Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

[Dasquian Belargic]

Yup.

Here's an interesting article on the casting of Ben Affleck as Batman: http://screenrant.com/why-ben-afflec...n-vs-superman/

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I heard that Ben Affleck is a huge Batman fan, to the point that he had a batcave-esque entrance built for the panic room in his house (behind a bookcase). Not that Batman would have a panic room, but I guess it's for the wife and kids. Heck, if we had his money we'd all have secret doors behind bookcases. *I* would.

I think he'll be good, but it'll come down to the script and the director as to what's done with this version of Batman. I thought Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern would be good too, but the script was just awful.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Josh Brolin has confirmed he was also up for the role of Batman. I can imagine him being great, especially in an adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I can imagine him being great in an adaption where Batman is a rancher.

Batman...on the Plains...in the 1800s...

[Dasquian Belargic]

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/09/1...y-and-seasoned

So we're get a "tired, weary and seasoned" Batman, as every news site is reporting this week.

I wonder if this means that he's actually a retired Batman... and that we're going to get something like The Dark Knight Returns on screen. Not fully of course, the plot of that book probably doesn't lead on naturally from The Man of Steel (which I still haven't seen ) but at least in terms of the conflict between Bats and Supes.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Kevin Smith has seen the new batsuit:

"I saw the Batman costume. More than that I saw a picture of him (Affleck) in the costume. Now, I don't want to give anything away 'cause that is up to them and stuff, but I am going to say this, I instantly bear hugged him (Snyder). You have not seen this costume in a movie on film before, and for a comic book fan it was mind bending. I was like 'Get out of here, only you have enough power to pull this off.' Because everyone always like does this Matrix/X-Men black armor...It was fantastic. I'm already a flag waver for this movie, but the costume, it blew my mind. I think everyone is just gonna be like 'Holy ****!' It's its own thing, man. It's like we haven't been down this path at all. I was so elated....Even the hardest core “**** all this” person will be like 'alright, I'm ready.'"

[Amos Iakona]

I am guessing... Batsuit that is actually grey for a change? The Arkham games proved that you could pull off those sorts of things in a way that looks pretty realistic.

[Crusader]

You mean Batman could actually look like Batman? That would be great.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Wonder Woman has been cast for this film: http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2013/12...s-wonder-woman

I am in shock.

[Captain Untouchable]

...is this a good choice?

I have not seen anything she's in.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Me neither.

First impressions: she is a shade too short for my liking. Build-wise, she has a lot of work to do, obviously. She's pretty skinny, so hopefully they will encourage/allow her to bulk up. She apparently likes to do her own stunts though, so hopefully that means she will really get into the physical side of the character. She needs to be able to stand next to Supes and Bats and look physically impressive.

It's hard to pass too much judgment without knowing more about how the character will feature in the film, how old she is supposed to be, etc.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I think Jamie Alexander would have been a perfect choice, personally.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Yeah.. if she wasn't already in a Marvel movie.

Same goes for Cobie Smulders.

[Droo]

The more I hear about this film, the less I want to see it. Any other new characters they just want to toss into the mix in their let's-catch-up-to-Marvel movie? I'm still reeling from the fact that they're actually serious about calling it Batman vs. Superman.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Are they? I feel like that might be a lie, now. Until recently they were saying that Wonder Woman in a movie just wasn't going to happen, and then all of a sudden she's cast (..and in the same week that the Flash makes his debut on Arrow).

I wish WW was getting her own movie, but I think being part of 'team up' movie is about as much as they're willing to try for now

[Droo]

I imagine, depending on the success of this film, she will get her own film. I'm just disappointed they didn't go the Marvel route and introduce these characters separately first, so that when they all come together we're familiar with them. I didn't mind them doing it with Batman, it's understandable, what with another Batman movie franchise having just drawn to a close. Ultimately, what pisses me off is that this alleged Man of Steel sequel is starting to seem like anything but, and the more big characters added, the less Superman time we get. I read on a website just now that the film is "not yet officially titled," so fingers crossed they do change the name, because the current one is woeful.

