Man Of Steel 2, Batman Reboot, Wonder Woman and beyond
I was thinking today,about all the possibilities for the future of Comic Book story telling in film. There is so much to be excited about in the post Batman trilogy era. After having just seen The Dark Knight Rises, which I think was great (but not quite The Dark Knight), one of the things I was pleasently surprised with i how Nolan tinkered with the characters, such as Robin and Bane, to make them modern and more relatable. I personally never thought I´d like Robin, but what is great is he took the essence and tragedy of the carácter, but just made him more palatble. This made me think could we do this for Wonder Woman, an important heroine for women everywhere, and the coolest female comic character apart from Cat Woman. I mean apart from Cat Woman, who else does every woman want to be, and every man wouldn´t mind getting roughed up by? That is why I began this article. How can we make hero´s like Wonder Woman relevent in film language? And further, how can we make villains like Lex Luthor, who have fallen out of favor in recent times, cool again?
I really have loved the direction that DC have taken with the Batman films and hope it transates into grittier and more realistic takes on their canon, hopefully while not loosing the essence of the characters. I really think that´s the fun and challenge of it. Man Of Steel is going to be the real test of this and I hope for it alot of success in making a real world Superman. I mean, sometimes just thinking of what a realistic take on Krypton would be like, just blows my mind. Let alone Paradise Island.
In light of this I´ve compiled a fun list for possible casts for a Batman reboot, Man of Steel 2: The Man Of Tomorrow villains and Wonder Woman movie. Interspliced in all this, is the possible direction they may want to take the movies, and, problems they may have faced realising the characters.
Cast of Batman
1. Batman – Michael Fasbender
I really think unless we get a completely new face Fasbender is the man for the job. He´s young, very talented and has that dark edge to his look. He´s also young enough to work with Henry Cavill´s ultra young superman. You can see a quiet anger brewing within, in many of his performances; Just see Shame or X- MEN First Class. He also has a growly angry voice, he doesn´t have to put on like Bale, (not that I didn´t like Bales´ performance, but lets face it his Bruce Wayne was way better than his Batman) and I could see him being very intimidating. Good luck Fassbender I hope those Hollywood hacks have the vision to see you´re the obvious choice.
2. Jim Gordan – Harvey Keitel
I don´t know if anyone except the late great Spencer Tracy himself could do better than Oldman. If you were going for a more noir/Frank Miller version Harvey Keitel wouldn´t be a bad fit. So this one really off the top of the head, that is of course if he´d do it. Although, he´s so good, I´d almost rather see him play a villain.
3. Alfred Pennywern - Brian Cox or Frank Langella
Michael Caines interpretation of Alfred was brilliant, and I personally thought he along with Hathaway were the best part of the dark knight rises. It´s hard to choose, but I would like to see an even more savvy Alfred played by Brian Cox, or, go back to a bit of poshe and sagely advice with Frank Langella (I know he´s American, but he´s a superb actor and can do it, plus it´s not like the Brits aren´t taking over American superhero roles)
4. The Riddler – Edward Norton
He has the Brains, the look, the talent. He plays a great psycho as we´ve seen. I just think it would be fantastic. There are many who could play the role, but all round if it´s written in a dark sinister undertone, I think Norton´s got to have it. Again good luck my friend, I hope Warner Brothers have the vision to see that you´d be much better than Dicaprio. (No disrespect to the talented Leo)
5. The Pengiuin – Philip Seymour Hoffman or Paul Giammati
Need I say more. Who could make a scarier darker Penguin. King of the mob. A sinister dark twisted figure, with a pentient for machine gun umbrella´s. It´s got to be Hoffman.
Runner up Paul Giammati, very talented and charismatic actor. He´d do the job.
Both could do the hard job, of following Danny Devito´s bravaru performance.
Possible Take: I think a real neonoir detective take on the Bat Man would be great, emersed in Black, in a dark under world where his law rains supreme. I think having The Riddler a hacker and computer genius with a beef to settle with Bruce Wayne, and the Penguin as such a cold hearted, unpredictable, sociopathic gangster, that even the mobsters are like, this guy is scary. Possibly a fan of hanging out in freezing tempreture rooms, where he uses his enemies hanging frozen corpses as shooting practice with a machine gun unmbrella. Just an idea.
Man of Steel 2 Villains
1. Lex luthor - Joaquin phoenix
First of all for all those who say Lex Luthor isn´t a good villain because he doesn´t match Superman in strength, and therefore shouldn´t be in the films, it´s nonsense.
