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A vision for how they should have adapted DC Comics heroes in the 2000
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Every time a hero gets his own first film adaption, the cinematic DC universe expands and stretches. The general movie-goers are brought into the already vast fictional comic books where there are too many characters to keep track of.
From left field, another one enters the field. Someone we didn’t see coming! The choice of superhero was totally unexpected.
Who could have guessed that THIS guy would get his own film?
Oh, it's Mon-El!!!!
Not the Halk Kar version, although there’s a character named that in the film. He's seen for a part of the film.
Mon-El comes from Daxam. Here a planet with various patriarch kingdoms. All of them are very hierarchal. It reminds visually of a futuristic version of renaissance Europe and Mannerist architecture in this film. In the northern regions however, it is leaning towards baroque and borders on looking like eastern Europe, or even more so the imperial Russia.
While in the south, the architecture gets more similar to the Moorish kind.
Despite being ruled with strict manners, Daxam is a remarkable place. It's a part of the United Planets. The daxamite technological knowledge is high
The story
Kel Gand is a counsellor at one of the royal courts. He is sent to Thoron, another highly developed planet, on a diplomatic mission. With him is his personal space pilot Halk Kar.
To make the upcoming meetings have a more friendly approach, he brings his son Lar with him.
While heading for the destination, the ship malfunctions and is taken off-course… way off-course. They don’t know where they are but soon locate a populated planet where they can go down. It’s Venegar, a place they never heard of.
Kel advices his son to not speak of their origin or what their mission is. It can put them in danger. Instead, they pose as explorers.
The leader Sarya welcomes the three and promise to assist in repairing the ship. This is a lie. She can sense some noble blood among them. How is that so?
Kel is actually married to a woman in the royal family. Not one that is in line to be a queen to a king though, but it still makes Lar a “prince”. Before Kel had set out on the mission, he needed to alter the memories of Lar so that he forgot he’s royal. It could jeopardize the diplomatic visit if the boy mentions it by accident.
Sarya, also known as the Emerald Empress, is the ruler of a matriarchal world. Women are in charge everywhere. There are a lot of female-lead communities. Every part of society has one. The royal court too. It’s a challenge for Kel and Halk to stay here and wait before they can continue their mission.
Venegar is also a god-forgotten place in a sense we’ll soon find out. It’s very much like a retro-futuristic Babylon/Persepolis with the same kind of hedonistic traditions.
Halk is taken care of firsthand. He is forced to do slave work in the subterranean mines or else he will be killed.
Sarya separates father and son next, and uses her magical item to wipe the boy’s mind completely. The Eye of Ekron is a really powerful weapon.
It would be so fun to have an actual royal person as her clueless but obedient servant who does everything she asks while she sits on her throne and gives orders:
"cool me with that feather fan, puff up the pillows on my divan, feed me with grapes!!!!"
Sarya finds delight in achieving that with her magic. She is so powerful and mighty, above everyone else. A prince is her personal slave.
Not, it’s not enough. Let’s mock the boy some more. He should dress up and be a court jester too.
Just for explaining some more, I can reveal that Venegar that was once called Ekron. During the early years of the universe, it was a thriving civilization. Then it died out.
The Eye is one of the few remnants of that world.
The current inhabitants have nothing to with the planet's former glory. They arrived much later and rebuilt the ruins that hadn't corroded away
Ten years have passed next time we see Lar Gand, He’s been relocated. Now he’s one of the people who take care of every visitor that drops by and make sure their stay is pleasant.
Venegar is infamous for that kind of service in this small region of the galaxy. Different alien races come to gamble and party, with the company of an escort.
The father is nowhere to be seen. He’s presumable dead. We don’t know.
Lar Gand starts to get confusing glimpses of a life he doesn’t remember. Soon, he’s found out enough about his true self and challenges Sarya. But he’s no match for her and The Eye. She is furious, puts him to sleep and sends him to a place where he can never leave.
Lar wakes up on Earth, where there no such thing as space travelling. His memories have been erased again
Out of all places, it happens to be France.
The time spent at the Venegar brothel has affected him at the core. Without knowing why, he becomes a free-spirited womanizer that behaves overly charming and romantical.
Before not long, our yellow sun starts to make him incredibly strong and fast. He starts to feel the responsibilities of powers. Neigbouring countries hear about him and want to check up on this guy. Of course Americans involve themselves in this too.
The past is hunting Lar Gand, who's now called Mon-El. He will soon be clear about his true identity.
One day, a certain Emerald Empress comes to reclaim her prize. She has been monitoring him with the use of The Eye. But he’s no longer what he used to be….
