Since I did a an article on the MCU and how to avoid the usual clichés, Marvel fans have been all over the comments section suggesting I write about DC, so I did.
The first movie we got lined up is Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016 25th March), let’s start with WHY I think (notice the “I” in I think) this movie will be a success in all cases.
For us to understand the movie coming we need to understand its roots, Man of Steel and Zack Snyder.
The major complaints about Man of Steel were, destruction, casualties and Man of Steel not being a 2D boy scout ripped out of the 80s movie. For me destruction is what you get when a real villain is coming for you in cinema or real life, remember Zod yes he has the power and the will to wipe us all out.
if he didn’t die, I don’t think I would have taken the events of the movie seriously enought. A scene of Clark taking Zod to another dimension prison would have been simply dumb and repetitive. Destruction is in almost all major comic book movies, whether you choose to ignore it as I know a lot of you do in terms of Marvel movies like Age of Ultron, and Avengers Assemble, that’s up to you. I choose to believe that when a mad man comes for us, many people will die, that is what terrorist do. We probably get a lot more innocent people dead in real life terrorist attacks, than we do in Marvel movies. And as for MOS for not being Superman from the 80s, I only got one thing for you - Superman returns. If you liked this so much as an interpretation of the Superman from the 80s, why didn’t you support it at the cinemas?
As for Zack he has hits and misses as any director and actor, noone can convince me that they didnt watch 300 when it came out, or that Watchmen isnt the most faithful comicbook adaptation of its time.
Now what DC and Warner did is use the destruction in MOS, to show a pivotal moment in BVS, the motivation behind Batman's need to hunt, study and understand this alien. The moment in the BVS trailer where you see the Zod/Superman fight through the eyes of Bruce is simply brilliant. You also have the world addressing this issue in the trailer by having Superman attend a hearing in regards to his actions and be judged.
So those actions will have a lot more consequences that we imagine and that will be the main plot trust in a way.
What we see in the trailer is I think 1/90000 of what the movie actually has to offer, and I am happy DC has chosen not to spoil the entire fricking movie with one of those trailers that reveal the entire idea and action from start to end.
Ben Affleck as Batman looks amazing, Wonder Woman not only looks great, but she might be the very well hidden secret in this movie, bringing the JLA to a start and fighting Doomsday perhaps. She has the epic uniform from the comics and I believe that DC will bring our first female heroine to the screen in an epic way (no pun to Scarlet Witch but the dance lessons she gave in AOU were not as impressive).
The armored suit looks bad ass, his gadgets are as I am reading a comic book, the car is the best combination from the Batman 89 movie and the TDK trilogy, slick but mean.
A lot of people are afraid that Lex Luthor is going to suck because he looks like Curt Cobain or has hair, or is not the beefed up version from Injustice. Well to that I say, wait and see, he might surprise us, people were shocked when Heath was cast and then every Halloween they dress like his Joker, so give it a minute.
After that experience we get in August (5th 2016) Suicide Squad, now that trailer looked crazy.
Harley Quinn – sexy, creepy, crazy, and really much more comic book accurate then I expected. Margots voice and behavior in the trailer has got me exited as [frick] for this first screen portrayal of her
The Joker – I am excited for this one, he look mentally sick and the fact that some of the actors said that they are still waiting to meet him as Jared Leto, as he was in character makes me wonder how deep did he manage to go. We don’t get a lot of him in the trailer, but that is good. We are going to get surprises with this one.
Enchantress – I saw Cara in Paper Towns and the girl can definitely act, from watching the trailer in super slow mo, I think this will be the main surprise of the movie The Big Bad. I hope its more horror movie like than Scarlet Witch like I want to see her possessed and going nuts, a lot darker that you would imagine.
Deadshot – I hope that this is Will Smith’s way of saying sorry for Hancock and give us a non-“Bad Boys “ performance, try to delve in the character and be the best non Fresh Prince he can be. From the trailer he seems to be the bad/good guy in this assemble.
Captain Boomerang – not a fan of the actor Jai Courtney , not of a fan of the villain, but maybe that’s where my calmness lies, I ain’t going to be disappointed if he sucks, but I will be impressed if he rocks in it.
Rick Flagg – also not impressed with the character from the comics, but I am a fan of the actor, so I expect his performance to be on point.
Killer Croc – personally I would have used a dude that is towering at least one head over Will Smith for this role, but I don’t mind their approach and the actor is very good. So I am all in!
All the rest of the cast and characters I am cool with, they look great.
