At the San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend, director Zack Snyder announced that his follow-up to this summer’s successful ‘Man of Steel’ will not be ‘Man of Steel 2’, but rather a Superman/Batman team-up movie. Are you excited for this, or does the news leave you apprehensive?
Beyond the fact that this project is in the works, not much is known yet. Snyder will direct, and his star Henry Cavill will reprise the role of Superman. David Goyer, who wrote ‘Man of Steel’ and the ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy, will pen the script, as seems only logical.
Who will play Batman? ‘Dark Knight’ star Christian Bale has claimed that he’s done with the character. The end of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ implies that Joseph Gordon Levitt’s Robin will take over the mantle of Batman. Will he be worked into this new movie, or will it reboot the character from scratch with a brand new actor? I’m inclined to think the latter, since Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy attempted to create a realistic world that wouldn’t have much place for a superhuman from another planet.
If all goes according to plan, a movie based on ‘The Flash’ will follow in 2016, culminating in ‘Justice League’ (an ‘Avengers’-like multi-hero mash-up with Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, The Flash and more) in 2017.
Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, though. This could all very easily fall apart. According to the book ‘Tales from Development Hell‘, Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment have attempted to get a Superman/Batman movie off the ground on multiple occasions over the years (at least as far back as Tim Burton’s run with Batman), all of which have collapsed due to internal corporate politics. The movie division of DC has had nowhere near as much success coordinating the type of cohesive movie universe among all its properties that rival Marvel Comics has. Like many things announced at Comic-Con, this could prove to be little more than wishful thinking.
Still, if it happened, would you run out to see it?
Loading ...[Source: The Hollywood Reporter]
T.J. Kats
Haven’t seen Man of Steel yet, will check it out on Blu, but I am interested to see what comes of this.
Alex
I’m not opposed to the idea, but not right away.
I think we need one more Superman on his own and another Batman to introduce us to the new guy. Then, I’d say, go nuts. Bring them together. Worlds finest, FTW!!!
William Henley
I chose “could go either way”. I am not a comic book person, so not familer with the source material. Just seen the movies (and a couple of the Batman television series – mainly the Animated Series, but really only saw like the first season of that). The idea sounds cooky to me – ie Superman has supernatual powers as do some of his villians, whereas Batman is all technology and being in shape, but I know there is material out there that put the two together.
I’ll probably end up seeing it, but I will reserve judgement until that time.
Ryan
I am of the opinion this will likely suck balls. Frankly to me this move reeks of desperation and trying to catch up to Marvel. DC has clearly had no proper plan in place and this is what comes of it.
The fact they have stated it takes inspiration from Dark Knight Returns is also a negative. Superman is a government weapon basically, so if that is part of the inspiration for this you’re taking superman from a killer of millions of innocents straight to weapon of the government. Way to let him grow as a character.
Also introducing Batman in a movie like this seems stupid as well, you have no established Batman and are going to just toss him in? Just seems like a recipe for disaster.
Brian
I agree with what has been said about needing another movie 1st of just Supes. Man of Steel was not perfect, though I enjoyed it overall. It laid a lot of groundwork for what could be an awesome part 2. I just feel they need to let a part 2 breath on its own, instead of throwing in another character to rush a shared universe. It may be an awesome movie, but i do not feel that would change my mind. This should be in a part 3.
Shannon Nutt
I think Warners realized they couldn’t wait for a second Man of Steel movie to start teaming up their heroes…Disney/Marvel is getting way ahead of them. I also think they didn’t want to risk MOS 2 being a flop after having success with MOS 1. Putting Batman in the movie is a sure-fire way to assure your sequel does at least as good as the first film.
Mr Apollo
This movie is happening and it’s gonna be amazing! It’s not gonna be a big deal if they were to recast batman because I The audience already know who he is. It wasn’t a big deal in the avengers with the hulk so I don’t see where the problem is.
If they continue with Joseph Gordon Levitt that’s fine and yes, probably makes more sense only because there’s already a back story to him. But, if they were to have a new person it won’t matter much. Especially because they could establish him in the first few minutes of the movie sliding who he is and what he does.
