With the surge in press coverage for Joker amid its winning top prize at the Venice Film Festival, director, Todd Phillips, has made mention of a continued sub-brand for DC Entertainment: DC Black Label. The concept would be that, like the DC Black Label comics, these movies would function as darker character studies of DC characters that are singular stories, unconnected to a wider universe or ongoing narrative. The movie business side of this also includes lower budgets and potentially hard R-rated films. While this sub-brand is by no means a confirmed piece to the still-forming DC film slate, the critical and financial success of Joker could encourage Warner Bros. to experiment further with this concept. And why shouldn’t they? With an estimated budget of around $50 million, it looks like Joker is going to do far better than just break even on its opening weekend alone. This move would also work to differentiate DC/Warner Bros. from their various competitors and potentially give them some real respect from both comic book fans and the Academy. Obviously, execution is always key within comic book movies, but I figured it’d be fun to lay out some of the characters who are more than ready to be explored in a low-budget, R-rated film told through an artistic lens.
The Question
The faceless detective is most definitely a prime candidate for a low-budget noir blockbuster that could rope in one of DC’s more sadistic villains as an antagonist. The Question has been a niche character within the DC lore, but has consistently shown up in animated series and major Batman storylines. The biggest challenge with this film would be to find an actor willing to be completely unidentifiable for a majority of the movie, but I’m sure with a strong mystery-driven script and a director looking to study old noir crime movies, the role could be irresistible to someone.
Black Lightning
Having only watched a couple of episodes of the television version of this character, I can’t say I’m an expert by any means, but the potential within the character’s essence lends itself to a street-level crime movie that could allow for poignant social commentary. Lightning special effects aren’t terribly expensive at this point I’d imagine (they’ve been showing up in all levels of blockbusters for years now) and as a film concept, I could see a talented young director finding a way to put the film somewhere between Chronicle and Creed. This would be a strong character to add to the DC Black Label brand and would present an opportunity to assemble a diverse cast of actors looking to break out into the mainstream.
Bane
Now onto the villains: Bane. Arguably the most iconic Batman villain outside that’s not a clown, Bane provides many angles for an origin story to inject contemporary issues and themes into comic book lore and action. There are a few different origins that have been made for Bane, but even the most basic telling of a drug lord coming upon a substance he doesn’t fully understand and becoming something even he can’t control becomes a powerful tagline. With a solid director handling the cartel themes that intertwine with this story, Bane could be a hellish addition to the DC Black Label.
Deathstroke
Deathstroke has been done a good few times on the small screen at this point and was even almost brought onto the big screen had Justice League been more of a foundation point for DC, but I hope none of that means he can’t still find his home in the DC Black Label movies. As a former soldier turned mercenary, Slade Wilson’s arc could be an interesting avenue to depict life after leaving the service. This movie would definitely require some of the most high-adrenaline action sequences of any DC film, but I think that I could work within a small budget given that his abilities are fairly tame. Deathstroke has also rode the line between villain and antihero if the movie wanted to make him more of a redeemable character, but I think that within the context of the brand, it’d be just fine to keep him pretty cold-hearted.
Lex Luthor
Please, God, give me Brian Cranston as Lex Luthor. Lex Luthor has been explored within DC Comics so many times that any writer would have an absolute blast coming up with how the most despicable, jealous and genius men came to be able to match up with Superman. There’s skeletons in his closet and this movie could flesh out one of the most iconic villains of all time for audiences who currently still have Jesse Eisenberg’s stuttering boy version of Lex resting on their palettes. I want to see dark and determined Lex Luthor climb his way past ordinary men with ease until he is confronted with his next challenge: someone who is far more than man. It’s a no-brainer after Joker and would give some awesome acting moments to whoever gets to take on the role.
So who do you think would be a good fit for the DC Black Label films? Do you even want to see DC and Warner Bros. go down this path or should Joker just remain in its own world? Let me know in the comments!