Because the hero is not at Warner Brothers, we couldn’t include the obvious ties between Daxam and Krypton. Superman isn’t mentioned either.
Now you may wonder how he got his superhero name in the film?
It's easy. It happens when he tries to explain that’s he’s from another planet. He hasn’t mastered the art of the French langue yet, sometimes saying words backwards.
Mon-El comes from “Le Monde” (“The World”).
Despite the story sounding dystopian, we’ll get a entertaining space opera spectacle in its truest form here. It’s influenced by Barbarella (1968), Flash Gordon (1980), Luc Besson’s The 5th Element, the Star Trek: TNG series, and also The Phantom (1996), Martin Campbell’s Zorro films and the Batman 1966 series.
The Venegar setting has a style that’s very much like that of the London-based late 1960s Swinging Sixties with the vibrant colors and fun way of living.
There’s also themes from Fellini’s later, surreal films (Amarcord, Satyricon, Roma)
Mon-El/Lar Gand himself, goes from a younger version of Wesley Crusher to get an element of young Tony Curtis to him.
The character is really suited for an actor like Gaspard Ulliel. That was the first choice. I can personally see why. He would have been perfect!
When he said he wasn’t interested in doing another CBM again after playing young Orm in Aquaman, they had to find someone else to play the role.
Richard Donner and John Williams were asked to come onboard, to break up their Donnerverse legacy. Because Mon-El/Daxam is "close siblings" to Superman/Krypton in the comic books, and that could open up for a whole new superhero approach that's both similar and different when it comes to the directing and the music.
They both declined, but opened up for a consult role
Mon-El, the son of Daxam (20th Century Fox, 2009)
filmed in Paris and at Pinewood Studios
Directed by Chris Columbus
Produced by Lawrence Gordon, Trevor Albert
Written by Walon Green, David Memet, Tom Cruise, Chris Columbus, Mel Brooks
Music by Trevor Jones, Edward Shearmur (incl a theme)
Costume design: Ryan Meinerding
Set design: Dan Weil, Brigitte Broch, Victor J. Zolfo, Peter P. Nicolakakos, Tom Cruise
Cast
Lar Gand/Mon-El: Kevin Zegers
Kel Gand: Judd Nelson
Halk Kar: Casper van Dien
Sarya of Venegar/Emerald Empress: Daryl Hannah
Young Lar: Troye Sivan
Not much of a cast. That's because a lot of effort was on getting all the cameos together.
More like extended cameos this time. There was a need to shine.
Daxamite king: Wes Studi
Daxamite queen: Isabella Rossellini
Old honourable Daxamite citizens: Ned Beatty, Peter Falk
Venegar royal sisterhood association: Susannah York, Carrie Fisher, Valerie Perrine
Sarya’s neglected husband: Björn Andrésen
Homeless old Venegar citizen: Gene Wilder
Self-appointed French tutor for Lar Gand: Sophie Marceau
Parisian café owner: Gérard Depardieu
Rich old woman funding Lar Gand’s transformation to Mon-El: Anita Ekberg
Mon-El’s superhero costume designer: Brigitte Bardot
French police commissioner: Jean-Pierre Léaud
French cop: Gaspard Manesse
Parisian private detective: Benoît Ferreux
Head of MI6: Mark Lester
Head of Italian AISE: Bruno Zanin
EU politician: Britt Ekland
Head of Europol: David Suchet
NSA agents: Stephen Baldwin, Scott TilerLast edited:
Frodo
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Every time a hero gets his own first film adaption, the cinematic DC universe expands and stretches. The general movie-goers are brought into the already vast fictional comic books where there are too many characters to keep track of.
From left field, another one enters the field. Someone we didn’t see coming! The choice of superhero was totally unexpected.
Who could have guessed that THIS guy would get his own film?
Oh, it's Mon-El!!!!
Not the Halk Kar version, although there’s a character named that in the film. He's seen for a part of the film.
Mon-El comes from Daxam. Here a planet with various patriarch kingdoms. All of them are very hierarchal. It reminds visually of a futuristic version of renaissance Europe and Mannerist architecture in this film. In the northern regions however, it is leaning towards baroque and borders on looking like eastern Europe, or even more so the imperial Russia.
While in the south, the architecture gets more similar to the Moorish kind.
Despite being ruled with strict manners, Daxam is a remarkable place. It's a part of the United Planets. The daxamite technological knowledge is high
The story
Kel Gand is a counsellor at one of the royal courts. He is sent to Thoron, another highly developed planet, on a diplomatic mission. With him is his personal space pilot Halk Kar.
To make the upcoming meetings have a more friendly approach, he brings his son Lar with him.
