The DCEU Is Dead So Isn't It Time For A New Direction?

[Travesty]

So what do you think about the new James Gunn announcement for the new DCU? I'm excited about the new DCU Batman, more Matt Reeves Batman, this new Superman, the Lanterns TV show, and Swamp Thing. Overall, it looks like a good roadmap. Hopefully it all pans out and everything is quality. So we'll have to see.

If you haven't seen it yet, here's a link:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/james-gunn-unveils-dc-slate-batman-superman-1235314176/

[thecolorsblend]

The Authority: A movie based on a team of superheroes with rather extreme methods of protecting the planet that first originated in the late 1990s under an influential imprint known as Wildstorm, run by artist and now head of DC publishing Jim Lee. "One of the things of the DCU is that it's not just a story of heroes and villains," said Gunn. "Not every film and TV show is going to be about good guy versus bad guy, giant things from the sky come and good guy wins. There are white hats, black hats and gray hats." Added Safran: "They are kinda like Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men. They know that you want them on the wall. Or at least they believe that."

Booster Gold: An HBO Max series based on a unique, lesser-known hero created in 1986. Safran said of the series, "It's about a loser from the future who uses basic future technology to come back to today and pretend to be a superhero." Gunn described it as "imposter syndrome as superhero."

Swamp Thing: A horror film that promises to close out the first part of the first chapter.

These sound interesting. The rest... eh.

A few months ago, I decided to finally start reading Alan Moore's Swamp Thing stuff. A film along those lines sounds awesome.

[The Dark Knight]

So what do you think about the new James Gunn announcement for the new DCU? I'm excited about the new DCU Batman, more Matt Reeves Batman, this new Superman, the Lanterns TV show, and Swamp Thing. Overall, it looks like a good roadmap. Hopefully it all pans out and everything is quality. So we'll have to see.

If you haven't seen it yet, here's a link:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/james-gunn-unveils-dc-slate-batman-superman-1235314176/

I think Booster Gold has a solid concept. I can't really comment on the Superman movie because there's nothing much to go on. It's been said a million times already but a lot will come down to the casting. I'm glad Pattinson is confirmed to be seperate, and think the Brave and the Bold has potential. Especially if it's in the vein of  T-Rex, giant coin, less tank and more style. 

[The Joker]

Oof. A mixed bag.

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The Authority

No interest. I expect "The Suicide Squad" numbers with this one.

Creature Commandos

Surprise. Surprise. More quirky material that Gunn gravitates towards. Only in animated form.

Amanda Waller

I like Viola Davis in the part just fine, but this wholeheartedly confirms Gunn's prior work remains safe, as does his wife's job.

Green Lantern

Could do good numbers on HBO Max.

Swamp Thing

Peculiar choice. Especially given the DCEU string of flops with more A list properties even. Cautiously optimistic.

The Brave and the Bold

So, kinda like Ben Affleck where we have another established Batman, only with probably some Bat-Family members, and the bastard son? Eh, ok. As "The Batman" showed, Batman can be counted on pulling a certain amount of numbers at the box office. I wonder if Batman will be having some sort of sub-plot, given this is apparently an ensemble movie, where he has to learn to warm to others and trust his allies easier, especially 'when' the brat inevitably finds himself entrapped by the big bad?

I see Grant Morrison and Tom King are exceptional influencers on this. Tom King. Out of all the creators in 80+ years to pull from? Christ.

Superman: Legacy

I'm "whatever" on this. Though to see Twitter's autistic reaction towards Safran referring to Superman as the embodiment of 'Truth, Justice, and the American Way' has been pretty amusing I have to admit.

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

Edgy Supergirl? Yay.

Paradise Lost

A show about Paradise Island/Themyscira before the birth of Diana? Which is very unlike the story line in the comics by the same name. Sounds like Syfy's "Krypton" show to me, but with probably more or a budget and a "All female" cast too. I'm sure the RT critic score will be pretty good towards this. For whatever that's worth.

Booster Gold

I like the character, but Dan Jurgens really needs to be apart of the show's writing, and not just as a 'creative consultant' for PR purposes only.

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The over/under on all this actually playing out should be interesting at least.

