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James Gunn's DCU 'Chapter 1' Slate Revealed
- Thread starter ManaByte
- Start date
DeafTourette
Perpetually Offended
The numbers don't bear that out. YOU'RE tired of them... Folks like me aren't! I'm a big kid and unapologetic about that! LoL! Bring on ALL the superhero movie universes!
AJUMP23
Parody of actual AJUMP23
I know. The world is ready for more. I am ok with them I still watch them. I am going to watch Wakanda 2 today when I get home. But I am not looking forward to them anymore. They are a good thing and I am glad we get them. But there are some real stinkers out there too.
DeafTourette
Perpetually Offended
DC is at a point where they HAVE TO go all out... They're planning first so that people will know they're connected... Swamp Thing is supposed to cap Chapter 1 off with the audience finally knowing what the broader mystery is. Feige had a plan (at least up to The Avengers) before we all saw it coalesce into the infinity saga.
Punished Miku
Human Rights Subscription Service
I just want Joker 2 the musical (not kidding).
DeafTourette
Perpetually Offended
Not everything is gonna be Endgame... Love and Thunder was awful except for Jane's story.
AJUMP23
Parody of actual AJUMP23
Well Endgame took 10 years to build to, but even in that there was a lot of filler. But I love superman and if they can capture the magic of superman that would be great. I like that Marvel has become more lighthearted. DC could use some of that, but they seem to think everything needs to be dire. Superman should be lighthearted fun. Aquaman should be self deprecating. The Lanterns should have some serious humor. Batman doesn't need to because he is a super serious dude.
Ulysses 31
Gold Member
DeafTourette
Perpetually Offended
The Superman in the comics has some EXTREMELY serious story lines .. people dying, city leveling fights, etc. Yes, he should have JOY in his movie but there's plenty of drama in his stories.
Batman has a good deal of levity in his books... Not Thor 4 but more like The Batman movie ... "Thumb-Drive" anyone?
Agree on every other point.
AJUMP23
Parody of actual AJUMP23
What I would really like them to do in DC is discover color again. Everything tends to lean toward drab browns or blues or blacks. Even the tint of the movies on the screen is drab. I think that would be an improvement, if we could have a world of color and not so monochromatic. That may just be a Snyder thing. I really like the original Superman because it is slow burn that builds and it is a vibrant world. They will not tell a Supes origin again, because we do not need it. They Superman picture he used is from a great comic run, where Superman flies to the sun to fix the sun in the end. I think Gunn is great with color in the GotG movies. I really hope they liven up the worlds.
Xenon
Member
My overall thoughts of this after thinking about it, And I never ever use these terms ever, DC went from alpha male energy to beta male energy. I really think more and more the handing DC entirely over to Gunn was a mistake. Hes is great at what he does, I'm just not sure hes gonna be able to diversify the entire lineup the way it should be. He's gonna make entertaining movies but I don't think hes gonna live up to the icon status of DC's big heroes.
ManaByte
Banned
1. He's only making one of them.
2. He announced TWO movies based on Grant Morrison's runs on Superman and Batman, and a concrete Green Lantern with both Hal and John.
That right there is better than the last 10 years. And hell, James Mangold has an offer on the table to direct Swamp Thing. You'll have to be doing some extreme mental gymnastics to not be excited for that.
SirTerry-T
Member
Give me that Animal Man show Mr Gunn.
I need to fill that Manimal shaped hole in my heart.
I need to fill that Manimal shaped hole in my heart.
Salty Popsicle
Banned
I just hope DC is willing to go the whole nine yards when it comes to gritty and adult oriented content. Superheroe movies and shows are no longer a medium that should pander only to children and young teens, sometimes we need stories that don't resolve with a happy ending, or a wise crack joke being delivered every few minutes. If the movies have to continue being PG-13 to appeal to a wider audience, I hope at least some of the shows like Green Lantern push the envelope with mature themes, especially if it's influenced by True Detective.
Hawking Radiation
Member
Who knows DC might have something good cooking.
We won't know until we get a sample of it.
Pilgrimzero
Member
So, I started reading Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and this is just True Grit.
Like, blatantly. Like someone needs to sue. I’m sure it falls under homage rules or whatever but dang.
James Gunn must have noticed this. You can’t just remake True Grit with Supergirl as Rooster Cogburn and hope no one notices.
Like, blatantly. Like someone needs to sue. I’m sure it falls under homage rules or whatever but dang.
