DC Movie Universe

[galmando]

It's been questioned hundreds of times since Nick Fury appeared at the end of Iron Man and hinted at The Avengers and began the formation of a shared movie universe;

Will there be a JLA Movie?

So far it seems DC/WB has no plan, the Batman movies are coming to an end, GL bombed - the only hope is Man of Steel to get the ball rolling. This leads me onto my question to all of you;

Is it really that likely that Supes will kick start it all, and really, should he? If you were in charge of crafting the beginnings of a shared DC Movie Universe, what woukd your plan be?

Which character would you start with? What tone would you want to set?

I think it would be interesting to hear the thoughts of the fans who know these characters better than i do and how they would start it all.

Personally I would like to see it start with Batman to ground it in some form of reality and then intoduce the 'super' characters such as Flash and then open them up to the bigger world of Supes and the Corps n everything

What do you think?

 

[hairlesswookiee]

I honestly don't know right now. It seems like that would be a fantastic movie, but so far based on the solo DC movies we have the JLA movie wouldn't work. There would have to be a reboot for all the main characters which would be a headache IMO....so even if it did get approved it wouldn't happen for a few years, and it seems like DC wants the $$$$ Marvel is raking in right now.

 

[karamazov80]

If I were the head of DC's movie division or whatever, I would be following a similar pattern to what Marvel did. The best way to success is to do what other successful people have done, right?

But the biggest difference (and reason why I'm skeptical that a DC Movie Universe idea will ever succeed even if it does happen) is that Marvel "gets it" while DC just doesn't. The Nolan Batverse was great, but DC has shown no vision or even discernible strategy apart from bringing Nolan on board for that reboot. Superman isn't Batman, but they want to make him dark and gritty, and Snyder's track record (in a critical sense) with properties where he needs to be original is not great. The GL movie didn't succeed with many moviegoers on any real level, and was just not what it should have been. Jonah Hex gets made for some reason with little fanfare and little interest by moviegoers or comic readers, and wasn't made very well. A Wonder Woman TV show effort demonstrates the lack of organized thought and good ideas coming from DC's live action media department. The Smallville show is great if you are 15 years old (no offense to older fans who like that show, but that was their target audience), but that's not the only demographic you need to target for a movie franchise or series of franchises to succeed.

I say, let the guys doing DC's animated films take over the live action side. Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett, etc. Those guys totally get it, and could do something magnificent if given the reigns.

 

[hairlesswookiee]

If I were the head of DC's movie division or whatever, I would be following a similar pattern to what Marvel did. The best way to success is to do what other successful people have done, right?

But the biggest difference (and reason why I'm skeptical that a DC Movie Universe idea will ever succeed even if it does happen) is that Marvel "gets it" while DC just doesn't. The Nolan Batverse was great, but DC has shown no vision or even discernible strategy apart from bringing Nolan on board for that reboot. Superman isn't Batman, but they want to make him dark and gritty, and Snyder's track record (in a critical sense) with properties where he needs to be original is not great. The GL movie didn't succeed with many moviegoers on any real level, and was just not what it should have been. Jonah Hex gets made for some reason with little fanfare and little interest by moviegoers or comic readers, and wasn't made very well. A Wonder Woman TV show effort demonstrates the lack of organized thought and good ideas coming from DC's live action media department. The Smallville show is great if you are 15 years old (no offense to older fans who like that show, but that was their target audience), but that's not the only demographic you need to target for a movie franchise or series of franchises to succeed.

I say, let the guys doing DC's animated films take over the live action side. Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett, etc. Those guys totally get it, and could do something magnificent if given the reigns.

What he said.

 

[EVILFACE]

It's not just the characters but the right actors to play them.

Iron Man was a second tier who cares character untill Robert Downey Junior brought him to life in a fun way.

DC needs to do something. A JLA movie would be great.

They can also expand their Vertigo movies with Preacher, Sandman and a faithful full blown horror adaption of Swamp Thing.

 

[karamazov80]

It's not just the characters but the right actors to play them.

Iron Man was a second tier who cares character untill Robert Downey Junior brought him to life in a fun way.

DC needs to do something. A JLA movie would be great.

They can also expand their Vertigo movies with Preacher, Sandman and a faithful full blown horror adaption of Swamp Thing.

I agree about the actor, but if you have a good strategy in place, and the right people making the calls, then you can have more faith that they will choose the right men or women for those key roles. Ryan Reynolds was never a great choice for GL in my mind. Having said that, I thought Brolin was a great choice for Hex, but everything else failed in that movie.

I would also love to see Vertigo done right. If DC is so obsessed with the dark and gritty stuff, then bring on someone like David Cronenberg to do Swamp Thing, or let Neil Gaiman write and direct a Sandman picture. I would also like to see a Constantine reboot with the British sensibility that it really needs.

 

[IrishJedi]

At this point, WB/DC may have to do it in reverse... which is develop a JLA film first, then spin potential individual franchises from that depending on how well it does. And if it's done right it would be absolutely huge, as in AVENGERS huge or even bigger. You're talking about Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and The Flash. These are all elite, top-tier comic characters. And it doesn't get any bigger than Bats and Supes.

The problem is they have no cohesive vision. They need someone like Marvel has in Kevin Feige to take the reigns and shephard it all. Nolan is not that person, because he shows an open distance from true comic book sensibilities. And I hope it isn't someone like Geoff Johns or Jim Lee, either... That would set up a total cluster____.

