Looks like the stand alone DC JL film directors are bailing...

[Earth 2 Chris]

A coworker of mine just asked me if I'd seen BvS. I answered yes, and kind of sighed. She then went on to air about every grievance I've read about this movie. And this woman is no comic fan. She's just an average movie goer. She felt the plot made no sense. She felt that the "commercials" for the Justice League were forced. She didn't understand why Batman was killing everyone. Why did everyone turn against Superman? Why was Lex Luthor acting like the Joker? Why did Batman suddenly get all chummy with Supes' over their mother's shared name after trying to kill him for 2 hours?

She pretty much went through the checklist. I just kept nodding my head and agreeing, and I filled in a few things...things she should have been able to know from a coherently made film.

So it's not just us diehards calling foul. It's the average Joe/Jane on the street.

Chris

[huedell]

So it's not just us diehards calling foul. It's the average Joe/Jane on the street.

And those are the ones that their investors want them to care about the MOST.

And those are the ones satiated the most by the Disneyesque formula I mentioned in my first assessment.

I try to put personal feelings on the actual films themselves aside as much as I can to see things from THAT point of view, because I know that's what will ensure longevity of a given properties being mined for films I want to see.

At the risk of redundancy, I'll point out that the MAIN reason WB/DC has ended up where it is now, is because they misread the audience's reactions to their precious "dark" Batman movies (and their oddly storied, but otherwise quite "Supermany" Superman Returns), and they somehow forgot (or wanted to believe) that a "popcorn movie" (the type that includes humor, lightness and solid action sans EXTREME---and I stress "extreme" camp---some camp is good) is what sells this "superhero" kind of stuff.

[Hector]

There something seriously wrong with Zack Snyder...he even thinks Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight films are not dark enough.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME???



Snyder's plans for his comic book superhero movies shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, including critics. Back in 2008, Snyder gave a revealing interview to Entertainment Weekly about how he sees comic books and superheroes. The piece has been making the rounds on Twitter for how much it traces the psychology of Snyder's movies, from older titles like The 300 and Suckerpunch all the way through Batman v Superman.

The Q&A touches on a lot of different topics, but one of the most striking parts of the discussion comes when Snyder talks about his dislike for comics without gore or sex. He said:

You could call it "high-brow" comics, but to me, that comic book was just pretty sexy! I had a buddy who tried getting me into "normal" comic books, but I was all like, "No one is having sex or killing each other. This isn’t really doing it for me." I was a little broken, that way. So when Watchmen came along, I was, "This is more my scene."

Snyder not liking comic books where people don't kill each other explains his Superman; traditionally, Superman's entire existence is about inspiring and being bright and hopeful, but Snyder's iteration of the character kills someone in Man of Steel.

Later in the interview, Snyder talks about Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, revealing that if he'd been at the helm, he would have gone a lot darker than Nolan did by incorporating prison rape:

Everyone says that about [Christopher Nolan’s] Batman Begins. "Batman’s dark." I’m like, okay, "No, Batman’s cool." He gets to go to a Tibetan monastery and be trained by ninjas. Okay? I want to do that. But he doesn’t, like, get raped in prison. That could happen in my movie. If you want to talk about dark, that’s how that would go.

It's a mystery why Snyder believes that prison rape, sex, and death are what people want to see in superhero films — that comic book fans who love Superman really wanted to see him start killing people, or that Batman fans would really relish seeing the greatest detective alive not be able to tell the difference between a boat and a crime lord.

There's a reason these superheroes and their comics have endured. And even when Frank Miller and Alan Moore introduced grit and darkness into their worlds, it wasn't darkness for darkness's sake — which is what Snyder seems to be obsessed with.

http://www.vox.com/2016/5/2/11565932/zack-snyder-justice-league

This was a 20-8 Entertainment Weekly interview...I had no idea it was to this extent...

MY FAULT FOR BEING SO IGNORANT ON THIS SUBJECT../MY FAULT!!!

The dude is some type of psychopath, now I'm completely sure of that.

If Warner Brothers doesn't fire him...I'll go on record, that I will NEVER pay one single cent to go watch any superhero movies directed by him EVER again...the man is a hack, a complete tool...god I hate his guts...

[huedell]

Okay---now I officially despise the director/conceptual guy in charge of this phase of the DCEU.^^^^^^

Speaking of "prison rape".... George Lucas? That guy supposedly raped many guys like me's childhoods...just because of the SW prequels. Meh. I always thought that term was too extreme to apply to a fantasy film----especially a SEQUEL trilogy to stuff he created in the first place...

...but, by Snyder delving and clawing and messing deep into the bedrock of the past and current legacy of many of my most favorite childhood heroes (the DCU/Super Friends characters), having THAT^^^ kind of attitude, I definitely feel that much closer to "childhood rape", and, for the time being, that my childhood heroes are in "prison".

[cockyhoskins]

Get ready for a super dark Aquaman movie...

http://movieweb.com/aquaman-movie-dark-tone-director-james-wan/

[hedrap]

^That's so funny. It would work with Namor, especially if it followed his main Tales to Astonish storyline or the Kirby deep sea monsters.