James Gunn must have noticed this. You can’t just remake True Grit with Supergirl as Rooster Cogburn and hope no one notices.
saintjules
Gold Member
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ManaByte
Banned
Well when game directors use their games as their own casting couch to bang their voice actresses, of course they’d be against someone changing that.
Punished Miku
Human Rights Subscription Service
In 10 years when this comes out, the overlapping circles of people that 1. are watching Supergirl, and 2. have heard of true grit will be virtually zero.
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Xenon
Member
I know he was doing Brave in the Bold but Superman but it sounds like hes writing himself. I haven't really read comics for either of those runs so I have no opinion on him choosing these stories. But you can tell when he discusses things hes more interested in the more broken/side characters of the universe. I just have this bad feeling that Batman and Superman are not gonna be the focus of their own movies.
I must be the only person who doesn't care at all about Swamp Thing or Green Lantern.
I'm also not thrilled about him calling the Upcoming WW show Game of Throne like because Paradise Island is small island not a huge world.
I like the fact that hes actually making supergirl more like the comics. But a big part of her character is in contrast to Superman.
It's great that you're excited for this I just can't seem to muster up any myself. Outside of Guardians of the Galaxy he has just been OK. Love to be proven wrong though.
Toons
Member
This slate is awesome. Anyone saying otherwise doesn't care about these characters that much.
Me and another guy on another site were talking and there actually seems to be a consistent theme of hero vs anti hero with this slate.
I think this phase is going to discuss the morality of superheroes and how much power they wield with thematic comparisons to guys like superman and guys like the authority, who muddy the line of authoritarian power structure vs a public servant like superman.
It ought to be interesting.
I definitely need to read woman if tomorrow as well.
Me and another guy on another site were talking and there actually seems to be a consistent theme of hero vs anti hero with this slate.
I think this phase is going to discuss the morality of superheroes and how much power they wield with thematic comparisons to guys like superman and guys like the authority, who muddy the line of authoritarian power structure vs a public servant like superman.
It ought to be interesting.
I definitely need to read woman if tomorrow as well.
Toons
Member
Thats a stretch I think.
The last of us was using an age old premise of a hardened warrior bonding with an innocent young person, thats been a thing for a very long time. Lone wolf and cub type of story. You can also see it in Mandalorian(also starting pedro in the same role) bad batch, true grit, and a million other things.
God of War re shifted the scope of its ip to adapt that sort of thing because that premise has a long standing appeal in general. Logan has also had several storyline with that as its base line in the comics decades before last of us even came out. He bonded with characters like kitty pryde and jubilee and other each things. Heck even the very first x men film has elements of this
FunkMiller
Gold Member
Eh. They made Jackman look a hell of a lot like Joel in that film. I get what you're saying about it being an archetype, started with things like Lone Wolf & Cub, but The Last Of Us is the thing that made billions of dollars using that premise. And money is all Hollywood really cares about. I have absolutely no doubt that someone has looked at the 35 million copies the God Of War games have sold, and thought how they could recreate that Kratos/Atreus dynamic with Bruce and Damian. It's an extremely easy combination to copy for those characters.
Doom85
Gold Member
Or James Gunn‘s favorite Robin is Damien, and he’s basing it off a very well regarded run by Grant Morrison.
Hell, you’re assuming James Gunn has even played GOW.
I just find it hilarious that something that has been around for DECADES AND DECADES AKA Batman and Robin is being attributed to a 5 year old video game.
Not to mention their stories aren’t even remotely similar. Unless I missed the part in God of War where Faye date raped Kratos, kept the existence of his son a secret from him for over a decade, let him spend time with Kratos to build up his skills. and then Atreus was killed by a clone of himself.
As for Logan, again it was based off a specific comic run. Same with The Wolverine by the same director.
And Old Man Logan predates TLOU. Jackman’s look was based off the comic.
FunkMiller
Gold Member
Or James Gunn‘s favorite Robin is Damien, and he’s basing it off a very well regarded run by Grant Morrison.
Hell, you’re assuming James Gunn has even played GOW.
I just find it hilarious that something that has been around for DECADES AND DECADES AKA Batman and Robin is being attributed to a 5 year old video game.
Not to mention their stories aren’t even remotely similar. Unless I missed the part in God of War where Faye date raped Kratos, kept the existence of his son a secret from him for over a decade, let him spend time with Kratos to build up his skills. and then Atreus was killed by a clone of himself.
