Should DC retire Batman?

[C. Lee]

The situation with Tony Stark is a tad different due to the continuity of the MCU. When Tarzan, Bond, Batman, et all were recast either A) There was little to no continuity from one film to the next and/or B) The entire universe was rebooted to correspond with the actor change. Folks may not like RDJ being swapped out for Bob Odenkirk, but the ongoing cinematic reality of the MCU would continue along with the new guy.

The problem comes when you attempt to make Tony (or Steve, or Natasha) eternally youthful by stripping away a couple of decades in a casting change. It negates the prior in-universe stories involving the character, and you end up with a cinematic universe that doesn't make a whole heck of a lot of sense when viewed as a whole. I would prefer that the MCU doesn't adopt the most hated aspects of FOX's X-Men series.

Unless you are making a series of movies that plans to show a character over 60 some years of his life, and you have an absolute guarantee from an actor that he will play that role for those 60 years, as well as assurance from him that he will not die.....a change of actors is inevitable. No actor should play a character too long in a series of films, because aging happens. I'm speaking of both the outward appearance that changes but also the physical abilities of the body. When an actor gets too old for the part....a new actor should b found to replace him. You do not have to rename the character....you just change the actor.

 

[Zarex]

Unless you are making a series of movies that plans to show a character over 60 some years of his life, and you have an absolute guarantee from an actor that he will play that role for those 60 years, as well as assurance from him that he will not die.....a change of actors is inevitable. No actor should play a character too long in a series of films, because aging happens. I'm speaking of both the outward appearance that changes but also the physical abilities of the body. When an actor gets too old for the part....a new actor should b found to replace him. You do not have to rename the character....you just change the actor.

So Tony retires to Malibu at the end of Infinity War and then pops up as a millenial in a 2023's "Avengers: The Next Class"? That type of disregard for continuity is what turned folks off to the X-Men franchise.

I'd much prefer Feige and company put a new guy (or gal) in the suit. We'll be getting at least 8 or 9 MCU films starring Tony Stark, which is about 8 or 9 more than I ever thought we would get. RDJ turned Tony from nothing to an A lister and the next person would have a much better chance of success if they weren't playing the same character in the same cinematic universe. Tony's got to have a son or daughter that he doesn't know about who would be tickled pink to get the chance to continue the Stark family legacy.

 

[ernesth100]

I tried to be as clear as possible. Anything in particular you need clarified?

No. Nvm I get it now. Like how Stark is the face of the MCU but eventually he'll get old and have to retire. Right?

Yeah when Affleck gets too old and they've done enough Batman adventures I think it'd be a smart idea to pass the reins to another hero like Nightwing or something.

 

[C. Lee]

So Tony retires to Malibu at the end of Infinity War and then pops up as a millenial in a 2023's "Avengers: The Next Class"? That type of disregard for continuity is what turned folks off to the X-Men franchise.

I'd much prefer Feige and company put a new guy (or gal) in the suit. We'll be getting at least 8 or 9 MCU films starring Tony Stark, which is about 8 or 9 more than I ever thought we would get. RDJ turned Tony from nothing to an A lister and the next person would have a much better chance of success if they weren't playing the same character in the same cinematic universe. Tony's got to have a son or daughter that he doesn't know about who would be tickled pink to get the chance to continue the Stark family legacy.

I guess that's where we differ....if they make a movie with a little girl in the suit....to me it isn't IRON MAN. That is LITTLE GIRL IN IRON SUIT PERSON. IRON MAN is Tony Stark. BATMAN is Bruce Wayne.

 

[2kt09]

Recast Bruce Wayne if there's no intention of adapting the senile character worth doing (Kingdom Come/Batman Beyond/TDKR), which going by Affleck's age would be 3-4 decades from now.

 

[Zarex]

I guess that's where we differ....if they make a movie with a little girl in the suit....to me it isn't IRON MAN. That is LITTLE GIRL IN IRON SUIT PERSON. IRON MAN is Tony Stark. BATMAN is Bruce Wayne.

I'm certain many fans of Jay Garrick, Alan Scott and Jim Hammond would agree that the originals are the only true versions of classic characters. I'm not saying LITTLE GIRL IN IRON SUIT PERSON could become the next Barry Allen, Hal Jordan or Johnny Storm (or Carol Danvers, Kamala Khan, John Stewart, Wally West, Scott Lang, Hope Van Dyne, etc.), but I'd be willing to give the young lady a chance when RDJ is finally ejected from the suit.

 

[NHawk19]

I guess that's where we differ....if they make a movie with a little girl in the suit....to me it isn't IRON MAN. That is LITTLE GIRL IN IRON SUIT PERSON. IRON MAN is Tony Stark. BATMAN is Bruce Wayne.

So if they simply allowed for a natural progression of Tony retiring, an apprentice taking over, and called her IronWoman you'd be ok with it? Cause I kind of would. Kind of like what they're doing with Luke in TFA

Batman is only slightly different for me. I think going the Batman Beyond route would be fantastic, but he also has the Lazurus Pits in his universe which they can use to get around it if it's going to be a continual progression of the same story line.

If in either case they go for a hard reboot/remake though recast is the way to go. It'll help distinguish the storylines.

Bond gets away with it because the timeline from film to film has been historically fuzzy and one doesn't usually play directly into the next.

 

[Erzengel]

The "BIG" 3 all have crutches. Iron Man, Batman and Wolverine. I'd like to see them move away like with MCU has been able to do outstanding CBM without RDJ, such as TWS and GOTG and Deadpool with Fox. DC's next is WW and hopefully that will be pretty good.