DC Aims To Get Back In The Game!!!

DC Aims To Get Back In The Game!!!

Diane Nelson and Geoff Johns talk about the task at hand!

By jman1977 - Jul 22, 2010 12:07 PM EST
Filed Under: Comic-Con

Diane Nelson is almost fresh off of the Harry Potter franchise for Warner Bros. and Geoff Johns is an accomplished fan-favorite comic-book writer who has never set foot in a Studio before.

So one has at least worked on a big time production, not a Comic Book Movie production but a production non the less, and the other has no Movie making experience at all. These two certainly seem like the odd couple of movie making partners but the formula might just work. Opposites attract, one hand washes the other, are just a few terms that can be used to describe Diane Nelson and Geoff Johns.

The past decade Marvel has kicked the pants off of DC films to a tune of $8 billion including fan favorite Spider-Man and the X-Men franchise's.

Walking down the Marvel Red Carpet gave Johns certain incentive:

"You look at that success ... it makes you want to achieve the same sort of thing but do it in our own way," Johns said. "They've done great things and now we want to do great things."

Nelson and Johns will be responsible for everything DC related. Look at them as DC Movie Shepard's, or as Ryan Reynolds stated:

"'Integrity officer' is a great way to describe them," Reynolds said. "He's quality control in terms of the source material and making sure we use it in the right way. If something doesn't sit well with Geoff, then everyone knows that's worthy of sounding an alarm."

This coming Saturday they will experience their first test at the Comic-Con. Martin Campbell's Green Lantern footage will be shown to audiences for the first time.

"Lantern" is the first film made with the new DC team in place and Johns will be right up there on stage with director Martin Campbell, Reynolds and other cast members. Far from an interloper, Johns was an essential sounding board on matters of plot, tone, character design and visual effects, the film team said.

The biggest challenge off course will prove to be how to bring the unknown roster of DC characters to the big screen and get the more mainstream movie goers to recognize and relate to these unknown characters:

"It's no small challenge how few people have heard of these properties or understand their stories outside of fans of comic books," Diane said. "Sometimes the comic-book fans who love this stuff want us to get too precious about this stuff and if we do, we'll kill it off. We need to figure out how to evolve and grow it and bring it to more people."

Johns who has been a Green Lantern fan all of his life got a chance to visit the set last month and mentioned that set visit was the highlight of his professional career:

"To see a movie set for a character that I had spent so much time and creative energy on and to see it actually get shot, it was amazing. And more than that, I had been dreaming of seeing a Green Lantern movie since I was 8 years old."

It's kinda strange to wrap your mind around the fact that before Iron Man and The Avengers came into play, Warner Bros. never had a DC Movie Masterpiece Game Plan. Now, modeling after Marvel's success, Warner Bros. knows that integrating and combining all the Super Hero elements are essential to growing and introducing unknown Super heroes into a modern movie going era to people who will not be familiar with them. Like what Marvel is doing!

You can check out the entire article from The Olympian HERE!

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Shaman
Shaman - 7/22/2010, 12:39 PM
So nothing is officially confirmed... again. Johns wants to do great things like Marvel has... but in their own way. WTF does that mean, OFFICIALLY??? WHAT'S NEXT??? What's their game PLAN?!?! Just make individual films a plenty? Integrate them in one single connected universe? Have plenty of cameos? WHAT??? Shit or get off the pot, DC.
ElBicho
ElBicho - 7/22/2010, 12:53 PM
@Shaman, Couldn't agree more.

Me thinks DC might reveal a couple of surprises this weekend...
loganoneil
loganoneil - 7/22/2010, 12:53 PM
Shaman - You took the words right out of my mouth. I'm tired of DC putting all of it's eggs in two baskets! There's a LOT more to the DC Universe than Batman and Superman. It's good to see they're FINALLY beginning to deversify with 'Green Lantern', but what about the others? ...Wonder Woman? ...Flash? ...Captain Marvel? ...etc. DC, get off your lazy backsides and actually DO something, or be prepared to take a PERMANENT back seat to Marvel!
Shaman
Shaman - 7/22/2010, 12:58 PM
ElBicho- [frick] i hope so cause i'm getting tired of their shit.