As for Logan, again it was based off a specific comic run. Same with The Wolverine by the same director.
And Old Man Logan predates TLOU. Jackman’s look was based off the comic.
Hollywood very rarely gives a shit what's happening in comics, because comics don't sell. They do give a shit about what's happening in video games, because they make an awful lot of money. Yes, things like Old Man Logan existed prior to The Last Of Us, but I'n pretty sure it wasn't the reason Logan got made the way it did.
And I never said Batman & Robin was in any way based on God Of War. What I said is that there's a very good chance the incredibly successful video game about the relationship between a stoic father and his son might just have had an influence on the decision to make a Batman & Damian movie now. It's certainly not something anyone has wanted to do previously, despite the fact that Damian's been around for years.
Like it or not, video games have far more of an impact on popular culture than specific comic book stories. And Hollywood loves to copy something that's already a massive success.
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FunkMiller
Gold Member
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
Lanterns (TV)
Swamp Thing (Movie)
The Brave and the Bold (Movie)
Superman Legacy (Movie)
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (Movie)
The Authority (Movie)
Paradise Lost (TV)
Booster Gold (TV)
Creature Commandos (TV)
Waller (TV)
In order of what I'm anticipating the most
Swamp Thing (Movie)
The Brave and the Bold (Movie)
Superman Legacy (Movie)
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (Movie)
The Authority (Movie)
Paradise Lost (TV)
Booster Gold (TV)
Creature Commandos (TV)
Waller (TV)
In order of what I'm anticipating the most
Doom85
Gold Member
This doesn’t mash with reality, because plenty of directors and writers have based superhero films off specific comic runs. The Nolan Batman trilogy used Year One, Long Halloween, No Man’s Land, etc. Winter Soldier was based off the Ed Brubaker run. We already stated what The Wolverine and Logan were based off of. Days of Future Past and Civil War speak for themselves. The 1st Shazam was based off the New 52 origin book.
Hell, if there was an alternate reason for Logan being made the way it was, then it would be for Laura to become the new Wolverine eventually since Jackman was retiring from the role. Obviously that wouldn’t pan out with Dinsey buying FOX, but nevertheless that’s why the story was the way it was, not some unrelated video game.
Damien being around for years (sixteen to be precise) in the comics means shit. It was too late to fit him into The Dark Knight (script was already being worked on, and the character was just being established in the comics in 2006) and Dark Knight Rises (since Bruce never met Talia in Begins), he wouldn’t have fit with Batman v Superman given how cynical and alone Bruce is in the film, and The Batman has Bruce at the earliest days of his crime fighting. There’s no anti-Damien vendetta here, he’s a character with a specific history and relationships and isn’t going to work in every Batman film made. Brave and the Bold is just where it will finally work, and Dad of War has got shit to do with it.
Also, stay consistent, please. Now you’re saying there’s “very good chance” that God of War caused this, but just in your prior post you had “absolutely no doubt” that it caused this. Which is it?
Hell, I find it funny you’re so confident Hollywood gives more of a shit about games than comics. Ah yes, that totally explains why it’s only in the last four years that it feels they’re actually trying to make consistently good live action adaptations, whereas Hollywood started finally giving a shit about doing comics right since the first Blade/X-men/Spidey (yes, there were a few good ones prior, but most of the 90’s superhero films were shit).
BadBurger
Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
Every day that passes is another day closer to when those Snyderverse guys finally give up and go away.
FunkMiller
Gold Member
Doom85
Gold Member
For me:
-Superman Legacy
-Brave and the Bold
-Lanterns
-Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
-Booster Gold
-Swamp Thing (will go up if the James Mangold rumor is true)
-Waller
-Creature Commandos
-Paradise Lost
-The Authority
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
My only worry is that Lanterns is a show. I hope it gets a big budget on par with shows like The House of Dragon and The Rings of Power. But since Zaslav is head of the WB, I'm worried he might not give the budget to the movies and shows that have less well known characters
Not to mention if any of those does badly, he will just outright cancel the other shows/movies. As disappointing as Phase 4 has been for me, I like the fact they are taking their time on it like they did with Phase 1 - 3. I just want Marvel Studios to have some competition since competition is good.
James Gunn vision so far looks interesting, I'm hoping he pulls it off
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Doom85
Gold Member
Maybe, but despite being well known, Aquaman was a “joke” in the eyes of normies in the 2000’s and earlier.