Lex Luthor is perhaps the best and coolest super villain this side of The Joker, if left to the right writers. Why, because he is the perfect opposite and foil to Superman. And not like Sinestro, where we just have a yellow Green Lantern, just an inverted form of our hero. The best villains are those who in the true Jungian sense, represent the Shadow to our hero´s persona.
That is why The Joker´s great, and that is why Lex is fantastic, he embodies everything Superman isn´t. He´s petty, arrogant, egocentric, sensitive, vain and consumed by jealousy over the man in blue taking his rightful place as savior of humanity.
He is the smartest man on the planet and it is his accomplishments that should be praised; but, instead this annoying alien boy scout has come and taken all his glory. So instead of using his vast intelligence to further humanities plight, he takes their rejection to heart and instead becomes hell bent on destroying Superman and his adoring sycophantic fans who can´t see the real danger Superman poses to humanity. He´s complex and dangerous, and an integral part to the Superman mythos, he just hasn´t been done justice in Film.
I do think they were right to leave him out of the first one and set him up for second, possibly with Braniac, so they can really mess with Superman´s mind, while at the same time Braniac and Lex Luther can device away to be a match for him physically.
So who should play him. An odd choice maybe, but given the darker tone Snyder seems to be setting, I think someone who can do justice to the tragedy of that story.
There´s a certain pathos to Lex Luthor when you look at it, a boy genius, who´s intellect was so vast, that the words used by Pa Kent in the Superman teaser could almost have been said to Lex as a boy, when he´s 12 and invents a super fast computer processor ¨One day, you’re gonna have to make a choice. You have to decide what kind of man you want to grow up to be. … Whoever that man is, good character or bad, is gonna change the world.”
Can you see it in a tráiler? cause I can. VO of Lex´s dad saying that (Pa Kent´s speech) as you see Lex as a Little boy 6 reading War and Peace, then at 12 building his first computer processor, graduating at 15 from Harvard, then the last shot as he says “good or bad´is gonna change the world.” A shot from Lex Corp, Superman fly´s past the top window of the Sky Scraper, a shot of a bald man in a dark room, his seat turned toward the window. The end. Well I´m hoping that bald Young man will be Joaquin Pheonix, he´s brilliant, and he has this way of bringing a real emotional core to the characters he plays, even villains. See Gladiator. I think personally this is my best choice. As you can see I´ve thought it through. I think he could really make us feel sorry for Lex´s plight and fustration.
2. Braniac - Robert Carlyle
One, this guy needs a come back. He is brilliant, yet seems forgotten. If anyone could toy with the emotions of Kal-El promising him secrets of his origin, then switch to cold, psycho robot in an instant, it´s this guy. Really, I know it´s never going to happen, but what a shame.
Possible Plot: As far as I´m concerned these are the only two villains who should be in Man Of Steel 2. That is the only reason I´ve forgiven Snyder and co not putting Lex in this one. Cause I´m thinking they´re setting these two up Joker style in Batman Begins.
I may not even bother watch it if they are not put together. They are Superman´s strongest and most meaningful foes and they work best together. I think Braniac has to be set up in the first movie, with Zod, he´s an AI technology built by Supermans biological father, and stolen by Zod. Using the technology, Zod is able to escape the phantom Zone, which is really just a prison planet not far from Kryton. In the second we realize that This vastly advanced computer system has gained conscience. Either Zod´s ship or Zod should have used Braniac to get to Earth, not realizing the computer had long had an agenda of it´s own. Braniac and Lex´s relationship is also interesting because they don´t trust eachother, they have very separate goals, but could manipulate eachother to achieve them.
From there I see Lex, consumed by Jealousy over Superman, somehow getting access through his Government contracts to Braniac, and building Braniac a body, in exchange for knowledge of Krypton and how to destroy Superman.
Cast of Wonder Woman
1. Wonder Woman – Christina Hendricks
See picture below. Need I say more? Yes, ok I will. She plays the uber cool, uber sexy, uber bitch on Madmen. (Her talent ehh eh hem!! Got me through a whole season) But on a serious note she can obviously play strong, domineering and sexy man killer characters. I think she could easily pull off nobel warrior, and man would she look good in that suit.
