What if...?

[GMartin58]

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the 66 GH series and what might have made it better...and thinking about a new film in the works what could possibly make it "cooler". One of the things that made Batman and a lot of the others like Star Trek were the "toys", "gadgets" and vehicles. Sadly, some of the gizmos that GH used were a lacking...like the under the table bug or the smoke grenade which looks like a 1948 M12.

But! What I'd like to do is to start a conversation about what kinds of things could you imagine GH & Kato using in the modern world...! What would his NEW Black Beauty look like? How would his gas gun or sting evolve? What might his hat, coat and mask morph into? Think Kevin Smith comic...

Let's hear your ideas? -G

[DrewMasie]

Great subject. The Hornet (or Batman for that matter) would need a variety of tools and methods for gathering intelligence (bugging devices, ways to hack into cell phones and computers, satellites for surveillance, Mission Impossible-level stuff), monitoring the presence of bad guys, and civilians (infrared, sonar, or other ways to "see" through walls and into buildings, 3-D maps of all the buildings in a particular area, or ways to generate them on the fly), being able to set up traps for bad guys when he's outnumbered (timed gas bombs) being able to attack from a distance (gas grenades, drones, various remote-controlled weapons).

To operate in a particular city, GH (or again, Batman) would need to own various buildings/safe houses throughout the city so he can appear or disappear at will. Operating from a central lair would be too easy for the enemy to track you down, particularly if you're on street level and can be identified by surveillance cameras. I don't think the "secret entrance" at Britt Reid's apartment is going to cut it.

The other equipment would be for close-quarters combat, so things like the taser used in "The Batman", maybe sonic weapons based on the "Sting" weapon, some way to incapacitate threats quickly (just punching a guy in the face won't knock them out for several minutes, and even if it did, the smart thing to do would be to use zip ties or some quick way to bind them to prevent them from being able to get up.) Maybe a nerve agent that doesn't kill but paralyzes the threat for some period of time.

Is your image of GH and Kato more Jason Bourne, or more Biff! Bam! Pow!?

[GMartin58]

Good insights! With a new movie on the horizon (hopefully) we'd like to think there would be some updating of the gizmos for 2023. I think that GH & Kato will always fall back on their fighting skills (especially Kato) but it's hard to market fighting skills! One of the things I liked about the Seth Rogen GH movie was the tributes paid to the original 40's & 60's Black Beauties...and to Kato (Bruce Lee)...but that's about where my interest ends. I thought the Rogen gas gun was a joke (IMHO)...no coolness factor at all! The 40's version...even the unused design for the radio gun were cooler...and of course the '66 gun was sleek and sharp looking.

I think that Kevin Smith and Jonathan Lau did a good job of looking into the future.

Any more thoughts from the crowd?!