In case you didn’t notice, Comicbook.com is really into covering fan-made films and web-series. YouTube and increasingly-intuitive technology has made it easier than ever for passionate fans to share their own tales about superheroes, video game characters, or whatever fictional realm that’s captured their imaginations. It’s fan-fiction for the 21st century, and never has it been more abundant and impressive.
This year marked a rather significant turning point in fan-made films with Nightwing, a YouTube series that scored almost $35,000 in Kickstarter funding for production costs. What resulted was one of the most highly-produced fan series to hit the Internet so far, and a pariah marking the next level of fan-produced films. In honor of the next fan-fiction next great frontier, here are some of our favorite productions thus far. What they lack in a budget, they more than compensate with heart and imagination.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Ace The Bathound
Dirty Laundry
Nightwing the Series
Whereas most fan made productions are one-and-done entries, Nightwing is the gift that keeps on giving as an ongoing web series. Viewers step into an established world where Dick Grayson has graduated to the mantle of Nightwing and fights crime on his own watch. The series does a fantastic job at bringing Dick Grayson’s swashbuckling persona to the screen, faithfully painting him as a laughing daredevil who actually enjoys being a vigilante. With quite the production budget to rely on, the finished product has a certain level of gloss that elevates it above the DIY-look found most fan-made productions. And the best part is, the show actually feels like it exists in the DC Universe, with established relationships and concepts that are new-viewer friendly enough for anyone to watch. Arrow and Flash fans will find plenty to love here.
Superman: Classic
Batman: Puppet Master
If The Dark Knight Rises wasn’t your style, then consider Batman: Puppet Master your Dark Knight sequel. Let’s say Christopher Nolan’s Batman didn’t go into hiding after Harvey Dent’s death. What would Gotham look like? Which villains would rise to fill the Joker’s “better class of criminal?” Those questions, and more, are answered in the best fan-made continuation of the Nolan-Verse. The creators replicate Nolan’s style of filmmaking, creating a professional looking shortย that might just pass as a Hollywood production. Here, The Riddler and Scarface are filtered through Nolan’s grounded lens, offering accurate depictions of how the characters would have existed and clashed with The Dark Knight Universe’s Batman. With a rebooted Batman heading to theaters, this now-alternate take on the cinematic Caped Crusader is one that fans both need and deserve right now.
