Re: DC Nation - Ben Affleck not directing Batman film
Eh, I'm not totally sold on it yet (Aquaman looks like he's having a good time, though). DC has yet to make a great movie in this universe, and establishing all of these characters now seems like a bit of a rush-job. Marvel already had separate Hulk, Thor, and Captain America movies out, as well as a mini Iron Man universe already established, so they really only had Black Widow to introduce and Hawkeye to flesh out by the time Avengers came out.
I hate to make the "oh, Marvel is doing better than DC" argument, but it's kind of true. If you look at how critically successful each franchise is, along with how both companies have approached their cinematic universes to date, you'll notice discrepancies. I appreciate DC for going a different route with their superhero movies and somewhat trying to make them unique, but it just doesn't work right. Marvel has made sure with each new major installment, with few exceptions, to properly introduce each character for the big movie, with varying success. A big exception is Guardians of the Galaxy, which isn't meant to set up anything except Infinity War.
Now, don't get me wrong; DC's movies are great in theory. A death of Superman movie is the dream of many a superhero fan, even me. A suicide squad movie is an interesting way to try to do the Guardians of the Galaxy formula. A grittier, more realistic superman with moral qualms and ambiguities is something I don't think any comic book fan would try and say is a bad idea after being used to the boy scout never-do-wrong Superman we've seen thousands of times. Justice League might be good; who doesn't want a Justice League movie at some point?! The problem is that a lot of these movies don't properly set things up, don't have great or even good writing, and aren't preceded by anything leading up to it. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was a good way to introduce Wonder Woman, but was introduced at exactly the wrong time. Batman v Superman is not a precedent, it's not a movie that's led with; that's a movie made when we already have Superman set as a character, see him pushed to a limit that we've never seen him pushed to, and has already had many films to have his adventures established. Imagine if they made Civil War right after the original Iron Man, and Captain America was thawed out of ice and just fought him because he didn't like his technology or something (and then they both had mothers with the same name). Wouldn't that be odd?
And the weird part is that DC seems to be less profitable because of this. People are still regarding Man of Steel as their best DC cinematic universe film so far, and if THAT version of Superman is the highlight of your films, then ya done shat your pants.
DC seems to be going more and more into the Guardians of the Galaxy direction, packing movies with tons of characters who weren't established previously in order to attract comic book fans. Guardians was lightning in a bottle, however; there's no reason that story should have worked without the writing and acting it had. Suicide Squad suffered because it had terrible actors and tried to front load characters by giving them quirky personalities or occasionally putting a good song in the background. Tell me; out of Killer croc, captain boomerang, harley quinn, katana, deadshot, el diablo, enchantress & her brother, joker, and slipknot, why didn't some of these characters stand out to fans, and why did some? It's because of the acting. Will Smith, as much as he isn't a bad guy, is likable as hell, so he pulls off Deadshot since people want him to succeed and see his daughter again. Harley Quinn works since people think she's hot Margot Robbie is a charismatic actor. And that's what DC is really missing; charisma.
If Jason Momoa and whoever is playing Barry Allen actually pull it off, we might actually get that sense of fun DC's been faking since Batman v Superman. And, hey, Justice league does have Superman and Wonder Woman movies prefacing it, so maybe they're actually learning a thing or two.
Eh, I'm not totally sold on it yet (Aquaman looks like he's having a good time, though). DC has yet to make a great movie in this universe, and establishing all of these characters now seems like a bit of a rush-job. Marvel already had separate Hulk, Thor, and Captain America movies out, as well as a mini Iron Man universe already established, so they really only had Black Widow to introduce and Hawkeye to flesh out by the time Avengers came out.
I hate to make the "oh, Marvel is doing better than DC" argument, but it's kind of true. If you look at how critically successful each franchise is, along with how both companies have approached their cinematic universes to date, you'll notice discrepancies. I appreciate DC for going a different route with their superhero movies and somewhat trying to make them unique, but it just doesn't work right. Marvel has made sure with each new major installment, with few exceptions, to properly introduce each character for the big movie, with varying success. A big exception is Guardians of the Galaxy, which isn't meant to set up anything except Infinity War.
Now, don't get me wrong; DC's movies are great in theory. A death of Superman movie is the dream of many a superhero fan, even me. A suicide squad movie is an interesting way to try to do the Guardians of the Galaxy formula. A grittier, more realistic superman with moral qualms and ambiguities is something I don't think any comic book fan would try and say is a bad idea after being used to the boy scout never-do-wrong Superman we've seen thousands of times. Justice League might be good; who doesn't want a Justice League movie at some point?! The problem is that a lot of these movies don't properly set things up, don't have great or even good writing, and aren't preceded by anything leading up to it. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was a good way to introduce Wonder Woman, but was introduced at exactly the wrong time. Batman v Superman is not a precedent, it's not a movie that's led with; that's a movie made when we already have Superman set as a character, see him pushed to a limit that we've never seen him pushed to, and has already had many films to have his adventures established. Imagine if they made Civil War right after the original Iron Man, and Captain America was thawed out of ice and just fought him because he didn't like his technology or something (and then they both had mothers with the same name). Wouldn't that be odd?
And the weird part is that DC seems to be less profitable because of this. People are still regarding Man of Steel as their best DC cinematic universe film so far, and if THAT version of Superman is the highlight of your films, then ya done shat your pants.
DC seems to be going more and more into the Guardians of the Galaxy direction, packing movies with tons of characters who weren't established previously in order to attract comic book fans. Guardians was lightning in a bottle, however; there's no reason that story should have worked without the writing and acting it had. Suicide Squad suffered because it had terrible actors and tried to front load characters by giving them quirky personalities or occasionally putting a good song in the background. Tell me; out of Killer croc, captain boomerang, harley quinn, katana, deadshot, el diablo, enchantress & her brother, joker, and slipknot, why didn't some of these characters stand out to fans, and why did some? It's because of the acting. Will Smith, as much as he isn't a bad guy, is likable as hell, so he pulls off Deadshot since people want him to succeed and see his daughter again. Harley Quinn works since people think she's hot Margot Robbie is a charismatic actor. And that's what DC is really missing; charisma.
If Jason Momoa and whoever is playing Barry Allen actually pull it off, we might actually get that sense of fun DC's been faking since Batman v Superman. And, hey, Justice league does have Superman and Wonder Woman movies prefacing it, so maybe they're actually learning a thing or two.
