What can DC/WB do now to move forward? Is there hope? - Part 1

[Boy Scout]

Ok I have my opinion in Affleck leaving Batman as director and it's nowhere near the doom and gloom as everyone's reporting.

But let's put that to one side and have a frank honest discussion love or hate the DCEU let's say WBs abandons it.

Then what? Reboot the DCU? Wait years? Which films do you start with? Recast all the roles?

I'm honestly interested to get some real answers here and see what people's ideas are (hopefully without been snarky or bashing what we currently have)

Wait a few years. Let's say...six to eight. Start with Batman (I know, I know). Hint at a wider universe (in ways that get the point across, but aren't heavy handed), but don't let world building distract or otherwise take away from the central premise of the film. You would, of course, recast every single role.

And keep Greg Berlanti away from all of it.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

Some of them are genuinely good. Like they got the people who worked on those great DC toons/movies for whatever reason to direct/write them.

oh really? Might have to give em a watch now that you mention it. Thanks!

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Wait a few years. Let's say...six to eight. Start with Batman (I know, I know). Hint at a wider universe (in ways that get the point across, but aren't heavy handed), but don't let world building distract or otherwise take away from the central premise of the film. You would, of course, recast every single role.

And keep Greg Berlanti away from all of it.

I might start with Flash instead, at least if they current Flash movie ends up in the developmental dustbin. Right now he's the DC character with the most audience goodwill in live-action and by that time the show will have likely either recently ended or is about to end. Batman is their most popular character, and that is certainly a good argument for starting with him, but if they are rebooting they would have already bungled Batman so there is a lot of risk there. I think they need more of a fresh start.

EDIT: Although my opinion will change if Flash ends up being the Jar Jar Binks of JL.

 

[The Guard]

uh....Green Lantern begs to differ

Greg Berlanti wrote an early draft, which is generally considered much better than the final product. There were four or five writers influencing the final script.

 

[Urich Leeds]

Greg Berlanti wrote an early draft, which is generally considered much better than the final product. There were four or five writers influencing the final script.

This. There was alot of excitement over Berlanti's version, and it blew everyone away to see how crap the final version was.

 

[2kt09]

Greg Berlanti wrote an early draft, which is generally considered much better than the final product. There were four or five writers influencing the final script.

Is that draft online?
Because I can't help relating that movie to his various shows (some of which I enjoy, but still feel best suited for tv).

 

[The Guard]

Is that draft online?
Because I can't help relating that movie to his various shows (some of which I enjoy, but still feel best suited for tv).

It is. I don't know if I can post a link to it, but you can google "Green Lantern script" and find it fairly easily.

He's suited for TV because he's playing to a particular audience right now: TV audiences. His material has to have broad appeal.

True, he's probably better with cheesier fare (He's on BOOSTER GOLD now, isn't he?), but his GREEN LANTERN script was solid, had a good base characterization, some decent dialogue and a very solid development of the mythos itself. There are things about the movie that work better, but it feels like a stripped down or at least pared down version of the Berlanti script. I think a lot of it had to do with budget and screentime. There are some massive ideas in Berlanti's script, big action sequences, etc, and Sinestro's development was cut down quite a bit in the final version of the script/film.

 

[2kt09]

It is. I don't know if I can post a link to it, but you can google "Green Lantern script" and find it fairly easily.

He's suited for TV because he's playing to a particular audience right now: TV audiences. His material has to have broad appeal.

True, he's probably better with cheesier fare (He's on BOOSTER GOLD now, isn't he?), but his GREEN LANTERN script was solid, had a good base characterization, some decent dialogue and a very solid development of the mythos itself. There are things about the movie that work better, but it feels like a stripped down or at least pared down version of the Berlanti script. I think a lot of it had to do with budget and screentime. There are some massive ideas in Berlanti's script, big action sequences, etc, and Sinestro's development was cut down quite a bit in the final version of the script/film.

Will certainly check it out.

 

[Osiris-Rex]

And keep Greg Berlanti away from all of it.

Heaven forbid they hire someone who knows how to make the characters fun and likeable and shows that are critically acclaimed.
Rotten Tomatoes: Supergirl season 2 - 100%. Arrow season 5 100%. The Flash season 3 87%. Legends of Tomorrow season 2 75% Riverdale 87%
Superheroes be serious business in the movies They have to be dull, dark, boring messes so we can keep getting scores of 27% and 26%.

 

[MydnightPhoenix]

Stop making announcements for every little thing. If Flash loses it's director don't announce it until you have a replacement, same with Batman. Focus on making good movies for the DC stars before going into GSC or Black Adam.

 

[I Am The Knight]

Thing is that WB wants all the money so if Harley is popular then they giver her a spinoff movie. If The Rock is popular then they give Black Adam a movie before Shazam even gets his own.

