A Justice League of America film will now officially compete directly with The Avenger’s 2 in the summer of 2015. Warner Bros. green lit the project and will reportedly ramp up development on it following a decisive legal victory involving the rights to Superman. Opening the door for competing super squads of epic proportion. A CLASH OF TITANS if you will. Okay. Maybe I got a little excited there. It is looking pretty legit though as DC/Warner Bros. has made it clear they want a high caliber director at the helm. As for the cast, let’s hope they go for a little more depth than Megan Fox. Why does WB want a super-squad of it’s own? Perhaps a better question is: Why WOULDN’T they want a super-squad of their own.
Can Batman go toe-to-toe with The Hulk? Could Superman beat up Captain America? I don’t know. I’m not a rocket scientist. The two superhero teams will indeed clash at the box office in the summer of 2015, as Warner Bros. looks to sign a director and all star cast within the near future. Having had talks with The Wachowski Brothers and Ben Affleck about directing, it seems they are willing to spend a pretty penny on bringing a Hall of Justice to the big screen in top class fashion. Why are all the cool kids making movies about superhero teams these days? Because effective team synergy is a powerful thing. Let’s take a look.
“According to Moviehole, the sibling directors behind the Matrix trilogy, Speed Racer and the upcoming sci-fi epic Cloud Atlas are on the studio’s list of possible contenders to helm JLA, which was scripted by Gangster Squad’s Will Beall. The site claims the studio is “apparently jazzed with Cloud Atlas, and love that it’s as much a spectacle as it is a showcase for the immense ensemble involved, so it makes sense the W’s are under consideration. Justice League needs to be as big on character, as it does bells & whistles, and the Wachowski’s could probably offer that.”
It’s no secret that Joss Whedon put a large emphasis on “character” in The Avengers, and given the films success, it seems WB will be attempting to follow suit. Given DC’s roster, it seems like they’ll have a good shot at giving Marvel a run for it’s money. What roster? You ask? Let’s take a look.
Let’s all hope that Zack Snyder doesn’t do to Superman whatever the hell it is he did to Watchmen and Sucker Punch. It does look like the franchise is in good hands however as Christopher Nolan is producing the film and let’s be honest, that guy knows whatsup. The film seems to be peppered with the darker and more grounded tone that Nolan used to reinvigorate the Batman Franchise. With Nolan’s powerhouse trilogy concluding (somewhat), DC/Warner Bros. will be looking to further establish solid superheroes in the DC universe in order to continue competing with Marvel/Disney in Hollywood.
“Superman is a hero that reflects the potential in all of us for greatness; a beacon of light in times that are grim and a glimmer of hope for the hopeless. He’s an archetype for us to project upon; whether you consider him a messiah or just a Big Blue Boyscout, Superman’s impact on the genre and pop culture is undeniable.” Let’s take a look.
The Dark Knight Riseswrapped principal photography in New York last week and in a recent interview with Empire Magazine, Christopher Nolan discussed his final Batman film. Nolan revealed that the films’ events will be taking place 8 years after the events of the previous film, during a time when Bruce Wayne is “not in a great state”. He also talked about choosing Bane as the primaryvillain, saying that the goal was to testBatman both physically AND mentally. Since Bruce went and got everyone excited by going to ninja school in Batman Begins, some critics were largely disappointed with the lack of martial arts in The Dark Knight, which evidently will not be a problem in this film:
“He [Bane] is brutal. Brutal. He’s a big dude who’s incredibly clinical, in the fact that he has a result-based and oriented fighting style. It’s not about fighting. It’s about carnage. The style is heavy-handed, heavy-footed, it’s nasty. Anything from small-joint manipulation to crushing skulls, crushing rib cages, stamping on shins and knees and necks and collarbones and snapping heads off and tearing his fists through chests, ripping out spinal columns. He is a terrorist in mentality as well as brutal action.” — Christopher Nolan
Well that sounds pretty dope Mr. Nolan. Thankyou for that. I think we’re all glad to see that this Batman franchise is finally headed in the right direction. The direction of ripping out peoples’ spinal cords. Regardless of whether that ends up in the movie or not lets take a look at Batman and his new nemesisBane.
