To: DC Comics executives, Comic Book Movie fans, (or whoever this may concern)
Several years back, I wrote an editorial that I never submitted to comicbookmovie.com. The following is the new updated editorial:
In the world of film, Marvel Studios and its owner, Disney, has gotten DC (and its owner, Warner Bros.) beat. With box office bombs the likes of Jonah Hex and Green Lantern several years back, how can DC Entertainment bounce back to once again being a movie industry contender? If the success of Marvel Comic’s various franchises spawning from their rich stable of characters such as the Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor couldn’t convince you that they were way ahead of the game, perhaps the box office behemoth that is The Avengers can. Universally praise by fans, moviegoers, and critics alike, The Avengers signaled not the end of Marvel’s dominance, but a sampling of what is to come. With the recent success of Phase 2 films such as Iron Man 3 and thus far, Thor: The Dark World, and with the upcoming slate of films including Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardian of the Galaxy—not to mention the methodically planned out Phase 3—Marvel shows that they are a legitimate cinematic giant. And they are just beginning.
I want to take this time to address you readers that this is entirely my ideals and not that of anybody else. I will encourage you to give me feedback on the following and whether or not my discussion of DC Entertainment’s future is sound or not. Further editorials will spawn from this one in regards to each particular properties of DC (that I will mention here in this article). Enjoy.
Before we continue on to the meat of this editorial, I feel oblige to first discuss the past. Before continuing, I want everybody to realize and/or keep in mind that DC Comics (I am using this loosely as obviously this is not a film or television company) has dominated the film and television industry in the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and early 90s. That’s four decades where DC Comics came out with television successes such as Adam West’s Batman, Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman, and the myriad of successful Superman series. Not to mention the birth of film franchises most notably Michael Keaton’s Batman franchise and Christopher Reeve’s Superman franchise, each raking in money by the boatload. Even in the first decade of the new millennia, DC dominated TV with the decade long Smallville television series. Despite the “success” of Marvel’s Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D, I would argue television is still DC’s territory (mainly because I like Arrow better). Also keep in mind, that DC’s Justice League and Batman: The Animated Series, along with its various other animated television series have also done well. (I can’t expound upon this as I don’t follow them anymore since…well…I outgrew them).
With the exception of some Marvel-related TV series (Lou Ferrigno’s Incredible Hulk and the recent MCCU tie-in Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D) and some newer animated TV series, DC has for the most part dominated the film and television industry up until the late 90s when Batman & Robin epically failed.
But how does DC compete on the same level as Marvel when their movies are receiving critical acclaim and DC’s movies, such as Green Lantern, fail? After all, they will have to. Didn’t Warner Bros. once state that superhero films were going to replace the revenue stream they would lose now that the Harry Potter franchise is over? With the exception of Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, they haven’t had much success.
Man of Steel was, in my opinion, a good start. I am personally a big fan of Zack Snyder’s latest attempt at bringing the father of all superheroes to life on the silver screen. It ranks as my favorite comic book movie of the year. While I do understand many fan’s gripe with the film, I also find that adherence to its source comic book lore is a stupid idea. The film industry is more a business than anything else. Comic materials simply do not translate well onto the big screen when the major studios and producer’s primary goal is to draw in as many people as possible, not just cater to the fan boys and girls. Ideas developed years ago by comic book writers or even earlier cinematic attempts to bring these characters to life no longer make sense or connect with the audience. Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Despite Man of Steel’s apparent success, Warner Bros. and DC need a long term plan ready if they want to compete with Marvel. While I’m sure they do have a plan, the following is my idea.
Before I go on, I want to put to rest right now that I have never supported DC following Marvel’s (albeit brilliant) template by giving a bunch of headlining superheroes solo films to build up to a massive cross-over film. I think the film industry is already saturated with comic book movies (though I attribute this mainly to Fox and Sony, who keeps spewing out random Spider-man and X-men films. Does anyone even want a Fantastic Four reboot? Cause I couldn’t care a rats ass about it). Plus, where’s the originality in that? I do recognize that a Justice League movie is in high demand and by all account, appears to be where DC is headed. I am taking this into account in my article. So after Man of Steel where do we go next?
