Big interview here: https://gizmodo.com/james-gunn-dc-slate-info-flash-aquaman-justice-league-1850051467 A lot of it comes across as passive aggressive or outright aggressive. Gunn's certainly not a good showman like Fiege is.
If the intent is for Superman to be around 25, and not just in a flashback, then I can see the logic of not keeping Cavill (and I say this as a HUGE fan of Cavill as Superman, consequently VERY disappointed with his being left out—my, admittedly highly unlikely, hope is to see Cavill as an older Superman in some multiversal story down the line).
Gunn’s video announcement: A few more thoughts: Seems like maybe they’ve given up the desire to make Superman a more conflicted and angst-ridden figure, and have instead transferred that approach to Supergirl. In the video above, Gunn describes Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow as a “science fiction epic,” and that’s very much the case. The graphic novel is set 100 percent off-Earth. Since the Variety article leaves open the possibility of some actors from the DCEU continuing in their existing roles, I wonder if there’s any chance Sasha Calle might play Supergirl in Woman of Tomorrow? Could just depend on how well the Flash movie and Calle as Kara (assuming she’s not playing some other iteration of Supergirl in the film) are received. Since Superman: Legacy is going to be the first film out of the gate, it occurs to me he could show up in any of the subsequent movies on the slate. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if he cropped up in The Authority, for example.
Back in 2018 by the powers that were at that time. A lot of things changed over the years. After that they were planning to bring him back for a crisis event later down the line but Dwayne Johnson wanted to bring him back sooner than planned because he was pushing his own DCEU narrative.
So it apparently confirms that The Flash will be the Crisis-style "reset" transitioning the DCEU into the DCU. Which I suppose allows keeping some parts of the past continuity intact, like with Aquaman, apparently. I appreciate what Gunn said about making sure each work is understandable without having seen the others, even with the interconnection. These shared-universe attempts usually fail because there's too much emphasis on setting up the whole to the detriment of the care put into the individual parts.
Huh.. Some hit and misses. For me. I like the Damion Wayne in the animated shows ... Speaking of animated, will they be still doing there own thing? Honestly the new man of tomorrow set is.. Well bit of crap. And the animation style is aweful. Wouldn't mind them ending it. 2025? That's uh.. 2 years.. So.. They'd better hop on The wagon and get some people set and cast. And no Keaton Batman Beyond? Boo Wendy Boo!
My reactions with each announcement ranged from intrigued right to absolutely excited. I'm here for all of it.
This is only the first half, third? of Chapter 1 as well, so there's more in the pipeline that haven't been announced yet
I figure they have their hands full enough as it is with what they revealed, there's obviously more to come and Gunn knows it but the reveals will come much later, probably not before 2024
So they're still saying the Batgirl film was "not releasable" because it was made for the small screen and didn't look good enough to fit with their movie slate. But why not just release on TV, then, like it was meant for? It sounds like they aren't saying it was bad, just that it was a smaller-budget project when they were determined to do only big-budget movies, which strikes me as arbitrary and narrow-minded. There should be room in the world for smaller, non-blockbuster movies that don't have to make a billion dollars to turn a profit.
This was made before today's announcement https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1620215328776269824 Damian Wayne does open the door to Nightwing or Batgirl 2.0. "The Batman" aside we're finally getting the Bat family!
Definitely some interesting announcements in there. As a huge Wonder Woman fan, I'm probably most intrigued by Paradise Lost. I've always been interested in the Amazons, and not in a pervy "OMG they're all women, maybe they'll get naked" way, I just honestly find the bits and pieces we've gotten of them and their culture intriguing. I'm kind of surprised it's taken this long for Damian Wayne to show up in a live action movie. I've only read a little bit with him in Scott Snyder's Batman run, but I an curious about him. I'm really looking forward to Gunn's take on Superman in Legacy. I am looking forward to finally getting a live action Green Lanterns show, but I am a little disappointed it's going to be Earth based. I was really hoping for a big Star Trek/Star Wars style space sci-fi epic. Creature Commados and The Authority are a big surprise, those are not teams I expected to see in the first batch of projects. Everything else sounded good too, but that's the stuff that really stood out for me.
