Ahh, DC, when will you learn? I'm not the first, or even the millionth to say it, but we need some serious action taken on these damn DC movie projects. Let me start off by saying what I would like to see for each of the individual movies.
This'll be a very long article, so feel free to skip to the hero of your choice.
SUPERMAN
Okay, so they're talking about doing a reboot. But they still want Routh to come back. That sounds to me like it would be more of a prequel. And that's what they should do. You can still skip the part about telling his origin, and simply tell an early Superman story. Without the bulk of the origin, it can be very engaging, but do it with the same cast as Superman Returns. Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Sam Huntington, Frank Langella. Have a line about how Lex Luthor is safe behind bars, so that we know he's already had his feud with Superman. We're sick of seeing Luthor as the villain. We want Brainiac, or Bizarro, or Zod, or Darkseid, or even Parasite. Give us someone other than Luthor! And make sure to find some way to let the general audience KNOW it's a prequel. Otherwise, your average moviegoer who just watchd Superman Returns on DVD, and then walks into this will be saying things like "I'm confused. Where's the kid!" Also, fix the damn costume!
BTW, I really dug Superman Returns, but a project like this would be better to set up a Justice League film. The JLA movie can still be in the past of the Superman Returns film, with the JLA already around at the time of that movie.
BATMAN
Leave it in Nolan and Goyer's hands. That's all there is to it.
WONDER WOMAN
A fairly simple concept to turn into a movie. Just follow George Perez's run on the title from back in '86. You can even combine the first and second story arc, and turn the Cheetah into the villain, or maybe a secondary villain next to Ares. I would advise that you have the film END with Diana taking on the secret identity of Diana Prince. That's a nice compromise between those who like the secret ID, and those who don't.
Although an unknown actress would probably be a wise choice, there are two wel-knwon actresses who would both be perfect for the role.
Lena Headey
Morena Baccarin
Both are very talented actresses, with the natural grace and beauty, but also with the ability to kick ass, and to build up their bodies so as to look like an Amazon warrior, not a skinny little sex symbol actress.
Lena Headey is becoming a well-known actress, but could still pull of Wonder Woman. Morena is pretty much famous only in the Firefly community, so the fanboys would be thrilled!
A third choice would be Charisma Carpenter. I know, from her work on Buffy and Angel, she seems more like the All-American girl-next-door type, and not like an elegant Greek Amazon, but give her some credit for being an actress. She can put on an accent and seem regal.
However, like I said, an unkown would be a wise choice. Here's an actress I just sort of came across. She's not very famous, her most memorable part being an AMAZON on Xena: Warrior Princess. Her name is Tsianina (Cha-neena) Joelson.
I never actually watched Xena, so I can't really vouch for her acting ability, but...LOOK at her! If anyone ever looked more like Diana of Themyscira, I'll eat my hat! And she's got muscles too, and still looks sexy as hell!
I'd reccomend doing Cheetah as sort of an amalgam of the two versions of her (lady in a catsuit and half-woman, half-cheetah) have her gain the abilities of a cheetah, with some physical deformations like yellowing skin, fangs, and claws, but still have her as a mostly human woman in a catsuit.
As for he actress? Well, I would choose preferably someone whose not extremely well known, and very sultry, but preferably older, like in her forties.
They should also have Steve Trevor land on Paradise Island, but be the older guy who's not really a love interest, a la more recent comics. I know this sounds weird, but Michael McDonald from MadTV, even though he's only done comedy stuff so far, I think would make a good Trevor. Just a thought. I won't waste the bandwith with a picture.
Maybe they can introduce Tom Tresser, AKA Nemesis, as a love-interest. I'd say Michael Biehn for the part, but he's gotten so damn old! Also, save his shape-shifting powers for a sequel, as it wouldn't really fit here. In the sequel, he can get them, and start going by Nemesis, as he's working alongside Diana Prince. Here, he's just an agent who aids Wonder Woman.
