The DC Extended Universe: To Thanagar and Beyond!

[MarkHB]

Not the first person to confuse the two, I think... :)

But supposedly Zach Levi has added 20 pounds of muscle to get ready.  And he's only 2 inches shorter than Dwayne Johnson.  Of course, I'm under no illusions that he's going to have The Rock's biceps any time soon....

[starri]

I won't argue that M. Levi is attractive, but he's more Classical Sculpture ripped, not the way Shazam is usually shown, which is...well, like the Rock.  And something that I read about Zac Efron in Baywatch, that at some point, being 0.5% body fat looks uncomfortable.  Zach isn't there, but he's close to it.

[MarkHB]

One actor who posted an audition tape for the role left it unprotected on Vimeo.  From that, I could see that the sides were leaning into the "kid in a man's body" aspect of the character (which I think Giffen and DeMatteis came up with when they added Cap to Justice League International.)  The press release emphasizes that as well, so I think the ability to portray that was a big thing they were looking for in the actor.  I don't believe John Cena could pull that off :) .

[BetterButter]

Joaquin Phoenix in Talks to Play the Joker in Todd Phillips’ Standalone Movie

[MarkHB]

2 hours ago, BetterButter said:

Joaquin Phoenix in Talks to Play the Joker in Todd Phillips’ Standalone Movie

That's the one they wanted DiCaprio to star in.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, Michael Bay is in talks to direct Lobo.

[Silver Raven]

2 hours ago, BetterButter said:

Joaquin Phoenix in Talks to Play the Joker in Todd Phillips’ Standalone Movie

ew

[xaxat]

2 hours ago, BetterButter said:

Joaquin Phoenix in Talks to Play the Joker in Todd Phillips’ Standalone Movie

So they are really going to do that? A standalone Joker with an actor different from whom they eventually cast for the main universe?

Bay and Lobo? I could get on board with that.

[AimingforYoko]

2 hours ago, MarkHB said:

Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, Michael Bay is in talks to direct Lobo.

Of course he is.

[Perfect Xero]

6 hours ago, MarkHB said:

Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, Michael Bay is in talks to direct Lobo.

That seems like the perfect marriage.

[HunterHunted]

1 hour ago, Perfect Xero said:

That seems like the perfect marriage.

I'm sure he'll figure out a way to stick downtown Detroit into whatever alien world Lobo is on. 

[Captain Carrot]

On 2/8/2018 at 10:19 PM, Perfect Xero said:

That seems like the perfect marriage.

Only if the executives at the WB didn't understand that Lobo should be taken as seriously as Deadpool.

[BetterButter]

Joss Whedon Exits 'Batgirl' Movie

[starri]

Quote

"Batgirl is such an exciting project, and Warners/DC such collaborative and supportive partners, that it took me months to realize I really didn't have a story,"

That sounds like so much Hollywood double-speak.  It's not like there was an award-winning, popular story called The Batgirl of Burnside a few years ago.

[tennisgurl]

After reading the unfinished draft of Wonder Woman that Joss Whedon wrote, I cant say I am super disappointed. I know its probably not fair to judge him so  something he wrote ages ago, and was in its first draft, so harshly but...it was really, really bad. 

I do hope the movie happens, although it will be confusing to see a Batgirl movie, considering the future of Batman in this franchise is rather up in the air, and this Batman is already older and seems nearing the end of his career. Will it be Batgirl without Batman? I swear, the choices of movies DC is making is just so...weird. And not in the MCU way, but in a...really weird way. 

[Spartan Girl]

6 hours ago, BetterButter said:

Joss Whedon Exits 'Batgirl' Movie

Good riddance.

[stealinghome]

Quote

I do hope the movie happens, although it will be confusing to see a Batgirl movie, considering the future of Batman in this franchise is rather up in the air, and this Batman is already older and seems nearing the end of his career. Will it be Batgirl without Batman? I swear, the choices of movies DC is making is just so...weird. And not in the MCU way, but in a...really weird way. 

It's pretty much the definition of "we have no plan and are just flailing around."

[Fukui San]

You know who’s good at writing Batgirl? Gail Simone, who wrote her for Birds of Prey and probably other titles. Why not pair her with a screenwriter and see what happens? 

[GHScorpiosRule]

11 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Good riddance.