The movie serves as an introduction to each other and establish their friendship. This will actually help superman grow as a character and also affirm that batman only cares about winning and doing whatever is necessary to get the job done.
I really don’t see what the big deal is here. This is the ultimate superhero match up everyone has been wanting to see and now it’s time. There’s no more waiting around. It’s now or never. There’s definitely more at stake here then the next avengers movie but they can’t be waiting around anymore to get this off the ground. For all we know they had been planning for Joseph Gordon Levitt to take over. They need someone who is gonna be younger to push forward or a recast anyway for it to work.
T.J. Kats
Hulk isn’t quite an even example only because Hulk did the least amount of box office business where as the business done by Batman is by far the most of anything ever done by DC.
Drew
It’s the worst, most heart breaking news I’ve heard about cinema in a long time. There’s absolutely nothing about this, that even has the potential to be positive. Warner/DC is desperate. Plain and simple. There’s no other way to look at this.
It actually makes me sick. ‘Man of Steel’ wasn’t perfect, but it was a great start in the right direction, and a solid foundation to build upon. Batman is also in a fine place, currently. The franchise could easily be resumed, with a new actor, and provide some building blocks for a Justice League film, down the road.
Instead, Warner/DC had a knee-jerk reaction to Marvel’s success, and decided to throw every bit of constructive work they have put in, out the window. Why?! Why flush everything you accomplished with ‘TDK’ and ‘MOS’ down the toilet?! Didn’t they learn anything from Marvel?! Did Marvel skip steps? … No. … Okay, why are you trying to?
What if Marvel would have released ‘Iron Man’, and ‘Iron Man 2’, as well as ‘The Incredible Hulk’ and then said, “Screw it! We’re putting a Iron Man plus Hulk team up movie out!” What DC is doing is the equivalent of that. How could anyone think that is a good idea?!
They’ve managed to turn Batman into hallowed ground. They were successful in giving Superman a solid treatment that paved the road for the character to possibly join Batman (As well as Iron Man, and Marvel’s most cherished characters) in the ranks of box office gold. They had laid the groundwork for a wildly successful cinematic universe along the lines of the one Marvel created.
All they needed was patience! Make the new Batman film. Hire Christopher Nolan as a consultant, and make sure you keep the character consistent, and don’t fuck it up. Don’t alienate what everyone has come to love about it. Make one more Superman film. Expand upon the great things you accomplished with ‘MOS’, and learn from the flaws, in order to correct some of the errors. Improve Suoerman’s cinematic standing.
Start subtly easing some of the other major DC characters into the next Superman and Batman films. Perhaps, give one of the other DC superstars (Wonder Woman?) their own film, and integrate some of the other characters more prominently.
That’s all you had to do!!! Three more movies, made in the proper order, with the right combination of characters, and you would have had a $1.5 billion — at least — Justice League movie in the palm of your hands!!! That didn’t even require a great amount of patience! Instead, you’re throwing all of that away for a sloppy and pathetic tag team movie, that will give you a mild hit, and ruin the prospects of the entire DC cannon, going forward.
Simply put, it’s the most terrible idea ever! There can be no opinion to the contrary.
Ryan
At first I was excited….then I started to think about it and began feeling more and more like you. Only, not so extreme.
I really REALLY wish that they were giving Superman another movie all to himself. Hell, even if they threw a Batman cameo in at the end, that would have been awesome.
But to make the Next Superman movie a shared film? I want to believe….but I just don’t think they can pull it off. It’s going to be a real tight rope walk to not end up with a bloated Spiderman 3 type movie.
Darkchilde
Drew, you make a good argument, but there can always be an opinion to the contrary, even if you disagree with it.
Drew
Haha! I know. I said that with a wink. Forgot to add it. It’s just mind boggling that this is happening, only for a quick cash in. DC had garnered so much goodwill with ‘TDK’ and ‘MOS’ (For the most part). Let’s erase all of that, and say, “Fuck you, Superman! You don’t deserve your own trilogy or franchise. Let’s make a tag team movie, ASAP!”
