Batman in film & Robin". The commercials also featured the Danny Elfman Batman theme from Tim Burton's two films. Actor Bruce Thomas portrayed Batman in these ads, while Michael Gough reprised his role of Alfred Pennyworth in one of the ads. "Baywatch" actress Brooke Burns played Vicki Vale in an ad as well. Actor Brian Stepanek played the Riddler in one ad and Curtis Armstrong played the Joker in another. Following a rejected "Batman" origin story reboot Joss Whedon pitched in December 2002, Warner Bros. hired Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer to script "Batman Begins". The duo aimed for a darker and
Batman: The Animated Series The series was also the first in the continuity of the shared DC animated universe, spawning further animated TV series, comic books and video games with most of the same creative talent. Its ratings success and critical acclaim led the series to spawn two feature films: "" (released to theaters in 1993) and "" (a direct-to-video release in 1998). The series took influence from Tim Burton's live-action films, "Batman" (1989) and "Batman Returns" (1992), and the acclaimed "Superman" theatrical cartoons produced by Fleischer Studios in the early 1940s. In designing the series, creators Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski emulated the