Then Jason Momoa walked in, said, “let me show you all how foolish you’ve been!” and starred in an Aquaman film that made over 1.1 billion dollars.
Shazam also made a fairly good profit for being lesser known.
So I’m hoping Gunn can use that to convince them to give good budgets to everyone. This is the man who made everyone knows who the Guardians of the Galaxy were as pretty much zero non-comic readers didn’t know about them pre-2014.
BadBurger
Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
I am only looking forward to a new Superman and seeing the Grant Morrison inspired Batman. I am so fatigued with all of the different, typically poor takes on other DC properties across their (mostly) terrible TV shows and mediocre animated movies that I just don't care. I of course hope things like Lanterns and Swamp Thing are good (and I hope a new, proper bastard of a John Constantine shows up in S.T.), but I just find it impossible to get excited for them without seeing things like casting and directors.
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
DC has the advantage of having all their Superhero, Supervillian, Comics rights under one roof. They have some amazing stuff they can tell with the stories. It just interesting it took this long. Also I like the fact that movies not connected to the DCU is called ElseWorlds. Means they can eventually make a Zack Snyder Justice League 2. I'm not sure how I feel about videogames being connected to the DCU. Another advantage though is that they aren't being stiff like Kevin Fiege is being and just making alternate universe movies that don't have to necessarily connect to the DCU. I think Fiege should let Marvel Universe have movies set in alternative timelines. Also Rated R movies and shows are things that Marvel fans want too.
Marvel had most of their characters back except for Spider-Man, but that depends on what Rothman does in the future. It's going to be interesting to see when Marvel gets to finally introduce the X-Men. I think Phase 4 put a massive damper on THE MCU. I seen and heard alot of negatively even from fans of the MCU. There seems to be fans who are kind of just dropping it.
As for James Gunn. I'm personally not a fan of most of his movies. I hated the first Guardians. The only movie I liked from him was Guardians 2. I'm not sure how I feel with him directing the Superman movie. I don't mind him writing the screenplay for the film though. I'll keep an open mind
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ManaByte
Banned
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
What I'm wondering about is who the Big Bad will be for the DCU. DC has a massive ton of great God like villains that can go toe to toe with whatever Marvel has. Other than Darkseid, I wonder who else they can use.
As for Marvel, I'm just massively disappointed that Doom still hasn't showed up and that The Beyonder isn't even going to be in Secret Wars
As for Marvel, I'm just massively disappointed that Doom still hasn't showed up and that The Beyonder isn't even going to be in Secret Wars
BadBurger
Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
I don't think they've ever captured in any of their animated movies how terrifying Braniac could truly be. Other villains around his level are Parallax - which has already been done - and Nekron.
Thinking cosmic, there's the Anti-Monitor and Time Trapper.
Others that could challenge the heroes collectively could be Prometheus or the Crime Syndicate. They could even really dive into the comics and do the whole Infinite Crisis, Superboy Prime and Alexander Luthor Jr. stuff, or even bring The Batman Who Laughs in from another version of earth.
In fact I wonder if we'll be seeing hints of the looming Big Bad in some kind of after credits scene for the Flash film.
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Doom85
Gold Member
Trigon
Superboy Prime (just remove the whining he did)
Anti Monitor
Nekron
Perpetua
Krona
Imperiux
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NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
I admit I'm not really knowledgeable on DC Comics. I read a few of their comics but not alot. I'm planning this year to read the Green Lantern Blackest Night run and more DC in general. I read more Marvel than anything. I have DC Comics app, I might do the full subscription to get everything. As for Brainiac, I got introduced to him when watching the show Krypton. Which is one of my favorite DC Shows. I'm so disappointed that they canceled it. Also Lobo was such a great character in that show
Trigon
Superboy Prime (just remove the whining he did)
Anti Monitor
Nekron
Perpetua
Krona
Imperiux
All interesting choices but I admit I don't know who the last 4 you mentioned are
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
Again double post
My mistake sorry
My mistake sorry
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DeafTourette
Perpetually Offended
I think this chapter is leading to a Kingdom Come adaptation
Doom85
Gold Member
Nekron is the villain of the Blackest Night story in the Green Lantern comics. The embodiment of death and a powerful necromancer and essentially an avatar of darkness since time began, he actually worked with Krona and was able to destroy the Central Battery that charges the GL rings. He creates Black Lantern Rings that can enslave powerful heroes to do his bidding. He nearly wiped out all life by killing the Entity which all life came from but Sinestro bonded with the Entity and became a White Lantern temporarily.
