The DC Extended Universe: To Thanagar and Beyond!

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 3/4/2019 at 4:41 PM, Perfect Xero said:

I've said it before, but BvS has the best and most compelling live action portrayal of Lex Luthor ever, the only problem is that it's the character Ben Affleck is playing.

That's sarcasm, right? Because the best and most compelling portrayal I've seen is that of Michael Fucking! Rosenbaum, who gave Smallville's Lex such gravitas, layers and depth. Of course his Lex was on the small screen, so he doesn't count here?

12 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:

Michael Rosenbaum?! 😀

For realzies!

Edited March 7, 2019 by GHScorpiosRule

[Perfect Xero]

18 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:

Michael Rosenbaum?! 😀

6 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

That's sarcasm, right? Because the best and most compelling portrayal I've seen is that of Michael Fucking! Rosenbaum, who gave Smallville's Lex such gravitas, layers and depth. Of course his Lex was on the small screen, so he doesn't count here?

For realzies!

I'd argue that Rosenbaum's Lex actually has too much depth. He's basically a good person for most of the show's run in spite of constant mistrust from Clark and Pa Kent, and the mystic alien cave paintings of destiny, to the point that I never really bought his actual heel turn to evil comic book villain.

Batffleck's shallower personality and motivations are actually a better match for the way Lex Luthor is portrayed in the comics. I totally buy that this dude as a racist megalomaniac who came unglued because he realized that Superman is just someone who is more powerful than him and outside of his control.

[Guest]

'Flash' Shocker: Ezra Miller Writing Script in Bid to Stay On as Star

Looks like Ezra Miller decided to take matters into his own hands. If he really does want a darker take he probably will be replaced. Either way the movie may finally be moving forward. 

Edited March 16, 2019 by Guest

[SimoneS]

Good grief, DCEU.

[Trini]

11 hours ago, Dani said:

'Flash' Shocker: Ezra Miller Writing Script in Bid to Stay On as Star

Looks like Ezra Miller decided to take matters into his own hands. If he really does want a darker take he probably will be replaced. Either way the movie may finally be moving forward. 

Sounds like negotiations tactics.

I thought Miller was good casting, it'd suck to replace him (and Clemons) but with how long this has been in production hell, it's looking likely -- whether he's doing the script or not.

I'm trying not to get too wrapped up in production/pre-production news on the Flash film since it's been so up and down. I'll get excited with a trailer or new suit reveal.

[Starfish35]

It wouldn’t break my heart if they recast, even though he was one of the highlights of Justice League for me.  The DCEU is apparently effectively dead, if I’m understanding this right, except for Wonder Woman and Aquaman, and it’s sounding like even they are just going to pretend the “Snyder-verse” didn’t happen.  So I don’t mind them recasting The Flash.  May as well, if that is all being swept under the rug.  And Ezra Miller doesn’t have a hugely successful movie to argue for keeping him around, like Gal Gadot and Ronon Dex Jason Momoa do.

Edited March 17, 2019 by Starfish35

[Bruinsfan]

The way Warner has run the DCEU so far, I just have my fingers crossed someone doesn't come up with the bright idea that recasting Wonder Woman would give the franchise a fresh lease on life.

I've been hot and cold on Miller as the Flash, but I blame that on how he's been written and directed rather than the actor himself. Much like with Henry Cavill as Superman; if the execs are determined to recast him I don't think they're going to have any luck finding a better fit for the role.

Edited March 18, 2019 by Bruinsfan

[Starfish35]

Yeah Batfleck is the only one I think needed recast.  Everyone else (ETA:  well, excepting Lex Luther - the less said about that the better) was fine; it was just a badly written mess.  I sincerely hope they don’t recast Wonder Woman for a long time though.  I love Gal Gadot in that role.

