know. KNOX Yeah? Maybe they do. (on @ roll) Now the way I see it, he’s got this childhood trauma and’he can’t deal with it. So instead of going into therapy like anybody normal, he puts on @ cape and -- TEST lets out a loud GROAN, rolls her eyes impatiently. KNOX looks nervously around’ the newsroom ce KNOX (cont.) Keep it down, will ya? I don’t want the whole vorld in on this. VICKI Allie, you‘re acting like a 4 little nitwit. I’ve had it. leaving.73 74 43. NOX Bruce Wayne is out of his mind. (grabbing her arm) Next time you call him up and he can’t go out Friday night -- think it over. CUT To: INT._ACE CHEMICAL co. - DAY 73 LOW ANGLE on the JOKER. He stands on a catwalk high above the refinery floor, overseeing production like a demented middle manager. IND._JOKER’S LAIR - DAY s 74 A dank, windowless room in the bowels of Ace Chemical. sap- LIKE GOo drips in puddles from exposed pipes overhead. CAMERA DRIFTS across the JOKER’s desk. Shipping manifests, ledgers, PSYCHOTIC DOODLES scrawled in crayon. More significantly: an old CONTRACT dating back to the mid- seventies. The initials ‘CIA’ are plainly visible. Then: a BOUND REPORT with the title ‘DDID NERVE GAS: RESULTS OF PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTATION.‘ Across its title page, a xed rubber stamp: ‘DISCONTINUED January 1977. And finally: a sheaf of PHOTOS. Laboratory apes, chimps and orangutans. Their LIPS are drawn back, exposing BIZARRE, DRUG-INDUCED GRIMACES. On one wall, a photographic reproduction of the Gotham skyline. GRINNING APES, blown up to poster size, peer over the rooftops -- simian delegates to a Kong family reunion. A PHONE RINGS. The JOKER, who’s been sitting on the floor by the cityscape, POPS INTO FRAME and picks it up. JOKER How’s that first shipment coming? VOICE ON PHONE Right on schedule. Oh, we got that. address for you -~ 79 East End, #12: JOKER Swingin’. How'd you find it? VOICE ON PHONE Called her agent. The JOKER smiles and resumes his place on the floor. Like a happy kindergartener, with paste pot and scissors, he’s CLIPPING PHOTOS from a magazine — violent scenes of chacs75 44. and destruction from some wartorn land. One by one, he PASTES the pictures on the blowup of Gotham City, all along sidewalk level -- creating a massive photomontage of ANARCHY IN THE STREETS. We've seen these shots before. VICKI VALE tock then... in Corto Maltese. ‘INT._PHOTOGRAPHER’S. STUDIO - DAY 75 ROWS OF MAKEUP in startling profusion: mascara, blusher, eyeliner, lipstick. BEAUTIFUL MODELS giggle into their keup mirrors as VICKI wanders past with a former col- league, CLAIRE, who owns and operates the studio. CLAIRE vicki! I saw your, what were they, Sgmbat photos in Time. My goodness. == You know, Giorgio’s going with a camouflage look this year. (eagerly pulling her aside) I hear you’ve got your hooks in Bruce Wayne. VICKI Well -- ve‘re having lunch on Tuesday, but ... I think it’s basically over. CLAIRE Oh my. Well. Come on, dear, Tony’s dying to see you. In a corner of the studio, TONY, a gaunt, tubercular Brit, is shooting a swimsuit layout with two SUPERMODELS. They all ad lib greetings to VICKI as TONY darts around hyper- kinetically, snapping the girls in a series of poses. TONY ies, ladies, smiles, show me those smiles, fabulous, tropical smil think Tahiti, I want to Seeth, yes, those glorious teeth -- As VICKI locks on, the SUPERMODELS freeze in place simul- taneously, a strange, STRICKEN LOOK cn their faces. TONY (cont. ) My