GREEN LANTERN
Now here's an interesting movie to make. You have to start it off with the traditional Abin-Sur death, and Hal getting the ring. But how to do Sinestro justice. Here's a concievable storyline:
After being Green Lantern on Earth very briefly, Sinestro comes to take Hal to Oa and begin his training as a member of the corps. Hal meets other Green Lanterns like Kilowag, and is trained by Sinestro, whom he comes to admire. But then he learns of how Sinestro's treating his own people. He alerts the corps, and it takes a whole lot of them to subdue Sinestro and trap him in the anti-matter universe.
His training completed, Hal goes back to Earth, and continues to act as the Green Lantern, but Sinestro shows up with his yellow anti-matter ring, and the two have to duke it out alone, before Sinestro detroys Earth.
This would be the most true to the comic book. There are a couple of problems, however. First, it seems like a lot to fit in one movie, and it might not flow smoothly as a single story. Second, it rings of Batman Begins a lot. I mean, read that again with Batman Begins in mind, and you'll see it's a very similar storyarc. But still, I would go with some variant of that.
As for the casting, there's only one choice for Hal Jordan, really...
Honestly, reading Green Lantern: Rebirth, it seemed like Ethan Van Sciver drew Hal precisely to look like Nathan. Now, Mr. Fillion is slightly beefy and I would reccomend he slim down to get into that green suit. But other than that, can you really say you have a better choice for Hal Jordan. (I'm sure some of you do, and you will let me know ;) )
But hey, if they make a Justice League movie, it might be kinda wierd seeing Mal and Inara as Green Lantern and Wonder Woman. Maybe one of the other choices for WW would be better in this situation.
Also, there should be a romance with Carol Ferris. Before meeting Abin-Sur, they should characterize Hal as a man without fear, and the only one of the pilots at the air base with the stones to hit on the chief's hot daughter. Obviously, they fall in love, and she should factor into the story in some way beyond that. While reading Green Lantern: Rebirth, I noticed Van Sciver's Carol Ferris also resembled a certain actor.
That would be Andromeda star Lexa Doig
And Sinestro? Gary freakin' Oldman!
I know he's already been in the Batman films, but hey, he's the master of disguise! He'd be nigh-indistinguishable in that pink make-up.
Also, for Abin-Sur, have some famous, or at least cult-famous actor. I love it when they do stuff like that in movies, bring in the cool guy everyone knows and have him make such an important cameo (think Sean Conner in Robin Hood). Also, maybe make him almost unrecognizable as well, so that people will have to look it up and say "Hey dude, did you know that was _________?"
All right, moving on...'
THE FLASH
Now that Barry Allen's back, feel free to use him in the movie! That would be the best way in setting up a Justice League film!
I don't have as much to say about Flash. I'm not the biggest Flash fan out there, but I'd still be very exited for hte movie. Just have the origin done right, and make a good story. I really don't even know who the villain should be. I mean, Flash has so many, and, as far as I know, none of them are really his "arch" villain. A bigger Flash fan could tell you.
In the meantime, I do have a very specific actor in mind for Barry Allen.
Johnny Depp!
This guy can do anything! And he still looks freakin' 28! Dye his hair blonde, and I'd totally buy him as Flash! I bet he'd be happy to do it, too!
AQUAMAN
Aquaman has such a convoluted past, with very different origins. I would reccomend having sort of an amalgam between them.
Aquaman's mother is the princess of Atlantis, but she grows sick of it, and goes to the surface world, where she meets a lighthouse owner named Tom Curry. Oblivious of her past, he falls in love with her. But soon, her crazy father, the king, sends his cronies to fetch her, and she is dragged back down to Atlantis and forced to marry a consort. Tom never knows what happened to her.
The queen marries her consort, but when she gives birth, it is actually to Tom's child. Born with blonde hair and blue eyes, the child's father reviles this cursed trait, and has him abandoned on Mercy Reef, where he is taken care of by a school of dolphins.
As an eight-to-ten year old by, the boy finds himself at Tom Curry's lighthouse, where he is left behind from the school when Tom catches him trying to free a net full of fish. Tom takes the boy in, and names him Arthur. Arthur grows up, and his father eventually dies. After this, Arthur decides it's his duty to find out where he really came from, and so he leaves his girlfriend behind and explores the oceans.
He finds Atlantis, and is mistaken for an enemy impostor, and put in prison. There, he meets his mother, who has been imprisoned by her own son, the new king. This new king rules with an iron fist, and Arthur decides he must defeat him and take his place as the new king.