While heading for the destination, the ship malfunctions and is taken off-course… way off-course. They don’t know where they are but soon locate a populated planet where they can go down. It’s Venegar, a place they never heard of.
Kel advices his son to not speak of their origin or what their mission is. It can put them in danger. Instead, they pose as explorers.
The leader Sarya welcomes the three and promise to assist in repairing the ship. This is a lie. She can sense some noble blood among them. How is that so?
Kel is actually married to a woman in the royal family. Not one that is in line to be a queen to a king though, but it still makes Lar a “prince”. Before Kel had set out on the mission, he needed to alter the memories of Lar so that he forgot he’s royal. It could jeopardize the diplomatic visit if the boy mentions it by accident.
Sarya, also known as the Emerald Empress, is the ruler of a matriarchal world. Women are in charge everywhere. There are a lot of female-lead communities. Every part of society has one. The royal court too. It’s a challenge for Kel and Halk to stay here and wait before they can continue their mission.
Venegar is also a god-forgotten place in a sense we’ll soon find out. It’s very much like a retro-futuristic Babylon/Persepolis with the same kind of hedonistic traditions.
Halk is taken care of firsthand. He is forced to do slave work in the subterranean mines or else he will be killed.
Sarya separates father and son next, and uses her magical item to wipe the boy’s mind completely. The Eye of Ekron is a really powerful weapon.
It would be so fun to have an actual royal person as her clueless but obedient servant who does everything she asks while she sits on her throne and gives orders:
"cool me with that feather fan, puff up the pillows on my divan, feed me with grapes!!!!"
Sarya finds delight in achieving that with her magic. She is so powerful and mighty, above everyone else. A prince is her personal slave.
Not, it’s not enough. Let’s mock the boy some more. He should dress up and be a court jester too.
Just for explaining some more, I can reveal that Venegar that was once called Ekron. During the early years of the universe, it was a thriving civilization. Then it died out.
The Eye is one of the few remnants of that world.
The current inhabitants have nothing to with the planet's former glory. They arrived much later and rebuilt the ruins that hadn't corroded away
Ten years have passed next time we see Lar Gand, He’s been relocated. Now he’s one of the people who take care of every visitor that drops by and make sure their stay is pleasant.
Venegar is infamous for that kind of service in this small region of the galaxy. Different alien races come to gamble and party, with the company of an escort.
The father is nowhere to be seen. He’s presumable dead. We don’t know.
Lar Gand starts to get confusing glimpses of a life he doesn’t remember. Soon, he’s found out enough about his true self and challenges Sarya. But he’s no match for her and The Eye. She is furious, puts him to sleep and sends him to a place where he can never leave.
Lar wakes up on Earth, where there no such thing as space travelling. His memories have been erased again
Out of all places, it happens to be France.
The time spent at the Venegar brothel has affected him at the core. Without knowing why, he becomes a free-spirited womanizer that behaves overly charming and romantical.
Before not long, our yellow sun starts to make him incredibly strong and fast. He starts to feel the responsibilities of powers. Neigbouring countries hear about him and want to check up on this guy. Of course Americans involve themselves in this too.
The past is hunting Lar Gand, who's now called Mon-El. He will soon be clear about his true identity.
One day, a certain Emerald Empress comes to reclaim her prize. She has been monitoring him with the use of The Eye. But he’s no longer what he used to be….
Because the hero is not at Warner Brothers, we couldn’t include the obvious ties between Daxam and Krypton. Superman isn’t mentioned either.
Now you may wonder how he got his superhero name in the film?
It's easy. It happens when he tries to explain that’s he’s from another planet. He hasn’t mastered the art of the French langue yet, sometimes saying words backwards.
Mon-El comes from “Le Monde” (“The World”).
Despite the story sounding dystopian, we’ll get a entertaining space opera spectacle in its truest form here. It’s influenced by Barbarella (1968), Flash Gordon (1980), Luc Besson’s The 5th Element, the Star Trek: TNG series, and also The Phantom (1996), Martin Campbell’s Zorro films and the Batman 1966 series.
The Venegar setting has a style that’s very much like that of the London-based late 1960s Swinging Sixties with the vibrant colors and fun way of living.
There’s also themes from Fellini’s later, surreal films (Amarcord, Satyricon, Roma)
Mon-El/Lar Gand himself, goes from a younger version of Wesley Crusher to get an element of young Tony Curtis to him.
The character is really suited for an actor like Gaspard Ulliel. That was the first choice. I can personally see why. He would have been perfect!
When he said he wasn’t interested in doing another CBM again after playing young Orm in Aquaman, they had to find someone else to play the role.
