Batman

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on Batman:

Batman: Arkham Knight heads for Mac and iPhone via Amazon Luna

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'Batman: Arkham Knight' heads Mac and iPhone via Amazon Luna cloud gaming service
Get ready to play Batman: Arkham Knight on your Mac, iPad or iPhone.
Image: Rocksteady Studios

The Amazon Luna cloud-gaming service will soon include the Batman: Arkham Knight, Lego DC Super-Villains and three other premium games. They will be added in April.

And this applies to more than the United States, because Amazon also announced on Wednesday that residents of Canada, the UK and Germany now have access to Luna, which means they can play console-quality games on Mac, iPad and iPhone. There are even free games for Prime members.

Telltale’s eagerly anticipated Batman game finally hits iOS

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Check out the gorgeous, rotoscoped-style artwork.
Photo: Telltale

Promising to take you inside the “fractured psyche” of Bruce Wayne, a gorgeously animated new Batman iOS game plunges players into a branching narrative that features plenty of DC Comics’ favorite Bat-characters.

The first episode of Batman: The Telltale Series — from Telltale Games, maker of great iOS titles like Tales from the Borderlands and The Walking Dead — lands today, and it looks like another story-driven winner. Check out the trailer below.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of disappointment

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Ben Affleck kicks ass as Batman.
Ben Affleck kicks ass as Batman.
Photo: Warner Bros.

The battle between the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has been billed as the greatest gladiator match of all time, but if you’re looking for a film with substance and cohesion, you should probably avoid the new movie like Clark Kent shuns kryptonite.

The sad truth of BvS is that it beats itself into a bloody pulp thanks to its brutish director, Zack Snyder, who can’t tell a compelling story to save his life — even when he’s got more than 70 years of comic book history to mold to his will.

In BvS, the message is as clear as the Bat-Signal: It’s time to pull Snyder away before he ruins more movies that could have been great.

Final Batman v Superman trailer packs intense bat-on-god action

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Batman might stand a chance.
Batman might stand a chance.
Photo: Warner Brothers.

Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent have had enough with the pleasantries. In the final trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, it’s an all out war.

Warner Brothers has given fans their final glimpse of new movie footage before it hits theaters next month. Batman gets the biggest role in the new trailer that shows Superman won’t have an easy fight against Gotham’s Dark Knight. There are also some new shots of Wonder Woman, Alfred, and of course Lex Luther.

Check it out:

Can’t wait for Suicide Squad? Check out the bad guys on TV

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It really wouldn't be a trailer without the ensemble walking in a line at some point.
Photo: Warner Bros.

The upcoming Suicide Squad movie may be the most gritty and in your face version of the world-saving team of supervillains, but it isn’t the only one around.

If you can’t wait until next year to see Task Force X in action, you have a few options available to see Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and their crazy friends right now in both live-action and animated forms. And they’re available online, so you can crank up your iPad or Apple TV and watch them right now.

Batman and Superman disagree on everything

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Seriously, didn't you see this trailer? Photo: How It Should Have Ended
Seriously, didn't you see this trailer? Photo: How It Should Have Ended

Here’s what would happen if Superman and Batman got together for coffee to talk about the big trailer reveal of the past week.

No, it’s not Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Instead, Supes is excited about Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and calls it the best trailer out there. Batman tries to get the Man of Steel to consider their own dual trailer to no avail.

Superhero banter, sarcasm, and some pretty funny lines ahead. You’ve been warned.

See Batman’s armored batsuit in first Batman v Superman trailer

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The Dark Knight gets headlights in the first trailer for Batman v. Superman. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures
The Dark Knight gets headlights in the first trailer for Batman v. Superman. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures

If Batman’s going to take on Superman, he’s going to need some extra protection and firepower. The first trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice gives us our a glimpse of the armored batsuit — complete with glowing white eyes — the Dark Knight will don in the superhero smackdown flick.

I think we can safely assume Jony Ive isn’t designing products for Bruce Wayne. The armored batsuit looks anything but thin and light.