God no, don’t stop now, those smiles, I need those smiles — Suddenly the girls are LAUGHING -- but the laughter is unnatural, involuntary. VICKI, sensing that something is terribly wrong, lays & hand on CLAIRE’s arm. The MODELS, now wearing HUGE SMILES, go into VIOLENT SPASMS.76 45. TONY (cont.) Yes! oh baby, YES! That’s -- (beat) No! Too far, too far! Pull back, pull back! (dropping the camera) OH MY GoD! The SUPERMODELS PITCH TO THE FLOOR, shuddering convulsively, their LIPS drawn back in FRIGHTFUL, FROZEN, LAB-APE GRINS. VICKI GASPS. CLAIRE SCREAMS. TONY SCREAMS. CUT To: iNL,_TELEVISION STUDIO = EVENING =~ 76 The Eyewitness News set, with anchors BECKY NARITA and DAVE MCELROY. BECKY The fashion world was stunned today by the sudden deaths of models Patsy Walker and Katie Keene. Cause of death has been attributed to a violent allergic reaction, although authorities have not ruled out the possibility of drug use. Dave? DAVE In Gotham, plans continue for the city’s 300th birthday celebration as the mayor announced -- . A TECHNICIAN’S HAND passes a slip of paper into frame. DAVE (cont.) This bulletin just in. Three nyster- ious deaths at'a beauty parlor in -- Off to the left, BECKY begins to LAUGH. DAVE FROWNS. DAVE (cont.) Becky! This is hardly the -- (his eyes widen) BECKY! ! i An offscreen CRASH. DAVE jumps out of his seat, mouth agape in horror. BECKY HAS GONE INTO CONVULSIONS. CAMERA WHIPS RIGHT AND LEFT as she jerks out of her sest and TOTTERS UNCONTROLLABLY across the set, LAUGHING INSANELY. ‘TECHNICIANS rush the soundstage in a frenzy. BECKY spins like a dervish and LURCHES BACKWARD over the newsdesk in a77 78 79 80 46. death spasm, giving us a quick look at the grisly Joker’s grin etched on her now-lifeless face. DAVE KILL THE CAMERA!! KILL THE -- Suddenly, CRACKLING VIDEO STATIC wipes out the screen. A moment later, we/re looking at: SPLITSCREEN CLOSEUP = THE SUPERMODELS 77 Their gorgeous faces sprout BIG, ANIMATED-CARTOON GRINS as a BOUNCY TUNE -- "Put on a Happy Face" -- comes up underneath. MODELS (CARTOON VOICE) Love that Joker! INT._SUPERMARKET > DAY 78 MUSIC CONTINUES as a deranged pitchman -- THE JOKER -~ pushes his shopping cart down the aisle. The shelves are filled with products bearing his TRADEMARK HARLEQUIN’S FACE. He waves merrily in time to the music. ‘INT,_STUDIO = VIDEO CONTROL BOOTH = THAT MOMENT 79 TECHNICIANS swarm the booth. The studio feed has been JAMMED. Every monitor shows THE JOKER’S PROMO. DIRECTOR WHERE'S IT COMING FROM?? TECHNICIAN I DON’T KNOW! SLOSEUP = THE JOKER 80 He thrusts a brightly-colored package at the camera. JOKER +++ new improved Joker brand. with the secret ingredient ... SMYLENOL! (a@ sweep of the hand) Let’s go to our blind taste test. TIGHT ON an ancnymous MAN —- GAGGED AND BLINDFOLDED, tied to his chair, squirming, struggling. On the table before hin is a package labelled "BRAND X.* A SUPERIMPOSED TITLE Feads: "NOT AN ACTOR." JOKER (cont.) Och. He’s tense. Irritable. He/s been using Brand X! But with new improved Joker brand ...81 82 83 84 47. ANGLE WIDENS to include a BLINDFOLDED CORPSE, limp in his chair, GRINNING HORRIFICALLY. JOKER (cont. ) ses it’s a SMILE EVERY TIME!! INT._GOTHAM BEDROOM - THAT MOMENT 81 A YOUNG MAN watching TV as he dresses for a date. He’s got an aerosol deodorant poised under one arm. He looks down at the can, suddenly uncertain. Could it be... ? INSERT_~IV_SCREEN - THE JOKER : 82 lounging beside a full-sized photo of a Jokerized SWIMSUIT