The DC Comics TV & Movie Thread - A Thread for Talking about Detective Comics Comics Television Shows and Movies

[YangusKhan]

They're gonna get me to watch The Flash solely because Michael Keaton is somehow taking over the role of Batman?? Not actually sure if that's what the article is implying when it says both Affleck and Keaton will play Batman in The Flash (with the added context that Affleck wants out from the films).

 

[estragon]

Here's the future of DC movies and TV. In short: 4 theatrical movies a year, 2 movies a year on HBO Max, with plenty of spinoff TV shows to accompany them. Also, two different Batmans running at the same time: Robert Pattinson is a separate Batman series from the established DCEU so far.

This approach is good, in my opinion:

“Boiled down, it means that some characters (Wonder Woman as portrayed by Ms. Gadot, for instance) will continue their adventures on Earth 1, while new incarnations (Mr. Pattinson as ‘The Batman’) will populate Earth 2,” The Times continues. “‘The Flash,’ a film set for release in theaters in 2022, will link the two universes and feature two Batmans, with Mr. Affleck returning as one and Michael Keaton returning as the other. Mr. Keaton played Batman in 1989 and 1992.”\

I'd much rather have this than one narratively coherent and tonally consistent universe.

They're gonna get me to watch The Flash solely because Michael Keaton is somehow taking over the role of Batman?? Not actually sure if that's what the article is implying when it says both Affleck and Keaton will play Batman in The Flash (with the added context that Affleck wants out from the films).

It's saying they're going to use the multiverse concept to make inconsistent adaptions canon, which also appears to be what Marvel/Sony are doing with the next Spider-Man movie. I like this trend, although I wonder to what extent mass audiences will follow along.

I don't really care what people will pay to see, though, I just like that they're taking an approach that will allow adaptations as varied in approach as Joker and Shazam to both exist.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

Will Batman get as many reboots as Spiderman at this point?

Batman has already had more reboots than Spiderman has tho. Like, orders of magnitude.

They're gonna get me to watch The Flash solely because Michael Keaton is somehow taking over the role of Batman?? Not actually sure if that's what the article is implying when it says both Affleck and Keaton will play Batman in The Flash (with the added context that Affleck wants out from the films).

It's been an open secret that the Flash movie is going to basically be Flashpoint. (Which also serves as a great excuse to recast Batman, and also mess with anything they want to, to realign their movie universe.) So Michael Keaton as Thomas Wayne would be perfect and what I assume is happening there.

 

[Torzelbaum]

Will Batman get as many reboots as Spiderman at this point?

Isn't it already there (or even past that)?

• Burton films
• Nolan films
• Snyderverse
• Pat-Man

And on the LA TV front

• 66
• Gotham
• WB/Arrowvers
• ? (I can't keep up anymore and I am also only a slight notch above Octo and False on the doing reserach scale.)

And if we looked at animated stuff then I think Bats would be way ahead.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

• Burton films
• Nolan films
• Snyderverse
• Pat-Man|

Don't forget the Schumacher films!

 

[Rascally Badger]

Schumacher and Burton Batman are the same Batman.

 

[estragon]

I think they feel so different that it weirdly makes more sense and is more fun if they're not the same, even though they were intended to be.

Just let Tim Burton make a 3rd Batman movie that is mutually exclusive with Batman Forever that continues the Burton-o-verse, who cares. (Okay maybe not literally because I don't think Burton has made a good movie in at least over a decade, but theoretically this would be fine, in my opinion. But I can't use the example of "Let Schumacher make weird prequels to Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, who cares" because he's dead.)

 

[Rascally Badger]

Like Superman Returns was a sequel to Superman 2, Burton could make his very own Batman Retu . . . never mind.

 

[Octopus Prime]

Schumacher came far closer to realizing my ideal Batman story than Burton ever did, and am firmly in favor of the idea that his movies are unrelated and DC just made a mistake in calling them sequels. Especially since Reboots weren’t really a thing in the 90s.

Also, Lego Batman and Mask of the Phantasm both got theatrical releases, so you can add them to the reboot pile too

 

[Fredde]

I think they feel so different that it weirdly makes more sense and is more fun if they're not the same, even though they were intended to be.

Just let Tim Burton make a 3rd Batman movie that is mutually exclusive with Batman Forever that continues the Burton-o-verse, who cares. (Okay maybe not literally because I don't think Burton has made a good movie in at least over a decade, but theoretically this would be fine, in my opinion. But I can't use the example of "Let Schumacher make weird prequels to Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, who cares" because he's dead.)

