DC
Movies: Taking the road well-traveled, except with characters people
already care about
That
was the original title of this post, which was supposed to be part of
yesterday’s San Diego Comic Con coverage. But I cannot write one
little paragraph about the possibilities and potential problems
presented by a movie starring Superman and Batman. So this happened.
“I want you to
remember, Clark… in all the years to come, in your most private
moments, I want you to remember my hand at your throat. I want you to
remember the one man who beat you.”
I can’t even deny the
power of that.
Being a Batman guy who
was never fully on board with Superman, that is one of my favorite
moments from comics (and yes – it is from a comic book, not a
graphic novel). I still clearly recall the first time I read Dark
Knight Returns
and how much that blew my mind. “He did it,” I thought, “Batman
and Green Arrow had Superman beat.”
When I first read it, I
didn’t fully understand all of the ramifications of the scene or
all that it truly meant. I didn’t get that it was just Bruce
fucking with Clark one last time. I didn’t get that it was all a
setup so that Bruce could fake his death. I was devastated when he
“died”. Back then, with my relatively limited comic book
experience, a death was powerful. Plus, I didn’t know anything
about canon. I thought this was as legit and part of continuity
(another word I didn’t know) as any other Batman comic book I read.
As far as I was concerned, Joker was dead and Bruce’s career as
Batman was over (I knew this was the future, but I thought it was The
Future). There were so many little things I didn’t pick up on - I
just appreciated that the Dark Knight had put the Boy Scout in his
place.
As much as I love that
moment, I am not sure that’s the moment you want for your big
theatrical Superman/Batman team-up.
I promise you – I am
not trying to be negative or poop on WB’s big news. I am as excited
as anybody about the possibilities this announcement suggests, as
well as the simple fact of the movie happening. As you all know, I
really liked Man
of Steel
and am
thrilled that not only is it continuing, but that it is now solidly
confirmed as happening in a wider DC Universe. The Marvel Cinematic
Universe is great and all, but you have no idea what the announcement
of a real, live DC Movieverse does to my pants.
There is something about
the universe(s) that DC Comics have created over the years that is so
much more engrossing than Marvel’s. For me, I think it has to do
with the fact that Marvel went with real cities rather than creating
their own. All of my life I have pursued escapes from this world.
Like many nerds, dorks, geeks, and what-have-you, I have never been
all that comfortable here. I get by, but this place is kind of rotten
for the most part. When I read Marvel comics and see Spidey swinging
through New York, it’s just a reminder of this world. But when I
read DC Comics and the action takes place in Gotham City and
Metropolis and Opal City and Star City; well that’s just a whole
different world. It’s a better escape. My suspension of disbelief
works better when I don’t have to think about these heroes and
villains operating in real places.
Nolan, Snyder, Goyer, and
whomever else might be pulling the strings have decided to ground
this new iteration of the DCU in reality more than it might otherwise
have been. It isn’t my favorite choice, but they have shown that
they can still accomplish the fantastic in this world. I feel very
strongly that Man
of Steel
takes place in a different universe than Nolan’s Batman.
Heck, I have observed
using logic and reason that this is a different universe. And I think
it is critical that they maintain that separation.
I don’t care how much
the fans cry or get upset, but Christian Bale cannot be this Batman.
The strict definitions that Goyer and Nolan set up in their trilogy
do not allow for it. At the end of Dark
Knight Rises
we see a retired Bruce Wayne that came back from career-ending
injuries only to be destroyed by Bane and then barely manage to
survive one final… I want to say adventure, but that word implies a
certain sense of fun and wonder. And there was nothing fun or
wonderful about Dark
Knight Rises.
Bruce Wayne didn’t want to be Batman. And that simply is not a
Batman I want to watch.
Sorry – I kind of went
off on a tangent. You’d think I would get sick of criticizing
Nolan’s movies one of these days.