[The Laughing Fish]

Don't be fooled by the fancy title of "Chapter One: Gods & Monsters", this pitiful excuse for a slate has absolutely no direction whatsoever. It's the same old stuff by Warners - throwing crap on the wall to see what sticks.

People criticise the original Snyderverse plan for rushing things to quick, but at least you got to see the Justice League. In contrast, this random nonsense doesn't have any JL plans in sight. Instead of building anything up, we get more redundant Superman and Batman reboots and nonsensical spin-offs of Amanda Waller. The fact that Viola Davis is reprising her role goes to show what I thought from the beginning: this reboot is already a farce. This is nothing more than Gunn keeping his favourites. Ignore audiences asking and wanting to see more of Cavill, Affleck, the DC Trinity or Keaton's Batman in a proper continuation, let's go and satisfy creepy Gunn's ego-stroking instead. How pathetic.

Given that WBD is currently $50 billion in debt, don't be surprised if most of these announcements won't ever get off the ground anyway. If they do get filmed, I can't see WBD financing all of this independently. Besides, all it takes is for one film to flop and Warner will repeat the reactionary tradition of cancelling stuff.

[The Laughing Fish]

Ha, when you have cartoons on Netflix taking the piss ouf of Warners' incompetence, you know the company is in terrible shape. Failing upwards indeed.

NSFW, BTW.

https://mobile.twitter.com/kayivar/status/1604221236934225920

[Travesty]

I see Grant Morrison and Tom King are exceptional influencers on this. Tom King. Out of all the creators in 80+ years to pull from? Christ.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of seeing Tom King's name thrown around, either. Granted, I haven't read everything by him, but all of his Batman stuff has been really bad. But it looks like as far as Batman goes for this new DCU, they're taking more influence from Grant Morrison, which I'm fine with. Tom King's influences seem to be more towards Supergirl, which, I haven't read his Supergirl stuff. I'm not much a fan of that character to begin with.

[The Dark Knight]

I agree. I'm fine with the Morrison elements but I've found King to be atrocious in the quality of his work and his very being. I'm hopeful the Batman reboot goes in the Clayface, Man-Bat type direction, which would also fit with the statement of giving other characters their time to shine on the big screen. Joker, Riddler and Two-Face are important, but there's more going on than just those types. Filling out the world with established monsters that usually appear in animation would be a big point of difference from anything we've seen before.

[The Joker]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of seeing Tom King's name thrown around, either. Granted, I haven't read everything by him, but all of his Batman stuff has been really bad. But it looks like as far as Batman goes for this new DCU, they're taking more influence from Grant Morrison, which I'm fine with. Tom King's influences seem to be more towards Supergirl, which, I haven't read his Supergirl stuff. I'm not much a fan of that character to begin with.

Morrison is kinda hit and miss with me. I didn't hate his run on the Bat-books, but definitely wasn't in love with it either. I'm aware that a lot of people seem to think Morrison's take on Batman is definitive for them, so it is what it is. Though, admittedly, Morrison's a damn sight better than Tom King as a storyteller. The fact that a douche like King is being given the opportunity to stink up yet another medium, and another cinematic Supergirl as well, that's also going to be seen by many more people, is just really unfortunate.

Some people just fail upwards. That's pretty clear with Warners.

But... Tom f'n King? Didn't Peter David have a pretty long run on Supergirl? I know this was during the Post-Crisis era, and thus wasn't featuring the usual Kara Zor-El for the most part, but it would seem like there would be plenty of material to draw from with David's run that rather than literally scraping the bottom of the barrel!

[thecolorsblend]

I agree. I'm fine with the Morrison elements but I've found King to be atrocious in the quality of his work and his very being. I'm hopeful the Batman reboot goes in the Clayface, Man-Bat type direction, which would also fit with the statement of giving other characters their time to shine on the big screen. Joker, Riddler and Two-Face are important, but there's more going on than just those types. Filling out the world with established monsters that usually appear in animation would be a big point of difference from anything we've seen before.

If having two separate live action Batman franchises going is unavoidable (and it looks like that's where things are going), then it only makes sense to make them as different from each other as possible. Your approach for the DCU version seems the most logical to me. Just do the opposite of what Reeves is doing. I would even go so far as to use a batsuit with blue and grey elements, yellow oval, yellow belt, etc. Make something colorful and fantastical.