Richard Donner and John Williams were asked to come onboard, to break up their Donnerverse legacy. Because Mon-El/Daxam is "close siblings" to Superman/Krypton in the comic books, and that could open up for a whole new superhero approach that's both similar and different when it comes to the directing and the music.
They both declined, but opened up for a consult role
Mon-El, the son of Daxam (20th Century Fox, 2009)
filmed in Paris and at Pinewood Studios
Directed by Chris Columbus
Produced by Lawrence Gordon, Trevor Albert
Written by Walon Green, David Memet, Tom Cruise, Chris Columbus, Mel Brooks
Music by Trevor Jones, Edward Shearmur (incl a theme)
Costume design: Ryan Meinerding
Set design: Dan Weil, Brigitte Broch, Victor J. Zolfo, Peter P. Nicolakakos, Tom Cruise
Cast
Lar Gand/Mon-El: Kevin Zegers
Kel Gand: Judd Nelson
Halk Kar: Casper van Dien
Sarya of Venegar/Emerald Empress: Daryl Hannah
Young Lar: Troye Sivan
Not much of a cast. That's because a lot of effort was on getting all the cameos together.
More like extended cameos this time. There was a need to shine.
Daxamite king: Wes Studi
Daxamite queen: Isabella Rossellini
Old honourable Daxamite citizens: Ned Beatty, Peter Falk
Venegar royal sisterhood association: Susannah York, Carrie Fisher, Valerie Perrine
Sarya’s neglected husband: Björn Andrésen
Homeless old Venegar citizen: Gene Wilder
Self-appointed French tutor for Lar Gand: Sophie Marceau
Parisian café owner: Gérard Depardieu
Rich old woman funding Lar Gand’s transformation to Mon-El: Anita Ekberg
Mon-El’s superhero costume designer: Brigitte Bardot
French police commissioner: Jean-Pierre Léaud
French cop: Gaspard Manesse
Parisian private detective: Benoît Ferreux
Head of MI6: Mark Lester
Head of Italian AISE: Bruno Zanin
EU politician: Britt Ekland
Head of Europol: David Suchet
NSA agents: Stephen Baldwin, Scott Tiler
Wow. Mon El sounds interesting
.
I don't know the comics version of Mon El at all . I only know Mon El from the Supergirl TV show, and his background there was pretty bare and his character was pretty one note imo. On that show, he was basically a spoiled royal party boy who evolves into a hero.
I didn't realize he had such an in depth and interesting backstory. Is there more than one version of Mon El in the comics?
ThanksWow. Mon El sounds interesting .
I don't know the comics version of Mon El at all . I only know Mon El from the Supergirl TV show, and his background there was pretty bare and his character was pretty one note imo. On that show, he was basically a spoiled royal party boy who evolves into a hero.
I didn't realize he had such an in depth and interesting backstory. Is there more than one version of Mon El in the comics?
I didn't know much either. Only have a vague childhood memory of him in one of the comic book frames. Just his visual appearance. I don't remember what his involvement in the story was.
There's several Mon-Els in DC but I went with the most known.
I can agree that he was a bit one-dimensional in Supergirl.
His comic book origin is more fleshed out. But he was never a prince.
I took some liberties with the character and the Venegar stuff because to have two distinctive different worlds. Venegar is in most ways the opposite of Daxam.
When Mon-El is a young man at Venegar, he can be compared to a male Barbarella. And that film is really weird in a swinging 60s way with his naughtiness and tongue in cheek. Something similar would never be greenlighted today. We are too easily offended now. It wouldn't be a film we take our kids to see.
Columbus and the crew had to tread carefully with those elements, and Fellini's Satyricon is even more crazy. They would have to adjust certain things for today's audience.
I decided to mention several films as influences just to point out what kind of place Venegar is.
You know the underground clubs that are seen several times in Star War, where weird aliens play in a band? That's how I envision Venegar. Just add more sparkling glamour to it, make it less gloomy.
Venegar = gambling, drinking, drugs and sex.
It's a more erotical Monte Carlo/Las Vegas.
Have you seen Oliver Stone's Alexander by the way? The royal court in Babylon has its own harem there. This was also in my mind when coming up with the story.
The goal of treating Mon-El this way is to have yet another DC character rooted in things from the past:
the legacy of legendary or popular directors/actors
cult films and cult TV shows
pop cultural movements etc etc.
It just so happened that Mon-El got this kind of adult-oriented themes.
But when reading up on Venegar and Sarya, it wasn't really far-fetched to come up with certain elements and add those.
I hope you don't mind!
It's just that I have some difficulty seeing Chris Columbus helming this kind of adaption. Not the hero itself, but the story I came up with.
His Harry Potter films are the more childish ones of the bunch, and he's behind Home Alone.