Edited March 18, 2019 by Starfish35

[Matt K]

Well Kevin Tsujihara is out due to sexual misconduct.  It's noted that he was the main voice behind keeping Zack Snyder as director for Justice League.  No idea how that'll affect the DC movies going forward but since DC is part of the general WB films (as opposed to Marvel which has a separate MCU division) it could be significant, especially if the new CEO has their own take on what DC movies should be.

[Fukui San]

2 minutes ago, Matt K said:

Well Kevin Tsujihara is out due to sexual misconduct.  It's noted that he was the main voice behind keeping Zack Snyder as director for Justice League.  No idea how that'll affect the DC movies going forward but since DC is part of the general WB films (as opposed to Marvel which has a separate MCU division) it could be significant, especially if the new CEO has their own take on what DC movies should be.

Was he really? Good riddance, then. I'm an Asian-American hoping for more representation, but not if that's what he's pushing for. I was pondering over mixed feelings about Jeff Yang's tweet about Tsujihara being the only POC who's head of a studio and now he's out. But fuck him for his gross trading of sex for roles and fuck him again for mishandling the DCU.

[VCRTracking]

Zack Snyder Fires Back at Fans Upset Batman Killed Someone

Hearing the quotes is worse than reading them. "'My heroes don't embezzle money!''My heroes don't commit atrocities!' That's cool, but you're living in a fucking dream world!" So, he thinks it's more realistic superheroes embezzle money and commit atrocities?

DC seems to be on the right track with Shazam! I really hope we don't see more superhero movies by Zack Snyder.

[Lugal]

I'm sick of the "dark and edgy" crap that he epitomizes, but it sounds like Snyder has some serious issues of his own to work out.  One can be a heroic person (even a superhero) and not commit atrocities.

[Guest]

23 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

Zack Snyder Fires Back at Fans Upset Batman Killed Someone

Hearing the quotes is worse than reading them. "'My heroes don't embezzle money!''My heroes don't commit atrocities!' That's cool, but you're living in a fucking dream world!" So, he thinks it's more realistic superheroes embezzle money and commit atrocities?

DC seems to be on the right track with Shazam! I really hope we don't see more superhero movies by Zack Snyder.

“You’re living in fucking dream world.” As opposed to the real world that exists in Zack Snyder movies? How is that shutting anything down? 

[MarkHB]

So, strictly speaking this isn't DCEU (or, rather, it's an Elseworlds), but...

[MarkHB]

As promised...

[scarynikki12]

Oh fuck this is channeling peak Scorsese and now I have to see it.  Bravo Warner Bros, you've sucked me back in.

[xaxat]

Did Will Smith bogart his way back into Suicide Squad? Because this whole Idris will be Deadshot-no he won't is pretty weird. 

[Trini]

1 hour ago, xaxat said:

Did Will Smith bogart his way back into Suicide Squad? Because this whole Idris will be Deadshot-no he won't is pretty weird. 

My guess is that Idris was never playing Deadshot to begin with; whoever leaked the casting guessed wrong.

Edited April 8, 2019 by Trini

[MarkHB]

My guess is he'll be playing Bronze Tiger.  What I really hope at this point is that there's room for Karen Fukuhara to come back as Kitana, either in SS2 or over in the Harley movies.

[MarkHB]

Break time!

[MarkHB]

Latest news on The Suicide Squad: a Portuguese actress is likely to play Ratcatcher... Latest cast summary:

• Viola Davis, Margot Robbie, and Jai Courtney all look like they're coming back;
• Idris Elba is in as someone who isn't Deadshot (likely Bronze Tiger)
• John Cena is likely in in an unnamed role (likely Peacemaker, the original inspiration for The Comedian)
• David Dastmalchian as The Polka-Dot Man
• Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher
• Possibly Joel Kinnaman back as Rick Flag, but that's vague at the moment.

We really need to find Karen Fukuhara something to do as Katana!

[wingster55]

4 hours ago, MarkHB said:

We really need to find Karen Fukuhara something to do as Katana!

Co-signed. Her character is really interesting but they did nothing with her. 

[starri]

Meet your new Batman.

Hard pass.

