All-purpose, running Geek thread (formerly Battlestar Galactica thread)

[outofplace]

DC is actually on a pretty similar timeline with its rollout as Marvel was. Marvel released Iron Man in 2008 and Avengers in 2012. During that span, they introduced Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America as headliners in solo films.

DC introduced the newest version of Superman in 2013, and is aiming for a Justice League movie in late 2017. In the meantime, it will introduce Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman as headliners and, of course, the ensemble of Suicide Squad, before Justice League arrives. Flash arrives shortly after Justice League.

They followed the just about the same game plan.

I was considering BvS as more of an equivalent to Avengers, with Justice League more like Avengers: Infinity War.

Marvel released solo movies for Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America and Thor before ever bringing even two major heroes together in any significant way. DC put its trinity in the second movie in the rebooted movie universe.

 

[Buck]

Although I haven't BvS, I agree with OOP. DC seems to have put the cart before the horse.

This isn't the same Batman concept, right? So really they relaunched Superman and immediately moved to combine him with a reconfigured Batman and a new WW.
Other than being part of the DC family, is Suicide Squad going to be part of the JLA?

This seems like a different game plan than Marvel had, which is fine. There is no reason Marvel's way is the only way.

 

[outofplace]

Although I haven't BvS, I agree with OOP. DC seems to have put the cart before the horse.

This isn't the same Batman concept, right? So really they relaunched Superman and immediately moved to combine him with a reconfigured Batman and a new WW.
Other than being part of the DC family, is Suicide Squad going to be part of the JLA?

This seems like a different game plan than Marvel had, which is fine. There is no reason Marvel's way is the only way.

I believe Affleck's Batman appears in Suicide Squad.

 

[bigpern23]

I was considering BvS as more of an equivalent to Avengers, with Justice League more like Avengers: Infinity War.

Marvel released solo movies for Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America and Thor before ever bringing even two major heroes together in any significant way. DC put its trinity in the second movie in the rebooted movie universe.

Fair enough, I can buy BvS as equivalent to Avengers.

 

[CD Boogie]

Cringe-worthy? It has been done many times in the comics, including one of the most beloved Batman stories ever written, the Dark Knight Returns.

To answer your question about how many people have played Superman in the last decade, if you mean live action movies, that would be two. And it is just barely two because Routh's version came out in June of 2006. Now if you want to get into television and animation, the number goes way up, but I don't think Smallville or the Timmverse have much of an impact here.

It sounds like the real issue wasn't the rebooting of Batman. It was the rush to put out an Avengers type movie rather than slowly building the DCU the way Marvel did with its movies.

Yes, cringe-worthy. It smacks of Alien vs. Predator. I'm speaking as a non-superfan of comics, so I don't have "June of 2006" at my fingertip. Batman before Bale took over had become something of a punchline, as in look at the series of forgettable portrayals by George Clooney and Val Kilmer. Bale gave a great, generation-setting rendition, now a mere four years later you try to supplant him in people's minds with...Ben Affleck. It's like making Rocky V with Frank Stallone.

 

[Buck]

It depends on the studio's intent.
If you are trying to make a mega franchise with youth audience with an ongoing stream of toys and movies add-ons - the Nolan Batman wasn't a good choice to begin with.
As well as the movies performed financially and as critically acclaimed as the first and second ones were, they did not set the foundation for a mega franchise battle against Marvel.
'Batman Begins' in 2005 and 'Iron Man' in 2008 - only one of those was the first piece in building a long-term, kid friendly marketing mega franchise.

 

[TyWebb]

Yes, cringe-worthy. It smacks of Alien vs. Predator. I'm speaking as a non-superfan of comics, so I don't have "June of 2006" at my fingertip. Batman before Bale took over had become something of a punchline, as in look at the series of forgettable portrayals by George Clooney and Val Kilmer. Bale gave a great, generation-setting rendition, now a mere four years later you try to supplant him in people's minds with...Ben Affleck. It's like making Rocky V with Frank Stallone.

We don't speak of Rocky V in my household. I bought the Rocky blu-ray collection and immediately threw that disc in the trash.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

The Nolan films were dreadfully serious and will probably not age well.
As hyper-realistic as you want to be, at the end of the day the franchise is about a dude who dresses up as a bat and takes on bullies dressed as clowns or worse.
There's only so much realism a comic book fan can have shoved down his throat by a postmodernist.

 

[JRoyal]

It sounds like the idea that it needs to clear $1B to be considered a winner is more about "beating" the MCU and Star Wars type franchises. The movie was budgeted at $260M and even if they put in $150M, the film basically broke even at the box office this weekend with an opening of $420M worldwide. Between box office and merchandising, there's no way the movie will lose money.

Not after you take out the associated costs and the theater share of ticket sales. Most industry observers say it needs to hit in the $800 million range just to break even, and around $950 to $1 billion to show a reasonable profit.

 

[outofplace]

Yes, cringe-worthy. It smacks of Alien vs. Predator. I'm speaking as a non-superfan of comics, so I don't have "June of 2006" at my fingertip. Batman before Bale took over had become something of a punchline, as in look at the series of forgettable portrayals by George Clooney and Val Kilmer. Bale gave a great, generation-setting rendition, now a mere four years later you try to supplant him in people's minds with...Ben Affleck. It's like making Rocky V with Frank Stallone.

Heroes battling one another go back a heck of a lot longer than Alien vs. Predator. It was the climax in The Dark Knight Returns, arguably the defining Batman story of the last few decades.

I can't judge Affleck's performance because I haven't seen it, but I think you are overrating Bale. I love Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, but his Batman voice alone was just painful to listen to.

 

[Starman]

Other than reviews which were obviously written by mind-made-up haters heck-bent to trash the whole movie, most reviews I've seen -- even ones generally negative about the film overall -- say Affleck was relatively decent in the BW/BM role.

Not award-winning and probably not as good as Bale in BB or TDK, but not bad. There may be other reasons why the movie overall went off the rails, but Affleck wasn't at the top of the list.

OTOH I have seen a number of pieces saying that if Cavill is brought back for future projects -- JLA or theoretical solo movies -- they are going to have to do what amounts to a "soft reboot" on Superman. Not another origin story, etc etc, but the look, sound and feel of Superman is going to have to be heavily revamped.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

Yes, the great "acting" performance turned in by Bale- whose Bat-Whisper was all but a movie-killer.