CHAPTER 10:
SNYDER HAS (KINDA) FALLEN
After Man of Steel was released, a sequel was announced with Snyder and Goyer returning. Rumours were going around about Brainiac and Supergirl appearing and I think everyone knew that Lex Luthor would most likely appear. However, what everyone wondered was: Where do you go from Man of Steel? They destroyed half the city in the end of that film. So...
Well, SDCC 2013 revealed the answer to that question. And that answer was:
"I want you to remember, Clark, in all the years to come, in your most private momen, I want you to remember my hand at your throat. I want you to remember the one man who beat you"
AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!!!
Yes, it was announced that Batman would appear in Man of Steel 2. Now, you would think that's the reason I made this "history of" about both Batman & Superman, instead of doing two seperate ones. Well, that's half the reason. The other half is I'm just lazy. Now, the new question was: What kind of movie would this be. Okay, not too many people asked that question. The quote above was said at Comic Con, so most people knew this would be a "vs" movie. Later that year, Snyder confirmed that the film would take inspiration from The Dark Knight Returns. However, he said the film would not be entirly based on it. He said they would need a "different Superman" like the one in Returns. The one in Returns is one controlled by the government and not...
ANYWAY...
From what I remember (and this was a while ago, so my memory is a bit fuzzy), the backlash for the film began when Ben Affleck was cast as Batman. Some people were mad because of DareDevil. Some people thought he wasn't intimidating enough. Some wanted Christian Bale to come back.
Others argued that DareDevil was a long time ago and that Ben Affleck has evolved since then. They also argues that Bales' Bruce Wayne is no longer Batman and that it takes place in seperate universes. Which, even then, I'd say Man of Steel could have fit in the DK universe. If it took place afterwards, because Superman could have stopped Bane.
Shortly after the casting of Affleck was announced, Variety reported that Gal Gadot, Olga Kurylenko, and Elodie Yung auditioned for a female role. Rumours started going around that the role was a cameo appearence by Wonder Woman. This was met with mixed reception. Some people wondered (no pun intended) what Wonder Woman would be doing in a Batman/Superman movie. Those who did accept it, however, were a bit disapointed that Wonder Woman's first big-screen appearence was a cameo. But then the WW rumours were confirmed and the person cast to play her was... Gal Gadot.
While people complaints about Affleck were somewhat understandable, the critisims of Gal Gadot were just stupid. What were the complaints: she's too skinny. That's it. Because, you know, it doesn't matter that this person was in the Isreali army and has until the movie actually starts filming to get into shape. WHICH SHE DID!!!
Around the time Gadot was cast, it was announced that Goyer's script was to be rewritten by Chris Terrio. This gave the film's early detractors a glimmer of hope, as Terrio had just won the screenwriting Oscar for Argo, a movie starring and directed by Ben Affleck. A month later, more good news came in the form of Jeremy Irons, who was cast as Alfred. Everyone welcomed this casting choice, seeing as Irons is a fantastic actor when not being in Dungeons & Dragons. What people didn't welcome was a casting announced as the same time as Irons - Jesse Esienberg would play Lex Luthor.
When this was annouced, people went beserk. And I was with them. I'm all about giving things a chance, and some people said that if you watch Social Network, you can see him as the smart billionare jerk. But that was my problem - I didn't want to see Lex Luthor be Mark Zuckerberg. And since I now I'll get killed if I don't bring it up, other people, like Juaquin Pheonix, Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, and Bryan Cranston, were rumoured for the part. Although, the way Jesse played Lex in the final movie made me think: "Man, he would have made a great Riddler".
Think about it. The metaphors. The way he acts. Even the wig would work better.
Over time, more and more Justice League members were announced to appear. Cyborg was set to be played by up-and-comer Ray Fisher. Aquaman would be played by Jason Momoa. And Flash would be played by Kevin from We Need To Talk About Kevin. I know he has a name, but I know him from that, and he scares me now.
Anyway, the number of naysayers of Affleck's Batman started to drop as more and more pictures of him in the Batsuit came out.
As for Gal Gadot, her picture received mixed reactions due to lack of color. Not in that way.
As for Henry Cavill...
It's exactly the same. I don't know why we needed a first look.