But Aquaman...this is where pre-viz can detour an entire project. Wan starts fixating on the craziness of the ocean depths and he finds a horror movie where no one is looking for one.

[madmarva]

Stupid question but what are Johns job duties with the DCU? I figured the no.1 priority would be to protect the property, to make sure the characters weren't totally destroyed in the filmmaking process. I love most of his comic work and ideas but I truly don't see his signature on anything so far.

Johns is a producer, but his role is more as consultant. The director still pilots the ship. He can take advice here but not there or not at all. The rumors say that execs are going to be more involved in the film-making decisions on JLA. To me that's even scarier than just giving Snyder his head, unless that exec(es) really knows what he/she/they are doing. It sounds like Johns may have more influence with Affleck, working with him on the script and being a producer on the Bat film. Then again some believe Johns threw a wrench in the GL movie by retrofitting his GL concepts into the original script developed by Berlanti, who produces all the DC TV shows. But again that is rumors, not verified fact. The Flash and Legends are very much influenced by Johns' comic book work, so it wouldn't seem that he and Berlanti are at odds.

If Feige has a talented second over at Marvel, WB/DC might be wise to pluck him/her away. Feige got his start working on the X-Men films at Fox, and brought that experience to Marvel Studios prior to Avi Arad moving on. It would be worth it to WB just to learn how Marvel does it, even if they don't follow the exact same path.


All of the stories on the rumors are unsourced even by supposedly more reputable reporting entities like the Hollywood Reporter. The attribution in its story was "The Hollywood Reporter heard." Other click-bait sites like cosmic book news were regurgitating THR's rumor reports and quoting podcasters, who may be great for opinion, but not really great for accurate reporting.

Not saying that all of this isn't true, but rumors have to be taken with a grain or maybe even a boulder of salt. Sometimes things are true one moment but not the next.

Wan tweeted a photo earlier today with him leaning up against a poster of Aquaman. I'm assuming it means he's still planning on directing the movie, but then again, it might be him walking out the door.

There was also a rumor on Thursday that Mad Max director George Miller was considering directing the planned Green Lantern movie. That would be great, but that sounds like speculation or wishful thinking to me, too.

I'd like to see them boot Snyder on JLA, particularly if WB could convince Affleck into directing. Even WB might not have that kind of money.

[huedell]

Get ready for a super dark Aquaman movie...

http://movieweb.com/aquaman-movie-da...tor-james-wan/

To be fair... as Wan intimates: "Dark" doesn't necessarily mean "not fun" or "bland tone". I can live with a DC movie that's actually "fun"... even if it's "creepy" or whatever.

[enyawd72]

Here ya go. Somebody send this to WB...

[PNGwynne]

That's awesome! And the Hall of Justice is in Ohio!!

[MIB41]

A coworker of mine just asked me if I'd seen BvS. I answered yes, and kind of sighed. She then went on to air about every grievance I've read about this movie. And this woman is no comic fan. She's just an average movie goer. She felt the plot made no sense. She felt that the "commercials" for the Justice League were forced. She didn't understand why Batman was killing everyone. Why did everyone turn against Superman? Why was Lex Luthor acting like the Joker? Why did Batman suddenly get all chummy with Supes' over their mother's shared name after trying to kill him for 2 hours?

She pretty much went through the checklist. I just kept nodding my head and agreeing, and I filled in a few things...things she should have been able to know from a coherently made film.

So it's not just us diehards calling foul. It's the average Joe/Jane on the street.

Chris

This opinion from a layman is precisely why the box office tally should bother Warner Bros. This was a heavily front loaded film. The studio was introducing a new Batman who was suppose to be in this epic fight with Superman. The title alone put butts in seats that opening weekend and made it critic proof for those reasons. But NOW Snyder and his proposed world of oddities is a known quantity. And scores of people from the average ticket buyer to the more genre entrenched fan are not liking Snyder's style or vision. This means if Justice League gets clobbered by the critics, you can bet that film will not be critic proof opening weekend. And the truth is critics have never embraced Snyder for most of the reasons others have not. His characters are highly dysfunctional, with questionable ethics, and a tendency for violent acts with a clear unwillingness to accept their circumstances as something they would inspire to be if given a choice. In short his movies tend to demean and disregard the superhero and turn him or her into a warped shadow of what they are in comics or other traditional circles. It's really insane that the studio went to this man to oversee the creation of this universe. That's why I have no interest in these projects. Snyder films are a one note endeavor. And he is not a person who is interested in going outside those comfort zones he so enjoys. It would be like asking Rob Zombie to do a Bambi film. He would only do it if he could show his parents being slayed in graphic detail. That pretty well sums up Snyder. Watching his films is an endurance contest.

[PNGwynne]

The only film of his that I've seen is Watchmen, which I liked. But I'd hardly like that film's approach or more properly, tone, applied to the traditional DCU.

[enyawd72]

It would be like asking Rob Zombie to do a Bambi film. He would only do it if he could show his parents being slayed in graphic detail. That pretty well sums up Snyder. Watching his films is an endurance contest.

That movie's already been made...

[Hector]

[MIB41]

That movie's already been made...

THAT is classic Dwayne!!