I just have one more thing to ask in regard to DC comics productions. How did a man, whose last film had bombed at the box office - namely "The Suicide Squad" - managed to be hired as one of the co-producers of the new DC Comics film franchise? How on earth did that happen?
Because industry professionals understand that there are many factors that determine a film's success or failure, and that most filmmakers have a fair number of failures in their repertoires. Steven Spielberg followed up Jaws and Close Encounters with the critically panned 1941, but then he followed that up with Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T.. David Fincher's first film was the disappointing Alien 3, but he followed it up with Seven and Fight Club. Nobody scores a hit every time at bat, so nobody with any sense is going to declare someone persona non grata after a single disappointing performance. Besides, people in the industry care about more than just box office numbers. They care about whether a filmmaker is reliable and can be counted on to do the work on schedule and on budget. They care about whether a filmmaker is easy or hard to work with, whether they form good relationships with others in the industry.
Not much to be excited about. Takeaways: For the final chapter of the DCEU (aka MoS continuity), Gunn has the Aquaman sequel being the last film, which one must interpret as being released in chronological order. If that is the case, then Affleck being in A2 (and Keaton's scenes removed) means he was not killed off in the Flash film, which was the longstanding assumption / rumor. The Keaton Batman might be the one on the chopping block. That's the only positive news about the last group of DCEU films. Patt-Man exists in his own universe. Good. One might assume the same about the Joker films. United Nations of Gunn time: the Green Lantern series using Jordan and Stewart really reads as an attempt to please the very vocal and large fanbases of both characters--and Alan Scott is not in that conversation (a good thing). When the Reynolds GL movie was announced, some fans were incensed, as they had grown fond of Stewart as depicted on the WB cartoons and believed he had every "right" to be the live action GL. When that did not happen, some accused DC/WB of being afraid of using the black GL as their long-aborted launch pad for a franchise. The one good idea noted by Gunn is the have the Lanterns series centered on defending the Earth sector (rather than having them take...expensive...journeys around the galaxy). If Gunn--and whoever is writing the GL series has any trace of stones at all, they will base the series on the O'Neil / Adams GL comics, having Jordan firmly established, coming into conflict with the Guardians-ordained Stewart, which forms the developmental backbone of the series. Paradise Island: Aside from this all but screaming that Gadot has been retired from her signature role, unless the setting ultimately has a larger connection to a series arc you know is coming, Paradise Island as a focus is an eyebrow-raising concept. Waller: same as above. The character--at least in the comics and MoS continuity--has her hands all over government, pulling major strings, so Waller getting her own film likely means she will simply run in the shoes of the DCEU version. Batman. Ho-hum...with (arguably) the most annoying Robin ever partnered with the lead. Booster Gold & anything WildStorm: Hard pass. Superman. Year one / early years should mean he's reactive to events, as he's still green. I suspect the description of Supergirl as jaded means her debut on earth will have her being some sort of aggressor while Superman will be the one to teach her about...hope. Considering the comic panel of Superman used in the announcement, certain people might jump to the conclusion that its a hint about the tone of the film. The announced release date of 2025 seems a bit rushed. The shelved Batgirl movie was not mentioned as part of Gunn's plans. Not a surprise, as the film--in the opinion of some who were at the infamous screening--had FX and other elements considered comparable of a CW/Berlanti series (a near-universal shorthand for a bad, cheap production), and for that reason alone, Batgirl should never see the light of day. So, Gunn's planned new universe productions are not sending up fireworks of excitement. Quickie reboots rarely spark excitement (see: the Garfield Spider-Man movies). Of the lot, only the GL series seems promising, and that's only due to using the best GL characters and keeping the focus on earth.
So you're weighing one movie released during a Covid-19 resurgence that underperformed but is well regarded amongst viewers and critics against a string box office successes that scored well with viewers and critics. The man was already well known and liked amongst the industry as director and screenwriter before "Guardians". I'm sure several people vouched for him and he was well-vetted before being asked to take the job,
Present day Warner Brothers Studios? Seriously? After seeing at least three of his recent productions - "Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2", "The Suicide Squad" and "The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special" - I really find this hard to accept. Oh well, it's too fucking late. That's all I have to say.