As a curiousity, in case you didn't know, some creators pitched to DC a comic followup to the Burton Batman movies, called "Batman '89" (in the same way as Batman '66 and Wonder Woman '77), but it never came to be. Which is especially sad since it would have included a Billy Dee Williams Two-Face.

 

[sfried]

Is it weird for me to think that Batman: The Animated Series is the proper followup to the Burtonverse? It must be because they still used the Danny Elfman theme...

I guess this is also the reason why I kinda felt...disconnected with the Arkam games. It's just not the same without it.
Likewise, I think Zimmer's soundtrack was appropriate within the context of the Nolanverse. It's an entirely different feel.

Speaking of Zimmer, I hope they will use the Wonder Woman theme for the eventual animated spin-off, too.

 

[Octopus Prime]

I always assumed that TAS was in response to the Burton movies, mostly for the theme song, and partly for some smaller details (Joker is Jack Napier, Penguin has a cleaned up, toned down take on the DeVito look, that kind of thing)

 

[Adrenaline]

I watched WW84. It was fine but not as good as the first.

I got major last-minute rewrite/reedit vibes from some events near the end. Diana renounces her wish to bring back Steve and then learns how to fly. She flies straight to the island where Lord is transmitting the signal, and she's suddenly wearing the golden armor that was in her apartment. Since she now has her powers back, the armor doesn't seem to have any particular importance, Cheetah just hacks off the wings and then Diana beats her. She overcomes Lord without needing the armor OR her powers besides the lasso. My guess is that as originally written, she went and got the armor because she needed something to help her beat Cheetah who had just kicked her ass, and then renounced her wish after saving the day. They decided it didn't work for whatever reason and then reordered events after they had already shot everything else.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

I got major last-minute rewrite/reedit vibes from some events near the end. Diana renounces her wish to bring back Steve and then learns how to fly. She flies straight to the island where Lord is transmitting the signal, and she's suddenly wearing the golden armor that was in her apartment. Since she now has her powers back, the armor doesn't seem to have any particular importance, Cheetah just hacks off the wings and then Diana beats her. She overcomes Lord without needing the armor OR her powers besides the lasso. My guess is that as originally written, she went and got the armor because she needed something to help her beat Cheetah who had just kicked her ass, and then renounced her wish after saving the day. They decided it didn't work for whatever reason and then reordered events after they had already shot everything else.

I think you're probably onto something, but I prefer the ordering of the events as it played out in the version of the movie we got. If Diana got her powers back in the middle of a fight out of life-or-death necessity, then it would have lessened the emotional impact of the decision she was making. And it also would have been less heroic, IMO. Because as the movie played out in the end, she made the decision on her own versus being forced into it out of survival necessity.

 

[Adrenaline]

I think in the original version she didn't get her powers back until after defeating Lord, and it didn't really work dramatically. The way it is now is fine it just has weird results because of how it was shot and had to be reworked later.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

Agreed, still don't mind her putting on the armor for purely dramatic purposes simply because it's represents that she's now learned her lesson about responsibility and become a true Amazonian/hero and is capable of making sacrifices, like the heroes of old, and is ready to fulfill her destiny versus indulging in her self-destructive fantasies and taking shortcuts.

 

[YangusKhan]

I rewatched Man of Steel today in preparation for the Snyder cut of Justice League. I had not seen it since theaters, and this time I enjoyed it a lot more than the first go around. Divorced from my expectations and trying to come at it on its own terms, a couple things stood out to me:

1. The pacing is a lot better than I remember. I think it does a good job of using Smallville flashbacks at the appropriate time in the story to keep your mind thinking about its themes and to propel its themes forward in the first place. It's basically juggling two different thematic throughlines: one about Krypton and the nature of its downfall, the other about the lessons Clark needed to learn as a member of the Kryptonian race growing up in a post-9/11 Earth that isn't going to be as welcoming of an all-powerful alien man.

2. It's a lot more positive and hopeful than I remember. Most people and critics focus a lot on a couple scenes in particular that do not go down smooth and aren't supposed to: the part where Jonathan Kent stops Clark from saving him in the tornado, and the end where he kills Zod to save a family. But outside of those scenes in particular, it's never suggested that this version of Superman isn't still a paragon of hope and self-sacrifice. Sure there's a couple times where he doubts himself (in a flashback where he wants to beat up that kid and then at the bar where he messes up the dude's truck), but the film really doesn't even ask the question "is Superman actually good or not?" If anything the film blames Earth and humans for being too distrustful of Superman, whereas Clark takes the first step of faith by going along with the American government.

 

[estragon]

It's a lot more positive and hopeful than I remember.

Yes!!!