MODEL -= with GREEN HAIR and CHALK-WHITE FLESH. JOKER That luscious tan, those ruby lips -- and hair color so natural, only your undertaker knows for sure INT._GOTHAM KITCHEN = THAT MOMENT 83 A FAMILY in their kitchen, eyeing a 12-inch portable as MoM serves dinner. They dig in automatically, then FREEZE with their forks in midair. EXT._STREETS - SERIES OF SHOTS - NIGHT 84 DELIVERY TRUCKS, bearing colorful manufacturers’ logos, drive through the city bringing tainted products to market. JOKER (V.0.) I know what you’re saying. Where can I buy these fine, fine products? -- Well, that’s the gag, folks, you never know. Chances are ... you’ve bought “em already!!! NT._MAYNE MANOR ~ STUDY = NIGHT 85 ALFRED THE BUTLER in a crouch, glued to the tube. Onscreen, the JOKER leers -- and gives the camera a BIG JUICY WINK. JOKER Now on your grocer’s shelf. So remember —~ use Joker brand -- and put on a happy face!! MUSIC UP. VIDEO SNOW fills the screen as the jane: transmission ends. ALFRED looks over his shoulder as ve TRACK IN ON THE GRIM, DETERMINED FACE OF BRUCE WAYNE.86 a: fs im: 87 BB an SERIZS OF SHOTS 86 > The Gotham Globe cartwheeiing into frame: PANIC GRIPS GOTHAM Contaminated Products Claim 13 Lives WHO IS THE MYSTERIOUS "JOKER"? ~- An ANCHORWOMAN on the evening news. Her complexion is curiously sallow. BLACK BAGS show under her eyes. ANCHORWOMAN ~~ six new deaths, with no clues as to the Joker’s identity or demands. The list of lethal products now includes: perfume, mascara, cold cream -- ~~ An ANCHORMAN with a BIG UGLY ZIT on his nose: ANCHORMAN -- a seeming pattern of beauty and hygiene products. Cologne, mouthwash, underarm deodorant -- ~~ The original ANCHORWOMAN, whose look is now 100% natural. Her hair is frizzy. Her eyebrows are missing alto- gether. Every wrinkle on her face is plainly visible. ANCHORWOMAN Hair spray and eyebrow pencil. we repeat: do not use the following products -= DISSOLVE TO: EXDL._STREET - DUSK 87 From acro: the street we see VICKI headed down the sidewalk toward a museum. A GLOVED HAND reaches for a pay phone. ‘VOICE She’s outside the Fluegelhein. [Link] HUVT’S APARTMENT = THAT MOMENT Be A BONE-WHITE HAND slams a phone receiver down.. THE JOKER is at his vanity. He’s rinsed his hair black. He’s applying Pounds of pancake base to his bleached face, his puckered cheeks. In the right light he could almost pass for human. In all of Gotham, he’s the only person still using makeup. A DREAMY, DRUGGED VOICE intrudes: ALICIA Jack? Who was that?89 91 49. As he looks up at the mirror, we get a quick glimpse of ALICIA behind him. The voice, the long blonde hair, are unmistakable. But for some reason, ALICIA’S FACE is COVERED +++ by a SHINY WHITE PORCELAIN DOLL’S MASK. JOKER Get dressed. We’re going out. INT._PLUEGELEEIM MUSEUM - SVENING 89 A few PATRONS are viewing paintings in a square, open atrium, enclosed on all four sides by a BALCONY. One story up, overlooking the atrium, there’s a TEA ROOM —- an airy, fern-filled dining room popular with tourists and elder!: matrons who work up an appetite looking at art. OL, ILUEGELEEIN = TRA ROOM - EVENING so VICKI enters with her camera bag and portfolio -- ready for what will probably be her last date with BRUCE. VICKI I’m Vicki vale -- MAITRE D’ Yes, Mr. Wayne phoned. He’s been delayed. -- We have a table waiting. INT. TEA ROOM ~ TWENTY MINUTES LATER ~ EVENING on VICKI, sipping on a gin and tonic, checks her watch. A WAITER brings her a small parcel, wrapped