Edit: Also, in the wake of the success of films like the Hunger Games and Twilight, why in the world aren't studio executives signing off numerous Wonder Woman films already? There's clearly a huge market out there for big action films with female leads.

[Crusader]

I liked her in Fast Five...

[Lilaena De'Ville]

She was good in six, too.

[Darth Turbogeek]

The more I hear about this film, the less I want to see it. Any other new characters they just want to toss into the mix in their let's-catch-up-to-Marvel movie? I'm still reeling from the fact that they're actually serious about calling it Batman vs. Superman.

I'm with Droo. And WW actress most notible part is from the Fast/Furious movies and is skinny? Holy shit, that can not end well, those movies are truly mindblowing BAD. Plus yeah, she really needs to eat a hamburger or two and get Holly as her personal trainer STAT. This is really going in the wrong direction in a big hurry

Jamie Alexander would have been perfect because she makes it credible she could hand your ass back to you on a plate. Or.... come on, why not Jennifer Lawerence? That would have been spectaclarly awesome

[Captain Untouchable]

While I would have loved to see Jaimie Alexander play this role, I'm actually happier with Gal Gadot. She's not really any shorter or skinnier than Jaimie (or Jennifer Lawrence, or Cobie Smulders); but on the flipside she's actually from roughly the right part of the world. Rather than fall back on the Hollywood "white girl badass" list, they've actually injected a little bit of ethnic diversity where it wasn't expected. Surely that's something we can be optimistic about: it potentially bodes well for what could otherwise be a pretty whitewashed Justice League movie.

Also, lets not lose sight of the fact that they're taking was is essentially a spandex-clad sausage-fest and are adding an extra female character to it: a female character who potentially has more to contribute to the story than just being a love interest. There is also a danger that without Wonder Woman in this movie, the Justice League could end up becoming Batman/Superman & Friends: while generally pretty great, the Justice League Unlimited cartoons had that problem. Introducing Wonder Woman at this stage is an opportunity to get Diana in on the ground floor and establish the Trinity from the get go.

I'm also very happy about the idea that someone other than Batman seems to give a shit about aliens. I like the concept that General Zod might be the reason that Diana has left Paradise Island. If they then make a Wonder Woman solo movie after Batman/Superman (the way they are planning to make a Batfleck movie, and in the time window where they also have a Flash movie slated) that follows on from those events... that sounds awfully like cohesive storytelling. Zod's attack is the trigger point, Batman/Superman is a direct response to that, and then more and more villains start popping up all over the world, inspiring the heroes to team up.


As far as DC having a "let's-catch-up-to-Marvel" strategy; it's worth taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture. Corporate ramble shizzle wizzle follows:

[When we talk about Marvel, what we're really talking about is Marvel Studios: the entity that makes Agents of SHIELD and the Avengers movies. When we talk about DC though, there isn't that distinction. The same chief creative officer - Geoff Johns - is responsible for movies, animation, television, video games, and the comics. DC does not have the disconnected bubbles of production that Marvel does. That's why DC Animation is currently working on a movie set in the Arkham Asylum universe; it's why The Dark Knight Returns (a Batman vs Superman movie) came out the same summer they announced plans for Batman/Superman. Geoff Johns wrote episodes for Smallville, and is actively part of the writing/production of Arrow (including being the main reason they're allowed to use characters like Flash and Nightwing to expand beyond Green Arrow lore), which airs on the CW: a network co-owned, by WB, who owns DC.

DC/WB is equivalent to Disney, not to Marvel. DC isn't nearly "losing" as badly as people think. They're also not really "stealing" ideas, either... they're doing the same thing that they did with the DC Animated Universe (Justice League Unlimited, et al) fifteen years ago; the same thing that they're doing over on the CW with Arrow; the same thing they're doing with converting DC Animation over to the New 52... etc. It's corporate synergy within the DC/WB family, not stealing ideas from Marvel. Avengers may have been a kick in the pants, but it hasn't encouraged DC to do anything that they haven't done before.]