The Official Flash Thread - Part 2

[Savage]

I don't think that it would be corny at all. It would create a really cool dilemma as to who do you want to see succeed in the end. Reminds me of that Clive Owen heist movie with Denzel Washington in that way. Inside Man.

 

[gugumugats]

^wow, i totally forgot about Inside Man. for some reason, Heat and The Wire,were the only media i could think of that did a somewhat decent job balancing cops and robbers.

 

[gugumugats]

I thought of making the Flash "the McGuffin" that the Rogues steal, but my brother pointed out that this would downplay the heist aspect and just make the story more like any other supervillain team-up.

 

[Savage]

It really would. Villains kidnap heroes all the time and put them in death traps. Flash would just escape and pound all of them.

It would be interesting for the heists if, ironically enough, Flash was always too late. The best way to beat a speedster is to slow him down so distracting Flash with one threat while the real crime is going on is the best way to put it. Captain Boomerang (or Heatwave, or Trickster) endangering the lives of innocent bystanders sounds perfect for that. Mostly I just want a scene involving explosive boomerangs and lots of crazy camera movements, though. Maybe boomerangs that split in twos, threes, or even fives to become major problems.

 

[gugumugats]

I always thought that the "distraction" aspect of heists could make a reasonable explanation as to why the Rogues put on costumes and adopt funny names. It's also a tongue in cheek metafiction statement that was addressed in an episode of Justice League, where the villain asks an innocent bystander how he could get the Justice League's attention. The bystander tells him to "put on a gaudy costume and threaten to hurt lots of people"

As you mentioned, some of the Rogues act as distraction, while potentially less gaudy Rogues (maybe a badass Nolanized Trickster) could pull off the actual heist.

And for what you said about the Flash being too late to stop the heist, it would be cool to end the story with Barry catching the Rogues with good old fashioned CSI/police work.

 

[Octoberist]

"You know what would be cool? If The Flash...wasn't fast." - Michael Bay, (future) director of the Flash.

 

[metaphysician]

"You know what would be cool? If The Flash...wasn't fast." - Michael Bay, (future) director of the Flash.

God, I hope not. Michael Bay gets more hate than he deserves, but an actual super hero film deserves some characterization to go with the spectacle.

 

[gugumugats]

Ditto. Michael Bay does get more hate than he deserves. However, I think he is a great action director, even Nolan thinks there are some things he can learn from Bay (but more can be said the other way around).

I would prefer another director, but Bay wouldn't do that terrible with a Rogues heist film. My favorite Bay movie, Armageddon, had lots of entertaining chemistry between the ensemble cast.

 

[metaphysician]

I think Michael Bay would be better suited to be a cinematographer, working under another director. Basically, hire him to design your "wow" scenes, but have someone better suited direct the actual actors.

 

[gugumugats]

Bay collaborating with another director as the "action scene director" would be great, but unfortunately, his ego might be too big for that (unless I'm wrong).

 

[Savage]

That sounds like the best way to go. I certainly wish he directed Green Lantern. That movie definitely lacked the wow factor. Whenever he's done with Transformers, his helming of a Justice League film is the only way I can see them competing with Whedon's Avengers. I would go ape for a Michael Bay Justice League movie.

 

[Airwings]

Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, Trickster, and Heatwave at least with maybe the inclusion of Captain Boomerang in their group.

That's too many villains at one time. It would just be a mess.

 

[gugumugats]

That's too many villains at one time. It would just be a mess.

I think multiple villains can be pulled off if they were introduced as a gang to begin with. You only need to fully develop one or two of them, and make the rest cardboard cutouts or two-dimensional characters (unfortunate, I know). Their origins can also be tied together as all of them receiving their tech/powers from the same place.

 

[Evil Twin]

That's too many villains at one time. It would just be a mess.

That's no more villains than were in Die Hard, Robocop, or most of the X-Men movies. Obviously some would have to take a back seat to others, but 5 or 6 antagonists, even if some are no more than glorified henchmen, isn't a particularly large amount. Even in the context of the superhero movie.

Heck, Superman II over 30 years ago had 3 Kryptonian villains, Lex Luthor (and his henchpeople in cameos), and a terrorist plot for Superman to foil. Considering the Rogues basically work as a team with a single agenda, that's not really a problem. The problem comes more from balancing multiple agendas than the number of people that the hero fights.