 

[FunkMiller]

Heaven forbid they hire someone who knows how to make the characters fun and likeable and shows that are critically acclaimed.
Rotten Tomatoes: Supergirl season 2 - 100%. Arrow season 5 100%. The Flash season 3 87%. Legends of Tomorrow season 2 75% Riverdale 87%
Superheroes be serious business in the movies They have to be dull, dark, boring messes so we can keep getting scores of 27% and 26%.

This. The snobbery some people have towards someone who's managed to build a popular, successful comic live action universe is irritating. Berlanti and co are doing a far better job that the cinema people.

 

[2kt09]

Thing is that WB wants all the money so if Harley is popular then they give her a spinoff movie. If The Rock is popular then they give Black Adam a movie before Shazam even gets his own.

Safe bets or things to fall back on.

 

[MydnightPhoenix]

Thing is that WB wants all the money so if Harley is popular then they giver her a spinoff movie. If The Rock is popular then they give Black Adam a movie before Shazam even gets his own.

Actually seeing a villain established before his hero might be interesting.
I don't fault WB/DC for wanting to make money, with all the undeserved crap they get the deserve the big bucks; but that money can still come with movies about Flash, GL, Superman etc.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Thing is that WB wants all the money so if Harley is popular then they giver her a spinoff movie. If The Rock is popular then they give Black Adam a movie before Shazam even gets his own.

There is an alarming problem recently with many films these days. Studios take a bass ackwards approach to them. What they should be doing is coming up with a story and characters and then casting so that the actors fit the characters. Instead they cast the actors and then try to make the story and characters fit the actor, even if they have to make massive changes. It almost never works, and it makes even less sense today when star power means less to the success of a film than it ever has.

Shazam absolutely should be first, and Black Adam should be a villain. But because they want The Rock as the star, they have do something that makes no sense to accommodate him.

 

[BlueLanternKal]

What a joke.

People throw around RT percentages without knowing how it works.

95% fresh with the average rating being 6/10 means that 95% of critics think it's average af, barely good.

50% rotten with the average 5/10 is basically the same thing as above.

 

[Ivan Drago]

The thing is, no movie on RT would have a 95 fresh rating with the average rating being 6.

Movies in the 90's on RT at least have a 7+ average rating score

 

[Boy Scout]

Heaven forbid they hire [him]...

Indeed.

Superheroes be serious business in the movies They have to be dull, dark, boring messes so we can keep getting scores of 27% and 26%.

I hate to break it to you, but I like the DCEU even less than the Berlantiverse.

This. The snobbery some people have towards someone who's managed to build a popular, successful comic live action universe is irritating. Berlanti and co are doing a far better job that the cinema people.

What snobbery? I can like or dislike whatever I want. That doesn't make me a snob.

 

[MadVillainy]

The thing is, no movie on RT would have a 95 fresh rating with the average rating being 6.

Movies in the 90's on RT at least have a 7+ average rating score

it's not a 90% but Ouija 2 has an 82 Fresh rating and only has 6.3 avg rating.

 

[BlueLanternKal]

My point still stands. RT percentages has helped attribute greatness and acclaim to "alright" films while other "alright" films have gotten stigmatized.

BvS was an "alright" film by most accounts, but people see that 28% rotten and act like it's a test score or exam when that's not how it works.

 

[BestGirl]

Supergirl season 2 has an average rating of 8.3/10

The Flash season 3 has 7.67/10

Arrow season 5 has 7.92/10

So regardless critics seem to like these franchises.

 

[Greens]

What a joke.

People throw around RT percentages without knowing how it works.

95% fresh with the average rating being 6/10 means that 95% of critics think it's average af, barely good.

50% rotten with the average 5/10 is basically the same thing as above.

You're not taking into account that critics choose whether their review counts as fresh or rotten. In one situation, way more critics thought the movie deserved to be rotten. It's not the same situation.

 

[Ivan Drago]

My point still stands. RT percentages has helped attribute greatness and acclaim to "alright" films while other "alright" films have gotten stigmatized.

BvS was an "alright" film by most accounts, but people see that 28% rotten and act like it's a test score or exam when that's not how it works.

But wasn't the average rating of BvS like a 4.9? That's still kind of bad.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

But wasn't the average rating of BvS like a 4.9? That's still kind of bad.

Yep. That's in the same ballpark as such genre "classics" as X-Men Origins: Wolverine (5.1), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (4.8), and Green Lantern (4.6).

 

[MydnightPhoenix]

My point still stands. RT percentages has helped attribute greatness and acclaim to "alright" films while other "alright" films have gotten stigmatized.

BvS was an "alright" film by most accounts, but people see that 28% rotten and act like it's a test score or exam when that's not how it works.

Rotten Tomatoes lost me after Thor.