loganoneil- Yeah, it's as if they've been stuck in the brainstorm phase for over a decade!!! How about, stop talking about all the little things you wanna do and what everyone else is doing and PLAN to do what you SHOULD be doing!!! What the [frick] is the hold-up??? If you wanna stick to one hero formulas THEN SAY SO!!! If you plan on putting them all in the same basket THEN SAY SO!!! Just stop it with your coulda woulda shouldas!!! DO IT!!!
skullboy
skullboy - 7/22/2010, 1:00 PM
Hopefully Warner Bros will finally roll the ball and give us more DC flicks. I'm so sick of Marvel winning the movie war let alone the comic war. Warner has really made DC look bad especially the ax job Jonah Hex has suffered. They really need to make up for all this. We want our Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, JLA, and Shazam movies now!
HelaGood
HelaGood - 7/22/2010, 1:08 PM
DC/WB.... always a follower.....
MoonDoggyX
MoonDoggyX - 7/22/2010, 1:15 PM
Marvel will continue to win the film war until DC takes more risk. The general public didn't know a lot about the X-Men before the movie came out... or blade... or Iron Man. I think that Superman Returns' monetary performance scared WB a bit...
BIGBMH
BIGBMH - 7/22/2010, 1:16 PM
DC even admits they've been lackluster this decade, but there are probably still fans that will argue that they did better with their movie than Marvel.
RedDevil
RedDevil - 7/22/2010, 1:17 PM
"It's no small challenge how few people have heard of these properties or understand their stories outside of fans of comic books," Diane said. "Sometimes the comic-book fans who love this stuff want us to get too precious about this stuff and if we do, we'll kill it off. We need to figure out how to evolve and grow it and bring it to more people."

She got a point, giving the comic book fans everything straight out of the comic books is not gonna work for those who are not familiar or do not read comics. It is always good to evolve from the stories and tweek them a bit. I can't wait for the footage of both GL and Thor.
Marvel and DC are the greatest!
loganoneil
loganoneil - 7/22/2010, 1:27 PM
DGr8Nova - That's all fine and dandy, but DC hasn't even made an attempt to exploit their other properties! As far as they've been concerned, all their money rode for years on the Bat and the Big Blue Schoolboy. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE these two characters dearly, but don't you think it's time that DC look 'outside the box' and give the REST of the DC Universe a crack at it?
bjvb997
bjvb997 - 7/22/2010, 1:42 PM
@Joey Misfit

Nice....
NightBat
NightBat - 7/22/2010, 1:43 PM
@Shaman.." Shit or get off the pot, DC." AGREED.
I'm more of a DC fan than Marvel and as much I enjoy watching (the good ones) Marvel movies, us DC fans have had to wait for years for new mainstream characters to make it to the screen. DC, stop throwing garbage like Jonah Hex at us and hopefully more stuff like Green Lantern (finally). Flash, Wonder Woman, IT'S A VERY SIMPLE FORMULA....um, the end
NightBat
NightBat - 7/22/2010, 1:49 PM
@Joey Misfit..Batman is my ALL TIME favorite character and I'm glad it's The Dark Knight that has crushed tons of movies..BUT, combined Marvel is kicking our ass..

How about ALL upcoming (filming and about to film) CBMs get together and watch Richard Donner's Superman and Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins/The Dark Knight and challenge each other to top those..I believe we (DC) have our leader in Geoff Johns..
Minotauro
Minotauro - 7/22/2010, 1:50 PM
Blade Trinity
Elektra
DareDevil
Hulk (2003)
Spider Man 3
Fantastic 4
Fantastic 4: 2
Punisher
Punisher Warzone
Man Thing

Man!! These are some critically successful movies!! ;D
NightBat
NightBat - 7/22/2010, 1:50 PM
@Interesting John..I second that
loganoneil
loganoneil - 7/22/2010, 1:52 PM
"I believe next year when the Green Lantern becomes one of the highest grossing movie for 2011..."

wolverinesfury: I love your optimism, but don't forget two things - 1. The movie stars Ryan Reynolds (who isn't known as a DRAMATIC actor). Let's face it, Hal Jordan isn't the typical smart-@ss character Reynolds is known to play, and this could HORRIBLY back-fire if they try and go for the laughs. 2. 'Green Lantern' will be going up against TWO heavy-hitters from Marvel - 'Thor' and 'Captain America'. A 'two-on-one' usually ends with the single guy getting his @ss kicked. I dunno', I hope I'm wrong. Fingers crossed, we'll see...
LP4
LP4 - 7/22/2010, 1:56 PM
@loganoneil- Superman's movies were OLD (70's-80's era) and since Superman Returns was meant to connect to those old films...we have yet to receive a truly UPDATED MODERN-DAY DEPICTION of Superman.

