5 Things I Want To See in 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'

Yes, I know.  It's been a LOOOOOOOOONG time since I have written an actual blog on Blogger.  I hopped on the podcast bandwagon and have been riding that engine ever since.  But I felt like a topic such as this one deserved my special touch.  So, I guess that means that from time to time you still may see me write an actual blog.  But don't hold your breath on it.

I am only a few hours away from watching a film most fanboys have wait years, if not their whole lives, to see.  Anyone who knows me, or heard me talk about Man of Steel, knows I had some major issues with it.  Though none of them had to do with their pick of Henry Cavill as Superman.  It's Zach Snyder's style I thought ruined the film, and ever since I heard he was not only continuing with Batman v Superman, but Justice League as well, I've been afraid of the entire DC Cinematic Universe expansion.  I loved the casting of Ben Affleck and Jeremy Irons as Batman and Alfred.  I hated the casting of Jesse Eisenberg and Gal Gadot as Lex Luthor and Wonder Woman.  I want to like this movie.  I'm trying my best to walk into it with hope and an open mind.  But even today, as I see bad headlines online, I am preparing for the worst.

While not a fan of the previous film it was not without merit.  Like I said, I liked Henry Cavill as Clark Kent, I liked Amy Adams and Laurence Fishburne as Lois Lane and Perry White.  And I loved the visual effects.  Seeing Superman and Zod fight, while very unnecessary, was cool to watch.  So in order to correct this ship that Man of Steel has launched I've thought of 5 things I'd like to see in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice to get me on board with the DCCU moving forward.

1)  Superman must feel bad about killing Zod

I get that Superman kills every once and a while.  I've read enough comics to know he avoids it at all costs, but sometimes, it happens.  My main gripe with him snapping Zod's neck in MoS was tat it was the first Superman film of the reboot.  The audience didn't even get one film to establish his rule on not killing.  In Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy the first two entire films established that Batman went out of his way not to kill because it separates him from his enemies.  Is Snyder and writer David Goyer saying Superman has no quarrel with it?

I want Clark to draw the line in this film.  I want him to have thought about his actions and realized that Zod is the last life he'll ever take.  Jor-El sent Kal-El to Earth to "give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards".  Right now, Clark is down in the mud with the rest of us.  That isn't Superman.  Like Captain America, he is supposed to show us that the right thing to do is usually the hardest choice.

2)  Keep Doomsday's screen time minimal

When I saw that Lex was going to turn Zod's corpse into the villain known as Doomsday I was horrified.  And not by Doomsday's appearance.  It was that they took this iconic, powerful, villain and put him in the 2nd film of this cinematic universe.  Marvel has been teasing Thanos for 6 films!  In the comics, Doomsday took out the entire Justice League before killing Superman.  Now, it appears that a rookie Superman and Wonder Woman, along with Batman, can handle this force of nature.  Um.....no.  

However, if Doomsday shows up at the end of this film, and the Trinity realizes they can't take down this beast alone, so then they form the Justice League to help them.  I'd be on board with that.  If you're going to waste a good villain like Zod in the first Superman film, and then double tap that bad decision by turning him into Doomsday, at least make it worth our while. 

    

3)  Show me Darkseid

We've all seen the parademons and the Omega symbol in the Batman v Superman trailer.  So we can all guess that Darkseid will be the big bad guy in the Justice League film.  In the mid-credit scene for The Avengers we got our first glimpse of Thanos and had non-comic readers saying, "Isn't that Red Skull?"  I want a tease like that.  I've seen parademons; show me the big guy.  Show me the ultimate galactic villain that Warner Bros and DC thought it would be ok to have in the 5th film of their cinematic universe(Marvel is at 13 and still not fought Thanos).  I just wanna know what he looks like.  I figure the Justice League film will loosely be based on Geoff Johns New 52 storyline; Origin.  Or if you want to check out the animated film, Justice League: War to get an idea what the live-action film may be like, it's also based in Origin. 

4)  Lois supporting Clark

In several storylines we see that Lois is Superman's anchor to humanity.  I will also give some credit to Ma and Pa Kent.  Clark is a being who is so powerful he can take over the world; possibly the galaxy.  But his human emotions, like love, are what keep him humble.  Without them, he'd really think he was a god.  Governments and vigilantes are coming after Clark for the destruction of Metropolis.  He will feel ashamed.  He will feel like his mission is not worth it.  Lois has to be there to support him.  To know that world needs someone like him to give them hope.  And Lois needs to be there for him so that he doesn't have to be "Superman" all the time.  I love that Lois knows who Clark is right from that start.  So let's not waste it.

5)  Don't screw up Wonder Woman!!!!!

Ben Affleck has proven himself in recent years to be not only an accomplished actor, but a great film maker as well.  I have no worries that he will make a good Batman.  But giving the most iconic female superhero character in history to a model who is trying to start an acting career?  What were they thinking!!!!!  

Granted, I have been trying to hold off judgement on Gal Gadot until I see the film, but I have been VERY scared of this casting choice since the beginning.  The only thing I've seen Gadot in is the Fast & Furious films and I was not impressed at all.  Rumor has it WW isn't in the film enough to make or break it, but with her own solo film coming out next year I feel like the entire female superhero film sub-genre is on Gal Gadot's shoulders.  And those shoulders look like they can barely lift a lasso.

'Furious 7' Director Submerges Into 'Aquaman'

Anyone who knows me knows I'm an unbashful Aquaman fan.  The DC character has been the butt of many jokes ever since the 1960's when he appeared in his own cartoon series and then was featured on Superfriends.  Aquaman has been through many interpretations throughout his 70-year run, but Geoff Johns breathed new life into the character when he brought him back from the dead in Brightest Day and also wrote him into The New 52's Justice League, and he got his own comic book series once again.