My point is that Bale’s
Bruce Wayne is too broken to be Man
of Steel 2’s
Batman. And whatever is going to happen in Man
of Steel 2
can’t be from before DKR
because Nolan-Batman’s career spanned no more than sixteen months
before he gave up and quite for seven years.
Joseph Gordon Levitt’s
“Robin” doesn’t work either because it has already been
established that in the Nolan Bat-verse human beings have normal
limitations. Like, barely even exaggerated. So his career can’t
even last long enough for him to get experienced enough to take on
Superman.
We need a new Batman in a
new DCU where we can disregard concerns about how long a human could
actually do what Batman does every night. I’m not saying he can’t
get hurt and I’m not saying physical concerns won’t be there, but
the audience doesn’t need to look at this Batman as someone that
will break down over time. Human wear and tear is something that can
simply go unaddressed. This is a superhero movie, not The
Wrestler.
Also, they cannot change
Batman’s origin so that Superman’s appearance is what inspires
him to become Batman. That is an idea I have heard and it is dumb. An
alternative might be that Superman’s appearance inspires Batman to
become more of a public figure, along the lines of Batman, Inc. As a
matter of fact, that could even be the whole story of the movie and a
way around my big problem with the above quote setting the tone for
the movie, which is this:
That quote suggests that
Batman is going to make Superman his bitch, and while that’s okay
with the entirety of DC Comics history as well as monthly ongoing
stories to expand on it, it is not the tone you want to set for a
narrative that is going to be fresh and updated every three years at
best. I love Batman, but for the purpose of these movies you simply
do not want to establish him as dominant over Superman. On top of
that, at the point when that quote occurs Bruce and Cark had decades
of relationship behind them. There was weight to that happening.
Bruce came off as a crazy old man, but he had his reasons. And they
were relatable.
In a two-and-a-half hour
movie, Batman is going to seem like a dick for taking down Superman
and Superman is going to look like a pussy. Without the context of
their backstory the scene doesn’t work as well.
But maybe – and I’m
just putting ideas out there now – the movie starts with Batman
taking Superman down just to prove a point. This Batman has already
been working in the shadows of Gotham for seven to ten years. He’s
a few years older than Clark. He gives the new kid a good talking-to
about collateral damage and murdering people in front of the whole
world. He says, “We don’t do that.” Clark already knows this
and has already decided he can never take another life, no matter the
cost. Batman leaves, but before he does he tells Cark he’ll be
watching.
Then we het the bulk of
the movie, which is Superman doing what he does very much in the
public eye. Not only redeeming himself for the destruction of
Metropolis (which Lex Luthor is rebuilding), but creating a new sense
of hope for the future around the world. As a matter of fact, Luthor
and Superman could even be pals working together to rebuild
Metropolis. Until Luthor turns on the alien. Now that
could be a cool story. Maybe that’s even how Batman becomes
involved again – Bruce Wayne is suspicious of Luthor and tries to
warn Clark about his new buddy.
Like I said – there are
tons of possibilities. Just as many bad ones as good. But I have
faith. As much as I was afraid that Man
of Steel
would be too grounded in reality, I was proven wrong. It had its
flaws, but overall it inspired the sense of wonder in me that I was
hoping for. I believed a man could fly.
Speaking of wonder, I
think WB has one more important character to start working on.
But that’s another
post.
-Phantom
I am not thrilled that Batman is going to be in the sequel, because I want Superman to develop into the Big Blue Boyscout before he shares the screen with someone else. Also, I love Batman, but I'm a little Batman'd out. He's been everywhere for pretty much a decade.
ReplyDeleteWho knows, maybe it will be awesome. Maybe Batman will say "you know, you shouldn't kill people. Use your head and find another way." and Superman will be all "yeah, you're right!"
Then I can be like "if we leave now we might be able to get our money back."
I don't think they should use any portion of DKR at all, but I'm not gonna lie - if I see any of it I'm gonna geek out a lot. Even if the movie is shit.
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