Well, since the yet-to-be-named Superman vs Batman film seems to be next on the list for DC, I might as well start with that. Rather than go into specific details about what I want exactly in this film—again, I will be writing separate editorials for all of that—I want to simply note that it is imperative this movie remains a Superman-centric film. I have never been particularly fond of incorporating Batman in this film because it seems more of a marketing/publicity ploy than anything else. The casting of an “older Batman” also didn’t sit well with me but that, again, is a story for another time. In any case, despite Batman’s popularity, he cannot be allowed to overshadow Superman. This film instead should be the driving vehicle for the audience to explore the new Clark Kent, one which we were only briefly introduced to in Man of Steel. Zack Snyder & Co. promised a fresh new take on the Superman mythos when they embarked on Man of Steel. Okay, so they gave us a new, modern Superman. So how do you deal with arguably his most ludicrous attribute—namely his alter ego. How does Lois knowing his secret from the get-go play out? Whatever villain and supporting characters they introduce should serve to compliment this exploration.
In my honest opinion, Batman should only be in the film as a DC Cinematic connective tissue like Nick Fury/S.H.I.E.L.D. was for Marvel. His purpose in the film should serve only to move the collective story towards the now-inevitable Justice League film. What does this mean? It means he has a glorify cameo in every DC Comics film (that I will talk about) to cement this idea. Of course, if he has to have a little more substance in Superman vs Batman to establish this version of the iconic character as something different than Nolan’s version and explain why a Justice League may be necessary, then that can’t be avoided. Of course I’m excited about Superman and Batman duking it out. As a comic book fan, I’m obligated to be thus. (Based on information already out, it doesn’t seem like this “glorify cameo” route is the way DC is going).
Another thing bothers me about this Batman and Superman pairing in the Man of Steel sequel. This is extremely picky of me and maybe because I’m a staunch DC guy. The duo seems incomplete with Wonder Woman. To me, they are the Trinity through and through. No Justice League can be formed without Wonder Woman cemented in the audience’s mind as just as important as the other two.
Because of this, I believe a Wonder Woman film is the other must-have film before Warner Bros. even think about a Justice League film. The most iconic female heroine in comic book lore, first of all, deserves a film, pure and simple. And honestly, this shouldn’t be a hard decision for DC. She is far and away more iconic than anything Marvel had to offer before they came out with their MCCU (except maybe the Hulk). Will there be obstacles? Of course, but what film doesn’t have to jump hurdles? Again, I will not discuss here how Wonder Woman can be done correctly to ensure a box office success, but needless to say a Wonder Woman film is long overdue. In any case, back to my original point. Wonder Woman needs to be established as an important figure in the DCCU and a founder of the Justice League. A glorify cameo will not work in this case because despite people knowing the name “Wonder Woman” they may not necessary know her demeanor towards crime fighting, origins, character etc.
Now let’s jump to Green Lantern. I think we can all agree the Green Lantern film was…unsatisfactory. So what do we do about this? Green Lantern, in my opinion, is the single greatest asset for DC and Warner Bros. and their most important. Why? Simply because Marvel has nothing to match (and no, Guardian of the Galaxy does not) and holds the potential for a space saga on par with Star Wars (with just as many films). However, DC does not need to churn out another Green Lantern film before a Justice League (unless they want to complete a film before Ryan Reynolds gets too old). A-ha! I just name dropped Ryan Reynolds! Yes, I want Ryan Reynolds to stick around. I will expand upon why in another article but all you guys need to know is as a lesser-known property outside of the comic book core fan base, Reynolds has already established himself as Hal Jordan. There’s no need to confuse people with somebody else. With that being said, after the Justice League re-establishes the Green Lantern as not a laughingstock, DC needs a new Green Lantern solo film featuring Hal Jordan. Don’t erase the crap-tastic original. Simply introduce the new one as a pseudo-sequel/spin-off like what Green Lantern: Emerald Knight was for First Flight.
