Could Teen Titans Be More Successful Than Justice League?

[Showtime]

Could Teen Titans Be More Successful Than Justice League?

http://io9.com/374762/titans-take-us-past-puberty-++-and-defeat-the-justice-league

Interesting article posting an interesting question...

Could a Teen Titans movie be more successful than Justice League: Mortal? Both films deal with a motley group of DC Universe superheroes, with aliens rubbing shoulders with pulp detectives and Amazons. But the sidekicks-on-their-own franchise Titans could have one major strength that Justice League lacks: a single identifiable main character, who has a story arc that audiences can relate to. Screenwriter Mark Verheiden (Battlestar Galactica) spilled some story details in a new interview.

Justice League's greatest strength — the fact that it has Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and four other pretty well-known heroes — could also be its greatest weakness, since it's hard to tell a compelling story that gives all seven of them enough screen time. Titans, meanwhile, is the story of a bunch of teen sidekicks without their mentors, including Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Aqualad and Green Arrow's sidekick (who has as many codenames as trackmarks on his arm.) The comics have thrown a number of other characters into the mix, including Cyborg (who's just what he sounds like), Starfire (an alien princess) and Beast Boy (a bright green shapeshifter.)

But the star of the Titans movie, from the hints Verheiden dropped, would definitely be Batman's sidekick, Robin. It sounds, reading between the lines, as if the film would be a coming-of-age story, in which Robin strikes off on his own, away from the shadow of Batman's massive swoopy cape, and goes on an adventure with his teenage friends. Both Robin and his grown-up identity, Nightwing, will be in the film. (This could also mean that two different Robins are in the film, but I doubt it somehow.) Verheiden explains:

We'll also be dealing with a transitional period in the lives of the Teen Titans. It will be a huge, fun, action movie but it's the characters first... It also won't be the Titans as young adults or anything. ... It's no secret Robin is in this movie, so what if you were him, after living in the shadow of Bruce Wayne and Batman, and now you wanted to go off on your own and become your own man, your own superhero? That's got to be a huge thing to overcome.

Verheiden says he turned in a draft of the Titans script to Warner Bros. before the writers' strike happened, and they sent some feedback. And now he's working on another pass. His goal is to make the Titans "as real as possible," and make them believable in our world, as much as teenagers with superpowers can be, with "heightened realism." And there will be "strong adversaries, or antagonists," but the main focus of the movie will be on the characters, who are at "the cusp of adulthood."

 

[The Major]

Is Verheiden making Teen Titans live action? I thought it was animated.

His take on the Titans sounds great.

IIRC Marv Wolfman was directy involved in the animated adaption of the "Judas Contract" arc.

 

[jmc]

I agree that JL biggest strength is also it's biggest weakness, that's always been my problem with a Justice League film, there's just not enough screen time for the characters to be done justice, you're only ever gonna get abbreviated versions of the characters.

 

[Majik1387]

Cool article.

 

[KELLEL]

KID FLASH/WALLY WEST MUST BE IN IT!!!!!!

And THE FLASH/BARRY ALLEN must be in the JLA movie.

Sorry, just had to get that off my chest.....

 

[TheComicbookKid]

First, Congrats to Verheiden for actually turning in a script! Please no development hell.

Teen Titans with a good 70million budget could be the X-Men for DC. A small franchise that grows over time.

 

[Webhead2006]

sounds good. But personally i rather see a jla film first and robin in series of bat films so u know how his character got to where it is and all that.

 

[The Guard]

His take on the Titans sounds obvious. What did people expect the movie to be about?

"massive, swoopy cape"?

 

[FlawlessVictory]

sounds good. But personally i rather see a jla film first and robin in series of bat films so u know how his character got to where it is and all that.

But the solo movies have nothing to do with these team-up movies.