WB/DC is in a weird place with this right now. The Nolan Batman films are clearly not meant to take place in any shared DC film universe, the GL movie completely underwhelmed, Flash & Wonder Woman (once a Joss Whedon project) languish in development hell, and they're about to launch a Superman reboot produced by Nolan with a 3-picture deal with no indication of whether or not that could be part of a bigger DCU. Obviously, a successful Supes film would be the perfect kick-off and jump starter, but it's all an unknown. Like some have said, they seem to have no plan when it comes to a consolidated DC movie universe. And that's a damn shame, because unlike Marvel, DC controls the rights to ALL of their comic characters via WB.

 

[IrishJedi]

Of course what will suck is when/if a JL movie happens we'll have to hear dullards call it an AVENGERS "rip-off".

Another potential irony: If WB/DC goes with Darkseid (as they should) some will think its a riff on Thanos, when in actuality Jim Starlin and Marvel basically ripped off Jack Kirby and based Thanos on Darkseid.

 

[galmando]

Another potential irony: If WB/DC goes with Darkseid (as they should) some will think its a riff on Thanos, when in actuality Jim Starlin and Marvel basically ripped off Jack Kirby and based Thanos on Darkseid.

That's what i was thinking, as far as the general movie going public are concerned, what they see first came first

So much so that i don't think DC would be able go that route

Another problem with DC is that their characters don't exist in the real world. Well, not directly. They're respective cities seem to be representative of real world locations but kinda pulls me out of the stories a bit

With Marvel, there's the idea that these heroes could exist in the real world locations of the movies

Maybe DC just isn't right for this kind of Movie Universe?

 

[wofford29]

I'd prefer them to stay separate myself. Marvel has made one good film out of the pre avengers films and I havent seen Avengers yet but it sounds like I'll like it at least as much as their one good film, which is Iron Man. So thats two good films in an effort to launch the Avengers. Both Batman films are great with the third looking to fall right in line, and a Superman film on the horizon that has the pedigree and the look so far. That'll give DC four good to great films while Marvel has the two. There's no need to have them all in one film if you can get a great solo effort.

 

[DFanatic]

That'll give DC four good to great films while Marvel has the two.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWdd6_ZxX8c"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWdd6_ZxX8c[/ame]

 

[karamazov80]

At this point, WB/DC may have to do it in reverse... which is develop a JLA film first, then spin potential individual franchises from that depending on how well it does. And if it's done right it would be absolutely huge, as in AVENGERS huge or even bigger.

That could definitely work (I don't buy into the argument that the Marvel process of leading up to the Avengers was the only way it could really work), but they definitely do need the larger vision in place if they want to maximize the success of such a series of films from a commercial and critical POV.

The success we're already seeing from the Avengers has to be a fire lit under the asses of some DC execs to get this ball rolling. Right?

Maybe DC just isn't right for this kind of Movie Universe?

Because they have to change the names of some cities and can't use Darkseid without being labeled as imitating Marvel? I can think of no reason DC (and the JLA specifically) shouldn't be able to work on the big screen. They just need to be handled appropriately.

I'd prefer them to stay separate myself. Marvel has made one good film out of the pre avengers films and I havent seen Avengers yet but it sounds like I'll like it at least as much as their one good film, which is Iron Man. So thats two good films in an effort to launch the Avengers. Both Batman films are great with the third looking to fall right in line, and a Superman film on the horizon that has the pedigree and the look so far. That'll give DC four good to great films while Marvel has the two. There's no need to have them all in one film if you can get a great solo effort.

You're being too harsh. The consensus is that the Cap and Thor movies, at least, were quite good (each has over 75% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes).

 

[thenammagazine]

Of course what will suck is when/if a JL movie happens we'll have to hear dullards call it an AVENGERS "rip-off".

Wouldn't work anyway. They'd essentially be making a movie with characters (movie renditions) nobody's really invested in. This is why I was saying in the TDK thread if they expect to pull anything off, add nods to the other franchises (Bale's Batman, or JGL's if he's wearing the cowl at the end, and Reynolds' GL) in Man of Steel. Otherwise, we're at least a decade off from anything anybody would remotely be as emotionally attached to as Avengers.

 

[wofford29]

You're being too harsh. The consensus is that the Cap and Thor movies, at least, were quite good (each has over 75% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes).

Maybe. I guess it just hangs on if you accept average as good or not.

 

[karamazov80]

"Average" in reference to what? If you're talking about a population of all movies released, then they are better than average. If you only watch Oscar nominated and art movies, then maybe they are average or even below average. As far as comic book action movies go that need to appeal to a mass audience, they are better than average.

 

[Sweet Rabbit]

DC ____ the bed on anything possible to do what marvel did when they gave nolan the keys to batman

 

[EVILFACE]

? Nolan made WB and ton of money.

 

[Sweet Rabbit]

? Nolan made WB and ton of money.

and he also cut batman's nose off to spite his face

 

[wofford29]

"Average" in reference to what? If you're talking about a population of all movies released, then they are better than average. If you only watch Oscar nominated and art movies, then maybe they are average or even below average. As far as comic book action movies go that need to appeal to a mass audience, they are better than average.

In the words of Ron Burgandy. That doesn't make sense. Average is average. The movies that I watch that are ____ remain ____ no matter what they're up against. Likewise for a film that is average. It's going to be average no matter when I watch it in a lineup. Iron man is good regardless of genre, Thor is average, put them both up against Godfather and Iron Man is good and Thor is still average.

 

[thenammagazine]

In the words of Ron Burgandy. That doesn't make sense. Average is average. The movies that I watch that are ____ remain ____ no matter what they're up against. Likewise for a film that is average. It's going to be average no matter when I watch it in a lineup. Iron man is good regardless of genre, Thor is average, put them both up against Godfather and Iron Man is good and Thor is still average.