When the teaser trailer was released, it got a pretty good response. Not much was revealed that wasn't revealed in an eariler leaked Comic-Con trailer. However, it was a pretty cool teaser. But then the 2015 comic con trailer was (officially) released online, people loved it (okay, some people weren't fans of Eisenberg). The movie looked like Snyder listened to some of the MoS complaints. Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot looked great. The action looked great. It was like the backlash never happened. What could go wrong.
One trailer later...
The "Doomsday trailer" recieved tons of hate. For a few reasons. 1. The trailer confirmed peoples fears of Esienberg as Lex Luthor. 2. The appearence of Doomsday confirmed a rumour that not a lot of people were fond of. 3. The film spoiled (most of) the ending. 4. It looked nothing like Doomsday. However, a few people were one back over after one last trailer was released. While that trailer looked cool, all they did was take out Doomsday and add in rock music.
Now for casting. Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling were rumoured to be in negotiations to play Batman. Jesse Eisenberg was originally brought in to play Jimmy Olsen, with the idea being (Spoiler Alert) that they would trick the audience into thinking he would play a major part only to get shot in the head. Although, If that wasn't Jimmy Olsen, no one would care. Hell, if Snyder said it was Snapper Carr, I would be happy. Tao Okomoto, Holly Hunter,Callen Mulvey, and Scoot McNairy were all cast in mystery roles. Okomoto and Mulvey ended up playing Mercy Graves and KGBeast. Many people thought Holly Hunter would be Dr. Leslie Tompkins and McNairy would be Jimmy Olsen. But they ended up being new characters. Jena Malone was cast, but cut out. It was announced she would appear in the directors cut. While it hasn't been confirmed, there's a good chance she's playing Batgirl. OR IS SHE?!?!?
When the movie screened, the audience reaction was incredibly positive. But when the critic reaction came, the movie was panned. Some waited to see the movie to pass judgement, but fan reaction turned out to be just as negative. Some people actually ended upliking the movie. Even people who didn't like the movie still liked Affleck and Gadot. So what do I think of the movie? Let me put it like this:
Picture this: There's two sides of fans who are fighting over land and have set up camp. One camp is full of people who loved the movie. But they took it too far. Some claimed people had an anti-DC agenda. Some claimed people didn't understand. Some were better and didn't any believe that, but loved the movie anyway (nothing wrong with that). The other camp was filled with people who claimed the Justice League films are doomed and that Snyder must leave. However, the two large camps are seperated by a border. On that border, I have set up my own camp. A camp that thinks the movie is just okay, but doesn't go out of is way to defend or criticize it. But rather watch the two camps go to war and enjoy the fireworks.
P.S. You're welcome to join my camp, but you have to contribute to rent and food.
As for the box office, it started off well. And it's still doing well. Not like a billion dollars well, but well. At least worldwide. Over here in America. It broke the March opening weekend record, beating Hunger Games. However, it suffered in it's second weekend. And while the third weekend showed a bit of hope, it suffered another drop the next weekend with the release of Jungle Book and Barbershop 3, two critically-acclaimed films.
So that's the history of the Batman and Superman movies. So, what's next? Well, Superman doesn't have his own movie set for release. A few months ago, it was revealed to be put "on hold". And after the reaction to this film, WB might want to keep it that way. As for Batman, he will appear in Suicide Squad. He's got The LEGO Batman Movie coming, which will be written by Seth Gramme-Smith, who is also cowriting and directing Flash for WB. And he's getting his own solo movie with Affleck writing and directing. This will probably be released after Affleck's Live By Night. But, of course, the world's finest will appear in the Justice League movies. But, will those be good? There's a reason I called this "Snyder has (kinda) fallen". BvS made a lot of money. But in terms of fans, he's lost a lot of trust. That's the real reason I want Snyder off the DCEU. People may not want to go see JL after BvS came out. And the fact that it's being helmed by the same guy might scare people away.
Anyway, I really don't know what to do for my next "History of". On my old account, I did one for FOX/Marvel, the MCU, and the Spider-Man movies (I'm not really proud of that last one because I spent one whole chapter bashing Sam Raimi for no reason). So, for now, I'm taking another break until I think of what to do next. Maybe the rest of DC?