October 2014 will forever live on in the memory of fans as one of the greatest months for CBM news ever. A gradually escalating Cold War between Marvel and WB/DC has resulted in both studios unveiling their film slates, and I couldn’t be happier. Though I may be more of a Marvel guy in general, today I’m going to focus on DC’s upcoming projects, and who I’d like to see direct them.
We already know the directors for a few of DC’s upcoming movies.
Man of Steel and
Watchmen director Zack Snyder will be helming
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and both parts of
Justice League, and
Fury and
End of Watch director David Ayer will be helming
Suicide Squad. Beyond that however, we enter into the wild world of fan speculation, a world I’m going to dive into today.
There are hundreds of talented directors who I’m sure would love to tackle a big-budget superhero movie. So today, I’ll present to you my choices for who should direct the upcoming DC projects. Let’s get started!
Kathryn Bigelow- Wonder Woman
Notable Films
Point Break
The Hurt Locker
Zero Dark Thirty
Warner Bros seem to want a female director for
Wonder Woman, and who better than the very best female director currently in the business. Bigelow is an extremely talented writer/director who is the only female director to win the Best Director Oscar. If that doesn’t prove why she should helm
Wonder Woman, I don’t know what will. She is most well known for war movies
The Hurt Locker and
Zero Dark Thirty, both of which do a great job at capturing the way soldiers’ minds work and the horrors of war. Wonder Woman is a warrior before anything else, and Bigelow would be a great choice to bring this great character to life.
Edgar Wright- The Flash
Notable Films
Shaun of the Dead
Hot Fuzz
The World’s End
Edgar Wright is a director well known to CBM fans as a result of the
Ant-Man controversy. While it’s a shame we won’t get to see him direct Marvel’s miniature hero, it does mean that he’s free to helm
The Flash. Edgar has a unique visual style that would lend itself really well to the Scarlet Speedster. The best thing is, no matter which Flash they end up going with, Edgar will be able to direct him. If they go with the shy, charming forensic scientist Barry Allen, Wright has already handled these type of characters (
Scott Pilgrim, Shaun of the Dead). And if they go with the brash, wise-cracking Wally West, Wright has handled that as well (
World’s End). Edgar Wright is an amazingly talented director who makes hilarious, engaging and visually stunning films, and I’d love to see him helm
The Flash.
Guillermo Del Toro- Aquaman
Notable Films
Hellboy
Pan’s Labyrinth
Pacific Rim
Guillermo Del Toro is a film-maker who always knows how to make something visually interesting. All of his films contain strange, unique and interesting designs for creatures and environments that could really translate well into an
Aquaman movie. I’d love to see his vision for Atlantis and the myriad creatures that inhabit it. Another thing he’s great at is portraying rugged, no-nonsense protagonists, and if the casting of Jason Momoa as Aquaman proves anything, it’s that DC want the King of the Seas to be taken seriously. Del Toro’s unique visual style and talent for bringing intricate worlds to life would lend itself brilliantly to
Aquaman.
David Yates- Shazam
Notable Films
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (1&2)
This may be an incredibly obvious choice, but there’s a reason for that. Yates is a long-time WB collaborator and is responsible for half of the
Harry Potter franchise, the highest grossing movie franchise in history. Yates I think would be a perfect choice for
Shazam, as he’s already demonstrated he knows how to handle kids and magic in the
Potter films. I liked the sense of wonder he managed to convey with the magic and the mystical creatures, which would blend nicely into a
Shazam film. He’s hugely popular at WB, and for good reason. If he’s not too busy with the
Fantastic Beasts trilogy (seriously, how are they gonna turn a school text-book from the Potter films into a bloomin’ trilogy of movies?), I’d love to see him helm the big-screen adventures of Billy Batson.
Neil Blomkamp- Cyborg
Notable Films
District 9
Elysium
Chappie
Blomkamp is one of the hottest sci-fi directors working in the industry today. A key theme I think in his movies is that it’s not just humans who have humanity. He’s shown this with aliens in
District 9, and looks set to do it with robots in
Chappie.
Elysium, whilst it may not have the same clever social commentary as his previous film, showed that he knows how to do sci-fi action. For these reasons, I feel he would be the perfect choice to direct a movie about Cyborg, who is the bridge between man and machine. There’s plenty of opportunity for social commentary on a whole range of topics, from robotics to AI to experimentation to discrimination based on appearance and even more. And of course, there’s gonna be some pretty awesome sci-fi action.
Brad Bird- Green Lantern
Notable Films
The Incredibles
Ratatouille
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Do I even need to explain this one? Brad Bird is one of the most talented directors working in Hollywood today. Every one of his films has passed 90% on the Tomatometer, and for good reason. His films all centre on protagonists with hidden trauma- Mr Incredible is struggling to find his place in the world after he stops being a superhero, Ethan Hunt is troubled by the ‘death’ of his wife and has grown to distrust the IMF etc. And every Green lantern has internal trauma- Hal Jordan’s cockiness covers up his sadness at the death of his dad, John Stewart is struggling to fit into civilian life and more. Bird has a great handle on visuals and awesome action as well as the struggles of characters, and this makes him an ideal choice to direct
Green Lantern.
So, those are my choices of directors to helm the upcoming DC movies. Like my choices? Disagree with them? Have any of your own? Let me know in the comments below! Live long and prosper!