Perpetua is a rouge member of the entities that gave life to the multiverse. She can alter reality on a universal scale, can throw an entire planet between realities at high speed, and can disintegrate matter to such an extent she wiped out most of the New Gods by herself.
Imperiux is so powerful he has the power of the Big Bang itself and can make black holes large enough to swallow whole universes.
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
Toons
Member
My mind was going the same way.
I was thinking that they need a big event film to make this really seal the deal like the first avengers did. To make everyone not only come together but to go back and watch the building blocks that built to it.
Im thinking they may do kingdom come but with authority type characters in place of the OCs from that book. Basically superman vs the elite but its kingdom come.
DeafTourette
Perpetually Offended
Exactly!
SafeOrAlone
Banned
Out of this whole slate, I think The Authority adaption is the one I am most looking forward to or at least curious to hear more about. I feel lucky to have the first issue in nm condition. Very cool series. Sort of a mix between “The Boys” and “Justice League”.
It’s a hugely influential comic. The book was known for birthing the trend of “widescreen comics”, which is basically a comic book visual style that’s highly cinematic, slick and epic in scope. The Authority’s success directly led to Marvel doing “The Ultimates” comic (same artist - Bryan Hitch, same tone), which was a huge influence on the MCU.
It all comes full-circle.
Second to that is Superman. I’m a huge fan of Man of Steel but I’m excited to see a different angle on it. Especially with Morrison’s influence. Compared to Man of Steel, it could sort of be the “yin” to that “yang”. I like moody Superman and poppy Superman. I’ll take both. I’ve been dying to see another great Superman film for a while.
Third is definitely Swamp Thing, which would probably be higher a few years ago, but some of the itch was scratched when the HBO show directly adapted the Moore comics. It wasn’t perfect by any means but it scratched an itch, if that makes sense. I probably just need to see a trailer later on and my excitement will shoot right back up.
And then there is Brave and the Bold, which rounds out the last of my list.
I’m definitely not sick of Batman, and the fact that they are adapting Morrison’s work, in a sense, is more than I could have reasonably asked for, but we’re getting it. The only caveat is I’m spoiled with Batman stuff and variety is the spice of life.
As for the rest of the list, I can’t be bothered to even remember what it is at the moment. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it, I just don’t care about the other projects as of now. The Batman part 2 and Joker part 2 are also about as high as possible but I’m just talking about the Gunn stuff right now.
All that said, this list will probably change drastically once the creative teams come together. At the end of the day, the artists themselves are going to play a bigger role in my enjoyment than what characters they are working with. Execution is 99% of the job.
It’s a hugely influential comic. The book was known for birthing the trend of “widescreen comics”, which is basically a comic book visual style that’s highly cinematic, slick and epic in scope. The Authority’s success directly led to Marvel doing “The Ultimates” comic (same artist - Bryan Hitch, same tone), which was a huge influence on the MCU.
It all comes full-circle.
Second to that is Superman. I’m a huge fan of Man of Steel but I’m excited to see a different angle on it. Especially with Morrison’s influence. Compared to Man of Steel, it could sort of be the “yin” to that “yang”. I like moody Superman and poppy Superman. I’ll take both. I’ve been dying to see another great Superman film for a while.
Third is definitely Swamp Thing, which would probably be higher a few years ago, but some of the itch was scratched when the HBO show directly adapted the Moore comics. It wasn’t perfect by any means but it scratched an itch, if that makes sense. I probably just need to see a trailer later on and my excitement will shoot right back up.
And then there is Brave and the Bold, which rounds out the last of my list.
I’m definitely not sick of Batman, and the fact that they are adapting Morrison’s work, in a sense, is more than I could have reasonably asked for, but we’re getting it. The only caveat is I’m spoiled with Batman stuff and variety is the spice of life.
As for the rest of the list, I can’t be bothered to even remember what it is at the moment. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it, I just don’t care about the other projects as of now. The Batman part 2 and Joker part 2 are also about as high as possible but I’m just talking about the Gunn stuff right now.
All that said, this list will probably change drastically once the creative teams come together. At the end of the day, the artists themselves are going to play a bigger role in my enjoyment than what characters they are working with. Execution is 99% of the job.