6 audacious fan films that could teach Hollywood a lesson

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Dawson and Starbuck in a gritty future war? Yes please. Photo: Adi Shankar/YouTube
A recent Power Rangers fan film created major excitement online. Photo: Adi Shankar/YouTube

Fan films are the ultimate way for devotees to pay tribute to the characters they love. They give fans the chance to show how the beloved heroes (and antiheroes) should be portrayed — without the creativity-sapping “benefit” of focus groups, hack screenwriters and overpaid producers.

With a war raging between the fans who make these productions and the rights-holders who argue they’re being damaged, Cult of Mac runs down six of the best fan-created short films doing the round on the interwebz.

Check out our picks below.

8 epic movie crossovers we’d love to see

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In the works since 1979, a JLA/Avengers crossover finally happened in 2003, bringing together the World’s Mightiest Heroes and DC’s Justice League of America. With the two franchises set to collide (sort of) when Avengers: Age of Ultron and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice finally make it to theaters, the idea of mashing up both series seems unthinkable at present.Looking longer-term, though, who wouldn’t want to Batman face off against Iron Man, or Superman with Captain America? The only losers would be the poor legal teams who had to work out the agreement for it to happen.Picture: DC Comics/Marvel Comics

In the works since 1979, a JLA/Avengers crossover finally happened in 2003, bringing together the World’s Mightiest Heroes and DC’s Justice League of America. With the two franchises set to collide (sort of) when Avengers: Age of Ultron and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice finally make it to theaters, the idea of mashing up both series seems unthinkable at present.

Looking longer-term, though, who wouldn’t want to Batman face off against Iron Man, or Superman with Captain America? The only losers would be the poor legal teams who had to work out the agreement for it to happen.

Picture: DC Comics/Marvel Comics


9 things we’re desperately hoping Batman V Superman gets right

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There are few comic books movies fanboys are salivating over more than 2016's upcoming Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.As huge Superman and Batman fans, no-one is more excited than we are. With that in mind, here are the 9 things we hope more than anything that director Zack Snyder is able to get right for history's most eagerly-anticipated team-up. Check out the gallery to find out what they are.
There are few comic books movies fanboys are salivating over more than 2016's upcoming Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.

As huge Superman and Batman fans, no-one is more excited than we are. With that in mind, here are the 9 things we hope more than anything that director Zack Snyder is able to get right for history's most eagerly-anticipated team-up. Check out the gallery to find out what they are.


Comics’ best supervillains (and not just the obvious ones)

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Mr. Freeze has been an enduringly chilly presence in the Batman universe since his first appearance (as Mr. Zero) in Batman #121, back in February 1959. The most famous take on the character was the one engineered by Paul Dini in the Batman: The Animated Series episode “Heart of Ice.” That story introduced us to Freeze’s terminally ill, cryogenically frozen wife Nora, which both explained Freeze’s obsession with cold and turned him into a tragic character in the process.

But while Dini’s animated version of Freeze was good enough to become the standard portrayal of the character in most forms of media, more recently I’ve been loving the reinvention of Mr. Freeze seen in DC’s New 52. (SPOILERS) You see, in this universe it turns out that Nora was never Freeze's wife at all, but rather a woman born in 1943, who was put into cryogenic stasis at the age of 23 after being diagnosed with an incurable heart condition.

Writing his doctoral thesis on Nora, Freeze fell in love with her, and became obsessed with finding a way to bring her back to life. One cryonic chemical accident later, and the already unhinged Dr. Victor Fries is transformed into Mr. Freeze. It’s a clever re-imagining of Freeze’s origin which makes him less sympathetic, but a whole lot creepier.


Who’s the baddest of the bad?

Got your own favorite underappreciated supervillain? Let us know in the comments below.

Excelsior: Alpha nerds choose the 10 best comics

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Never in its many incarnations has the Animal Man mythos been this fascinating.
Never in its many incarnations has the Animal Man mythos been this fascinating.

When we’re looking for comics in our local nerd den, we’re often overwhelmed by the quantity of new titles each week. That’s not even counting the back issues and collected series in trade paperback format.