[Starfish35]

5 minutes ago, starri said:

Meet your new Batman.

Hard pass.

Oh wow.  Same. 😳

[Wynterwolf]

I'll be honest, I'm intrigued. Pattinson is a blank slate to me.  I stayed far away from anything Twilight related, and I'm not familiar with anything else him might have been in. But at least what I've seen of him, I think he far better suited to how I picture the character than the last several iterations.  This will be interesting to watch unfold..  

[Anduin]

Some people on IO9 are saying he's actually good in non-Twilight roles. This is one of those situations where I'll wait for a trailer or even reviews before deciding if I go and see it.

[Starfish35]

Deadline is saying that they haven’t actually made up their minds yet, but that it’s between Robert Pattinson and Nicholas Hoult.

[Anduin]

23 minutes ago, Starfish35 said:

Deadline is saying that they haven’t actually made up their minds yet, but that it’s between Robert Pattinson and Nicholas Hoult.

Hoult would be awesome! It's absolutely no contest. He's a very good and chameleonic actor. I saw him in Warm Bodies, X-Men, and Mad Max before I realised it was the same person.

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 hour ago, starri said:

Meet your new Batman.

Hard pass.

UGH. Make that triple. I had to suffer through Assfleck, and now this guy? DC is just godamned determined to make sure I don't want to watch another Batman movie ever again.

51 minutes ago, Starfish35 said:

Deadline is saying that they haven’t actually made up their minds yet, but that it’s between Robert Pattinson and Nicholas Hoult.

DOUBLE UGH. I don't care how good Hoult is as Beast.

Just yuck, yuck, yuck.

[ruby24]

I don't like either of those choices.

Lol. I haven't liked a choice for this role since Michael Keaton. Seriously, how do all these actors get this part?

I think studio execs are looking for diametrically opposite things than fans would. 

Christian Bale was fine, I guess, but I never thought he popped off the screen in any way. He was dry and sort of bland imo (and I HATED his Batman voice. Hated it). 

And don't tell me that it's hard to exude charisma as Batman or that this role is impossible. That's just not true, I don't believe it. I thought Keaton worked within the context of Tim Burton's Batman universe because of his eccentric, weird energy. It worked in that gothic carnival atmosphere that was the Burton Gotham.

But everyone after that has just not brought anything special to it. I can't imagine this guy doing it. He has a baby face, he looks too young (Armie Hammer, who they were considering, is also young but looks more mature). I also can't picture him in the suit.

[Wynterwolf]

16 minutes ago, ruby24 said:

I thought Keaton worked within the context of Tim Burton's Batman universe because of his eccentric, weird energy. It worked in that gothic carnival atmosphere that was the Burton Gotham.

Yeah, I suspect Keaton will always be my favorite Batman, perfect combo of actor and project.  

[ruby24]

Yeah, I mean Keaton may well have been a bad choice in any other kind of Batman movie, but the Burton Batman-verse is a very particular kind of thing. Even watching those today, they feel much different in tone, look, etc.

No Batman movie today is ever going to feel like his did. The studio would say it was too weird, assert control over the direction.

[VCRTracking]

2 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

UGH. Make that triple. I had to suffer through Assfleck, and now this guy? DC is just godamned determined to make sure I don't want to watch another Batman movie ever again.

DOUBLE UGH. I don't care how good Hoult is as Beast.

Just yuck, yuck, yuck.

I'm glad they play Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire a lot on cable to remind me Pattinson can be likeable and charismatic. The "Film Twitter" crowd who've actually seen Pattinson in the indie movies he's done since the Twilight franchise all say he can actually act. I'm gonna give him a chance.

As for Affleck I liked him in Justice League once he stopped being an unreasonable douche like in BVS.  I wish he would make fun of the movie the way he did Armageddon on the DVD commentary:

Edited May 17, 2019 by VCRTracking

[SimoneS]

I just read the Deadline article. DC/WB will never learn. Instead of taking its time to find a talented actor with the physical attributes to take over the role from Christian Bale, it rushed into a casting disaster with Ben Affleck. Now it is doing the same again. Robert Pattinson or Nicholas Hoult. Really? Come on, DC/WB! It should give Batman a rest for a couple of years using that time to search for the right actor.