Bruce Thomas Wayne had the unfortunate luck of witnessing his parents murder when he was a child, an event that birthed his life goal of ridding Gotham City of evil. Bruce has since evolved into an arrogant billionaire industrialist and notorious playboy by day, and a ruthless masked vigilante by night. Characterized by his physical prowess and technical ingenuity, Batman‘strikes terror into the hearts of criminals everywhere’. Indeed Bruce Wayne is a martial arts ‘prodigy’ and excels specifically in japanese jujitsu, ninjitsu, Keysi, and Aikido. Bold, daring, and audacious with a strict adherence to utilityThe Caped Crusader is undoubtedly a Promoter Artisan. Indeed Batman has a thick skin and is a hard-nosed utilitarian, doing whatever it takes to get the job done. The Dark Knight however knows all too well as most Promoters do, that “he who travels fast, travels alone”. Until Bane shows up.
Banespent his childhood and early adult-life in prison, serving a sentence for his fathers crimes. Bane’s ‘natural abilities’ allowed him to develop ‘extraordinary skills’ within the prison walls including a plethora of brutalmartial arts. Bane has since evolved into a ‘super intelligent world-class fighter’ and a ‘tactical genius’. Bane is most known for causing a prison break to overwhelm Batman, and then breaking his back while he is weak and tired. Impulsive, fearless, and ridden with brute strength, Bane is undoubtedly a Crafter Artisan. Certainly, Bane like all Crafterscommunicates primarily through his actions. Bringing his prison mentality to Gotham City, Bane decided to go after the man that everyone feared: Batman. Indeed a physical specimen, actor Tom Hardypacked on 30 pounds of muscle to play the role. Like his fellow Crafters, Bane is ‘fascinated by weapons of all kinds’ and wields them with ‘lethal virtuosity’, taking ‘pride’ in his ‘prowess’. In other words if I saw this dude on the street, I probably wouldn’t talk sh*t.
Russel Crowe and Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire) allegedly will go toe-to-toe in Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot Man of Steel. Russel Crowe is playing Jor-El (Superman’s father) and Michael Shannon is playing Kryptonian villain General Zod. And apparently, Supermans dad smokes cigarettes. Crowe tweeted about the fight saying Michael Shannon “is very hard to put down”. While the above picture looks pretty decent, I fear that the film most certainly will not be, seeing as that it is being directed by Zack Snyder. Zack Snyder has indeed botched several other films, and is clearly out of his league here. Let’s however give the poor man the benefit of the doubt, and proceed with analyzing the Last Son of Krypton’stemperament.
Superman is the quintessential comic book hero and a dearly beloved cultural icon. Super-dependable, outstandingly dutiful, and extremely persevering, the Big Blue Boyscout is undoubtedly anInspector Guardian. Characterized by his indestructible physicality and strict code of ethics, Superman knows that with great power comes great responsibility. Indeed Superman adheres to the idea that actions speak louder than words, and takes the responsibility of defending Earth and its inhabitants very seriously.
Man of Steel will reportedly NOT BE connected with a Justice League Universe, despite Warner Bros. saying that a JLA film is the studios top priority. Some ‘in the bizz’ of course say that this is because the studio thinks Snyder helming the project is a huge risk, after the god-awful job he did on Sucker Punch. Snyder, who has directed other comic-book adaptations like 300, is an idiot, and has an aggregate rottentomatoes score of 54%. Meaning that if directing movies is like taking a class, he failed. Clearly Warner Bros. figured out that they hired a moron to reboot the most iconic superhero of all time and tried to damage control by disconnecting the project from their future aspirations (a JLA film). Who knows, this imbecile could get REALLY lucky and turn out a DECENT film, in which case Warner Bros. would probably change their mind and use the film as solid footing for a JLA movie. Solid footing that they desperately need. Man of Steel‘s release date has been pushed back to Summer 2013.