Should there have been another director for Mon-El? What do you think?
Who's directing a film is responsible for the final result, what kind of angle they should take on the written story.
While he can't scrap a whole script, it must be followed as long as possible, he still sets the tone. Scenes can be polished or altered to suit the director's style.
That goes for everyone of my superhero films
Btw, what did you think about League of Annoyance?Last edited:
Frodo
Avenger
- Joined
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Thanks
I didn't know much either. Only have a vague childhood memory of him in one of the comic book frames. Just his visual appearance. I don't remember what his involvement in the story was.
There's several Mon-Els in DC but I went with the most known.
I can agree that he was a bit one-dimensional in Supergirl.
His comic book origin is more fleshed out. But he was never a prince.
I took some liberties with the character and the Venegar stuff because to have two distinctive different worlds. Venegar is in most ways the opposite of Daxam.
When Mon-El is a young man at Venegar, he can be compared to a male Barbarella. And that film is really weird in a swinging 60s way with his naughtiness and tongue in cheek. Something similar would never be greenlighted today. We are too easily offended now. It wouldn't be a film we take our kids to see.
Columbus and the crew had to tread carefully with those elements, and Fellini's Satyricon is even more crazy. They would have to adjust certain things for today's audience.
I decided to mention several films as influences just to point out what kind of place Venegar is.
You know the underground clubs that are seen several times in Star War, where weird aliens play in a band? That's how I envision Venegar. Just add more sparkling glamour to it, make it less gloomy.
Venegar = gambling, drinking, drugs and sex.
It's a more erotical Monte Carlo/Las Vegas.
Have you seen Oliver Stone's Alexander by the way? The royal court in Babylon has its own harem there. This was also in my mind when coming up with the story.
The goal of treating Mon-El this way is to have yet another DC character rooted in things from the past:
the legacy of legendary or popular directors/actors
cult films and cult TV shows
pop cultural movements etc etc.
It just so happened that Mon-El got this kind of adult-oriented themes.
But when reading up on Venegar and Sarya, it wasn't really far-fetched to come up with certain elements and add those.
I hope you don't mind!
It's just that I have some difficulty seeing Chris Columbus helming this kind of adaption. Not the hero itself, but the story I came up with.
His Harry Potter films are the more childish ones of the bunch, and he's behind Home Alone.
Should there have been another director for Mon-El? What do you think?
Who's directing a film is responsible for the final result, what kind of angle they should take on the written story.
While he can't scrap a whole script, it must be followed as long as possible, he still sets the tone. Scenes can be polished or altered to suit the director's style.
That goes for everyone of my superhero films
Btw, what did you think about League of Annoyance?
In terms of a director , I would agree with you that Columbus would be hard to see for Mon El. I'm not sure who I would go for in terms of a director.
My instinct would be to lean towards someone who's done syfy space opera , but then I suppose it would depend on whether you'd want someone who's done more dark Sci Fi Opera like Lynch with Dune, Ridley Scott with Bladerunner, etc, or whether you'd want someone who could blend light and dark sci like Nicholas Meyer of The Wraith of Khan . Then there's Luc Besson, though he's more on the lighter side and would be more Booster Gold imo.
But that's if you wanted to go more the sci-fi hero aspect as opposed to finding a director like Columbus who may give a more bright Antman- like like feature.
The League of Annoyance also sounded interesting. Was that also based off of a DC comic as well? I'd never heard of them before.
You give good suggestions for directors
Maybe the Besson route is the best because then we can camp up every adult element in the film.
I picked Mel Brooks as one of the writers, and we all know what's he's famous for
If the film treats any nudity the same way the 60/70s Bond films did, which looks tame today, I think it could work.
But would DC Comics themselves approve of films taking this kind of liberties with their characters? Mon-El's origin is completely changed.
In defense of Columbus, he actually went darker than his usual self for Potter. The second film even has that scary snake monster.
League of Annoyance exist in the comic books. It's one of the ""Wonder Twins villains". It's a very obscure collection of bad guys.
Finding the cast was fun but difficult.
Some of them have played menacing in other films. Now they were chosen to play campier "non-menacing" villains. Just look at Rickman as the alcohol-addictive vampire. Perfect choice there.
I even have a GIF for that
Interesting and well-crafted vision but it belongs somewhere else. For example, there's a thread about re-arranging DCU. You can re-post it there
The idea of this thread is to scrap the whole DCU/Snyderverse and come up with a completely different thing.
This is only for DC adaptions that has no connection to the DCU that started with MOS.
However, you have used Nolanverse too and that is allowed because it's pre-DCU
Also Superman Returns, if somebody would want to include that.Did you know Superman has a cousin?