I think Man of Steel is one of the few superhero movies that is also a good movie. A big part of that is that Superman vs The World Engine is still both (1) the only CGI action climax that doesn't feel like the actors are either stumbling through the trapped in a videogame portion of Nick Arcade or have been replaced with a AAA videogame cutscene and (2) the only CGI climax from this entire superhero boom that made me genuinely feel a sense of hope and awe and love for humanity.

I just didn't see the pessimistic movie that so many other people did. I don't like Zack Snyder very much. I think 300 and Watchmen are a mess. But I really think that Man of Steel was just a moment when the stars aligned for him and he just did the very best version of what he is trying to do, and it worked.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

You know what I miss?

I miss shitty CW DC shows. Or really, any DC shows. The Pandemic delaying a lot of these might have been the secret best thing for their brand. Because I was basically going to jump ship on most of them, and I feel like this interlude has been enough of a break to raise my tolerance again.

I just wanna hangout with The Legends and dumb stuff again.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

You know what I miss?

I miss shitty CW DC shows.

Batwoman came back and it's just as dumb as it was in Season 1. The effort to write in a new Batwoman is both heroic and terrible. Kate Kane is on a plane that crashes and her suit gets picked up by a random person who is a karate expert and has a convenient grudge against Kate's arch nemesis. And it's a good effort to salvage an impossible scenario and also just really dumb. Particularly when one the defining moment of Kate's life is how everyone gave up on finding her sister, and within minutes of the show beginning everyone gives up on finding Kate alive. Also, Batwoman spent a whole season fighting dudes who can change faces around, and when Hush shows up as Bruce Wayne at the front door of Wayne Manor, Luke Fox just lets him in and shows him the Batcave without a second thought. God I missed these stupid effing shows. They could have just done the easy/smart thing and recast Kate Kane and instead they're doing this. Bless

 

[Johnny Unusual]

If this rumour is true, cautiously optimistic yay!

 

[YangusKhan]

If this rumour is true, cautiously optimistic yay!

I believe it. TAS and Beyond both showed up on HBO Max pretty recently.

 

[Zef]

I believe it. TAS and Beyond both showed up on HBO Max pretty recently.

!!!

Between these, The Muppets + The Muppet Show, and Doctor Who, I'm this close to justifying an HBO Maximilian subscription on the basis that I used to spend around 40 bucks a month going to the real-life movies in the Before Times, and $15 is actually cheaper than what a single movie ticket would cost back then.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

The Muppets + The Muppet Show

These are Disney Plus things. But if you want to watch Sesame Street, HBO has you covered. Do they have Fraggle Rock? That was the original airing network.

 

[Rascally Badger]

HBO Max has Ghibli and TCM

 

[jpfriction]

I believe it. TAS and Beyond both showed up on HBO Max pretty recently.

Oh yeah? Goodie, I was halfway through beyond when I canned my DC Universe subscription.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

HBO Max also has Beware the Batman, the Green Lantern TV show (both incredible, very underrated shows), og Teen Titans, and Young Justice. It's loaded!

 

[jpfriction]

I liked Beware a lot but never gave the green lantern one much of a chance, definitely will check it out.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

The GL show is really good. It's visually simplistic and as budget as Beware the Batman, but the writing and acting and plotting is all Grade A stuff as well. It's really a shame that it never caught on and didn't get extended for a second season like Beware the Batman. Just as Beware the Batman spent the entire first season building up The Outsiders and giving fresh takes on classic Batman characters, GL does a really good job of laying the groundwork for a 2nd season that will never be. The first season does a wonderful job of introducing Hal, the GL Corp, The Guardians, and the beginning of the other spectrum corps as well. Its primary focus on the Red Lanterns as the main antagonists seems disappointing at first (Red Lanterns are mostly a lame meme in the comics) but they're probably the most fully realized and best version of them here. It gave us the Star Sapphires, the Blue Corps, and everything was leading up perfectly to Sinestro's defection and the Sinestro Corp as well. And the original characters they created for the show like Aya and Razer are just *chef's kiss*. I think both of those shows are just criminally under appreciated, and they were the victims of their own ambition and high concepts as they are expertly made and paced, but don't lead with their strongest material to hook in potential viewers. Beware the Batman needed more A-List villains, and GL needed to lead with Sinestro sooner instead of saving him for a second season that'll never happen now.

 

[jpfriction]

I’d like to see Justice League Action get tossed on HBO Max while they are being cool. Not super great or anything but having it somewhere it’ll just auto play would be nice. I caught most of it on demand or on the CN app when I had cable but picking and choosing every episode to watch (and usually sitting through an ad for teen titans go or whatever) is not a fun time for a 10 minute show.