Is DC even going to try to compete with Marvel on the big screen?

[Ebon]

Really? Because my disbelief hit a lot sooner... Round about the time that Lex decided he would raise an island made of toxic radioactive rock from the ocean, which would sink much of the rest of the world. What with the rest of the world being where his riches are stored. Also it became even more pointless when i realised that the island was formed out of crystal & salt water, meaning that nothing can grow there, nor would there be any fresh water to drink...

That seems to suggest you spent the movie thinking of snarky posts you could make about the movie instead of actually watching and listening to what was going on. That seems to be a pretty common thing to do, now.

[Becoming An Anthropologist]

I'm sure this was bumped because avengers is coming out soon, but I just wanted to note that animated dc didn't make that much more in DVD sales than Marvel. I checked. IF wiki is correct, Dc doesn't even double marvel in the animated DVD department despite putting out far higher quality animated movies. In any case, the last batman movie looks like it's going to be good. I don't like catwoman being in it, and anne hathway even less, but oh well.

[Ebon]

Almost all of the failures we see in the DC lineup have been because of meddling by a studio that doesn't beleive in it's own products and has no real idea what to do with them. It reminds me of the Batman TV series. That was originally suppossed to be a serious crime/adventure show but the producer had no faith in the character and literally no idea how to present a comic book hero to people as anything other than mockery. WB's people remind me of him. They have literally no idea how to exploit some of the most recognizable characters in the world.

This is the same problem I see with many of the DC films. I get a constant feel of 'we better get something up on the screen before this comic-book thing runs it's course!' instead of 'we need to think in the long run about how to create a platform for showing off our characters' like Marvel has done. WB doesn't seem to have any faith at all in the strength of their characters.

[Dr. Hurt]

This is old news, but very relevant to many of the discussions we're having.

Christopher Nolan (who is pretty much the messiah of WB right now and behind the Batman and Superman properties) said this:

Nolan reiterated that you won't be seeing a Batman/Superman crossover in his movies. "Marvel are doing what they do and people will respond to that really well, or they won't," said Nolan. "It's not something I ever really applied a blanket rule to, but Marvel characters are very different to DC characters, and the key DC characters are very different to the minor DC characters. You've got to go back to that element of, 'What do I see when I close my eyes and think of Batman? What do I see when I close my eyes and think of Superman?' And for me a big part of that is their individuality. They are extraordinary beings in an ordinary world. And the reason I think the two are fascinating is because Superman is very specifically superpowered and obviously otherworldly; Batman is very human and flawed. They're two very different characters, but there's an elemental feeling of power in the iconography of those characters. To me that's originally because they stood alone. I need to hang on to that in my imagining of them."

http://www.superherohype.com/news/ar...n-and-superman

1) Apparently Nolan has never picked up a comic book. Because just like Ironman is part of the Avengers and the Marvel U, Batman and Superman are in the JL, and the wider DCU.

2) How exactly did the Avengers ruin the individuality of each hero and his franchise? Isnt Ironman still a tech based hero? Is Thor tarnished or ruined or watered down in any way? They just joined forces the way they do in comics, the way DC heroes join forces.

3) If anything, the Marvel movies are closer to the source material and they dont water down the mythos too much, injecting it with cynicism and realism to make the story seem serious and deep. They re superhero movies and they embrace that.

4) This "what if _____ (insert hero's name) existed in the real world" is over and done with. Enough already. If anything Superman's tale is a tale full of sci-fi elements, from aliens, to time travel, to superpowers. There are real people too, but nobody cares about them. If Man of Steel is just TDK with a flying Superhero instead of one who needs to drive, then Nolan has missed the point.

5) Gotham isnt supposed to be a real city, just with Batman in it. It's supposed to be a fictional city that's filled with gargoyle statues and freaks running around in suits. Metropolis is a modern city with caped superbeings flying around. Etc. This isnt city A is Chicago but with Batman. City B is NY but with Superman. They're fictional cities in a fictional universe. Saying that Batman and Superman cant co-exist is like saying that Ironman and Thor cant coexist. And last time i checked they can and Marvel is making millions off it.

[william aaker]

I agree! DC needs to get more good movies out; they have more than enough good comic book material to make a strong feature film.

