DC Movie Universe by Informant (Page 3 of 14)

I have always seen THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and its bitter, miserable, joyless, solitary Bruce Wayne as a total failure to understand the character. BATMAN BEYOND, in contrast, struck me as the right approach. What would Bruce do if he couldn't be Batman anymore? He would pass the mantle onto a trained successor and serve as mission control at home base.

It suddenly struck me today... They're releasing Batman v Superman on Easter weekend!

Will that help the movie or hurt it? And while I'm asking questions, does Ben Affleck look a little botox-y to anyone else lately?

The Weekly Planet, one of my favorite comic podcasts, did an entire episode about the Donner Superman.  I've never had any fondness towards those movies, and I don't really want the movies to be like them.  I group them in with not really seeing my version of superman on film yet.  I still say Smallville is the closest they've gotten yet.

In other news, they cast JK Simmons as Commissioner Gordon.  I really like him as an actor, but I think that's a really bad fit.

No. Christopher Reeve was a bad Superman. He was physically wrong for the part, and his instincts about the character were wrong. The only reason that anyone gives him a pass is because he fits the role when it is written/drawn by people who based the character on his portrayal. It is a cycle of suck.

Routh... That is harder. I like him, but I don't know if he is Superman. Of course, he would have to bulk up more than he did for Superman Returns. I think he has some Clark Kent quality, but... I don't know. It would be interesting to see him try it with a good script.

Welling did a good job with him. And despite my early reservations, I really like what Cavill brought to the role. It was a quieter take, which was interesting. George Reeves was a whole different ball game... And of course, there was Affleck.

I thought Reeve was good even if the movies were mostly bad.  He was a better actor than the Supermen who have come after him.

As for being physically wrong, Superman shouldn't be huge and muscular.  His strength doesn't come from his muscles.  Having essentially unlimited strength means there's no real way for him to work out and make his muscles bigger.

When I say "Clark Kent" - I'm distinguishing between the Clark Kent persona and the Clark Kent character that the world sees.  And what I mean is that Lois meets Clark before she meets Superman - so she's never fooled.  Just like Lois from Smallville wouldn't be fooled - she knew him without the glasses. 

And I know that the glasses have just become a part of the character that we're supposed to accept.  People just don't know.  But I think in today's society more than ever, it just doesn't make any sense.  I mean, Clark is a reporter - these guys show up on TV all the time now to talk about stories.  Clark probably has a facebook page.  At least a LinkedIn with his picture on it.  His picture is on the Daily Planet web site in the staff page and probably a hundred times by his byline.  There'd be a million posts on Reddit about him being Superman a week after his first story. It's just the way the world works.

So, yeah, the bumbling part is cheesy and works well for the 1970s.  But I think it's the only thing that really works in modern society.  And he'd have to be on 24/7 for it to work.  Because there are cameras everywhere.  There'd be people who would dedicate their lives to creating websites/networks to find out who this guy is.  Papparazzi, etc.  I bet even the Fortress of Solitude would have people camped out at it, waiting to see a glimpse of him.

So Clark would have to give off this pathetic look or people would know immediately.

And it worked in Man of Steel.  But in BvS, that's going to be a problem.  Clark is standing before the Senate.  He's standing around looking crestfallen in front of protesters and papparazzi.  He'd have his picture taken, and it'd be on every newspaper, TV station, and website on Earth.

I actually think the solution to the Clark Kent problem is to have him live a low-key life.  Maybe leave him in Smallville to either work on the farm or run the local general store or something.  I like the idea that the town sorta protects him.  Especially if Smallville and Metropolis are next door like in Smallville - he could be in Metropolis as fast as it would take any of us to be down the block.  So in that way, he isn't even hiding.  He's Clark Kent and then speeds off to be Superman.

Because, thanks to social media, there isn't really any need for Clark to need to work at a newspaper to be close to the action.  He could just have an RSS feed or something alert him whenever something goes wrong.

Well there's a twitter feed called "Overheard in the Newsroom" and there was one a while back where someone said "since there aren't any more phone booths, where does Superman change?" and one of the other reporters said "change?  where would he work?" since print journalism isn't exactly the best line of work right now.  So I think re-doing Clark's day-to-day life would make a lot of sense now.  I don't think he'd do something like civil service (definitely not a cop.  maybe something like a firefighter but I doubt that too).  Journalism does seem to fit him, but I still say something like running a store would be something that would interest him.