 

[Orin]

What does the opinion that JLA wouldn't have enough screen to do justice to all seven characters have to do with it's possible success? The Titans are also a group of heroes and a movie also wouldn't have enough screen to do justice to all the characters, especially if you're mainly focusing on one character, which you could also do with the League and which wouldn't be "characters first". So i don't really see the point of this comparision. To me, there is no diffrence between the two groups, besides the fact that the Leagues star power will naturally make it more successful. You can write/produce a good Justice League movie just like you can write/produce a good TT movie, dosn't have anything to do with the concepts, just with the people who make it...

 

[Showtime]

I am beginning to think you are Aquaman himself.

 

[Orin]

Yeah, but don't tell anyone or i'll order the piranhas to get you!

 

[Showtime]

You'll need something bigger than that.

 

[Orin]

Well, i've got sharks, too. Would they do?

 

[Showtime]

Probably. They are scary.

 

[Orin]

Good, then just keep the secret to yourself and i'll keep my sharks in their cages. Yeah, boys and girls, this is the way Aquaman handles his business... cause he's BADASS!

 

[Nightwing1977]

Good question there. I think it depend. Having a good director, story, actors, etc. is what can make it being successful. Not to mention the publicity & probably having more kids see this can help. It call "Teen Titans", so it has to be more kid friendly than some superhero movies.

 

[Webhead2006]

Yea all counts on who is the cast and crew and if they will treat the characters faithfully.

 

[GreenKToo]

I'm kinda just ''blah'' on the idea of this. If it happens, I might check it out if it looks good though. we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[Dotten]

Well, i've got sharks, too. Would they do?

You did this?

http://www.giflix.com/g/05e8d9bfd4726e484775409f8e3d1104/batman-shark

On a more serious note, i think this movie can be more successfull with the critics, but not at the box-office.

It all depends on the JL script/storyline.

 

[ClarkLuther55]

I read the TT article on Rotten Tomatoes and I already have more faith in that project than Miller's JLA movie. I actually don't care for the Titans nearly as much as I do the League, and think the concept of teen sidekicks is a bit inherently goofy. But it was so refreshing reading about how they were trying to stick to the comics, and how TT would be a character focused movie about the coming of age and trying to get out of your mentor's shadow. Sounds to me like there's an actual vision and artistic ambition behind that movie.

What's JLA supposed to be? Assuming they haven't completely rewritten their horrible and misguided script, I didn't hear anything like the above. What I did hear was that Superman and Batman are going to be "written younger," the lame use of friggin' Talia and Maxwell Lord as the big bads just because they wanted to piggyback off of Batman Begins and the "big" storyline from the comics that only came out about 2 years ago, and Superman being mind controlled and having a big throwdown with WW. The whole thing sounded like an attempt to cash in and appeal to kids/teens, without much thought into things like story, themes, or meaning.

It's also funny how TT will have nothing to do with Miller's JLA, and will actually clash with it in some ways. Robin is on the cusp of adulthood and trying to get out of Batman's shadow, while Batman is being played by a 21-year-old in JLA? That's just hilarious. Supposedly JLA was supposed to set up solo franchises for all the League members not named Superman or Batman, but then word came out that the GL solo in the works wouldn't even be using the same lead character. And I seriously doubt that Megan Gale will be picked to headline her own blockbuster WW trilogy, if they ever want to do WW solo.

The WB has no idea how to build up and cross-promote its superheroes. Look at the messy multi-film-verse they're building at WB, then compare it to Marvel having Robert Downey Jr. cameo in The Incredible Hulk as Tony Stark, in preparation for an Avengers movie. Even if an Avengers movie will be a big undertaking and we're years from even seeing it, Marvel at least has enough faith in its characters to go solo with them (don't tell me Iron Man is any more recognizable than GL, Flash, or WW), and is TRYING to build towards an awesome team movie.

 

[Visionary]

I want a Justice League movie (with Bats and Supes), I care not for the Teen Titans. And I have about as much faith or as little in Miller as I did Sam Raimi, Bryan Singer and Nolan. Whom comic book films are far from great, when you strip away the hype.

 

[gimmen64]

I think this could sell better for a younger crowd and could very well be porfitable. It would be cool to see Robin transform into Nightwing. He would be the lead and make the story more about him. I'd go see the movie if it was taken serious and had great action.