Guilermo Del Toro: WB has plans for the entire DC Universe

It's not going to be that version of Constantine.

It's going to be a proper rendition.

 

The WB has had "plans" for a while. Batman Begins was supposed to be the beginning of a yearly rotation of movies featuring Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Superman Returns scotched the second phase, and they never did get around to the third.

 

I know that, but I'm just saying what the main cinema-going audiences will be saying to themselves

 

Yeah, I spaced there when I forgot to mention Arrow. It's actually one of my favorite shows on TV right now. I've watched it regularly since it started last season.

 

Main cinema-going audiences didn't see that movie, don't remember it and have no idea it was based on a comic book.

 

I think they started with a great script.

Batman Begins, TDKR, and Man of Steel are all crap scripts, terminally short on character development, wit, or plot coherence. And frankly, TDK is a merely good script elevated by great performances from Ledger and Eckhart and terrific direction. And from what I've heard, the Jonah Hex and Green Lantern scripts were crap on a stick, too.

Yes, Iron Man 1 was stylish as heck, and yes, Downey was awesome, but the simple fact is it told a compelling story in a fresh, fun way. The Incredible Hulk was a terrific thriller script full of gripping family relationships. The Iron Man 2 script did an excellent job of introducing the fictional historical of the MCU, setting up The Avengers, and forcing Tony to grow as a character by accepting others' help. Thor and Cap were both solid scripts, and The Avengers did a fine job of tying them all together on a plot and dialogue level. Shane Black's IM3 script crackled with awesome dialogue, Thor 2 was a rollicking adventure story, etc., etc.

No, Marvel Studios' scripts aren't perfect, and many of them clearly evolve during production, but it's perfectly clear that they start with foundations of strong stories and vivid characters. The WB is coasting on the brand-name strength of Bats and Supes, and letting Goyer and Co. get away with turning in sloppy mess after sloppy mess. If I were a studio exec, and someone gave me a copy of MOS' script without any writers' names on it, with all its Codex nonsense, barely-there characterization, non-existent arcs, substance-free pretension and total lack of fun, I would have called the writer in for a serious dressing-down.

It ain't rocket science. Every great movie starts with a good script.

 

I don't agree there, at least regarding Batman Begins, which is a terrific story, apart from the Dawes character.

I also don't think Iron Man's strengths are located in its scripting. By the admission of everyone involved, large stretches of that movie are heavily ad-libbed by Downey. There's nothing particularly unique about the plot or story. And I find it bizarre that you cite Iron Man 2 as an example of good scripting, because most people (myself include) think that movie is easily the MCU's weakest installment, fumbles trying to do too many things, and ends up doing none of them very well.

 

Agreed, IM2 was the weakest entry with IM3 being a close second. IM2 suffered from having to spend too much time setting up The Avengers and for mis-handling the "Demon in a Bottle" thread.

 

What story? Some asshole decides to destroy one particular city because he thinks its people are corrupt by lacing their water supply with a substance that, when the water is boiled with a magic thingamajig, will make said people insane. Meanwhile, another asshole learns about the plan and decides to stop it, as soon as he finishes punching another asshole psychiatrist in the face. We finish with the promise of a different asshole lurking around in the shadows.

... Yeeeaahhhh. That's not a good story.

Actually, the dramatic motif of a superhero having to do the damage he incurred over his whole life up to the point of his spiritual rebirth was damn fresh by action-movie standards, and still is. Also, one ad-libs dialogue, but not character motivations or story structure. Downey's contributions no doubt improved an already very solid screenplay.

Well, that's quite simple; you're mistaken. For one thing, the weakest MCU installment is Cap 1, because the core characters never really change, and the story meanders across several repetitive scenes of the villain generically speechifying in order to fill out a standard film running time. IM2 is a fantastic film that 75% of BBSers rated either "Above Average" or "Excellent".

 

Actually it did better than they expected it to. There was even word that they greenlit a potential sequel, but obviously that never got off the ground. All I can say is that I saw it in an urban theater and though there's no way to tell for sure, it seemed that most if not all of the other people in the theater were mainstream types as opposed to comic book nerds.

 

Abrams does both Star Trek and Star Wars, so Whedon could surely do both Avengers and Justice League. ;-)

 

I'm a huge GDT fan, so I'm hoping if JLD is successful DC'll let him take care of the some of their other characters.
While I did enjoy the Nolan Batman trilogy and Man of Steel I don't think I'd necessarily want to see them do all of the DC characters in the same style.

 

Wonder Twin powers... Activate!

 

Will it be a dark, gritty take on the characters?

 

God, I hope so.

 

They did that in the comics. It... wasn't well-received.

There's no way that's real.

Most importantly: wait, Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis are dating for real? That's... just perfect.

 

Yeah, I'm thinking it's either a joke, or a viral thing for something else.