Now it's cool that he leaves his hometown and goes to the big city, but I just think there's no realistic way he'd be able to live in the big city.  There's the bit in the Batman/Superman animated movie where Superman just flies in a window into his apartment and then looks out to see that Batman has tracked him - and they just sorta stare at each other through his window.  And that scene has always sorta stuck with me because I just don't think it could work like that.  Someone would definitely see him and be able to put 2 and 2 together.

I think, honestly, the best way for Clark to protect his identity would be to live at the Fortress of Solitude in his Superman persona and super-speed to Metropolis to live as Clark Kent.  And he'd have to be Smallville-fast where he could be there and back before anyone would even notice.

Why would he need a job at all?

He doesn't need to eat or sleep, so he doesn't really need a home.  I'm sure phone companies would be all over themselves to give him a phone with whatever internet service he needs, just so they can advertise that he uses their service.

Well, he probably doesn't *need* a job, but I'm sure he wants one.  Bruce Wayne hates having to be Bruce Wayne, but I think Clark Kent likes being himself.  Batman is Bruce's life, but I don't think it works that way for Clark.  So I think he enjoys his downtime and enjoys being a normal guy.  After all, he's been a normal guy most of his life.

Would it be that big of a deal if Clark wasn't a journalist?  I don't think so.  Did he really show any interest in journalism at all in Man of Steel until the last two minutes?

Hahaha well they won't give us a damn project so let's just take one.

And I'm speaking more to how I think Clark would try and live his life in a modern world.  In Man of Steel, he meets Lois before ever working at the Daily Planet.  Jimmy and Perry are big parts of the story before he ever works there.  If they amended Clark's role and took out the Daily Planet part, I think he'd meet them naturally and *bam* they're all friends   I could see Clark and Jimmy becoming friends, not because they're co-workers, but because Jimmy has such a great nose for news and is such a big fan of Superman.  Clark could let him in on the secret to alert Clark of what's going on in the city.

And yeah he could absolutely write fiction.  I mean he's an alien who was raised on Earth.  I could see him ghostwriting a fictional series about Krypton based on the stories he invented in his head about his home planet.  And yeah maybe he publishes anonymously through Chloe or a contact from Lois until he meets Bruce.  And....

Bruce -  "you freakin' idiot - you're writing stories about Superman."
Clark - "I use a pseudonym.  And Lois and Chloe protect my identity."
Bruce - "So if anyone put two and two together, they'd go after...."
Clark - "Oh geez...."
Bruce - "Don't worry.  I already bought the publisher, purged any record of you, and I'll take care of publishing.  You're a good writer."
Clark - "Really?  You've read my stuff?"
Bruce - "I mean...it's all on my kindle.  Don't have much time for reading."

If Max Landis can get his Superman story printed, we can get something done, right?  This is gold!

Oh! I know that most people probably aren't as into getting deals as I am, but I thought I'd post this anyway.

Best Buy has some DC related blu-rays on sale (like seasons of The Flash, Arrow and Gotham for $14.99, and some other movies/shows for low prices), and you get $8 to spend toward a BvS movie ticket with the purchase too, apparently. I have a $5 promo card for Best Buy, so I will probably get season 1 of The Flash for $10, which will give me an actual product to keep after seeing the movie, rather than just a ticket stub

http://slickdeals.net/f/8523437-select- … pickup?v=1

The Flash comes with a digital copy too... cool.

So it is a wig? I wasn't sure if he was going to lose his hair in the movie or if it was a wig.

I guess a wig could be like Clark's glasses. It makes people see him a certain way. With the hair, he looks like on of those stupid young techno wiz kids who you don't really have to take seriously, despite his earning a lot of money. Bald might make him seem more imposing.

But I just saw a picture of him from he movie, with very shortly trimmed hair... are you sure it's a wig?

I think he shaves it. At least, judging by the picture that I saw. I'd post it, but I don't know where it came from and I don't want to spoil anything by mistake. But if you search Google for "Batman v Superman Lex", it should be the fifth image result.

