SUGGESTIONS to Warner Bros.
I know they are on hold, but scratch Lobo and Metal Men altogether.
Definitely wait to see how JLA does before doing JL Dark.
BUT postpone something as costly as JLA until you get the individual characters right for once. (No, I don't think even Batman has been done right.)
It will be hard to compete with Nolan, but a true visionary can, WB you HAVE to let the next creative team do it their way and NOT force a Nolan style on them. The 1989 Batman had one thing correct over Nolan for sure. Gotham itself had style. The city is practically its own character, as it should be. Try to explore how Bats is “The Greatest Detective” and a chemistry wizard, EVERYONE knows he can fight we dont need to explore how he learned to fight anymore.
TDKR
Just a small gripe– Blake should have ended up being Terry McGuinnes, then they could have had Batman Beyond as a sequel and it would've actually worked quite well. Recast Bale for an older version since he wasn’t interested and everyone would've been happy.
For the record the original script was much better than the final product. The cameos of Alan Scott and Clark Kent were great and Hal Jordan getting his grey temples could’ve been really cool. It deserves a sequel/reboot. Don’t waste all that money on CG uniforms. It could be okay with Ryan Reynolds returning if he lost some of the goofiness. A little tweaking and they can still have a very successful sequel.
I do understand the reluctance, but I would love to see all the FINAL financial records. The movie itself, made a profit. A very small one, but still a profit. But how well did merchandising go? Did that at least cover the cost of Marketing? If so, now that there is name recognition and the animated series created new fans, maybe a sequel isn’t as bad a risk.
But if they still do JLA first, that’s an opportunity to recast. I say Jensen Ackles. He can be intimidating unlike Reynolds, but he also has the arrogant, sarcastic thing down pat, all important to Jordan’s character.
Some complained about the ending of Green Lantern, saying they ruined the character development of Sinestro by having him put on the yellow ring. But I disagree. The ring doesn’t MAKE him go bad, he just tried it on. In the sequel, he puts the green ring back on. But as he gets less and less satisfied with the Guardians, he gets more and more tempted to use the yellow ring. Until finally the Guardians take his green ring away. Then he resorts to the yellow and becomes the truly evil Sinestro.
I’m looking forward to Man of Steel, because I hope WB may get it right. Only time will tell.
Sure you are worried about a female superhero movie. But that’s because of the ones that failed. That’s your damn fault. Whoever thought the Catwoman movie was a good idea should be fired. Wonder Woman has name recognition, she is an icon. You will sell movie tickets if you get a good script. I bet Joss Whedon's script was great.
Really build the anticipation for JLA if you want it as successful as Avengers. Solo movies first.
DO NOT USE John Blake. Absolutley NOT. Joseph Gordon-Levitt can play a younger Bruce Wayne or another hero since he is an EXCELLENT actor, but NO BLAKE. Without Bruce Wayne/Batman you can pretty much guarantee a flop since Bruce Wayne/Batman is probably the most beloved superhero right now.
When they hired Will Beall, I said that was stupid then and I say it now. I’m glad to see Gangster Squad failed badly enough that WB may change their minds. FIND WRITERS THAT HAVE A PASSION FOR YOUR PROPERTIES.
ARROW TV SERIES– I'm going to be nitpicky with this one since its a decent show. Other than the island, it's not really Green Arrow at all though. I understand some things don’t translate well and liberties have to be taken at times, so that's cool. (Adding Diggle, Laurel's job etc. they work for the show) Even him being brooding works a little. (Even though Green Arrow doesnt brood, Aresenal does, their dynamic is OPPOSITE of Batman and Robin. )
But why the stupid, pointless changes? The show being called Arrow is fine, but why not have the media in the show label him Green Arrow not the “hood”? How lame. He uses a green arrow, so newspapers might actually call him The Green Arrow. Then cross-selling the comics wouldn’t be as confusing to a newbie. Isn’t the point about making money?
Why call Star City, Starling City? What a pointless change. Pointless changes like that are so annoying.
And the STUPID make-up instead of mask. Yeah that's efficient. (sarcasm) In an emergency the superhero has time to apply make-up. Brilliant. Amell gets enough screen time without the mask that this shouldn’t be an issue for him as an actor. Especially considering he is half naked at least once in every episode.
I know Guggenheim and Berlanti get comic characters (as seen in first draft to Green Lantern) so I believe these are executive decisions based on flawed market research. Try trusting the source material, there's a reason it's lasted longer than most of us have been alive.
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BIG NAMES
Stop spending so much money on well-known actors. Let the characters, comics and GOOD marketing sale the opening weekend tickets and a good story will get the repeat viewings.
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LET GO OF NOLAN
Again, yes, his movies were well done, and yes they were very successful. But seriously, stop putting all your eggs in one basket.
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SOURCE
Best Advice of All - have the characters reflect the source material. To date, the ONLY DC movie to really reflect its character is the original Superman: The Movie. Sure many love Nolan’s Batman films and people are starting to enjoy the carbon copy TV version known as Arrow. But they don’t reflect the characters from the source. (Batman Begins came closest to the spirit of the character.) And yes I do understand first and foremost it’s a business. It’s about making money.
But as Marvel has proven, you can make even MORE money by staying true to the source
I’m hoping the new CEO Kevin Tsujihara has more vision than the last CEO and can achieve something on par with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With Pacific Rim, Robotech and the possibility of Akira, all under Warner Bros. , if WB doesn’t fix their Comic Book Movie issues soon, they might just abandon them for more anime based movies. I love both, but I’d hate to lose a JLA or a great GL movie for them.