Warner Bros and DC Entertainment are busy trying to catch Marvel with their own cinematic universe.  Jason Momoa from Game of Thrones has been cast to play the King of the Seven Seas in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice coming out next year, with his own film slated for 2018.  A few days ago it was announced that Fast & Furious 7 director, James Wan, has now signed on to direct the Aquaman stand-alone film. 

Fast & Furious 7 broke box office records, but let's be honest. Most of that hype was due to the tragic death of Paul Walker while filming the movie. Wan, Universal Studios, and the cast handled the situation great and honored Walker's memory perfectly, but Aquaman is a whole different machine.  Before F&F, Wan had mainly done horror movies. He started the infamous Saw and Insidious franchises, and while I'm not a horror fan I still appreciate any film maker who creates something that is good enough to start a series. Fast and Furious is also not known for Oscar winning performances and story telling. As the series continues the stunts and plots get more and more ridiculous.  

DC characters like Aquaman and Wonder Woman are very mythical. When dealing with worlds like Atlantis and the Themiscrya you need directors who can handle the fantasy aspect, but flesh out the characters to make the movie work.  Formerly attached to direct the Wonder Woman movie was Michelle MacLaren, who would have been a good fit with her background working on Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead.  Kenneth Branagh also had a background dealing with Shakespearean stories when he directed Thor, and it helped make the fantasy world of Asgard believable.  I have yet to see that kind of talent as a director from James Wan.

Given that Aquaman will be part of a much bigger cinematic world Wan will also have to deal with producers and studio heads throwing in their 2, or even 10, cents into the project Wan will be the captain of. Like all the other WB/DC films set to come out in the next few years, I am hoping for the best but don't have much faith in WB since they put Zach Snyder in charge of the big DC films coming out. I was disappointed with Man of Steel and thought Zach Snyder was the wrong director to reintroduce not only Superman onto the big screen, but the now entire DC Comics universe.

I have yet to see enough of both James Wan and Jason Momoa to see if they have the talent to pull off the epic film Aquaman should be. However, given both their action backgrounds this may be the next step in their careers to not only elevate their reputations, but also Aquaman. And the movie is still three years away. Like mighty rivers and oceans, the DC Cinematic Universe current could change directions by then. Either way, I'll be watching.

DC's TV Universe Soars Higher Than Movies

San Diego Comic-Con 2013:  DC Comics and Warner Bros announced the production of a Batman vs Superman film.  Two years later: we still have to wait another year.  This film will continue DC's Cinematic Universe that started with Man of Steel back in 2013.  However, by the time WB gets their second DC movie out starring Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman the world will have already spent four years becoming attached to Green Arrow, The Flash, the Atom, and a lot of other DC characters that aren't considered the "World's Finest."

Yesterday, a trailer dropped for the new CW series, DC's Legends of Tomorrow.  This will be the second spin-off series that takes place in the shared universe that Arrow started in 2012.  In it's third season, Arrow was joined by it's first spin-off, The Flash.  With only one season under it's belt The Flash has become enough of a hit too green-light another Arrow spin-off.  And why not?  This season, between the two shows, we were introduced to DC alumni like Atom, Black Canary, Firestorm, and Captain Cold.  This universe is expanding like the big bang, and it's only going to get bigger.

Man of Steel wasn't DC and WB's first attempt to make a shared universe.  In 2011, Green Lantern was supposed to ignite the DC Cinematic Universe, but the film was a social disaster.  As Warner Bros regrouped to try again, Marvel Studios released The Avengers, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and has enough of head start to take a multi-year nap while DC tries to catch up.  Green Lantern writer, Greg Berlanti, along with several others, turned their focus to television. In season two, Arrow introduced a young Barry Allen, which hit new ratings highs for the series.  Soon a Flash spin-off was in production.  With the success of The Flash, Berlanti has become a TV genie, and created a grand shared universe the DC films have yet to accomplish.

Last Fall, several other TV series were released with other DC characters.  NBC's Constantine has been cancelled, and while Fox's Gotham has been renewed for a second season I stopped watching after episode two.  Constantine sadly wasn't superhero-ish enough for today's audience, and who wants to watch a Batman show without Batman? Greg Berlanti has another show coming out this Fall; CBS's Supergirl.  The first extended preview did not impress me, but the second, shorter, trailer made it seem a little better.   But so far, it is said that Supergirl will not connect to The CW's Arrow-verse.

In my opinion, Marvel is succeeding in their shared universe because they are making movies everyone can enjoy.  Some people like the Captain America films, while others prefer the Iron Man trilogy.  And each Marvel film expands the mythology of the universe.  The CW's DC shows are also doing this.  Arrow has a darker, more serious, tone with a few jokes thrown in.  While The Flash has a lighter tone.  Both of these are reflective of their main characters; Oliver Queen and Barry Allen.  DC's Legends of Tomorrow will expand the Arrow-verse even more.  And 22 episodes gives us a lot more time to learn and love characters than a two hour movie.

  While I will admit these shows aren't quit the same quality of Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, or Breaking Bad, the characters and story lines are good enough to suck anyone into this universe. So the big screen can have their Dark Knight, Man of Steel, and Amazon Princess.  I'm more excited to see what Berlanti has in store for the Emerald Archer, Scarlet Speedster, and the rest of DC's B-team .  I would have loved to have see this new series be called something along the lines of "Justice Society" because I know a "Justice League" movie is already planned, but I'm itching to see a 3-episode crossover with all 3-shows that run like a big 3-hour film.  This is what shared universes are all about, and The CW is hitting their mark better than even Marvel TV.

WB's DC Characters Look To Out-Plan Marvel

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."