 

[The Guard]

The Rogues can be incredibly dangerous. The Weather Wizard alone has immense potential as a villain.

Make their "code names" either just their pet nicknames for each other, or something The Flash calls them to make fun of them, or distract them. And then they OWN those names, and make them terrifying.

The Rogues can be developed as a group, because the point is that they ARE a group. They function better as a group. The invidual characters don't require a lot of exploration in that sense.

I'd use Eobard Thawne in the first film, with hints at the rogues in the future, showing that being a "rogue" became a sort of calling for some criminals.

The Rogues would then feature in the second, dealing with technological weapons they have, and them using technology they don't quite grasp (Including time travel?). They could function as superterrorists, and threaten not only Keystone City, but the world.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

I don't think Michael Bay would refuse to work with Christopher Nolan (on the King of Kings Superhero flick). Both apparently are fans of each other's work and have mutual respect. A JLA would be a massive undertaking but imagine the amount of attention this film would receive with both of these directors at the helm.

WB wouldn't hesitate to give the project a 300 million dollar budget... unless The Avengers fail to cross the 700 million barrier -- which I don't see happening.

And hey, if Bay wouldn't be interested in collaborating with a director like Nolan in a film that features Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Martian Manhunter and possibly Aquaman, then there's always Snyder.

Zack Snyder has the second best visuals/SFX in the biz and has worked with The Nolans before (recently).

 

[Savage]

The Rogues can be incredibly dangerous. The Weather Wizard alone has immense potential as a villain.

Make their "code names" either just their pet nicknames for each other, or something The Flash calls them to make fun of them, or distract them. And then they OWN those names, and make them terrifying.

The Rogues can be developed as a group, because the point is that they ARE a group. They function better as a group. The invidual characters don't require a lot of exploration in that sense.

I'd use Eobard Thawne in the first film, with hints at the rogues in the future, showing that being a "rogue" became a sort of calling for some criminals.

The Rogues would then feature in the second, dealing with technological weapons they have, and them using technology they don't quite grasp (Including time travel?). They could function as superterrorists, and threaten not only Keystone City, but the world.

I especially like this. I like the idea of codenames to mask their identities similar to what the military uses (I'm thinking of Call of Duty here with names like Soap, and Roach, and Grinch and such). With some groups like this it's even to hide their identities from each other to keep things professional. So just Cold (and make him the Captain of this team), Mirror, Heatwave, Wizard, Boomerang, names like that I think would be pretty cool.

 

[gugumugats]

Wow, I like your guys' justifications of the Rogues' silly names. I'm really digging the idea that they keep their identity hidden from each other and give each other codenames a la Reservoir Dogs.

 

[Savage]

That's too many villains at one time. It would just be a mess.

As explained by others, not at all. Plenty of movies have multiple villains. It's all a matter of choosing how to divide the focus. Even the Star Wars movies certainly have more than just Darth Vader and Darth Sidious. Those are the main two but there are the ones that work for them as well. Hell, the new Batman series is a good example too. Batman Begins: Ra's Al Ghul (and the entire League of Shadows), Scarecrow, Carmine Falcone, Detective Flass immediately pop in my mind. Those are just the ones who are connected to each other in the chain of villains. It's all about prioritizing.

 

[HighFivingMF]

Ra's Al Ghul (and the entire League of Shadows), Scarecrow, Carmine Falcone, Detective Flass immediately pop in my hide.

You mean mind, right?

 

[Savage]

Yup. Edited. I've been doing that a lot lately. I'll edit a sentence and accidentally leave a word that just makes it sound...stupid.

 

[Airwings]

Three villains in the same film is the most I want
Why wouldn't that be enough?

 

[Savage]

Because then it's not really all that much of a group of Flash's most dangerous enemies. Even movie villains have henchmen.

 

[gugumugats]

Number of villains would depend on how you would want to depict them. But in order to showcase the Rogues as a group/gang of supervillains, I think 3 would be too few in order to show the chemistry between them.

 

[metaphysician]

Note that doing the Rogues as individuals, and doing the Rogues as a team, are two different challenges. The latter would, dramatically speaking, be one "villain".

Things get dicier if you want to actually characterize them all, as opposed to making most or all of them just mooks with gimmicks. Note that, essentially, that's all Sabretooth and Toad were in X-Men.