Can I add an AMEN!!!!!? My jaw literally fell open when I read the reason for him exiting was because he couldn't come up with a story. That's like saying you couldn't come up with a story for Batman.

7 hours ago, stealinghome said:

It's pretty much the definition of "we have no plan and are just flailing around."

Yup.

Again, I don't understand why the folks that do the live movies don't reach out to Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, etc. for suggestions since they're "not allowed" to actually have any of them do the actual script writing, directing, producing, etc.

Give this to Patty Jenkins!

[MarkHB]

9 hours ago, stealinghome said:

It's pretty much the definition of "we have no plan and are just flailing around."

I honestly don't think they wanted to have a "plan," at least not in the MCU sense of "all these movies are building towards something epic."  The original idea from what I could tell was that Zack's films would have a through-line (MoS, BvS, JL 1, JL 2), and most of the others in the original slate (Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Shazam, Cyborg) were going to be backstories for the characters we met in the Snyder films.  Beyond that, SS and anything after JL2 was essentially going to be "whatever character a director wants to play with that we can hang off the 'connected-universe' tree."  But beyond Darkseid being intended for JL2 there was never an intent for an overall "big bad".

 

That's my perception from nearly as far away from Burbank as one can get in the 48 states, at least.

[HunterHunted]

On 2/23/2018 at 7:58 AM, GHScorpiosRule said:

Can I add an AMEN!!!!!? My jaw literally fell open when I read the reason for him exiting was because he couldn't come up with a story. That's like saying you couldn't come up with a story for Batman.

Yup.

Again, I don't understand why the folks that do the live movies don't reach out to Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, etc. for suggestions since they're "not allowed" to actually have any of them do the actual script writing, directing, producing, etc.

Give this to Patty Jenkins!

Besides Patty Jenkins, there are other female directors who could do a good job. I'm especially fond of Lexi Alexander and Kathryn Bigelow.

http://www.tracking-board.com/batgirl-movie-five-female-directors-who-should-suit-up-to-replace-joss-whedon/

I don't know why they don't reach out to the animation group via DM and have private talks about what their perspective of these characters is. However, I'm not super fond of the awful romance plotline in the Killing Joke and Batman Beyond. I have no confidence in how the animation group views Batgirl. I'd much rather see how Fazekas and Butters might view the character. Or Rob Thomas. Or the John Wick/Atomic Blonde guys. Or if this movie is truly a standalone, just make it a Batwoman movie.

Edited February 26, 2018 by HunterHunted

[Dee]

I'd love to see Kasi Lemmons or Tanya Hamilton get a shot at directing Batgirl.

[scarynikki12]

7 hours ago, Fukui San said:

You know who’s good at writing Batgirl? Gail Simone, who wrote her for Birds of Prey and probably other titles. Why not pair her with a screenwriter and see what happens? 

Roxane Gay has already tweeted a desire to write a story for Batgirl so DC has options if they really want to do this (which I’m doubting). 

[Silver Raven]

49 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

Roxane Gay has already tweeted a desire to write a story for Batgirl so DC has options if they really want to do this (which I’m doubting). 

And the nasty boys are out in force already.

 

And she replied,

[MarkHB]

On 2/23/2018 at 3:54 PM, scarynikki12 said:

Roxane Gay has already tweeted a desire to write a story for Batgirl so DC has options if they really want to do this (which I’m doubting). 

A VP at DC responded to that tweet with her email address (which, not the brightest move on her part).  I dug around on that VP's feed a little, and she seems to be a honcho of their new DCInk / DCZoom Young Adult lines, so if she's running some kind of point on the Batgirl project, maybe they're thinking along the lines of Burnside Batgirl for the film.

Gail Simone has also Tweeted an interest in writing the film; I'm hoping that her agent has also emailed that VP.  Given that Warner Bros. has a known MO of getting several different writers to do a treatment, then cherrypicking the elements they like best and assigning the thing to a "winner", both of these women could potentially get into the game.

[starri]

If they're trying to position it as kind of a YA-adjacent story, Batgirl of Burnside is EXACTLY what they should be telling.