Because Green Lantern has already come out, obviously this new incarnation of Batman won’t be able to make a cameo to connect the film to the Justice League. Now, I want to take this time to simply state that I do not think Batman should get his own solo film. At least, anytime in the near future when DC can be focusing on developing its lesser known properties such as Green Lantern, the Flash (I will talk about him in just a minute) and any of the other potential characters to join a future installment of the Justice League. More on why I don’t think Batman needs any more solo feature films in another editorial.
Anyway, yes, you heard me right. I believe that in order for the Justice League to be successful (in the plan that I laid out and in the current timeframe), DC should limit the team to its five core members (in my opinion). That’s Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Flash. Many people would argue that the Justice League’s core stands at seven (Aquaman? Martian Manhunter? Cyborg?). However, we’ve all witness the extremely limiting screen time given to Hawkeye in the Avengers and his lack of character development. And that’s with only one additional team member: six. Because I am not incorporating Batman or the Flash in a pre-Justice League solo film, sufficient time must be given to develop these characters. Other characters are encouraged to be added in future installments.
I saved the Flash for last because as we probably all know, the character—potentially in DC Cinematic continuity—is to make his debut on CW with a backdoor pilot on Arrow. This is absolutely the wrong way for DC to introduce such a major character. The Flash is far too important to be relegated to a show on a network averaging less than 3 million viewers an episode. Hell, the entirety of the most recent reboot of DC Comics lore is based around a story bearing his namesake featuring him as the main character. When the Flash is introduced in the Justice League film, nobody outside of the core comic book fans are going to have any idea who this guy is. While I also disagree with the casting of Grant Gustin, especially if he is to play the definitive Barry Allen in DC Cinematic continuity, I will spare you guys an even longer end to this article. Instead, I will tackle that issue in another article. In any case, the Flash deserves a solo film.
However, seeing as these plans have already been set in motion there’s very little that can be done about it. Especially since I would like (for the most part) Arrow to be inserted in DC Cinematic continuity. But more on that in a different article.
Now that that is all out of the way, I want to switch gears a little bit. If DC wants to throw out some smaller known characters in solo films, sure, they can do that. But just don’t expect much success or much money (especially if they all end up being anything like Jonah Hex). Instead, I think the best way DC can get their smaller known heroes out to the public is in one of four alternatives:
1. The first way involves releasing successful movies with big name character and then supplements those characters (in perhaps a sequel) with a supporting character aka those smaller named heroes DC wants to get out there. Look at Marvel’s Iron Man 2 – the movie sure sucked but I ain’t complaining about Black Widow or War Machine.
2. The second way involves releasing cinematic shorts (i.e. Marvel’s One Shot). These shorts can follow a major character and have them meet some not-so-famous character or it can just follow the lesser-known character as the titular character.
3. The third way is through animated films, which both DC and Marvels seems to be doing pretty well at (though I would still give the edge to DC). I think these animated films would be a great way to introduce lesser known characters because they don’t cost as much as live action films and failure can be overcome easily. However, the downside being, they still wouldn’t get too much exposure.
4. The fourth way is…TV. Simple enough. More on that in the future.
Now, before I move to discuss a little bit more about animated films, I just want to say that whoever else DC decides to introduce is up to them. I used to have an idea who else outside of the most well-known characters deserves an introduction but after watching an influx of comic book movies dry up the movie market and with recent large-budget box office bomb, I no longer am sure. Do you guys have any suggestions?
Animated films. Not much to say here except that since Marvel also seems to be doing a decent amount of animated films, DC can’t slack off. I would say most of DC’s animated film has been a success or at least enjoyable. However, they could (like I point out above) include more strategy in them to introduce concepts, plots, and characters etc. You want to differ from Marvel? Go bigger. Incorporate non-live-action films into cinematic continuity. Boom.
Okay, I know this article has been massively long so this where I am going to end it. I will discuss each character in depth and how I feel their cinematic adventures should proceed in other articles so keep an eye out for that. I will probably save DC’s television hoopla for another article as well. I want to thank you all for reading and though I’ve never had much of a presence on this site to begin with, this is my first entry and contribution to comicbookmovie.com since 2011. I hope you enjoyed this article and yes, once again, I know it has been massively long. Hopefully I didn’t miss anything out and feel free to give me constructive criticisms aka feedback.