The Good, The Bad And The Ugly In The DC Pipeline.
“That’s how it starts. The fever, the rage, the feeling of powerlessness that turns good men… cruel” -Alfred Pennyworth.
Most of you who frequent this site will have noticed that Brad has been a huge comics fan, and continues to be an avid follower of comic book movies. Overjoyed at the recent thrilling developments from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it almost seemed like sheer folly for DC Comics to weigh in with their own equally immense big screen projects.
While Marvel reigns supreme at the box office, DC would seem to be quite content to have their Arrow and Flash (and the imminent Legends of Tomorrow) shows dominate TV ratings. Yet as Chris Nolan’s outstanding Dark Knight trilogy showed, DC Films are prepared to put up one helluva fight.
Yes, there is a part of me yearning to find out how DC will show off their Extended Universe. After all, despite my “Make Mine Marvel” chants, rummage through my comic collection atop my wardrobe/TARDIS and you will discover that a decent 65% of them are DC titles (dating between 1980-1993 for those of you taking notes).
This week, we finally got tasters as to what DC/Warner endeavour to unleash. Last Tuesday night, a TV special: DC Films Presents: Dawn of the Justice League on The CW showcased some of DC’s current movie developments, including an exclusive trailer for August’s Suicide Squad, plus new footage of next summer’s Wonder Woman movie.
Tell me: do you geek? You will…
“The greatest gladiator match in the history of the world: Son of Krypton versus Bat of Gotham!” – Lex Luthor.
Ta-da! First up is Batffleck vs. Superhenry: Clash Of The Capes. Sorry, but seriously, Dawn of Justice just looks like such a perilous venture. Placing DC’s two most box-office-friendly heroes in the same blockbuster has all the hallmarks of safe bet – even desperation – written all over it.
Show some guts, DC!
If Marvel Studios can gamble with such risky, obscure material as Guardians Of The Galaxy, then surely you can give Matter-Eater Lad his own big screen adventure at last! Can’t you…?
From what we can gather so far, Dawn of Justice looks too dark and too bleak… please, the last time this “style” was done we were lumbered with Fantastic frickin’ Four – and see how badly that pap turned out!
The news that Ben Affleck had been chosen to play the Caped Crusader didn’t trouble me at all, although plenty of diehard fans predictably vented their spleen over the matter. What is really disconcerting is the casting of Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. An evil mastermind?! Ha, our cat looks more menacing than him. Unable to work out what the casting director saw in such an inexplicable choice…
Rather than paste the same old Bat-pics, here (above) is Jason Momoa, simply stunning as The Dothraki Waterboy Aquaman, who hopefully – for me – will help make Dawn of Justice a more intriguing spectacle – he’s easily its second-best aspect.
The top attraction, of course, being the – long-awaited! Let’s not let that lie!! – big screen debut of Wonder Woman, which should make this outing more worth our while.
Just for you, here’s the trailer:
“Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you people?” – Rick Flagg.
If DC’s behemoth in March does regrettably turn out to be the “Yawn of Justice,” then how about Suicide Squad?
When news of a Suicide Squad movie broke, my inner geek – whatever that is – shouted yippee!… until realising yours truly had been thinking of Doom Patrol, a totally different – and a whole lot weirder – ensemble brought to us once upon a time by the exceptionally talented Grant Morrison.
The general consensus is that this trailer is outstanding, but being subjected to this concept, and these characters, for the first time, awash with grungy style and zero substance, it fails to amaze me… yet. Nice use of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody though.
Jared Leto’s Joker – notice how Joker-free the pics department is here – seems to be just as misguided a casting choice as Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor. Trying to follow in the (purple) wake of Heath Ledger’s arguably definitive portrayal of the Clown Prince of Crime is either brave or foolish.
Suicide Squad appears clearly aimed at the teenage boys Sucker Punch market, apparently, blatantly, disregarding the ever-growing number of female comic readers out there.
Worst? Heroes. Ever? Yep, can’t argue with that…
All in all, a Doom Patrol movie – would have been preferable…
“The greatest thing about Wonder Woman is how good and kind and loving she is, yet none of that negates any of her power” – Patty Jenkins.
So, if Dawn of Justice feels bad, and Suicide Squad looks, well, ugly, was there anything good to come from DC this week?
Well, yes, just the most iconic superheroine of all time!
Arguably the most intriguing news from the DC Extended Universe’s trawl of exclusive thrill-power was the first footage from the star n’ striped Amazon in her own solo movie, set for release in June 2017.
When the first image of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman in her patriotic… chocolate-brown(?!) combo first adorned the worldwide web, my heart sank. Honestly, she looked like a Xena: Warrior Pincess cosplayer. And a third-rate Xena: Warrior Princess cosplayer at that.
My initial hopes for the movie were not high, but when this pic (below) was released a few months ago, the project starting to look quite intriguing. Then this actual footage was shown last Tuesday, and the movie now looks far more encouraging. It revealed Wonder Woman’s dexterity with a sword in typical 300-style slo-mo action; the Amazon riding on horseback; and – most interestingly – in her guise as Diana Prince, but during the First World War, and not the Second as traditionally told in the original comics.
Of course it’s still too early, but with this project at least, it looks as though DC/Warner finally know what they’re doing.
Superman: “Is she with you?”
Batman: “I thought she was with you.”
Bradscribe 