[MarkHB]

First leaked set photo of Shazam in costume:

Spoiler

 

[tennisgurl]

There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to why certain movies are given to certain directors, and why the DCEU keeps making the bizarre choices it makes. Honestly, I think Wonder Woman really through a wrench in their plans, or at least caused them to change things around. They were shocked that a movie with a female lead and without being drenched in fanboy pandering and angst made so much money and got such great reviews. So they felt they had to change things to be more like Wonder Woman...except they still dont seem to get why Wonder Woman was such a big hit to start with. Snyder seemed to have some kind of master plan, but now, its just "do what marvel is doing!" or "try to do what Wonder Woman did!" without really understanding what made those popular, and without adding anything fresh. 

I still cant believe that Joss Whedon said he was leaving the movie because he "couldn't think of a story". I can think of, like, 10 Batgirl stories off the top of my head, and I am as far away from a professional writer as its possible to be! Not that I`ll miss him or anything. As much as I've loved a lot of his old work, and can appriciate how important they were/are, his flaws as a writer and as a person have become more obvious as time has gone on, and what was considered cutting edge or super feminist in the 90s/early 00s is often cliche or even offensive now, and he hasn't really grown much as far as I can tell. Now someone else can take over, who might have some cool new ideas. The people mentioned above could be good, or, Marvel has had a lot of success hiring lesser known indie directors for their movies, maybe DC could try something similar. Find some creators who arent so well known and...divisive. 

[scarynikki12]

34 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

I still cant believe that Joss Whedon said he was leaving the movie because he "couldn't think of a story". I can think of, like, 10 Batgirl stories off the top of my head, and I am as far away from a professional writer as its possible to be! Not that I`ll miss him or anything. As much as I've loved a lot of his old work, and can appriciate how important they were/are, his flaws as a writer and as a person have become more obvious as time has gone on, and what was considered cutting edge or super feminist in the 90s/early 00s is often cliche or even offensive now, and he hasn't really grown much as far as I can tell. Now someone else can take over, who might have some cool new ideas. The people mentioned above could be good, or, Marvel has had a lot of success hiring lesser known indie directors for their movies, maybe DC could try something similar. Find some creators who arent so well known and...divisive. 

Even if he was suffering writer's block, all he had to do was pick Year One and bring in a few screenwriters he's worked with in the past to do the heavy lifting.  If he couldn't decide on a story, then all he had to do was ask DC/Warners which they like best from a list and go from there.  I think he just changed his mind and doesn't want to admit it.

[Captain Carrot]

I can't find it now, but I remember someone (possibly from Collider) saying something about the Batgirl movie a few weeks ago. (When the news broke that Snyder had been fired). Apparently, there was a theory that Whedon was brought in specifically to direct Justice League, and Batgirl was just a cover.

This article has me thinking that there might be something to that theory.

https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2317342/why-the-batgirl-movie-might-be-further-away-than-we-thought

 

Specifically this:

Quote

The fact that Batgirl had a writer/director put it in better shape than a lot of the DC movies that Warner Bros. has announced, but apparently, it was never actually meant to be a near-term project, and the fact that Joss Whedon has now stepped away doesn't really change anything as far as the schedule goes. The Wrap is reporting that an anonymous source has told them there are "no imminent plans" to attach a new filmmaker to the project. It turns out that there were no plans to actually make the Batgirl movie until some time after the Batman solo film, and since we have no idea when we're going to see that movie, it could be years before Batgirl even gets off the ground

So, David Ayar had six weeks to write the script for Suicide Squad, but Whedon was available for Justice League due to movie that won't even be scheduled for a couple of years? Perhaps this makes sense to someone with more knowledge of how Hollywood works, but it seems suspicious to me.

[Morrigan2575]

I have no idea. To be honest I thought Whedon's "I couldn't think of a story for Batgirl" was more a WB and, I couldn't agree on what Batgirl story to tell. However, I don't want to start crap with a pretty big Studio especially after I pulled some crap with Marvel/Disney so I'll just say it was me. 

Edited March 1, 2018 by Morrigan2575

[HunterHunted]

I can't wait until someone writes the Late Shift version of this current superhero movie arms race because lord only knows what's been going on at Warner Brothers/DC and the infighting between Feige and Perlmutter at Marvel is the stuff of legend.

[MarkHB]

John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, directors of Game Night and writers for Spider-Man: Homecoming, have apparently signed to direct The Flash: Flashpoint.

