DCU: The Flash (2023)

Stout

Hold onto the ball, Murray!
Joined
Dec 30, 2002
Posts
38,242
Reaction score
21,056
Location
Pittsburgh, PA--Enemy territory!
IMO, they should have kept Henry, Ben, and Gal. They could have kept Jason, they should have kicked Ezra to jail and pulled in Grant Gustin. Further develop the big three characters in their own movies and then more Justice League, introduce more characters...THAT PEOPLE WANT TO SEE. Like Disney and Marvel, the formula for superhero success is not complicated but for some reason no one cares. Stop with the agendas, stop with the swapping, write good stories.
So double down on what wasn't working? That doesn't seem like a good plan.
 

WaywardFan

Waywardier than before
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2002
Posts
3,486
Reaction score
1,163
Location
Easton, PA
I get your point, but there's a bit more nuance than that I think.

Keeping actors really good in their roles isn't doubling down and what's not working, IMO. It's taking the best from what, to your point, largely failed.

Who wants the Authority? Do you think that's going to "work"? Before a Justice League movie?? (no Justice League movie has even been announced, btw)

Their first Batman movie they are going to have is The Brave and the Bold. It's a good story in the comics, but how about we actually have the origin story of Robin and their relationship?

When has a Swamp Thing movie ever worked?

Creature Commandos. 'Nuff said.

Oh, and let's not forget their Game of Thrones series set in Themyscira.

My plan sounds better than Gunn's. And now that consumers are actually discriminating with their dollars and not paying for crap, time will tell if choosing Gunn and his complete redo was the right move.
 

Stout

Hold onto the ball, Murray!
Joined
Dec 30, 2002
Posts
38,242
Reaction score
21,056
Location
Pittsburgh, PA--Enemy territory!
I get your point, but there's a bit more nuance than that I think.

Keeping actors really good in their roles isn't doubling down and what's not working, IMO. It's taking the best from what, to your point, largely failed.

Who wants the Authority? Do you think that's going to "work"? Before a Justice League movie?? (no Justice League movie has even been announced, btw)

Their first Batman movie they are going to have is The Brave and the Bold. It's a good story in the comics, but how about we actually have the origin story of Robin and their relationship?

When has a Swamp Thing movie ever worked?

Creature Commandos. 'Nuff said.

Oh, and let's not forget their Game of Thrones series set in Themyscira.

My plan sounds better than Gunn's. And now that consumers are actually discriminating with their dollars and not paying for crap, time will tell if choosing Gunn and his complete redo was the right move.
But the movies and universe didn't work. I don't think they should have fired all the actors, but simply continuing to make bad movies with them wasn't going to be a good idea either.
 

WaywardFan

Waywardier than before
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2002
Posts
3,486
Reaction score
1,163
Location
Easton, PA
I think we're largely in agreement.

Dude, I'm craving some Primanti's!
 
OP
OP
Covert Rain

Covert Rain

Father smelt of elderberries!
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2005
Posts
34,218
Reaction score
12,113
Location
Arizona

"Everything that could go wrong essentially did go wrong at the box office," Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Box Office Pro told Yahoo Finance Live on Tuesday. "A lot of industry buzz led into higher expectations, especially going into summer, but it ended up that reviews, word of mouth and just general consumer confusion about the DC franchises really worked against the film."
This sentence right here is the essence of the DCCU's problem from day one. Fanboys are simply not enough of an audience to make something a megahit. What Marvel did was draw in the casual and even non-hero/comic fans. Their organization of the properties were both organic and organized. DC has been the polar opposite with all these properties between TV and film being all over the map. Bottom line is you NEED the casual fan. Not that casting isn't important, it is, but at the end of the day, good written movies and coherent plan is the only thing that will save DC.

Hence James Gunn who is a good writer was poached. The problem is that being a good writer doesn't mean you can organize the entire "verse". That remains to be seen. Moving on from HC, GG for example wasn't a good start. The Flash introduced the multi-verse. You could easily used the same actors and start over without throwing the baby out with the bath water.
 
Last edited:

Stout

Hold onto the ball, Murray!
Joined
Dec 30, 2002
Posts
38,242
Reaction score
21,056
Location
Pittsburgh, PA--Enemy territory!
I think we're largely in agreement.

Dude, I'm craving some Primanti's!
I thought I was going to have Primanti's this weekend at a convention in Pittsburgh. We were across the river from downtown, or "dahntahn," and there were tens of thousands of swifties in tahn for two concerts, so we decided against.
 

Chris_Sanders

Super Moderator
Super Moderator
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2002
Posts
37,967
Reaction score
27,081
Location
Scottsdale, Az
I am rewatching Matt Reeves Batman and it's the best movie about Batman. The best movie in the franchise is The Dark Knight but that's because of the Joker not the Batman.
 

WaywardFan

Waywardier than before
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2002
Posts
3,486
Reaction score
1,163
Location
Easton, PA
Eh, Sparkly Vampire was fine for an Elseworlds Batman, but he doesn't fit an actual Bruce Wayne IMO.
 