So no, we shouldn't just sweep Superman aside either. DC/WB needs to update Superman for the modern audience before they go on with lesser heroes. Batman has been fully updated with the Nolan films already. Superman has been bastardized on the big screen over and over and over again. Even those old Chris Reeve films were sappy-love stories and don't get me started on the problems with Superman Returns. And the old films didn't even get to enjoy the full strength of the IMAX 3D like GL will.

WB/DC owes it to the Superman-fans to at least put out a new film or two depicting Superman as a REAL HERO, having him fight someone would be a welcomed change and fixing the broken franchise that is now nearly dead because of Bryan Singer would be nice. Those are the two tasks for their most WELL KNOWN superhero- update him for the modern audience and fix the damage they themselves caused to the franchise before it's permanently dead.
breakUbatman
breakUbatman - 7/22/2010, 1:57 PM
I Prefer Marvel to DC, I only read Batman and Green Lanter nf rom DC. That being said I think DC will kick Marvel in coming years, solely because Marvel has laid the groundwork and shown how to do things righ and wrong. DC has less tainted charcters e.g. Punisher, Elektra, Hulk (reboots)
NightBat
NightBat - 7/22/2010, 2:02 PM
@LP4..I love the Richard Donner's Superman and I really enjoyed Superman II BUT I agree..
Superman needs an updated film and one that won't make a mockery out of the character
NightBat
NightBat - 7/22/2010, 2:03 PM
I also think Ryan Reynolds was a great choice for Hal Jordan/Green Lantern and I think he respects the material as much as Geoff Johns not to "funny it up"
InTylerWeTrust
InTylerWeTrust - 7/22/2010, 2:10 PM
Reynolds is a great actor.
loganoneil
loganoneil - 7/22/2010, 2:17 PM
LP4 - I agree that DC/WB OWES it to us to FIX Superman on the big-screen (and @#$!-ing SOON!), but my point was that in addition to doing that, why can't DC ALSO work on other projects? It's working WONDERS for Marvel, why does DC have to only work on one thing at a time?

InterestingJohn - You're right, Reynolds IS an actor first, but he's mostly know for his comedic roles. That's a strike against the film IN GENERAL as audiences who aren't familiar with GL, but ARE with Reynolds will think this as nothing more than a superhero 'Van Wilder'. Personally, I would have gone with Nathan Fillion, but that's anither thread... I'm hoping beyond hope that they DON'T screw this up!

I also agree with your Superman assessment. He's a man of peace who only uses force when absolutely necessary. You're idea of having him "...doing heroic things for the majority of a film, but cap it off with an epic battle (Superman 2 style) with an epic foe..." is how a PROPER Superman film SHOULD be. The 'kicking @ss' element can be part of the end battle!

NightBat
NightBat - 7/22/2010, 2:20 PM
@Interesting John..I totally agree with you and loganoneil..Superman is about being heroic but how awesome would it be to see him thrown down with someone that is as strong as he is towards the end of the movie? EPIC
loganoneil
loganoneil - 7/22/2010, 2:23 PM
NightBat - Totally agree, that's why I say no more Lex Luthor (unless he get's the Kryptonite powersuit). Bring on someone who can give ole' Big Blue a run for his money... Brainiac? ....Darseid? ...Doomsday? Hell, I'd even settle for Lobo (LMAO!), just make the final battle totally AWESOME!!!
AlternateNo4
AlternateNo4 - 7/22/2010, 2:23 PM
@loganoneill—actually, two-on-ones often end in the teammates splitting the vote and the "single guy" overtaking both.

personally i hope each of the films makes a huge profit, and i think the competition is silly. BUT if we're trying to OBJECTIVELY PREDICT, i suspect GL might come out on top because of the casts and storyline.