[HunterHunted]

Ugh, Flashpoint. I don't mind the directors, but for a straight up regular Flash film.

[VCRTracking]

[slowpoked]

Bringing this over from the WW thread:

On 2/28/2018 at 7:29 PM, methodwriter85 said:

She is actually a really good good actress. But it depends on if she makes an actual character, or she defaults into some high-pitch voice eccentric character like she would often do on SNL.

I think Wiig is an inspired choice. I too think she is a good actress, but I do respect her more for trailblazing her own career path, rather than giving in to the usual Hollywood demand when someone becomes a box-office star. I'm not a fan of a lot of her SNL characters but I'm giving her major kudos for not giving in to the pressure of doing a sequel to Bridesmaids just because it made a bazillion of money in the box office. Instead, she chose the movies that speak to her, whether it ended up being good or bad, it was all her choices, and she didn't become enslaved in the Hollywood mainstream. 

So I'm really excited for this!

[Trini]

Eh - so, part of what makes a good hero and a good hero movie for me is how strong the villains are; and I haven't seen enough of Wiig (outside of comedic roles) to be convinced that she'll be a good action movie villain.

[stealinghome]

I was very skeptical about Gal Gadot and look how that casting turned out! I’m willing to believe Wiig can give a good performance. I haven’t seen many of her movies but I do remember thinking she’s a better actress the less comic she is trying to be, so....

[tennisgurl]

I think Wig could do a good job. At least its interesting casting (more like how the MCU casts its actors) but in a good way, not a totally insane way. Comedy actors can frequently put in good dramatic performances, so I think this could work. I trust WW a million times more than any other film series in this franchise. 

[darkestboy]

I'm fine with Wiig as Cheetah. I think she's going to pleasantly surprise us all and it's nice that we're getting casting information for Wonder Woman 2. I do think we'll see another antagonist along with Cheetah in the movie, though not sure who.

Suicide Squad 2 is also meant to be filming in the fall sometime as well and aren't we due an Aquaman trailer soon? Loving the Shazam set pics as well.

Flashpoint needs to be fucking scrapped. There's no way the DCEU can do justice to it and they're not in a position where they have audience faith to carry it off. Replace it with a straightforward Flash/Cyborg buddy movie of sorts and proceed with a Justice League sequel.

Being controversial here but I really do think they should do a Batgirl/Birds Of Prey/Gotham City Sirens mash up movie instead of all three. If it makes bank, do a spin-off or a sequel. 

Suicide Squad 2 wouldn't be a bad place to either introduce Nightwing or Batgirl before either of them get a solo because we still don't know the hell is going on with The Batman at the moment.

[MarkHB]

5 hours ago, darkestboy said:

I'm fine with Wiig as Cheetah. I think she's going to pleasantly surprise us all and it's nice that we're getting casting information for Wonder Woman 2. I do think we'll see another antagonist along with Cheetah in the movie, though not sure who.

Suicide Squad 2 is also meant to be filming in the fall sometime as well and aren't we due an Aquaman trailer soon? Loving the Shazam set pics as well.

Flashpoint needs to be fucking scrapped. There's no way the DCEU can do justice to it and they're not in a position where they have audience faith to carry it off. Replace it with a straightforward Flash/Cyborg buddy movie of sorts and proceed with a Justice League sequel.

Being controversial here but I really do think they should do a Batgirl/Birds Of Prey/Gotham City Sirens mash up movie instead of all three. If it makes bank, do a spin-off or a sequel. 

Suicide Squad 2 wouldn't be a bad place to either introduce Nightwing or Batgirl before either of them get a solo because we still don't know the hell is going on with The Batman at the moment.

Latest rumor is that there will be an Aquaman trailer revealed at Wondercon next weekend, in time to be attached to Ready Player One.

ITA on not doing Flashpoint.  So far as BoP and GCS go, my understanding is it will probably just be BoP, but it and the Joker-Harley project hinge on what Margot wants to do, while Batgirl and Nightwing are both probably going to wait for Reeves to re-establish The Batman since they're so connected with that world.  Source for the HQ stuff.  (Warning: that link has a potential spoiler for SS2).

[VCRTracking]

Ava DuVernay to Direct DC’s Superhero Epic ‘New Gods’

Whoa.
 