WaywardFan

Waywardier than before
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2002
Posts
3,486
Reaction score
1,163
Location
Easton, PA
That is true. In that respect he was the most detective. Batman '89 is next. The rest aren't in the running.
 

Dr. Jones

Has No Time For Love
Joined
Nov 2, 2004
Posts
24,971
Reaction score
13,774
OOOOOF.

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media
 
OP
OP
Covert Rain

Covert Rain

Father smelt of elderberries!
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2005
Posts
34,218
Reaction score
12,113
Location
Arizona
If BB bombs Gunn is in serious trouble.
I think BB was in production before Gunn officially took over and they were just taking advantage of it as a soft launching point for the new verse. Gunn’s first real test will be the new Superman movie:

“I mean the first DCU character, for sure, is Blue Beetle, and the first FULL DCU movie is Superman,” - James Gunn

If so, I doubt BB be on him if it goes belly up.
 
Last edited:

WaywardFan

Waywardier than before
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2002
Posts
3,486
Reaction score
1,163
Location
Easton, PA
Gunn is at least partially to blame, because of the whole transition.

I don't have much faith in him at all.
 

Absolute Zero

ASFN Icon
Joined
Aug 9, 2005
Posts
17,420
Reaction score
8,632
Not a fan of this genre but saw this a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it. Loved how they worked in actors like Keaton who play or even almost appeared as previous versions of superheros.

Nic Cage for the win!

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media
 

Stout

Hold onto the ball, Murray!
Joined
Dec 30, 2002
Posts
38,242
Reaction score
21,056
Location
Pittsburgh, PA--Enemy territory!
I think BB was in production before Gunn officially took over and they were just taking advantage of it as a soft launching point for the new verse. Gunn’s first real test will be the new Superman movie:

“I mean the first DCU character, for sure, is Blue Beetle, and the first FULL DCU movie is Superman,” - James Gunn

If so, I doubt BB be on him if it goes belly up.
Like it or not, BB will be his first movie and it will be on him. He's the guy at the helm. Not of a film, but of an EU. It will fall on him and, if BB tanks, it will undercut his efforts on the Supes movie.
 
OP
OP
Covert Rain

Covert Rain

Father smelt of elderberries!
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2005
Posts
34,218
Reaction score
12,113
Location
Arizona
Like it or not, BB will be his first movie and it will be on him. He's the guy at the helm. Not of a film, but of an EU. It will fall on him and, if BB tanks, it will undercut his efforts on the Supes movie.
I didn’t say no impact but they are not going to hold him solely accountable and dump all the planning and money they invested in him because of BB. No chance.

If the new Supes tanks spectacularly? That’s a new ballgame.
 

Stout

Hold onto the ball, Murray!
Joined
Dec 30, 2002
Posts
38,242
Reaction score
21,056
Location
Pittsburgh, PA--Enemy territory!
I didn’t say no impact but they are not going to hold him solely accountable and dump all the planning and money they invested in him because of BB. No chance.

If the new Supes tanks spectacularly? That’s a new ballgame.
They definitely won't dump him because of BB, but it could very well make an already Herculean task impossible to pull off.
 
OP
OP
Covert Rain

Covert Rain

Father smelt of elderberries!
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2005
Posts
34,218
Reaction score
12,113
Location
Arizona
They definitely won't dump him because of BB, but it could very well make an already Herculean task impossible to pull off.
Oh that I agree with. I certainly am not putting any money on the fact he can fix this mess. IMO, he has already made some missteps anyway.
 

Devilmaycare

Chief Brah Officer
Moderator
Joined
Jan 5, 2019
Posts
6,223
Reaction score
8,750
Location
Scottsdale
Gunn is at least partially to blame, because of the whole transition.

I don't have much faith in him at all.

I'm not having much either right now. I was excited when they hired him but not the way it has gone since. My buddy is a huge Browns fan and always says on new coaches/players "you don't change Cleveland, Cleveland changes you." I'm getting the feeling that you can replace Cleveland in that with WB/DC. The disfunction in this franchise runs deep.
 

Chaplin

Better off silent
Joined
May 13, 2002
Posts
44,886
Reaction score
14,488
Location
Round Rock, TX
Like it or not, BB will be his first movie and it will be on him. He's the guy at the helm. Not of a film, but of an EU. It will fall on him and, if BB tanks, it will undercut his efforts on the Supes movie.
It should fall on the head of Warner Bros Discovery who is actually quite terrible at running a movie studio.
 

Cheesebeef

ASFN IDOL
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Posts
88,600
Reaction score
61,339
They definitely won't dump him because of BB, but it could very well make an already Herculean task impossible to pull off.
Doubt that. He’ll get carte Blanche to do whatever he wants with Supes, especially with Guardians being one of the lone standouts in recent comic memory. but if Supes doesn’t go like gangbusters, the noose will start to tighten.
 
Top