What?! You’re kidding right? How can that be possible?
LOL, I just tried to be funny. I think it failed.
Supergirl returns to the big screen. 25 years after the first attempt.
There was a pressure to achieve better this time. To make a more quality film.
Supergirl should be a big Hollywood production, not cheesy and B-esque.
But wait!! Does it need to have a typical studio approach?
I know Warner Brothers is behind the film but it doesn’t mean Supergirl should be handled in a glossy blockbuster manner. What if it can be something else?
Everybody thought it would be interesting if the character gets adapted as if the film was a part of the New Hollywood movement of late 60s and whole of the 70s.
Many influential directors had their big break then.
That era was filled to the brink with serious projects. The old ways of Hollywood were changed. You know, the expensive films with big sets and thousands of extras.
Do you expect we’ll get the gritty Supergirl now? No, just a more realistic one!
As long as the realism can be stretched for character like this. It’s Supergirl, after all. She wears bright spandex and skirt.
Get her out on the streets, to the real people of America!!! That’s how to achieve what they’re going for.
New Hollywood had also a few lighter films. Mel Brooks and Woody Allen really rose to their stardom. Not saying this Supergirl is anything like their usual work, however.
New Hollywood also gave birth to the modern blockbuster, with Spielberg/Lucas leading the way.
Supergirl should feel like it’s the first high budget film after years of less expensive, but really good dramatic films.
The icing on the cake is that one of the 70s directors stepped in as a writer. His involvement gave the story some weight.
You'll be surprised who it is. And be wishing he was helming Supergirl instead.
Young versions of Jane Fonda and Goldie Hawn did inspire this version of Supergirl.
Sissy Spacek as well because of her different aura and look as a youngster.
Kara is actually from another world. She has troubles fitting in ever since she arrived on Earth as a 12-year-old. She’s not only a bubbly personality but a bit naïve as well in dealing with our egoistic and violent earthly ways.
Not in any way a dumb blond though. She’s got a highly developed Kryptonian brain. She just have the weight of our whole world on her shoulders.
Here we get the best views of Krypton since the cinematic DC Comics re-started eight years earlier. It’s not the barren crystal world of Donnerverse.
The two previous Superman had showed us flashback glimpses of a generic sci fi world.
It’s reshaped here into something called “decopunk”. It’s a smart reference to the early Superman comics and animated films because he was placed in an art deco New York.
Mon-El had come out right before this and his world is very different.
Krypton’s ideals were to head for the future. They usually looked at Daxam as a tyrannic, backward-looking place with its strict traditions.
The daxamites accused Krypton for its decadence. There's a trace of truth in that. They were aiming for the skies with tall architecture. They viewed themselves as gods. They actually were just as decadent too, and ignorant of the planet’s upcoming doom.
Both planets were as technologically developed though. They just had approached science in different ways.
In this film however, there’s no references to Daxam or any of their citizens. It’s almost like the two planets don’t exist in the same cinematic universe. It all boils down to which studio that held the rights.
Warner could use Superman though. He’s actually appearing in a small cameo.
Are you familiar with Krypto, the super-dog? It shows up in the second half of the film.
There weren’t any auditions. The cast was handpicked during late 2007.
Who should play the lead then? Claire Danes of course! The role needs someone with experience and gravitas. She's also beautiful, and that's what Supergirld should be. No doubts about it!
To have a known face in the role... oh, that would be a win win situation.
But she just smiled at the offer and said that while she’s honoured, it’s 10 years too late for her. She would be more of a Superwoman. “Go younger!” she added.
How young should they aim then? Teenage?
They looked around. There were many young actresses with various degrees of talents. They have started doing noticable work the previous years: Rachel Hurd-Wood, Imogen Poots, Emma Roberts, Carly Schroeder, AnnaSophia Robb, Dakota Fanning.
All of them would have been interesting to see. But maybe some of them were a bit too young?
A couple of more experienced ones were found, one known and one unknown. There was one big problem. They wanted both of them, and that’s impossible.
The two actresses had to take part in a studio meeting to discuss the matter. There were told both are wanted for the film. There are two roles available, the lead and the villain role, which is Live Wire. What do they prefer to play, and why?
It must be the first time in history that actors can decide what role they should get.
Live Wire, a.k.a. Leslie Willis was a radio host in the comics. She’s updated here into a youtuber/vlogger. She’s one of the first of its kind, one of the early “influencers”.