Aquaman is so laughed at and ridiculed by the general populace, I feel and epic story like this would be better than trying to make him Mr. Superhero. However, the human society should be aware of his existence, to Aquaman and Ocean Master's battle should, at one point, take them to the surface world where everyone sees them fight. In the end, Arthur is the new king of Atlantis, but on the surface world, everyone also knows who he is.
I don't really have an actor in mind to play Arthur. I used to say ER's Goran Visnjic (with dyed blonde hair, of course), but I think he's too old to play this version of the character. Maybe an unkown would do the most good.
JUSTICE LEAGUE
A Justice league movie should feature the Martian Manhunter as the narrating character. In fact, it should be largely about him, as he won't have a film of his own. He's basically the Justice League character, not a guy who even has his own comic series.
Anyway, the beginning of a JLA movie should be a narrated overview of the fate of the planet Mars, describing how J'Onn's brother destroyed the populace, before being banished to the phantom zone with the evil white martians. Then have J'Onn be accidentally transported to Earth, and decide to live a life of solitude.
Jump forward fifty years, to present day. There is news coverage of the phenomoneon that has taken place over the course of the past few years: Five super-heroes have revealed themselves to the world. Think about how wierd this would be. Before Superman's debut, humanity has never experience such a thing as a superhuman. Now, only a couple of years later, there's no less than five running around: Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquaman. We meet a strange man living alone, eating oreos, who turns out to be J'onn J'onzz, living quietly on Earrth all these years.
When J'onn realizes signs that his brother and the white martians are about to escape from the Phantom Zone and reign loose on the Earth, he gathers together the other five super-beings to stop them. Batman, not really having anything to do with the "super-being" phenomenon, should be totally taken along by accident. Maybe Superman is trying to take him in for the crimes Batman took the blame for at the end of The Dark Knight, when J'onn appears and takes them both along for the ride.
To explain the whole "five superbeings show up at the same time," and also to add someting to the story, maybe there should be something like an ancient Martian prophecy about seven heroes banding together to stop the great evil or something. The prophecy could say that it will happen with a certain alignment of the stars or something, and it could be that very spacial phenomenon that frees the evil Martians. I realize that sounds kinda lame. Just a thought.
I think J'onn should probably sacrifice himself in the end, so as to lend weight to the story. But leave a hint of him coming back at the end for a possible Justice League 2.
I realize how something like Justice League can interfere with the "real world" appeal of Christopher Nolan's films. But I really don't see the problem with Bale doing the Justice League films quite separately. If there's not mention of them in the Nolan films, we can still enjoy Bale's presence in the less-realistic Justice League films. That's what makes the whole thing just so much fun!
With all these characters from all these franchises, a Justice League film has the possibility of ending up a big showcase of superheroes, without very good writing or characterization.
To that end, I would reccomend the film be written by smoeone from what I call "Team Whedon," the staff of writers who wrote on such shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly. These guys' biggest strength is their ability to write multiple characters, make each character interesting and unique, and to make the characters all work well together as a team. Heck, they did it on Firefly with no less than nine characters!
These guys include Joss Whedon, of course, but he's so busy doing other things, I would also reccomend David Greenwalt, Tim Minear, Marti Noxon, Jane Espenson, and Drew Goddard (who wrote Cloverfield).
I also like Stephen Sommers as a writer-director because the Mummy films were so fantastically fun and had great character interaction and dialogue. However, Van Helsing is supposed to be horrible, and G.I. Joe looks pretty bad too. Still, I'd like to see what he could offer.
A Justice League 2 should throw in Green Arrow into the mix.
HAWKMAN
I think a Hawkman movie would be great if done right. It should focus on the love story between Carter and Shiera. It should open up with their Egyptian incarnation, briefly show us their incarnations in the old west, and move forward to the 1940s, for the main portion of the movie. The film should be about how these two soulmates find each other in whatever age they are in. I think something like that could be made into an epic kind of film, as well as something romantic that the ladies would want to go see as well. No big casting ideas here, though. And maybe they could join the Justice League in the third movie, too.
And that's my spiel. I'm going to go put some ice on my fingertips now.