Edited May 17, 2019 by SimoneS

[festivus]

Why is Nicholas Hoult a bad choice? He's probably the first choice I could get on board with since Michael Keaton. I fully admit that I don't care about The Dark Knight trilogy that much since I'm pretty meh in general on Christian Bale.

[JessePinkman]

Robert Pattinson is a good actor outside of the Twilight movies (most are). I wonder why they keep choosing actors with so much baggage. I'm sure there are some well-known handsome talented actors who don't have a rabid anti-fanbase out there ready to tear them apart that would be thrilled to play Batman.

[Bruinsfan]

I'm neutral on this casting news, but then that's generally true of my reaction to Batman as a whole. They certainly could have picked worse actors for the role than Pattinson (just think of the Green Hornet movie that had Seth Rogen playing the title role!).

[VCRTracking]

[Spartan Girl]

I honestly don't care who plays Batman anymore.  But Pattinson is at least better than Affleck.

Edited May 17, 2019 by Spartan Girl

[festivus]

I've only seen the first Twilight movie and I barely remember it. I've seen RP in two other things, Harry Potter and as Salvador Dali in a movie I forgot the name of. So there are those of us out here that aren't in the battle. 

Edited May 17, 2019 by festivus

[shantown]

I'm neutral on Pattinson and think (as usual with comic casting rumors) that reactions on both sides are over the top. What matters WAY more is that they come up with a script that is actually well-written and interesting. The DCEU will probably never come close to what the MCU has done as far as movies, but they certainly can do better than the mess of the last few attempts (Wonder Woman being the exception, IMO). Come on, you have Justice League superheroes that were way more instantly recognizable than most Avengers were at the start and you can't put together ANYTHING compelling for them??

[Starfish35]

I’ll be honest.  I haven’t seen Pattinson in anything, and that includes the Twilight movies.  It’s just that his face is so associated with that franchise in my mind that I’m not sure I can get past it to see the actual character.  Like Ben Affleck.  It didn’t matter how good of an actor he may or may not be.  I just could never see “Bruce Wayne” when he was on screen.  All I could see was Ben Affleck, occasionally cosplaying as Batman.   I just could not separate the character and the actor in my head, and so I never could take him seriously.

On the other hand, sometimes it does work.  When Chris Evans was cast in the MCU, I was like “you’re kidding.  Johnny Storm, really?”  Now I’m like “Johnny Storm who” because Chris Evans totally and completely became Steve Rogers.  

So....I guess we’ll see.  But I can see all the memes already.  Move over, Batfleck.  Here comes Batman Sparkles. 

[ruby24]

I don't think being a good character actor means you'll be a good Batman/Bruce Wayne. I would have thought Christian Bale would have been better than what he was- he was "fine," but even he admitted he was never satisfied with his performance in those movies and he never felt like he had a good handle on the character.

I actually think for this role it might be more important to have inherent charisma and a natural screen presence. The suit does a lot of the work for you as Batman, but for Bruce you've got to bring something to it that's just there already, or you're going to be bland and dull.

So if Pattinson has become a better actor in terms of weird characters lately, that's not going to be helpful for this, imo. And I don't know if he has natural screen presence- the Twilight movies are all I have to go on there, and he was pretty terrible in them. He could easily be stiff and wooden onscreen.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I've never seen the Twilight movies; have no interest in them. I saw Pattinson in the Harry Potter movie. I have no personal grudge or hate against him. He's just.NOT.BATMAN to me.