Fiege hinted at the fact that ‘phase two of the Marvel Movie Universe‘ will include another round of solo films, and then culminate in a second Avengers film. That however, is not all. Marvel reportedly has five projects currently in development. Iron Man 3 is in pre-production for a 2013 release attached to director Shane Black. Thor 2 will begin pre-production soon and just picked up director Patty Jenkins (Monster). An Ant-man film is ‘still nebulous but definitely in the works’. Guardians of the Galaxy and Inhumans films are also reportedly in the works. With so much success in their mainstream characters it seems a bit risky to put out obscure characters like some mentioned above. Lucky enough for Marvel it has an insurance policy: The Walt Disney Company.
Disney bought Marvel about two years ago for over $4 billion. While things indeed seem to be going well for both companies since the acquisition, Marvel has made deals with other studios to distribute some of their movies (spider-man, x-men, daredevil, etc.) making the Avengers and its four superheroes a coveted ‘in-house’ Marvel enterprise. Without kissing too much Walt-Disney/Marvel ass, let’s take a look at the first avenger to make it to the big screen, and also by far the most box office successful avenger: Iron Man.
Anthony Edward Stark is the son of industrialist and inventor Howard Stark, and demonstrated his mechanical aptitude and extraordinary inventive genius at an early age. Inheriting his father’s company Stark Industries, Tony blossomed into a billionaire industrialist, and an ingenious engineer. With a highly ‘innovative attitude‘, an ‘entrepreneurial spirit‘, and a ‘charming capacity‘ to ignore the standard, the traditional, and the authoritative: Tony Stark is undoubtedly an Inventor Rational. Indeed the Inventor‘s tendency to depend on their capability and inventiveness can get them in trouble at times. Tony took this concept a bit too far when he ignored security concerns and ended up with shrapnel lodged in his chest. In classic Inventor Rational fashion, Tony used his creative and inventive genius to devise a mechanical suit that saved his life. And thus, Iron Man was born. Indeed Tony is constantly searching for new projects, as we will no doubt see in the Avengers, and always tinkering with and improving his mechanical suit. Indeed given their exceptional propensity to innovate, Inventors have a tendency to live their lives somewhat on the brink of disaster: as evidenced by Tony Stark’s perpetuated struggles with alcoholism. Tony Stark having a somewhat reckless and at-times irresponsible persona in the comics goes hand-in-hand of course with casting the likes of Robert Downey Jr.The Armored Avenger can be seen amongst his super squad May 2012, and again by himself May 2013.
While Marvel/Disney seems to have it’s sh*t together, DC/Warner Bros. is still searching for solid cash cows to replace the likes of Harry Potter and The Dark Knight. While they do have The Hobbit films coming up, they simply cannot afford setbacks like Green Lantern if they actually want to directly compete with The Avengers and it’s four characters with already well-developed fan-bases.
DC Comics is relaunching its entire stockpile of 52 comic book titles this month in hopes of reaching a broader audience. Such a ‘reboot’ goes hand-in-hand with DC’s parent company Warner Bros. aspirations to put a Justice League Film together by 2013 in order to directly compete with Marvel’s The Avengers. Warner Bros. new president Jeff Robinov has made it clear that such a project is the studio’s top priority with the company looking for a new cash cow in the wake of Harry Potter’s franchise concluding. Regardless of the logistic reality of such a task let’s take a look at the four main characters of DC’s flagship teamof superheroes. Superman is the indestructible Guardian known as the Big Blue Boyscout who is steadfastly reliable and follows a strict code of ethics. Batman is the billionaire playboy industrialist Artisan who dons a mask at night and ‘beats criminals to a bloody pulp with his bare hands’. Green Lantern is the nurturing Idealist who wields a ‘power ring’ that translates his imagination into green energy using the strength of his willpower. Finally The Flash is the Rationalscientist who thinks at superhuman speed, travels through time, and defies the laws of physics. Marvel/Disney clearly has an advantage in Hollywood having almost wrapped principal photography on the Avengers after solidly establishing all four major characters. DC/Warner Brothers on the other hand has it’s work cut out for it having not successfully established any major characters yet outside of Chris Nolan’s Batman franchise. Robinov however has made it clear that a Justice League of America film will happen in 2013 regardless of how many characters have been solidly established with audiences beforehand. Given these two supersquads I think the question on everyones mind is: which one wins in a streetfight?