Darkchilde
It is a terrible idea. I team-up, maybe but no way can you do versus. You may get away with it in the comic books (and even then it is really silly) but no intelligent person can believe that Batman can fight Superman. Even with kryptonite (and I was very glad this silly macguffin was kept out of MOS). Superman punches through BUILDINGS. One hit and Batman is paste. Supes is more then fast enough to get that hit too. If Batman had the magical power to kill by touch, Superman could hang out a thousand feet away and lob cars at him until Batman missed a dodge. And he is very unlikely to surprise SM because he would hear BM coming. Supes and his enemies outclass Bats and his in every way it terms of power. So the only way they can fight is if you have an idiotic script and that would kill the movie. So please, NO VS! Batman is cool but he fights in a totally different weight-class.
T.J. Kats
I don’t think anything has been said about vs. It is a team up to lead towards the Justice League movie they will be part of.
Josh Zyber
AuthorTo make the announcement at Comic-Con, Warner Bros. had an actor come out to read a passage from The Dark Knight Returns, a comic that made Batman and Superman face off against one another as adversaries. Much of the buzz at the convention claimed that this movie plans to do the same.
Drew
It’s a shit idea, regardless of whether it’s a vs movie, or a team-up movie. You can’t make a shit idea smell any differently, no matter how much perfume you spray on it. For some of you, the perfume will be the tag team angle, for others, it will be the vs angle. It doesn’t matter. It’s still shit. There’s nothing about either angle that will remove the stench. It’s a pathetic attempt to ride Marvel’s coattails, and cash in. They don’t care how much damage it will inflict upon the rest of their properties, and the potential that is being tossed in the dumpster.
Drew
T.J.,
In the example I used, it was clear that Iron Man was being compared to Batman, and Hulk to Superman. It’s a perfect example, thank you! 🙂
T.J. Kats
I know I was responding to the guy who said just throw in a new guy because people didn’t care with Hulk. People would care if you just threw in a new Iron Man.
Drew
Oh, gotcha. Sorry about that. Didn’t see the order.
Ben
I think they’ll get Bale to do it. If Nolan is still producing, he’ll cave in. Personally I’m on the team that thinks this is an obvious and shallow marketing move, rather than any sort of artistically inspired risk. Man of Steel should be compared to Batman Begins, not The Dark Knight. In that sense it was refreshing and a huge success. Let Man of Steel II stand on its own and achieve something grand! It doesn’t need Batman. Bring in Lobo. Guy Gardener would translate well. Bring in John Henry Irons or Eradicator. Wonder Woman! Create a new franchise. Don’t milk a tested one. But I suppose this is wishful thinking…
StarMenace
The movie’s been announced so we can expect it, but I’d like to first see a standalone Wonder Woman movie with her in this BM/SM movie as an obvious cameo.
Pete
Using Frank Millers The Dark Knight Rises is all sorts of wrong in my opinion. I know he just read a single line but its a telling line. So, in the Superman sequel you will set up Supes to lose a fight to Batman and use a book that makes Supes into a gov weapon as the influence? That doesnt sound like a very good Superman film. I hope im wrong and they go somewhere different.
timbobarry
Wait and see. I’m also not really excited for more Avengers movies. Think I’m getting to the point of being burned out on comic book movies.
Aaron McKee
I really hated Man Of Steel, so this news doesn’t excite me at all. David S. Goyer doesn’t deserve the opportunity to write any more Superman movies. His MOS script was garbage. I don’t mind Snyder returning as director, just as long as he doesn’t co-write the thing. Goyer is terrible and most of everything he writes (especially when he’s the lone writer) is garbage.
Michael
If they had someone else to do the writing other than Goyer it will be awesome. He really sucks. Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Blade: Trinity were terrible movies.
Pedram
Not sure why there are so many complaints about this. There have been numerous animated films where Batman & Superman team up as well as face off, and Batman won both times when they were against each other (well, technically the second time was just using Batman’s plan and not himself), so it totally can be done.
In any case, I’m more concerned about Snyder’s directing style and hope that it’s not too dark/gloomy. Nolan’s first two Batmans were dark, but still great (don’t even get me started about the third) so dark doesn’t mean bad, but I’ll have to wait and see how this one turns out with Snyder at the helm. He does great action, but story and overall film tone usually aren’t to my liking in his films.