And different strokes for different folks, I guess, because I thought Christian Bale was great as both Bruce Wayne and Batman. The Batman voice in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, I'll blame on Nolan. He had a perfectly menacing Batman voice in Batman Begins. I remember when I saw the trailer for the first movie, with Bale's voiceover...just the look and sound, I was beyond thrilled and my take away was, someone finally got BATMAN/The DARK KNIGHT...RIGHT. And the movie didn't disappoint. Aside from other casting/subplot issues, which I won't repeat, I loved this trilogy and take on Bats. 

Of course, the Platinum STANDARD is Kevin!Fucking!Conroy! for me, as is B:TAS and Timm's Justice League/Justice League Unlimited and his DCAU. And the live or extended universe, with the exception of Wonder Woman, had FAILED ABYSMALLY in terms of casting and movies.

I'm more than happy to sit at my table for one, while marathoning and losing myself in the world Bruce Timm created, thankyouverymuch.

[ruby24]

I can't believe Garrett Hedlund couldn't be considered for this. He's American, he's 34 but looks more mature, not like a teenager, he's got this great deep voice, he's 6'2 but physically a bigger guy. And he's got a great screen presence (if anyone's seen On the Road or Mudbound, he's a good actor and he's got screen presence).

[Trini]

3 hours ago, shantown said:

I'm neutral on Pattinson and think (as usual with comic casting rumors) that reactions on both sides are over the top. What matters WAY more is that they come up with a script that is actually well-written and interesting.

I agree with this. Looking at the range of actors that have played Batman/Bruce Wayne over the decades, almost anyone can play the role, IMHO. (As long as they fit the general physical description.) Script and direction are going to more important.

[ruby24]

Please pick Jodie Comer for Catwoman!! She'd blow everybody else in this movie off the screen.

Edited May 17, 2019 by ruby24

[Jeebus Cripes]

On 5/16/2019 at 10:07 PM, ruby24 said:

I don't like either of those choices.

Lol. I haven't liked a choice for this role since Michael Keaton. Seriously, how do all these actors get this part?

I think studio execs are looking for diametrically opposite things than fans would. 

Christian Bale was fine, I guess, but I never thought he popped off the screen in any way. He was dry and sort of bland imo (and I HATED his Batman voice. Hated it). 

And don't tell me that it's hard to exude charisma as Batman or that this role is impossible. That's just not true, I don't believe it. I thought Keaton worked within the context of Tim Burton's Batman universe because of his eccentric, weird energy. It worked in that gothic carnival atmosphere that was the Burton Gotham.

But everyone after that has just not brought anything special to it. I can't imagine this guy doing it. He has a baby face, he looks too young (Armie Hammer, who they were considering, is also young but looks more mature). I also can't picture him in the suit.

Can I sit at your table? Word to all of this, and I've always felt like I'm in the minority for not liking Bale's Batman. To be honest, I don't care for the Nolan trilogy as a whole. I'll admit that The Dark Knight is a very good film, but the decision to make that hard turn away from Burton's aesthetic and lean into the real world look for Gotham City was just so bland and boring to me. And while I enjoy Bale as an actor, his Batman was lackluster at best. The voice was downright horrible and verging on unintentionally hilarious. Very this:

[ruby24]

12 minutes ago, Jeebus Cripes said:

Can I sit at your table? Word to all of this, and I've always felt like I'm in the minority for not liking Bale's Batman. To be honest, I don't care for the Nolan trilogy as a whole. I'll admit that The Dark Knight is a very good film, but the decision to make that hard turn away from Burton's aesthetic and lean into the real world look for Gotham City was just so bland and boring to me. And while I enjoy Bale as an actor, his Batman was lackluster at best. The voice was downright horrible and verging on unintentionally hilarious. Very this:

Yeah, I agree with you. I love The Dark Knight, I think it's a great movie (and much of this is due to Heath Ledger's performance). But I don't like Batman Begins or The Dark Knight Rises. And I never liked Bale as Batman, I thought he was okay at best.

I prefer the Burton movies because of the weird, strange atmosphere of them. They feel more artistically unique to me. 

[Morrigan2575]

Never going to happen but, I'd totally watch this movie.