DC Comics' Comic-Con 2013 Announcements

Over the last few days, I’ve been working on this little editorial about whether or not Hollywood is spending way too much on films that perform poorly at the box office; mainly after hearing that ‘R.I.P.D.’, a film with a budget of $130 million, is only set to gross about $17 million. But… something happened today at San Diego Comic Con International and because of it, that first editorial might not happen now because… well, let me just say that the next few years are going to be pretty sweet in regards to comic book films. The news came from DC Comics’ film division, and while only one film was officially confirmed at Comic Con, there are also two films that are reportedly in production. The first film is a crossover that will star arguably the two most famous heroes in DC’s lineup. The second film is the first solo film for a key member of the ‘Justice League’. Finally, the ‘Justice League’ movie that DC has been working on for a few years might finally be coming together.

In terms of films, DC has been having a pretty good year so far. Their main film this year, ‘Man of Steel’, has been performing very well at the box office. It has grossed over $600 million worldwide despite receiving mixed reviews from critics (and partially from audiences as well). Obviously, this has led to DC green-lighting a sequel. Director Zack Snyder and writer David S. Goyer would both return for this new movie and after seeing ‘Man of Steel’, I have the upmost faith in them because, as that film proves, they were the right men for the job. But today, during DC’s Comic-Con press conference, Zack Snyder revealed some major details about this upcoming film, which is now set to come out in 2015. He introduced Harry Lennix (who played Colonel Swanwick in the film) to the stage, where he read a short passage. The passage is as follows…

“I want you to remember, Clark, in all the years to come, in all your most private moments. I want you to remember my hand at your throat. I want you to remember the one man who beat you.”

DC fans should recognize this as a passage from Frank Miller’s highly acclaimed graphic novel, 1986’s ‘The Dark Knight Returns’. So why did they quote a line from a Batman story when this is supposed to be a Superman film? Well, that’s because the next ‘Man of Steel’ film will be a crossover between Superman and Batman. DC fans, rejoice! As mentioned earlier, Snyder will return to direct and stars Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne, and Diane Lane will reprise their roles as Superman, Lois Lane, Perry White, and Martha Kent, respectively. As for Batman, seeing how Christian Bale recently confirmed that he will not be involved with any of DC’s future film projects; a new Batman will be cast. However, while a new actor will don the cape and cowl, ‘Dark Knight Trilogy’ director Christopher Nolan and his wife, producer Emma Thomas, will serve as executive producers; this continues Nolan’s run with DC, despite reports that Nolan did not want to be involved with more DC films.

Where do I even begin with this? This has to be one of the most exciting stories to come out in the last few years in terms of comic book films. I’m pretty sure that many comic book fans were anticipating a crossover film between these two icons and even though it was only confirmed today, this is an idea that has been in the works for quite some time. In fact, before Christopher Nolan made ‘Batman Begins’, a Superman/Batman crossover was pitched in 2001 by Andrew Kevin Walker (writer of 1995’s ‘Seven’). Obviously, as we know now, this project never happened but now things have changed, albeit a different team working on it. Another positive thing about this is that this is the perfect place to introduce the actor that will take over for Christian Bale in the role of Batman. But who will DC cast? Back when George Miller was working on a potential ‘Justice League’ film, Armie Hammer was cast as Batman. While that project was cancelled and ‘The Lone Ranger’ is currently performing poorly at the box office, he’s still my top pick for the part.



After this highly anticipated crossover, the next DC film will reportedly be a ‘Flash’ movie, which will come out in 2016. This is the one DC solo superhero film they really needed to make before ‘Justice League’. I know a lot of people are wondering about a possible ‘Wonder Woman’ movie, but I think that a ‘Flash’ movie is a safer bet for DC. Also, in the 70+ years that this character has been around, there has never been a live-action ‘Flash’ movie. Sure, there was a short lived TV series that aired for only one season from 1990 to 1991, and the character made cameo appearances on the show ‘Smallville’, but he has never been in a live-action movie. That means that this character is long overdue for one. As for casting, I’d recommend someone like Bradley Cooper or Ryan Gosling as I feel that either of those two would be a perfect fit for the character.



Speaking of ‘Justice League’, that was the last of the three movies that were revealed to be in production, and this film will hit theaters in 2017. While I certainly am excited for the Batman/Superman crossover, I’d say the ‘Justice League’ news is the most satisfying, because now it is clear that DC is taking their time in developing a Cinematic Universe. If you remember, back in 2012, DC had planned a live-action Justice League film for a 2015 release, so they could directly compete with ‘Avengers 2’ (UPDATE: just confirmed to be titled ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’) but when that initial plan was announced, I feared that DC was just rushing this film into production just so that the movie could come out the same year as ‘Avengers 2’. Keep in mind; at the time that this announcement was made, ‘Man of Steel’ wasn’t even out yet and DC had no other film plans at that point. Thankfully, that did not end up happening (reportedly the first draft of the screenplay was tossed out) and now, thanks to these upcoming DC movies, I’m more at ease about the possibility of a live-action Justice League film.