In 2017 the first DC movie that we will get as announced at this point of time is Wonder Woman (June 23), I love the director choice Patty Jenkins, I think Monster was great. I hope Zack is there to advise her on the action scenes and the overall feel of the movie. I don’t really agree with the writer’s choice but as his first CBM movie, I can’t really judge him based on other genres, so I guess as far as he goes we will wait and see. Gal is great and I think she will define the role for years ahead. Overall exited for this movie and I think it will be lighter and more diverse. The other dude William M. Marston has a lot of work on comicbook DC related stuff so he will balance this out I am sure.
The next instalment is Justice League, Part 1 (November 17 2017), what we know is that WW is going to be in a way a gateway to the Justice League Movie . So far we don’t know the entire cast or characters, but we know Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Aquaman and Flash will be in there for sure. Chris Terrio is involved in the screenplay, which so far I love this dude, he will have to prove himself in 2016 of course, but I am sure that we are in good hands. No idea who the villain is and if Doomsday will transpire from BVS ( if he is in there) or they will go with Brainiac or surprise us with a totally unexpected rise of Darkseid. Could be any of the following, but as we have read many articles and buzz, the best will be to wait and see them start shooting, casting will tell us more so we can speculate. I think the movie will be a special event in the DCEU and will use a different approach to Marvel.
In 2018, we will get The Flash movie, great casting call on Ezra and probably the most anticipated solo movie on my end as far the already announced ones. Am I happy with this dude, Seth Grahame-Smith, not one bit, I don’t like his work so far and I don’t think he is a good choice for the role of director/writer, as for Gardner Fox he has my vote of approval. Overall I would have gotten a more visually distinctive director for the Flash as speed on film looks impressive if you represent it from the right point of view and the right FX. I am however going to give this guy a chance and judge him based on a trailer rather than prejudice (and zombies!) I love The Flash on the CW, and for a cheap TV show they do a pretty good job so far on that field. No idea what the villain will be or what the set up will be, I hope we get a speedster in the follow up and a different villain in the first one.
2018 also bring us the first Aquaman movie ever - Jason Momoa (great casting) will be the most made fun of DC property, I don’t think we will get the fish talking dude we think. From what we know we are getting a thick skinned dude that can kick your ass and leaves in the deepest end of the places we wouldn’t last 4 seconds, so he is alien in my mind. Not the biggest fan of Furious 7 and James Wan right now, but seeing the horror movies he did, I think we will be ok in terms of visuals. I love the writer for Aquaman Mr Kurt Johnstad, I just think this dude will write the shit out of this movie. I am rooting for Black Manta as the villain, that would kick ass.
As far as Shazam is concerned, I hope they choose an amazing actor to portray him because Black Adam is the Rock and this guy has a cult following now. Not going to comment on the writer as he hasn’t got enough credits and that would be pure speculation, but somewhere in there might be a sleeper hit movie, we don’t really even consider yet as a corner stone of the DCEU.
As far as JLA part 2, Green Lantern Coprs and Cyborg, I lack any concrete information not going to go very deep into that at all. The writers look ok, from what we know from the Rock it might be a different type of CBM and focus on him as much as it does on Shazam. This might be a good thing if you decide to establish a better kind of villain that will be used down the line. I would prefer if we don’t go down the expected route of villain dies in first movies and have a more compelling story. But I can’t speak without a director on board, what will be the approach to those characters and powers that go back in ancient times and are a bit more difficult to portray in the DCEU. We are going to get a more mystic character in the Suicide Squad and that can be used to certify the magic powers of our DC heroes and villains and be the anchor for them all.
JLA part 2 will be a continuance of the story from part 1 (we guess at least) , so whatever it is it’s a more complicated story that needs more space to fit in one movie, I enjoy this approach and I want to see a villain or villains that handle our heroes with precision, dedication and a plan that for once makes sense.
The actor that has been chosen for Cyborg I really like and I hope the movie is really different in tone, feel and everything else compared to other DC movies coming out, a personal story of loss and how the character deals with the reality of his cyborg prosthesis, I am not going to bet on villains but I hope for some serious team of FX guys joins and develops some unique visuals. The team that worked on MOS should be great in doing the job.
In terms of a Batman solo movies I couldn’t tell if the rumors are true and to what degree. Is Ben doing a standalone movie with Chris writing and Geoff assisting? I hope he does, he came a long way since Argo and The Town and his acting has been on point in both Runner Runner and Gone Girl.
If however we get this of the ground and the movie is true I hope they explore other villains, never seen on screen until now. A Mr Freeze version close to the Arkham Games would be appreciated, a good Riddler story that could shine his detective skills or a Red Hood movie that could tie into the flashes of the Robin suit from the BVS trailer?
Let me know what you want to see in the DCEU in terms of directors, villains and stories ?