Reynolds is knows for comedy, but he is KNOWN—even to non-comics people: Blade, Adventureland, Proposal, Amityville, Definitely Maybe. Neither Chris ever hosted SNL, but Ryan did. And while he isn't BEST known for dramatic roles, people have seen him do a few, and Buried is coming out before GL. Evans... well, Sunshine was a drama but only nerds like us even HEARD of that. I'm not sure when Puncture is coming out... that might help him if it's any good. Hemsworth is known for absolutely nothing... four minutes of star trek and a B slasher/mystery.

Cap will have the most "non-CB fan" name recognition but mostly among older people that won't be rushing to see CBMs anyway. GL and Thor are probably about even, though GL sells a LOT so maybe people know him better than i think.

So as for the biggest audience draw... well, the biggest audience is teenagers and young adults, and girls pick the movie. Women know Portman but not enough to rush out and see "the new Natalie Portman movie." Blake Lively is not as respected an actress but is a much higher-profile personality, especially among young people.

I'd say even if it's a toss-up on the male leads (Evans's grin, Hemsworth's arms and Reynolds's abs) they'll go to see Blake over Natalie. Besides, the love story is a bigger part of the story in GL, and girls like that in movies... Marvel's offerings are a war movie (not the #1 female pick for date night) and something based on a mythos they probably never even heard of... hell, kids don't even read the Odyssey in schools anymore—I doubt they're reading the Eddas.
loganoneil
loganoneil - 7/22/2010, 2:25 PM
AlternateNo4 - I hope you're right, I'd hate to see GL blow it.
marvel72
marvel72 - 7/22/2010, 2:27 PM
dc needs make offical announcements to what comics are going to become films as soon as possible.
take next year for example marvel have got thor,captain america & x-men first class all coming out within a couple of months with each other,whats dc got the green lantern as cool as that might be it not enough to rival marvel.
AlternateNo4
AlternateNo4 - 7/22/2010, 2:31 PM
@loganoneil— lol well the one thing i DIDNT take into account is the quality... so far i'm assuming all the movies will be great and get decent enough reviews. if any of them gets four stars... or no stars... that will certainly change things up!
valeriesghost
valeriesghost - 7/22/2010, 2:34 PM
Johns also visited the smallville set when they shot the Legion episode.

@shaman and Loganoniel i completely agree with you both. I wanna see an Aqua Man movie.
LP4
LP4 - 7/22/2010, 2:50 PM
@InterestingJohn: Trust me...I KNOW the superman character well enough to know he's a man of peace. I'm just saying I want him to kick someone's ass because I'm sick of his films never having any fights. Look I grew up with the Chris Reeve films...but damn looking back they really were boring. I want Superman to finally be free to THROW DOWN with someone of his power or greater. I'm sick of Luthor trying to steal real-estate...[frick]en WB has raped the Superman character over and over and over and over again. Superman has literally been SHIT ON and I'm fed up with it. They need to give him a decent film, not ANOTHER GOD DAMN LOVE STORY. Give the fans what they want and what they want for the next film, despite how you may feel- THE FANS WANT ACTION. Superman never really fights in his films. Let's give him a film where he can finally actually PUNCH something. He's supposedly one of the most powerful superheroes...so let's give him an EPIC and POWERFUL film.

The last Supes film he literally didn't throw a single punch in the nearly 3 hour long film. That is just [frick]en pathetic, I'm sorry but it is. If WB manages to somehow [frick] up the next Superman film...AGAIN, that'll just further prove they don't know SHIT about Superman, nor do they respect him enough to give him a worthy film with a worthy villain. I love Lex Luthor...of the COMICS. I [frick]en hate the Gene Hackman/Kevin Spacey bullshit. Donner's time is over, they need to give us a brand new Superman, a brand new Lex and no more romance. I'm sorry- but CAP THE [frick]EN ROMANCE ONCE AND FOR ALL. Superman has had 5 films of pure romance and ZERO action. I say- UP THE GOD DAMN ACTION ALREADY WB. They're pissing off the Superman-fans.
fanboiii
fanboiii - 7/22/2010, 3:06 PM
Man of Steel will change everything!!!
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