Now, with more than 30 years of films under Batman’s belt, Uslan can rest easy, and even appreciate the camp of the West series and 1966 “Batman” movie for what it was. “Like myself, fans around the world have been waiting a long, long time for a movie that concentrates on the fact that Bruce Wayne is the world’s greatest detective,” say Uslan, continuing his conversation with NJ Advance Media after the phone disruption via Zoom. The producer once pitched two non-Batman DC movies to Carneys Point’s own Bruce Willis, who wanted to know if Uslan was really from New Jersey. He met theater giant Bob Nederlander of the Nederlander Organization through a mutual friend and gave him a copy of “The Boy Who Loved Batman.” A few days later, joker and harley quinn halloween costumes Uslan’s new acquaintance proposed a Broadway play based on the producer’s origin story. Previous films, including “The Dark Knight Rises” and “Joker,” were filmed in Newark and Jersey City at landmarks like the Loew’s Jersey Theatre in Journal Square, right down the way from Uslan’s birthplace.

The sentiment holds true for Reeves’ “The Batman,” he says. “Jerry turned to me with tears running down his eyes and said, ‘This is the greatest night of my life,’” Uslan says of Robinson, who died in 2011. “So I know how they would react. 1, where he was created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson, the Joker resonated as an out-of-the-box malevolent jester figure with chalk-white skin, garish green hair, and an unexplained facial deformity that twists his face up into a permanent smile. What Melniker meant by “Batman’s Batman” is that Uslan had taken it upon himself to be Batman’s protector, a steward of the character from the Kane and Finger stories he devoured as a child. Luther’s mother was a Bayonne midwife who presided over the birth of Uslan’s father and, two years later, joker halloween costume Uslan’s producing partner Benjamin Melniker. For a great couples’ costume, you could also get a friend or partner to put on a Joker Costume and transform into Batman’s infamous arch-nemesis!

“You no longer need to say, ‘That was a great comic book movie,’” Uslan says. “I everyday meet and speak with some of the most creative people in the world who are making movies and TV shows, and I still say Michael is one of most creative people I’ve ever met,” Gorelick says, pointing to his film, book and play (there’s also an HBO Max spinoff show on the way starring Colin Farrell’s Penguin from Matt Reeves’ film). There’s been plenty of Jersey in the Batman universe. Robert Pattinson’s Batman tries to piece together clues from the Riddler (Paul Dano) following a murder spree in which the villain snuffs out Gotham officials for their corruption. However, the items won’t come cheap to prospective buyers, with the memorabilia having the potential to rake in £4.4 million in total, based on the valuation done on each piece beforehand. As a kid, Uslan embraced Batman’s moral code of no killing and no guns, of having honor and integrity.

Uslan raised the money to buy the film rights from DC Comics with Melniker in his 20s. But really, it’s a wish that burned in his heart ever since he was a kid. Michael Uslan, left, and Benjamin Melniker on the set of the 1982 film “Swamp Thing,” which they produced. But he always makes clear his conviction that passion for film means learning how the industry got to where it is now. Now that Academy Award-nominee Joaquin Phoenix is taking on the mantle in a standalone film, fans are excited to see how he brings Batman’s archnemesis to life. The relationship between Ben Affleck’s DCEU Batman and the Joker has yet to be properly explored on-screen, and while fans will unlikely ever see a full film of the conflict, the new scenes will offer a taste of it. Some see it as a close examination of the forces that can push a person to commit such atrocities; others say it lionizes the mass violence that’s become increasingly common in recent years.