[Dee]

That's gonna be one huge hot mess.

[JessePinkman]

I actually think this is a step in the right direction. Their earthbound stories are tainted. Let’s go to the stars and see what we can get into.

I think it’ll be treated like it’s own universe until they need to introduce it the other heroes into the story.

And as much as I didn’t care for AWIT I think Ava is a good director, I just fear the special effects overwhelming the story the way they did in Wrinkle.

Also it’s nice to see a woman failing upwards like all the white dudes who get to direct bomb after bomb.

Edited March 15, 2018 by JessePinkman

[tennisgurl]

Well thats...interesting. Maybe going to space will be a good thing for the DCEU, give them some new pallets to play with and maybe AD will be able to get some spectacle into the drab as hell DCEU. At least they seem to be trying some interesting stuff, and thats something at least. 

Really though, I wish they would stop adding more and more projects every five seconds, half of which seem to be falling through or changed completely. They need to breath and actually plan out their universe instead of going into panic mode.

[darkestboy]

I would've gotten Ava for Batgirl personally and while I don't greatly care for New Gods, it's nice that the DCEU are bringing her into their verse.

Hopefully it will be a good match though.

[wingster55]

It's gonna be amazing I feel. 

[MarkHB]

19 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Really though, I wish they would stop adding more and more projects every five seconds, half of which seem to be falling through or changed completely. They need to breath and actually plan out their universe instead of going into panic mode.

I think that part of it, is that every little thing that goes into even early development gets leaked, so we wind up hearing about this endless stream of projects that aren't even close to being put in front of a lens, if they ever are (I'm looking at you, Lobo).  So when stuff doesn't materialize, people act like WB is floundering, when it's all really just the normal course of business.

So far as planning out the universe goes, I don't think their master plan was ever intended to be anything more than, "Build out the Justice League to act as a foundation, and then monetize whatever IP people want to play with."  I'm pretty convinced that there was never going to be an Infinity War at the end of the rainbow, just the story that was supposed to build up to JL Part 2 and then hopefully big crowds flocking to anything with a DC logo.

Be that as it may, Ava is definitely very psyched about this film:

 

(Note the location on her Instagram)

[ribboninthesky1]

Never been into the comics - DC has my (waning) good will primarily because of their animated TV shows and films.  I remember the New Genesis/Apocalypse episodes from the Justice League series, but I'm not particularly interested in a live action version of it.  I'm not sure the average movie-goer will care, either. Good luck to Ava - I hope she develops thicker skin, at least on social media, because absurdly intense scrutiny will be her bedfellow. 

I've only recently watched Justice League, and couldn't help wondering if the film wouldn't have been better off featuring the Legion of Doom rather than the brief after-credit scene shown.  The Steppenwolf/motherbox plot made little sense in the context of the earlier films. On other hand, given how weak of a Bruce/Batman that Affleck has been, maybe going entirely off world means Batman would not be in the mix and perhaps provide an opportunity to recast. I found Batman to be quite useless in JL - Diana could have handled recruiting everyone and little would have changed.     

2 hours ago, MarkHB said:

I think that part of it, is that every little thing that goes into even early development gets leaked, so we wind up hearing about this endless stream of projects that aren't even close to being put in front of a lens, if they ever are (I'm looking at you, Lobo).  So when stuff doesn't materialize, people act like WB is floundering, when it's all really just the normal course of business.

Good point.  I vaguely recall intense criticism and debates about BvS ongoing a full 18-24 months before it was released in theaters.  

Edited March 16, 2018 by ribboninthesky1

[starri]

I think it's awesome that Ava has such a deep connection to the source material, but it's kind of a hard sell even for a lot of comics fans.  The Fourth World is Kirby at his most esoteric.  

[MarkHB]

1 hour ago, starri said:

The Fourth World is Kirby at his most esoteric.  

I've never read most of it, but I heard about DC printing an omnibus edition when it was announced that they were recalling it for messed-up pages.  I have an order in for the corrected edition at my friendly comics store.. I guess it has all the stuff from the 70's runs right up through The Hunger Dogs.

But you know, with DC printing all these DCU/Hanna Barbara crossovers, I think the time is ripe for The Forever People Meet The Hair Bear Bunch!