I hope no one spikes me to the wall but the latest Superman movie, Superman Returns, seem to have missed the mark. When the best scene is suppose to be Super-man saving a plane from crashing (a scene if it was depicted in comics would have been about two to three panels, at most) was completely lackluster, and folks, this is not why I paid to see the movie. That was a complete waste of celluloid and film time. Although I usually love Kevin Spacey’s work, I felt he didn’t really add anything to the role of Lex Luthor, to me it came across as a impersonation of Jean Hackman’s amazing performance of the character.

The worst was Brandon Roth as Superman. For one, he lacked that emotional range to pull the viewers into the story which we needed to care for this guy. He posed more than he had lines(which I might blame Bryan Singer for that) and his performance was so stiff, a standup cutout could have done just as good of a job. Shheshhh!

Don’t get me wrong, Marvel has not been batting a thousand either. The First Hulk was convoluted. The Thor movie, although fun, was sophomoric. The Daredevil movie could have hired better actors and used a better script (where the hell was Stick?). Electra was pointless. The two Punisher movies hurt my brain thinking they made them they way they did (The punisher in Florida, really?!!) And the last three Spider-man movies he didn’t say one joke. NOT ONE! And he freaking danced, I own about 300 to 400 spider man issues and I never seen the jerk do a two step ever in my life.

All I ask from DC to do GOOD movies of franchise that people really want to see. Marvel might have the lead but DC can crush them through quality

[Darrell D.]

I just hope the next Batman reboot is actually FUN, and not a crime movie with a dude dressed like a bat.

[Mr. Holmes]

http://www.superherohype.com/news/ar...n-and-superman

1) Apparently Nolan has never picked up a comic book. Because just like Ironman is part of the Avengers and the Marvel U, Batman and Superman are in the JL, and the wider DCU.

2) How exactly did the Avengers ruin the individuality of each hero and his franchise? Isnt Ironman still a tech based hero? Is Thor tarnished or ruined or watered down in any way? They just joined forces the way they do in comics, the way DC heroes join forces.

You're missing his whole point. Do you even know that Batman and Superman started off not in a shared universe? Superman was a fictional character in the original Batman comics. That's how the characters were envisioned, and in Nolan's POV, putting them by themselves captures the essence of the character better. On the other hand, Marvel was always a shared universe.

[Jim Thompson]

I just hope the next Batman reboot is actually FUN, and not a crime movie with a dude dressed like a bat.

Isn't that sort of what Batman is? Isn't he pretty firmly rooted in the pulp crime genre? He's basically a combination of The Shadow and Sherlock Holmes, after all.

[Mr. Holmes]

Isn't that sort of what Batman is? Isn't he pretty firmly rooted in the pulp crime genre? He's basically a combination of The Shadow and Sherlock Holmes, after all.

And even then, I thought Dark Knight and Batman Begins were pretty fun. It doesn't have to be light hearted to be fun.

[Jim Thompson]

And even then, I thought Dark Knight and Batman Begins were pretty fun. It doesn't have to be light hearted to be fun.

Oh, I very much agree. I thought both those movies were a great deal of fun.

[Vibranium]

And even then, I thought Dark Knight and Batman Begins were pretty fun. It doesn't have to be light hearted to be fun.

and that is subjective to each viewer...I love TDK, its a great movie, but I personally don't feel there is any fun there

[Jim Thompson]

and that is subjective to each viewer...I love TDK, its a great movie, but I personally don't feel there is any fun there

I thought Ledger's Joker was quite a bit of fun.

[Mr. Holmes]

Just because a movie is dark, doesn't mean you can't have a blast watching it or have any fun. Watch Game of Thrones, and you'll know what it's like to watch something that's great but doesn't have any fun.

[Jim Thompson]

Just because a movie is dark, doesn't mean you can't have a blast watching it or have any fun. Watch Game of Thrones, and you'll know what it's like to watch something that's great but doesn't have any fun.

And even with that, I think a character like Tyrion has provided some light moments of fun.

[Reginleif]

Just because a movie is dark, doesn't mean you can't have a blast watching it or have any fun. Watch Game of Thrones, and you'll know what it's like to watch something that's great but doesn't have any fun.

The problem is though that it is easier to produce something that is grimdark and serious business nowadays than to produce something of quality that is funny. Harry Potter would be something that is funny, but towards the end of the series, everything became dark and she killed off a bunch of characters. Most novels of a similiar like have gne the same way too. Its so bad in Hunger Games that in the final novel, I dont know anyone who liked it.