Before I conclude this editorial, I just want to point something out; in terms of the ‘rivalry’ between Marvel and DC in regards to their films, I mainly lean towards Marvel. I’m not saying that DC’s movies were bad. In fact, for the most part, they have been really good, namely Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy and ‘Man of Steel’. It’s just that, for the longest time, I feared that DC was going too fast in order to make a Justice League movie that would directly compete with ‘Avengers 2’. But while ‘Avengers 2’ is probably my most anticipated film of 2015 (keep in mind, that’s two years from now), today’s news might change things down the road. After all, why wouldn’t I be excited about a Superman/Batman crossover? Not only that, but this film will be followed by a ‘Flash’ movie in 2016 and a ‘Justice League’ movie in 2017. DC, I have to hand it to you, you finally got on the right track and I eagerly await these next three films. It’s a good day to be a fan of comic book films.

DC and the Justice League

As the release of 'The Dark Knight Rises' draws closer, DC Comics is already looking ahead into the future with one specific goal in mind. That goal is to successfully make a live-action film based on their famous superhero team, the Justice League. The pressure is especially big for DC now after Marvel's 'The Avengers' was both a huge critical and box office success. But can DC really make it happen the same way Marvel did? Aside from Batman and Superman, DC has been unable to successfully translate most of their comic book superheroes to film. Marvel, on the other hand, has brought Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and many more of their famous superheroes to life on the big screen. DC has a long way to go before they can make a true Justice League movie, and here's how they should do it.

The first hurdle on the road to success for DC is with Batman. 'The Dark Knight Rises' will be director Christopher Nolan's final entry in the Batman universe and while many DC fans are hopeful that Nolan will take charge of the DC universe after that, he currently has no plans to work on any more DC films aside from 'The Man of Steel' which he will be producing for a 2013 release. Another issue that DC will probably have to worry about is finding another Batman because like with Nolan, this will most likely be Christian Bale's last stint as the Caped Crusader. There may be a slight chance that Bale could return for a Justice League film, but odds are that will probably not happen. DC will have to not just reboot the Batman franchise, but also find a new lead as well.

DC's next big release after 'Dark Knight Rises' is of course 'Man of Steel', the latest film about the son of Krypton himself, Superman. DC should already be worried about this film seeing how its their second attempt at rebooting the Superman franchise after the disappointing performance of 2006's 'Superman Returns'. However, if DC really wants to make their Justice League movie work, 'Man of Steel' will also have to the equivalent of what Iron Man was to Marvel. It needs to be the film that gets the ball rolling to connect all of these different universes together the same way Iron Man got things started for Marvel in 2008. However, can 'Man of Steel' really do that? We have yet to see any footage from the film at this point, so who knows if 'Man of Steel' will even attempt to connect to other DC universes in the first place. The main reason I say this is because not only is Nolan uninterested in doing any more DC films, he also wants to keep the Batman and Superman universes separate. If that is the case, then this will be a problem for DC if they want a Justice League movie.

Another franchise DC will have to reboot is Green Lantern. Aside from Batman and Superman, Green Lantern has been the only other major superhero from DC to get a film adaptation in this current era of superhero films and unfortunately, DC's first attempt at bringing this universe to the big screen didn't really turn out so well. Not only was 2011's 'Green Lantern', which starred Ryan Reynolds in the lead role of Hal Jordan, a critical failure but it also failed to do much at the box office. With a final box-office gross of $222 million, the film barely made back its massive $200 million budget. So the obvious step for DC here would be to reboot the franchise. But how should DC do it? Do they recast Ryan Reynolds and find a new guy to play Hal Jordan or do they try one of the other famous characters who have been Green Lanterns over the years, like Kyle Rayner or John Stewart? I'm not entirely saying that you get rid of Reynolds though, because while the film wasn't exactly that great, he actually did a really good job in the role of Hal Jordan. Really, whatever happens with this franchise depends on what DC decides to do next.

Finally, and most importantly, DC needs to start working on bringing its other major superheroes to the big screen. If we look at the original seven members of the Justice League as it was in the comics, DC will have to do solo films for Wonder Woman, the Flash, Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter. If DC does not decide to do a solo film for one of these characters, then have that character inserted as a side character into one of the other characters' movies so that they can fit into what would be a massive universe filled with all of DC's superheroes. Marvel already made this work when they had Black Widow debut in Iron Man 2 and Hawkeye debut in Thor, which led to their next appearances in 'The Avengers'. If that's the way DC will have to go, then so be it.

If it isn't any more clear, DC has quite a long way to go before they can make a Justice League movie. They'll most likely have to reboot both Batman and Green Lantern, have 'Man of Steel' actually work as a film, and will also have to get going in bringing their other famous superheroes to the big screen because that is something DC has yet to do successfully. Imagine, if you will, if DC decided to just make the Justice League movie now. Not only will they have to make all of these superheroes work together the same way Marvel did with 'The Avengers', but they would also need to introduce the characters that haven't made the big screen yet to audiences and that's not the best idea if you're making a movie this big. What Marvel did with their cinematic universe was nothing less than amazing in how they managed to not only make all of their superheroes work on the big screen, but also connect them so that they can all work together. DC, it's time for you to get going and also if you're looking for a director, odds are Joss Whedon won't be available.