When she gets her powers, there aren’t any fancy girl power elements. It’s a raw and violent clash instead. It’s order vs chaos
Supergirl (Warner Brothers, 2009)
filmed in Austin, Texas
Directed by Brad Silberling
Produced by Lloyd Levin, Rick Benattar
Written by Miles Millar, David Hayter, Tom Cruise, Milos Forman
Music by: Klaus Doldinger & Jay Gruska (incl a theme)
Costume design: Louise Frogley
Set design: Catherine Martin, Tom Cruise
Cast
Kara Zor-El/Linda Lee Danvers: Laura Vandervoort
Leslie Willis/ Live Wire: Evan Rachel Wood
Fred Danvers: Pierce Brosnan
Edna Danvers: Nancy Allen
Richard Malverne: Bug Hall
Zor-El: Dolph Lundgren
Alura: Brigitte Nielsen
Minor roles and cameos
Argo citizen: Anthony Daniels
Orphanage owner: Sally Field
Home decorator: Greg Kinnear
Plumber: Kenneth Branagh
Florist: Julie Andrews
Street artist: Thomas Ian Nicholas
Movie star: Demi Moore
Skater: Tom Felton
Buss driver: Tim Allen
Reporter: Emilio Estevez
Superman: Hugh JackmanLast edited:Here's the 2008 list.
Lesser known heroes are starting to climb the yearly charts.
It was a bit of a disgrace that DC lost to a superhero parody starring Will Smith
1. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
2. Kung Fu Panda
3. Hancock
4. Mamma Mia!
5. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
6. Quantum of Solace
7. Wonder Woman 2: The Journey
8. Flash: The Scarlet Speedster
9. WALL·E
10. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
11. Sex and the City
12. League of Annoyance
13. Booster Gold and the Blue Beetle(s)
14. Twilight
15. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
16. Slumdog Millionaire
17. Wanted
18. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
19. Bolt
20. Horton Hears a Who!
Vaibow
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sheesh, bet you're fun at parties.Interesting and well-crafted vision but it belongs somewhere else. For example, there's a thread about re-arranging DCU. You can re-post it there
The idea of this thread is to scrap the whole DCU/Snyderverse and come up with a completely different thing.
This is only for DC adaptions that has no connection to the DCU that started with MOS.
However, you have used Nolanverse too and that is allowed because it's pre-DCU
Also Superman Returns, if somebody would want to include that.
Frodo
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Did you know Superman has a cousin?
What?! You’re kidding right? How can that be possible?
LOL, I just tried to be funny. I think it failed.
Supergirl returns to the big screen. 25 years after the first attempt.
There was a pressure to achieve better this time. To make a more quality film.
Supergirl should be a big Hollywood production, not cheesy and B-esque.
But wait!! Does it need to have a typical studio approach?
I know Warner Brothers is behind the film but it doesn’t mean Supergirl should be handled in a glossy blockbuster manner. What if it can be something else?
Everybody thought it would be interesting if the character gets adapted as if the film was a part of the New Hollywood movement of late 60s and whole of the 70s.
Many influential directors had their big break then.
That era was filled to the brink with serious projects. The old ways of Hollywood were changed. You know, the expensive films with big sets and thousands of extras.
Do you expect we’ll get the gritty Supergirl now? No, just a more realistic one!
As long as the realism can be stretched for character like this. It’s Supergirl, after all. She wears bright spandex and skirt.
Get her out on the streets, to the real people of America!!! That’s how to achieve what they’re going for.
New Hollywood had also a few lighter films. Mel Brooks and Woody Allen really rose to their stardom. Not saying this Supergirl is anything like their usual work, however.
New Hollywood also gave birth to the modern blockbuster, with Spielberg/Lucas leading the way.
Supergirl should feel like it’s the first high budget film after years of less expensive, but really good dramatic films.
The icing on the cake is that one of the 70s directors stepped in as a writer. His involvement gave the story some weight.
You'll be surprised who it is. And be wishing he was helming Supergirl instead.
Young versions of Jane Fonda and Goldie Hawn did inspire this version of Supergirl.
Sissy Spacek as well because of her different aura and look as a youngster.
Kara is actually from another world. She has troubles fitting in ever since she arrived on Earth as a 12-year-old. She’s not only a bubbly personality but a bit naïve as well in dealing with our egoistic and violent earthly ways.
Not in any way a dumb blond though. She’s got a highly developed Kryptonian brain. She just have the weight of our whole world on her shoulders.
Here we get the best views of Krypton since the cinematic DC Comics re-started eight years earlier. It’s not the barren crystal world of Donnerverse.
The two previous Superman had showed us flashback glimpses of a generic sci fi world.
It’s reshaped here into something called “decopunk”. It’s a smart reference to the early Superman comics and animated films because he was placed in an art deco New York.
Mon-El had come out right before this and his world is very different.
Krypton’s ideals were to head for the future. They usually looked at Daxam as a tyrannic, backward-looking place with its strict traditions.