in brown paper, bearing a single word: URGENT. WAITER Miss Vale, this just arrived for you. As the WAITER leaves, she tears off the wrapper. Inside is a small white box and a NOTE -- SCRIBBLED IN CRAYON. DEAR V. VALE, PUT THIS ON RIGHT Now. Unsigned, of course. VICKI opens the box to find a MINIATURE GAS MASK. She hears a strange HISSING NOISE. A few feet away, PURPLE SMOKE is billowing out of an air-conditioning vent. TRAYS OF FOOD CRASH TO THE FLOOR as WAITERS pass out. ART LOVERS drop forks, go face down in their pasta salad. ~ VICKI hurriedly fits the gas mask over her nose and mouth. Within seconds, she’s the only one conscious in the room.93 INT._MUSEUM - ATRIUM - THAT MOMENT 92 PURPLE SMOKE plumes up toward the ceiling as we TILT DOWN toward the floor of the atrium. PATRONS lie sprawled on the floor, sted at odd angles, out cold. The doors swing open and in strolls THE JOKER, looking quite @apper in his street makeup and BIG PURPLE PIMP’S HAT. A GOON SQUAD enters behind him. They begin uncrating LARGE CANS OF BLACK PAINT as the JOKER wanders past, examining the artwork with an appreciative eye. JOKER Okay, boys, let’s broaden our minds. Stepping over collapsed PATRONS, he stops at Rouault’s "Head of Christ" and holds up a PEARL-HANDLED CANE to get a better perspective. Then he pulls a THIN, SHARP SWORD from the head of the cane and, with two swift strokes, carves a BIG JOKER SMILE in the canvas. Manet’s barmaid, a Degas ballerina -~ all get the Zorro treatment. Behind him, his CRONIES go to work, HEAVING BLACK PAINT on every canvas the JOKER has missed. He cocks an eyebrow at Edvard Munch’s "THE SCREAM." JOKER I kinda like this one. Leave it. E; io = 93 VICKI at her table, still wearing the gas mask, scared as hell. The JOKER saunters over and pulls up a chair. JOKER I think it’s safe to take that off. VICKI recognizes the deranged smile instantly. she removes the gas mask, tries to gather her wits. JOKER (cont.) You’re quite beautiful. VICKI A se. Thank you. ‘ | JOKER Unfortunate, but I think we can work around it. He sets a couple of CANDLESTICKS on the table and reaches for his lighter. A LONG JET OF FLAME shoots out, Jerry Lewis-style, as he lights the candles.LP Dae JOKER (cont.) Is this your portfolio? She nods. He opens it and leafs through the recera of VICKI‘s career. News photos from the Globe, at first; then, magazine covers of celebrities -- and, as her career becones international in scope, heads of state and exotic vistas. JOKER (cont.) Crap. Crap. Crap, crap, crap ... Ahhh. Now here’s what caught my eye. He’s come to the COMBAT PHOTOS from Corto Maltese. JOKER (cont.) The skulls. The bodies. You give it all such a glow. (smirking) I dunno if it’s art, but I like it! VICKI's squirming, but she doesn’t care to debate the point. JOKER (cont.) See, I’m just an old cornball, but I live for beauty. I look around at my drab little city, it gets me down. (enraptured) Then it came to me that what Gotham City needs ... is beautification. Kind of a big makeover. (indicating the photos) And this is exactly the look I’m going for. You know the saying. "In his image created he then"? VICKI You mean -- you want a -- JOKER A visual record, y after kind of thin (leaning closer) This could pake your reputation. A before-and- He oozes twisted charm. It’s almost as if he’s coming on to her. But just then, a tiny BELL sounds behind ‘them ... and @ VOICE intrudes: VOICE Jack? ALICIA steps out of a ROOFTOP ELEVATOR and