So we asked some of the most alpha nerds we know: the folks at Industrial Toys, a game development team (Midnight Star) with a who’s-who pedigree in geek. There’s CEO Alex Seropian, the co-founder of Bungie games (Marathon, Halo), Tim Harris, part owner of Alley Cat Comics in Chicago, John Scalzi, best-selling science fiction author, and Mike Choi, a veteran comic book artist in his own right.

Harris and Seropian, along with art director Aaron Marroquin and senior graphic designer Sarah Chiappetta, chimed in to our request with the comic books that they think are the best in the bin.

Batman finally gets a badass Batmobile in Arkham Knight trailer

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batmobile battle mode

In all the recent Batman games (Arkham City, Arkham Asylum, Arkham Origins), I’ve always thrilled to Bat-grapple my way to the rooftops, occasionally base-jumping down to glide-kick some nasty thug just asking for that special brand of Bat-justice.

There’s always been one thing missing, though: The Batmobile.

The folks at Rocksteady Games have remedied this sad fact in the latest game in the series, Batman: Arkham Knight, and are showing off a car-porn-filled new trailer to whet our appetite. Check out this bad boy below.

Get 5 Titles The Whole Family Will Love With The LEGO Gamer Bundle For Mac [Deals]

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LEGO never goes out of style, and they’ve pretty much started to take over the world of new meda as well. Whether it’s through the LEGO movies or television shows, the 1940’s timeless toy has seen a rise in popularity with today’s youth. Now there are the games you can play where LEGO plays a central theme.

And Cult of Mac Deals has 5 LEGO titles packed into a single bundle – The LEGO Gamer Bundle For Mac – where you can get $110 worth of games for only $39.99!

Bored at Home this Weekend? We have you covered – Snag Batman: Arkham City Game Of The Year Edition [Deals]

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CoM-BatmanGame

Do you have what it takes to bring Batman back to life?

When Batman is imprisoned alongside Gotham’s most notorious, he must discover Arkham City’s true purpose before it’s too late. Batman: Arkham City is an intense, atmospheric sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum plunges Batman deep into a gothic nightmare from which he will need all his wits, gadgetry and skill to escape. And Cult of Mac Deals has it for just $14.99!

Here are just some of the gameplay elements that this game offers:

The iPhone 6 Might Get Dark Knight-Style Sonar Mapping Abilities [Rumor]

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At the end of Chris Nolan’s 2008 movie The Dark Knight there's a scene in which Batman uses Lucius Fox’s sonar concept to turn every cellphone in Gotham City into a huge sonar-based live map in order to find The Joker. Back in 2012 it was rumored that Apple was interested in applying that same technology to its then-a-gleam-in-Apple’s-eye iPhone 6 handset. The tech would allow Apple to integrate audio sensors into its displays, which could detect the proximity of objects to your iPhone: interrupting your podcast app to alert you that a fast-moving large object is approaching you, for example.Now obviously it’s a bit difficult to disprove this report given that the iPhone 6 itself is still technically a rumor. This one was also based on an Apple patent, which shows that someone in Cupertino at least took it seriously enough to file the necessary paperwork. However, we’ve heard nothing about it since, while more and more details of the iPhone 6 have been leaking on what seems like a daily basis. Maybe one to chalk up for the unsubstantiated rumor pile!Which is a real shame because if Apple could’ve figured out a way to license Morgan “Lucius Fox” Freeman’s voice for a next generation Siri the combo could have been a total crowd pleaser.

At the end of Chris Nolan’s 2008 movie The Dark Knight there's a scene in which Batman uses Lucius Fox’s sonar concept to turn every cellphone in Gotham City into a huge sonar-based live map in order to find The Joker. Back in 2012 it was rumored that Apple was interested in applying that same technology to its then-a-gleam-in-Apple’s-eye iPhone 6 handset. The tech would allow Apple to integrate audio sensors into its displays, which could detect the proximity of objects to your iPhone: interrupting your podcast app to alert you that a fast-moving large object is approaching you, for example.