Lex, in various incarnations, has been conceived as someone who vowed revenge on Superboy because he thinks Superboy caused him to lose his hair. The more recent businessman-Lex has been characterized as someone who is simply jealous of Superman, but at times, he's impersonated his own son by transplanting into a younger clone body (with hair). There's certainly no default version of Luthor who's okay with being bald, although there are some who barely comment on it.

Can I just say that it is really annoying how so many people around the internet have been pre-reviewing this movie? They go on about it being too jammed with heroes and villains. They go on about the movies that should have been released first, to establish characters. They go on about the tone of the movie. They go on about so many things that they can't possibly have an informed opinion about, just because it will draw clicks. It is really annoying.

I probably won't get to see it for a while. Be sure to let us know what you think... But with spoiler warnings.

Awww, I thought you'd be proud of me after all the crap I've taken for dismissing.....whatever it was I dismissed back in the day?  Fringe?  I don't even remember.

And yeah my buddy works for (company sponsoring BvS #secret) and I get to go to a special/free screening.  So that's pretty cool.  I'll post a spoiler review and a non-spoiler review

I thought the Star Trek reboot comics were really cool.  It gives the story so much more to work with and bridges the gap from the old universe to the new one.  But the key is that the movie doesn't depend on it to work.  If you're a hardcore fan, it makes the story better.  If you aren't invested enough, the movie itself can stand on its own two feet.

Enter the Matrix was another one that I thought was pretty good.  It tells a parallel story that criss-crosses with the main story at a couple different places, allowing for some context if you really wanted to know how Niobe knew when to save Morpheus.  If you don't care to know why, it doesn't hurt the story.

One recent example that I think did a bad job was the new Star Wars (don't worry, no spoilers).  After too much politics ruined the last trilogy, I thought The Force Awakens suffered from not enough backstory.  Not enough explanation.  In fact, not enough politics.  I had no idea who characters were, who the major factions were, why they were fighting, how factions were connected, etc.  And when I found out that a lot of that was delivered in comics/novels/other "new extended universe" materials.  So the movie actually suffered from a lack of context, and you're sorta dependent on extra materials to really understand what's going on.

http://www.hitfix.com/harpy/zack-snyder … in-the-bud

Their reporting is really sketchy, and the quote doesn't really even seem to support it (I didn't read the full story), but if their conclusion is correct (big if), that's....disappointing.  If we're going to get a brooding Superman and a brooding Batman, can't we have a wisecracking Flash?  I mean....isn't that how this happened? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtGHuM1GYMs

Well I just think they need to make sure that all the movies don't need to be tonally like MoS or BvS.  Both of those movies are darkly colored....most of the scenes take place at night.  The reason the "Batman in the desert" scenes look so visually different isn't because it's (possibly/allegedly) a dream but because it's bright.  It looks like 90% of BvS takes place during night - which is fine because Batman looks a little silly during the day (see the end of Dark Knight Rises). 

But one of the things I like about the MCU is how the Avengers movies are the combination of these weird worlds.  A World War II soldier in a bright costume with a tech genius in a hot rod cyborg suit with a norse god and a green rage monster.  You have science and magic and a bunch of clashing cultures.  But it works.  One thing I was hoping to see in a Batman vs Superman movie was going to be the clashing of those two worlds.  Bright and sunny Metropolis vs. dark and gloomy Gotham.  It's what was pretty cool about the Batman/Superman adventures in the DCAU - those two cartoons seemed so different and mashing them together was just bizarre.  But cool.

Instead, they just brought Superman into a more sepia-colored world to make things fit a little better.  But Flash should be fun.  Even if Barry isn't as much of a jokester as Wally, I think it should be somewhat close to the tone of the TV series.  It should be fun.  And bright.  And exciting.  If it's a brooding story about Flash trying to go back in time to save his mom...it just might miss the whole point.

There's a difference between taking the material seriously and being too serious.  And they need to find that balance.  Because, in my opinion, these movies still need to be fun.

I have seen some bad reviews, but I've also seen some really positive reviews. I think it will divide the audience. I think some will legitimately hate it, but I also think that some reviewers are going negative because it's been so cool to have the movie lately.

I haven't seen anything near the "disaster" that people predicted.

Based on a comment or two that I saw, I'm wondering if this is like a Batman movie with Superman as a secondary character.