DCEU News Reel

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! Where I talk about all sorts of things in the world of Geekdom!

Two Words: DCEU News-reel! The past two weeks have given us no shortage of DC news (and still no new Justice League trailer! Hey Zack, IT’S FEBRUARY DUDE! YOU SAID WE’D GET ONE BEFORE THE END OF DECEMBER!!!). In the past two weeks we have had updates on pretty much every film project you can imagine for the DCEU: SHAZAM gets split into two movies (with a first part dedicated solely to exploring Black Adam’s origin), Aquaman has casted Black Manta and is filming in Australia soon, Green Lantern Corps movie confirmed and will star both Hal Jordan AND John Stewart, and lastly Ben Affleck drops his name from the director spot on The Batman. So I am going to just go through and talk about each thing and give my two cents on it.

SHAZAM, just say the words… I cannot properly emote how excited I am to see a SHAZAM movie. Captain Marvel or SHAZAM cemented himself as one of my favorite DC character back in his appearance in the animated series: Justice League Unlimited in the episode where he fights Superman and gives an AMAZING speech that makes the entire Justice League feel like shitty people. I have always loved the idea of a 10 year old kid getting the powers of Superman and I feel that he might be one of the most unjustly treated characters in DC comics (he is barely utilized and in the New 52 he’s kind of written like crap). Add to this the fact that they have the Rock casted as Black Adam, I honestly could not be more excited. That being said there are obviously some worries I have, namely that the screen writer they have announced wrote the screen play for E is for Echo which was god awful, but I mean the Russo Brothers had You, Me, and Dupree on their resume and look at what they have done for Captain America.

Aquaman, oh boy let’s talk Aquaman. Aquaman is quite possibly one of the most ridiculed characters in comic books. I honestly don’t think there is a more powerful character that has somehow managed to become the bud of everyone’s jokes (hint it’s the bright orange and green costume). However, Jason Momoa is looking to swiftly change the opinions of the masses by his barbarian looking, badass Aqua man (which truthfully reminds me a lot of the animated Aquaman from Justice League).  With an outstanding ensemble already together (Jason Momoa, Amber Heard as Mera, Willem Dafoe as Vulko, and Patrick Wilson as Orm/ Ocean Master) the James Wan vision for Aquaman was already looking to be one of the most promising projects of the DCEU. However, the gift just keeps on giving as they have announced that Get Down Actor, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II , has been offered the part of Black Manta. Now I have a bit of a mixed opinion on this, not because I dislike the actor or Black Manta. It’s mainly because doing two villains in a movie is difficult but doing the two MAIN villains of Aquaman for his first solo outing I feel is WAY too risky. Now granted, if they go the New 52 route (which I really hope they do) Orm could probably hold off on being the villain till the next film as Orm actually wasn’t evil in the New 52, and was merely a villain of circumstance by being goaded into a war with the surface. New 52 Orm genuinely cares about Arthur and had only taken the crown of Atlantis because Arthur abdicated it to him, so, I would be down with having Orm be an ally of Aquaman in the first movie that sees the worst of the surface world through Black Manta and that puts him at odds with his brother in the next outing. I think my biggest apprehension toward having both of these villains in the same movie as primary antagonists is due to the animated feature Throne of Atlantis where they utterly ruin both characters with poor writing and not enough time to develop both. However, I am not too worried about it, James Wan is an incredible director and I am sure he has a killer creative team and that the Aquaman movie is going to kick ass.

Aquaman Cast doing their Table Read

Green Lantern is back for redemption! After the utter failure of the Green Lantern film starring Ryan Reynolds, fans everywhere were wondering when exactly we would see the Lanterns join the DCEU. Well the time is now apparently as DC has already begun looking for its new Hal Jordan and for John Stewart. Now out of the news that was released this is the one I have the least input on. I honestly think that the Green Lantern Corps is great, but I would have much rather had the new Justice League trailer than Green Lantern Corps news, especially since their film isn’t slated to be released for another 3 years. However, the Green Lantern Corps being confirmed is still big news and I am excited to see John Stewart coming into play as he is the first Green Lantern I got to experience the Justice League cartoon growing up.

Last, but certainly not least, there is a huge and controversial update on the DCEU solo Batman film. Ben Affleck’s performance was easily the BEST part of Batman vs Superman. I don’t think there are many that will argue it, I know there are some, but the general consensus is that Ben Affleck utterly owned that role and was amazing. Since it was announced that Ben Affleck would write, direct, produce, and star in his solo Bat venture, the hype has been real. Ben Affleck’s success as a film maker is nothing to shrug at as films like The Town and Argo received critical acclaim and were nominated for several Academy Awards. The pressure behind that has been insane though as rumors flew across the internet on almost a daily basis due to the mixed reception of BvS and Suicide Squad as people started to fling rumors about the project being in danger. However, it seemed for a while that Ben Affleck had quelled a lot of those rumors during interviews for latest production Live by Night. However, Live by Night not only tanked at the box office, but it fell really short on the critical reviews, so when Affleck announced he was stepping back from the director’s chair there was a lot of rumors that WB forced him to do so due to the film’s lack of success. I want to put a lot of this to rest. Ben Affleck spent TWO YEARS building Live by Night: he wrote the screenplay, directed it, starred in it, and produced it. He put his blood sweat and tears into that movie, but when it was released and he was being interviewed about it all anyone could do was ask him Batman questions.

I am sure he may actually feel as sad as he looks in the picture right now...

It is bad enough that the movie did not get the acclaim Affleck had hoped for, but what was even worse was the fact that no one seemed to care about his film in the first place. That was 2 years of his life that he will never get back and all people care about is Batman. The amount of pressure that comes from that, and the IMMENSE blow to his confidence as a film maker for that, is incomprehensible I bet. Ben Affleck has stated time and time again that he won’t make a Batman movie that isn’t going to be good, and I see this as him ensuring that he can give his best to this project. He will still be a producer and he still cowrote the script with Geoff Johns (with some additional rewrites from his friend and Argo screen play writer,), which means that he will still collaborate on the direction of the film, but he is focusing mainly on ensuring that his Batman gets the attention it deserves from the acting perspective. He is ensuring that his performance lives up to the promises he made and honestly I applaud him for this decision. I am sad that he won’t be directing it, but that is mainly generated from the fact that I feel that it is due to a loss of confidence and feeling the unbearable pressure, and as a fan who is probably just as guilty as those reporters for not caring about anything other than Batman, I can’t help but feel a measure of guilt for weighing him down with that pressure. However, the shortlist for directors for the Batman solo film is nothing short of incredible. The two big names on this list are George Miller (Mad Max Fury Road) and Matt Reeves (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) both of whom are OUTSTANDING film makers and their experience would do nothing but be beneficial to the solo Batman project. It is okay to look for a helping hand every once and a while, and it is clear that this was a burden that Affleck felt that he could no longer undergo alone and I respect his decision and it shows good judgement to realize that you need help. A lot of people in that community would allow their ego to get in the way, but it shows Affleck’s determination to make this the best movie he possibly can, so good for him. Don’t despair, I am still sure that Batman’s solo outing in the DCEU is going to be incredible.

Well that pretty much wraps up all I have on DCEU news! I think I have done a pretty good job of catching people up and making up for my two week absence! Hopefully it won’t happen again, but life sometimes gets in the way of things, so if it does, I hope you don’t hold it against me!

See you next time on Comic Relief!