wanders in, drugged, wraithlike. She’s still wearing the porcelain DOLL’S MASK ve saw earlier.ia JOKER Christ, it’s my girlfriend. -- WHAT? ALICIA You said I could look at the pictures before you == before you -- JOKER Shucks, honey, I forgot. (rolling his eyes) I’m in trouble now. -- This is business, sweetie. Why don’t you go outside and see how the boys are coming? VICKI can’t take her eyes off this strange figure drifting eerily through the abandoned room. Hesitantly, she asks: VICKI «+. Why the mask? JOKER Alicia! Come here, have a seat. Show Miss Vale why you wear the mask. ALICIA sits down numbly and begins to undo the mask. JOKER (cont.) You see, Miss Vale, Alicia’s beau- titul. one in a million. A work of art. In fact ... We're looking at ALICIA’s profile as the mask comes off. The side that’s turned to us is indeed beautiful. But the side we can’t +++ SENDS VICKI RIGHT OVER THE EDGE. JOKER (cont.) She makes you look sick. VICKI lurches cut of her seat, knocking it over, HER FACE FROZEN IN HORROR. THE JOKER advances on her. She tips a chair in his path. VICKI You SCUM! You SICK FILTH! ... you DID THAT to her! JOKER What? I improved her a little .., VICKI I/11 see you burn. 1/11 see you dead. —- GET AWAY FROM ME!!a JOKER Gee, was it something I said? (brightly) Do you want to sniff ny flower? There’s a BRIGHT PURPLE BOUTONNIERE in his lapel. He holds it up for VICKI’s inspection as he moves menacingly closer. VICKI No! The JOKER squeezes a concealed BULB. A JET OF CLEAR LIQUID spurts out of the FLOWER, NARROWLY MISSING VICKI. She GASPS. BUMPS INTO A TABLE. ACRID BLACK SMOKE rises from the floor where the clear liquid hit. acid. VICKI backs into a WAITERS CART. Her hand closes around a pitcher. She FLINGS IT at the JOKER’S HEAD, DOUSING HIS FACE WITH WATER. His hands go up and he doubles over, SHRIEKING, MAKEUP running through his fingers. Then, with a gruesome CACKLE ~~ like the Wicked Witch of the West dissolving -- he TURNS on VICKI, his HIDEOUS RAVAGED FACE exposed to view. VICKI Your face. That's your real face. You're -- Aghast, VICKI hoists her camera and begins snapping the shutter -- as the JOKER advances, enjoying himself, striking a seri of MENACING POSES. JOKER Beautiful? Yes, but beauty -- is in the eve -- of the beholder. VICKI, cornered, grabs a plate. She’s rearing back to heave it at him when he LUNGES FORWARD and grabs a fistful of her hair. Giggling insanely, he draws her face ever closer to the deadly FLOWER in his lapel. JOKER (cont.) Come on, Miss Vale ... STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES!! 7 And then — abruptly — A SKYLIGHT SHATTERS in a hail of glass. A CAPED SHADOW drops to the floor of the tea roon. And all at once, THE JOKER is face to face with ... THE BATMAN! i On his wrist is a STEEL GAUNTLET. He AIMS IT at the JOKER, then PIVOTS suddenly — POINTS HIS ARM THROUGH THE DOOR oF94 THE RESTAURANT -- AND FIRES A METAL SPIKE across the atriuz, into the OPPOSITE WALL!! JOKER see YOU!! on the end of the spike is a CORD leading to BATMAN’s belt. In the wink of an eye he’s GRABBED VICKI and PLUNGED OVER THE BALCONY!! INT. MUSEUM = ATRIUM = THAT MOMENT 4 The JOKER’S GOONS can only gape in awe as BATMAN and VICKI swoop past -- swinging across the floor and STRAIGHT THROUGH AN ARCHED DOORWAY labelled “EXIT.” JOKER GET ‘EM!! GET /EM!! EXT. _FLUEGELEEIM - A MOMENT LATER — DUSK i 95 A SIGN on a black metal stand -- "CLOSED FOR THE DAY" -- HURTLES through the locked glass doors of