2. Queen Hippolyta – Kate Winslet
For any who don´t know, this is Wonder Woman´s mother. Now a lot might think Kate´s a bit young looking for the job. But you must remember the women of the island of Themyscira do not age past a certain point. And she could be put in makeup to look slightly older. I think Winslet is a brilliant actress and I just think she´s right for the role. She´ll be the ultimate superhero MILF if you like. Feminists please don´t hate me ;)
3. Mala – Sofia Vergara
Now I would have picked this chick for Wonder Woman were it not for her accent. But since the strong Columbian thing probably won´t fly and I can´t see her shedding such a thick accent, I´ll go for second best, Wonder Woman´s best friend and frequent sparring partner, the man hating, pro female seperatist, and second greatest warrior of Paradise Island Mala. Trust me when I say a cat fight between Sofia Vergara and Christina Hendricks would be a thing of utter beauty.
4. Hera or Aphrodite (Wonder Woman´s Goddess second mother) –Emma Thompson or Juliet Binoche
As she would be the imperial Goddess, wife of Zeus, it could be some hot young actress. But nonetheless I think the better choice would be to a slightly older maternal figure. So I think go for either of these two who are great actresses. My preference would be Julier Binoche. But it would have to be a fantastic script to get any of these two on the Project.
5. Steve Trevor – Ryan Gosling
Well this would be great casting (I´ve seen others say he should be Batman. Their crazy) If anyone could get under the skin of the Amazonian princess, and be cheeky enough to get her to want to give him a slap only as much as she wants to save him, it´s the Gosling. I think he could be heroic, funny, cool and we all know he can be charming. It would be a great suit for him to be the only guy in the world who could pull Wonder Woman.
6. Ares (God of War) Villain - Mads Mikkelsen
The God Of War and I think Wonder Womans coolest villain is the most filmable of her rogue gallery. This is the way to do a Dark Knight or Man Of Steel with Wonder Woman. Have The God Of War as her nemesis. The greatest woman warrior, and a feminist icon, conflicting with the violence and wonton destruction of the modern man´s world and the Sex in The City Generation of women. And who greater to represent man´s destructive capacity than Ares, the God, who´s powers literally feeds off death, famine, greed and misery. I really can´t see anyone doing it accept Mads. He just has that crazy look in his eye. He´s perfect.
Possible Plot – Stick with Wonder Woman´s origin story, with a modern twist. The only thing I see as a problem with Wonder Woman is small things. An island in the real world that hasn´t been discovered because the Gods made it invisible. The island full of hot chicks is cool, I can vibe with that, but really, that story will have to be worked on. Maybe Lex Corp and the military come up with some kind of portal to parrellel universes. Technology the Amazons have had, but have refused to use. Steve Trevor is the sole survivor on a mission through the portal. He comes through it in a space suit and to his surprise finds himself on an island paradise. With Warrior women wanting to kill him. He discovers that some how in this reality, the Greek mythologies are really believed in, and that their technology and Fighting is advanced. In their prisons they keep men, and ones they believe to be dangerous Gods locked up. Including one sick puppy called Ares “known as Master Of War” (I will come back to this later)
Second problem with Wonder Woman is her powers and weapons. Super Strength cool, stamina cool, agility cool. Magic Laso not sure. Invisible Plane. Really no. Braclets that deflect bullets. Absolutely not. Modern audiences would see the trailer and it would flop.
Now if Nolan can tinker with Robin´s origin, then I think we can make some allowances with Wonder Womans powers. The worst thing is depower her. You´ll be having feminists raising hell for a whole year, on how they´ve depowered the only powerful woman in comics.
But you can tweek.
Magic Laso. How about the Laso actually allows her a psychic interface with whoever she wraps it around. So that she can briefly see into their Mind.
Invisible plane. Easy. She can fly, and has some cool Amazonian weapons atv her disposal.
Bracelets. Give her Super reflexes like neo. I think it would be cool if her Bracelets put together form an invisible force field or something to that affect. Or maybe she could have a shield.
Anyway apart from that, back to the plot. Obviously WW needs to take Trevor back to his world safely, and destroy the technology that brought him their as the Amazonians are isolationist and do not trust men. Mean while some how Ares sneaks through the portal that brought them there. Fuelled by the psychic energies of War in Mans world, he realizes he has never been more powerful. He plots to plunge the whole world into chaos and Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor have to stop him. Simple really. Add some gags about how WW is disgusted at how women are treated as weak in this world. Some social commentary on the many unnecessary conflicts in the world at the moment, that our man Ares cynically sturs up, while recruiting henchmen from genocidal regimes. A steamy romance between the WW and Steve. And a final kick ass battle in which, Ares conjours up dead warriors of the past, along side some major modern weapons, and henchmen he´s picked up from Eastern Europe or some other warring part of the world, to prevent WW from stopping his even more dastedly plot, finish with WW fighting Ares, with his now God like power, and, I think we´ve got a great film on our hand. What do you think?