Now obviously it’s a bit difficult to disprove this report given that the iPhone 6 itself is still technically a rumor. This one was also based on an Apple patent, which shows that someone in Cupertino at least took it seriously enough to file the necessary paperwork. However, we’ve heard nothing about it since, while more and more details of the iPhone 6 have been leaking on what seems like a daily basis. Maybe one to chalk up for the unsubstantiated rumor pile!

Which is a real shame because if Apple could’ve figured out a way to license Morgan “Lucius Fox” Freeman’s voice for a next generation Siri the combo could have been a total crowd pleaser.


The iPhone 6 probably isn’t going to come out for another 18 months or so, but seems how it’s so far away, now seems like a great time to fantasize about possible features Apple might throw into the device based on patent filings. It’s Friday. I’m tired. So screw it, let’s talk crazy.

Yesterday the US Patent and Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that showed Apple is considering adding hidden audio sensors into the displays of the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and maybe even the iTV if they get around to it. What wasn’t detailed was how Apple plans to use those sensors,  but one crazy idea is that Apple might use them to create sonar-maps kind of like in the movie The Dark Knight.

Must-Have Games That Truly Take Advantage Of What Your New iPhone 5 Can Do [Roundup]

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Gaming is going to be a new experience on the iPhone 5 with that larger 4-inch display, which means it’s going to take a little while for your favorite games to be optimized. Fortunately, there are some incredible titles already available. We’ve put together a list of the best ones, so that you can start enjoying your iPhone’s 4-inch display the day you unwrap it.

9 Ways To Get Your Batman Fix On Your iPad Before Watching ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

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batman

The Dark Knight Rises is like the most anticipated movie of the year. People are going straight up loco for this movie. Is Batman going to die? Is Bane really just Ricky Martin’s alter-ego? Will Michael Keaton make a cameo? We don’t know, we haven’t seen it yet.

If you’re as excited we are though, then you’re probably trying to gorge on as much Batman stuff as humanly possible right now. Don’t worry, we got you covered and put together this little guide on all the ways you can use your iPad to get your Batman fix while waiting for the movie to finally hit theaters.

Protect The City Of Gotham This Summer In The Dark Knight Rises From Gameloft

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Gameloft continues to make friends with all the right people as Hollywood seems to be trusting them to create the official mobile games to accompany their summer blockbusters. First they teamed up with Marvel and Sony Pictures to bring the official Amazing Spiderman and now they’ve teamed up with Warner Brothers Games and DC Comics to bring the official Dark Knight Rises to Android and iOS this summer.

Which Assistant Is Better? Siri Or Batman’s Butler Alfred [Video]

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I’ve always wanted my own butler that I can order around and have him go fetch me a delicious Chipotle burrito whenever I want. Problem is, I don’t have half a billion dollars to pay for one, so I’ll never be cool like Batman and have a elderly british fellow named Alfred to satisfy my every need. Siri is the closest I’ll ever come to having a true personal assistant, except she doesn’t come equipment with Michael Caine’s impeccable British accent. But is Siri better than Alfred?

The Batman-Inspired Kevlar Gauntlet Is Both An iPhone Dock And Wearable Body Armor

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Oh man, it’s too bad it’s too late to add this to my Christmas list. The Armstar is a gauntlet ripped straight from the forearm of Batman himself, featuring a working stun device, camera, flash light and iPhone / iPod dock, all in one piece of Kevlar arm armor. And Kevin Costner helped build it!

If only we’d found out about this a couple months back, I know what would have won our best of 2011 accessories award!

[via Obama Pacman]

Batman Is Coming To The App Store Later Tonight In This Unreal Engine 3 Powered Game

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I love Rocksteady’s series of Batman games for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. They are loving, incredibly crafted tributes to the Dark Knight clearly made by fans who get Batman, who is equal parts acrobat, brawler, psychopath, hero, detective and muscle. That’s why I’m excited to check out Batman: Arkham City Lockdown when it is released later tonight.