the museum. BATMAN and VICKI hustle through; he points her to a side alley. She rounds the corner just as BATMAN lobs a SMOKE PELLET into the doorway of the Fluegelhein. BATMAN GET IN THE CAR! VICKI WHICH CAR? VICKI suddenly feels quite stupid. Because are many cars parked along the side alley one BATMOBILE. while there there is only VICKI (cont.) on. The BATMOBILE is sleek, futuristic, and ... well, inde- seribable. Imagine your own. VICKI climbs into the passenger seat and is immediately dazzled by a stunning array of electronic gadgetry. BATMAN . Ignition! As he sprints down the alley, a COMPUTER DISPLAY on the dashboard registers his unique voiceprint. aA tinny, synthe- sized VOICE repeats the command: COMPUTER Ignition.The engines rev up as BATMAN vaults into the cockpit. Guns in hand, the JOKER’S GOONS are stumbling out of the Fluegelheim, hacking, coughing, blinded by smoke. They DIVE FOR THEIR LIVES as the BATMOBILE comes barreliing out of the alley at ninety miles an hour. JOKER I WANT HIM!! I WANT HIM! The JOKER climbs into the back of a van labelled "MONARCH PLAYING CARDS." Some of his GOONS pile into the van behind him, the rest into TWO CARS waiting nearby. 96-973 OMITTED 96-97 99 IMTL_VAN = MOVING - A MOMENT LATER 38 TIGHT ON the demented face of the JOKER. He catches sight of the BATMOBILE and screams into a RADIO DISPATCHERS MIKE. JOKER SOUTHBOUND! FOLLOW THAT ~~ BAT! EXT. STREETS - THAT MOMENT 99 PEDESTRIANS SCATTER as the JOKER’s TWO GOON CARS swerve hard left and SCREECH through a crowded intersection. DNT._BATMOBILE - THAT MOMENT 100 ONLOOKERS GAWK as the sleek supercar RIPS UP THE PAVEMENT. BATMAN DAMN! They’re moving up on an EMPTY BLOCK -- a NIGHT CONSTRUCTION TEAM. A HUGE PIECE OF HEAVY MACHINERY backs up slowly and inexorably, BLOCKING THE INTERSECTION. BATMAN guns the engine. SWERVES LEFT. Tries to glide past. And HITS THE BRAKES -- stopping inches short of a head-on collision with a lamppost! He jumps out of the car. No chance to get through. ONLOOKERS and CONSTRUCTION WORKERS cluster around them; the JOKER'S VAN is two blocks back and coming up fast. VICKI can’t we -- BATMAN Too many people. Come cn! (as she scrambles out) SHIELDS! !101 102 103 104 105 The BATMOBILE’s computerized VOICE replies: COMPUTER Shields. With a series of CLANGS, CHROME-STEEL PLATES slide into Place -- across the cockpit, over the tires -- leaving the BATMOBILE an inert, impenetrable BLOCK OF BLACK METAL. BATMAN and VICKI sprint through the CONSTRUCTION SITE, vaulting over mounds of loose dirt and concrete rubble. = MOVING - 2021 THREE POLICE CARS, bubbles blazing, OVERTAKE THE JOKER’S VAN and bear down on the abandoned BATMOBILE. JOKER Slow down. Let’s get out of here! The VAN does a discreet U-turn and rumbles sedately off, EXIL_SIDE STREET - THAT MOMENT - NIGHT 102 BATMAN and VICKI zigzag past storefronts and candy stands, dodging astonished PEDESTRIANS. = MOVING = 103 FOUR GOONS with GUNS. They spot BATMAN and VICKI coming off the side street. The DRIVER shouts into a radio: DRIVER Boss! We got ‘en! EET = = 104 BATMAN and VICKI race down the sidewalk. The car is gaining on them. A SUDDEN SPRAY OF BULLETS shatters a storefront window; BATMAN and VICKI dive out of sight behind a parked car and ROLL into a BLIND ALLEY. TNTL._ALLEYWAY - NIGHT 205 Hunkered on pavement, they watch the car glide past the mouth of the alley. VICKI sighs in relief. BATMAN looks overhead, How much do you weigh? VICKI +++ A hundred and eight?