• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Warner bros announce superhero films through 2020

I keep seeing the opinion that DC/WB should have made major changes after Man of Steel... I have no idea why the would have wanted to do that. It only had 55% on RT, but an A- Cinemascore. The high budget Superman movie before it, Superman Returns had 76% RT but a B+ Cinemascore. Man of Steel had a domestic gross of $291 million vs Superman Returns' $200 million. Based on this data, WB probably concluded that MOS was a step in the right direction for the franchise.

Having said that, the movie's success was only middling, so investing in Zac Snyder as heavily as they did was likely a mistake... Perhaps they should have given him BvS but not the reigns to Justice League until BvS' release...
 
Yeah, I was pretty happy with MoS as a first step. It had some issues which should've been reigned in more in the sequels, but it didn't need some major overhaul. Sadly, WB went the complete opposite direction and tripled down on everything that people didn't like about it.
 
With Reeves seemingly intent on recasting Ben Affleck as Batman for the standalone movie, do you think it would serve the movie well to act as a prequel to BvS. The benefit is to have a film largely free of the DCEU but it could also show us how Batman became the broken character we saw in BvS and it doesn't have to be over a single movie. You could even keep Affleck for a voice over at the start talking about the days before Superman, when everything changed. It may even help Jared Leto who could play the Joker and even involve at somepoint Harley.
 
With Reeves seemingly intent on recasting Ben Affleck as Batman for the standalone movie, do you think it would serve the movie well to act as a prequel to BvS. The benefit is to have a film largely free of the DCEU but it could also show us how Batman became the broken character we saw in BvS and it doesn't have to be over a single movie. You could even keep Affleck for a voice over at the start talking about the days before Superman, when everything changed. It may even help Jared Leto who could play the Joker and even involve at somepoint Harley.
Why devote an entire movie for what was already explained in BvS?
 
With Reeves seemingly intent on recasting Ben Affleck as Batman for the standalone movie, do you think it would serve the movie well to act as a prequel to BvS. The benefit is to have a film largely free of the DCEU but it could also show us how Batman became the broken character we saw in BvS and it doesn't have to be over a single movie. You could even keep Affleck for a voice over at the start talking about the days before Superman, when everything changed. It may even help Jared Leto who could play the Joker and even involve at somepoint Harley.

Reports say that The Batman moves forward in the timeline post-Justice League, so recasting the role would simply be a case of Reeves wanting to work with somebody besides Ben Affleck, which is his prerogative.
 
It makes me less likely to see The Batman personally. I loved Affleck in BvS and thought he was fine in Justice League and I have been itching to see him do a solo movie. I find it stupid that we are getting reports Affleck will cameo in The Flash and then be gone by The Batman in what is supposed to be a connected Universe for films.
 
I find it stupid that we are getting reports Affleck will cameo in The Flash and then be gone by The Batman in what is supposed to be a connected Universe for films.

So how did you feel about Val Kilmer and George Clooney replacing Michael Keaton in what was supposed to be a (tenuously) connected series of Batman films?
 
Haven't some of the reports said that Reeves' version of The Batman might end up not being part of the DCEU?
 
Or, for a more recent example, James Rhodes being recast in the Marvel movies. But I guess it's easy to forget, seeing how Terrence Howard and Don Cheadle are basically twins.
 
Haven't some of the reports said that Reeves' version of The Batman might end up not being part of the DCEU?

Yeah, but plans can change. At this point, I expect the folks at WB are re-evaluating a lot of their plans for upcoming movies.
 
So how did you feel about Val Kilmer and George Clooney replacing Michael Keaton in what was supposed to be a (tenuously) connected series of Batman films?

Being a small child, it wasn't exactly a concern I had. Also tenuously connected opposed to what is meant to be DC's version at their own MCU makes this a completely different kettle of fish and you well know that.
 
Being a small child, it wasn't exactly a concern I had. Also tenuously connected opposed to what is meant to be DC's version at their own MCU makes this a completely different kettle of fish and you well know that.

*cough*Rhodey*cough*
 
The Burton/Schumacher films weren't tenuously connected; they were explicitly connected.

Recasting used to bug me, but I've realized that it's pointless to get upset about it.
 
Being a small child, it wasn't exactly a concern I had. Also tenuously connected opposed to what is meant to be DC's version at their own MCU makes this a completely different kettle of fish and you well know that.

Several MCU characters have been played by two or more actors, including Bruce Banner, Howard Stark, Jim Rhodes, Fandral and Tina Minoru.

Besides, continuity isn't any more real than any other fictional conceit. It's all just made-up stories with people pretending to be other people. So whether or not a role is recast has nothing to do with whether continuity is maintained. Recasting has happened many times in many ongoing series in film and TV.


The Burton/Schumacher films weren't tenuously connected; they were explicitly connected.

I asked somebody about that a while ago on another site, and aside from the reuse of Michael Gough and Pat Hingle (which proves nothing -- cf. Judi Dench as M), it sounds like the only real reference to the Burton films in the Schumacher films is a mention of Catwoman's costume. So it's kind of ambiguous.
 
Recasting in the context of an ongoing film or television series may be common and provide many precedents, but that doesn't make it optimal or desirable. And while narrative continuity can of course still be maintained, it breaks the illusion of a continuing reality, which is part of what ongoing stories and shared universes are designed to create.

I will personally be disappointed if any roles in the DCEU are recast, and I think that's legit. I might adjust to a new Batman, I might even like him, but it will unavoidably take something away from the sense that this particular universe is "real" and unified within itself.
 
Recasting in the context of an ongoing film or television series may be common and provide many precedents, but that doesn't make it optimal or desirable. And while narrative continuity can of course still be maintained, it breaks the illusion of a continuing reality, which is part of what ongoing stories and shared universes are designed to create.

You must really hate the James Bond and Doctor Who franchises.
 
"Not optimal or desirable" is a long way from "hate." Anyway, Doctor Who cleverly incorporated its recastings into its fictional premise. And Bond is (I think?) the longest-running franchise in movie history, so recastings were inevitable -- plus the series has never been particularly continuity-heavy. Neither is especially comparable to the DCEU, where the effort is to intricately and consistently interweave the elements of a film series that is only a few years old at this point.

I know you've taken a position here and are loath to give any ground, but are you really saying it does no damage to the integrity of a shared universe like this if they have, say, a different Wonder Woman in every movie?
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top