In the race of comic book films Marvel is so far ahead of DC they've pretty much lapped them; twice. However, this week's announcement by Warner Bros could improve their chances to catch up. WB/DC took the wind out of the sails of the Avengers sequel when they appeared at the San Diego Comic Con with a Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice teaser, a picture of what Wonder Woman will look like, and their three main stars making a brief appearance. Now they've upstaged Marvel again. Just days after Variety reported Robert Downey Jr appearing in the third Captain America film, Warner Bros CEO Kevin Tsujihara came out to announce some upcoming projects such as several LEGO films, three Harry Potter spin-off films, and a ten-film slate for their DC Comic characters.
After Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Warner Bros will come out with two films a year, starting with a stand-alone Wonder Woman film starring Gal Gadot along with one of two Justice League films. Also on the schedule is a Green Lantern reboot film, a stand-alone Cyborg film, and an Aquaman film starring the long-rumored Jason Momoa. But even before we get Wonder Woman we'll get Suicide Squad, based on the comic about a bunch of super villains who are forced to do good.
This is a very ambitious line-up WB has planned, but it also says to Marvel Studios, and the rest of the world, "we're all in." I wasn't the biggest fan of Man of Steel, but the things I liked about it, such as Henry Cavill and Amy Adams performances, will carry on throughout the other DC films.
The film announcement that shocked me the least was the Green Lantern reboot. After the poorly received Ryan Reynolds film failed to jump start the DC film universe I still believed it had potential to be a part of this grand plan. But it looks like Warner Bros is just wiping the chalkboard clean and starting from scratch. Chances are by the time we see the GL film we'll already have an impression as to whether we like this character or not. Odds are as well that it'll be Hal Jordan taking center stage just like the previous film. But with several other human Green Lantern's to choose from I wouldn't be surprised if they go with John Stewart or even Guy Gardner.
The two films that shocked me the most were the announcements of a Cyborg and Flash film. Given that Flash is arguably the fourth most popular DC character I'm not shocked he's getting his own film; just shocked that they've already cast Ezra Miller as the Scarlet Speedster. I like The Perks of Being A Wallflower star, and I could see him being a good Bart Allen or young Wally West. But as Barry Allen, I'm not so sure. Plus Barry Allen's story is already being told in a new series on The CW that is off to a good start in my opinion.
Meanwhile the stand-alone Cyborg film confused me. Cyborg is great character, but he's always been a supporting character and never had his own ongoing comic. I'd much rather see him in a Teen Titans film, where the character really got his start. As far as the solo Aquaman movie starring Jason Momoa? We all saw that coming after months of speculation.
The most ambitious move by WB/DC will be the Wonder Woman film. She's thee iconic super heroine in the world, and after much talk about Marvel being the first to release a female-led film Warner Bros announces one first. This of course is all resting on Gal Gadot's ability to pull of this classic comic book character. I think I speak for everyone when I say, we are praying Gadot has more talent than she showed us in the Fast & Furious franchise.
It's a bold move for Warner Bros to announce all these films before we've even seen The Dark Knight Returns...I mean...Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. This all lyes on that film being good. And just because I haven't agreed how Zach Snyder and Warner Bros have treated the DC characters so far doesn't mean I'm not rooting for them. I'm in their fan section with a big foam finger attached to me.
I honestly could write about this subject until I fall asleep on my keyboard. I didn't even get into the Shazam film starring Dwayne Johnson, or the absence of Green Arrow. With Marvel and DC about to unleash a buffet of films into the world I think I speak for comic book fanboys everywhere when I quote Seth Cohen, "We're not outcast anymore. We're trailblazers."
No comments:
Post a Comment