The daxamites accused Krypton for its decadence. There's a trace of truth in that. They were aiming for the skies with tall architecture. They viewed themselves as gods. They actually were just as decadent too, and ignorant of the planet’s upcoming doom.
Both planets were as technologically developed though. They just had approached science in different ways.
In this film however, there’s no references to Daxam or any of their citizens. It’s almost like the two planets don’t exist in the same cinematic universe. It all boils down to which studio that held the rights.
Warner could use Superman though. He’s actually appearing in a small cameo.
Are you familiar with Krypto, the super-dog? It shows up in the second half of the film.
There weren’t any auditions. The cast was handpicked during late 2007.
Who should play the lead then? Claire Danes of course! The role needs someone with experience and gravitas. She's also beautiful, and that's what Supergirld should be. No doubts about it!
To have a known face in the role... oh, that would be a win win situation.
But she just smiled at the offer and said that while she’s honoured, it’s 10 years too late for her. She would be more of a Superwoman. “Go younger!” she added.
How young should they aim then? Teenage?
They looked around. There were many young actresses with various degrees of talents. They have started doing noticable work the previous years: Rachel Hurd-Wood, Imogen Poots, Emma Roberts, Carly Schroeder, AnnaSophia Robb, Dakota Fanning.
All of them would have been interesting to see. But maybe some of them were a bit too young?
A couple of more experienced ones were found, one known and one unknown. There was one big problem. They wanted both of them, and that’s impossible.
The two actresses had to take part in a studio meeting to discuss the matter. There were told both are wanted for the film. There are two roles available, the lead and the villain role, which is Live Wire. What do they prefer to play, and why?
It must be the first time in history that actors can decide what role they should get.
Live Wire, a.k.a. Leslie Willis was a radio host in the comics. She’s updated here into a youtuber/vlogger. She’s one of the first of its kind, one of the early “influencers”.
When she gets her powers, there aren’t any fancy girl power elements. It’s a raw and violent clash instead. It’s order vs chaos
Supergirl (Warner Brothers, 2009)
filmed in Austin, Texas
Directed by Brad Silberling
Produced by Lloyd Levin, Rick Benattar
Written by Miles Millar, David Hayter, Tom Cruise, Milos Forman
Music by: Klaus Doldinger & Jay Gruska (incl a theme)
Costume design: Louise Frogley
Set design: Catherine Martin, Tom Cruise
Cast
Kara Zor-El/Linda Lee Danvers: Laura Vandervoort
Leslie Willis/ Live Wire: Evan Rachel Wood
Fred Danvers: Pierce Brosnan
Edna Danvers: Nancy Allen
Richard Malverne: Bug Hall
Zor-El: Dolph Lundgren
Alura: Brigitte Nielsen
Minor roles and cameos
Argo citizen: Anthony Daniels
Orphanage owner: Sally Field
Home decorator: Greg Kinnear
Plumber: Kenneth Branagh
Florist: Julie Andrews
Street artist: Thomas Ian Nicholas
Movie star: Demi Moore
Skater: Tom Felton
Buss driver: Tim Allen
Reporter: Emilio Estevez
Superman: Hugh Jackman
Another great cast Airwings. Vandervoort was a great Kara on Smallville but often gets overlooked I feel.
I also thing Evan Rachel Wood could play a wicked version of Livewire
ThanksAnother great cast Airwings. Vandervoort was a great Kara on Smallville but often gets overlooked I feel.
I also thing Evan Rachel Wood could play a wicked version of Livewire
It was really unusual to let the actresses themselves decide what role they should play.
The two had to talk to each other about the matter.
Laura was convinced ERW would be the superior choice as she's a talented actress that would suit a modern day Supergirl the most, and a known face was wanted anyway. Valid points
ERW on the other hand was struck by the way Laura carried herself, her looks and her posture. Of course she was the obvious Supergirl.
I agree with you Frodo, her part on Smallville (in our real world) is too overlooked. She was really good.
The DC heroes in all my films are always alone in their world. There are never, in-film, any mention of, or reference to, another hero. The focus never shifts to other DC stuff!
What about the easter eggs then? It’s not clear what they mean at this point.
The “being the only hero” thing is mandatory. It just has to be like that. None of the heroes can rely on any help from an unrelated resquer. Each and every one of them is the only superhero around. Sidekicks don't count.
When a threat rises up, the hero really needs to save the day or we’re screwed. Nobody else can do that. Not the cops, not the military, not government agents.
Having this strict rule makes it so more interesting when two different heroes meet and team up, after having a solo adventure beforehand. It’s really fun for the audience too, seeing them together.
The knowledge that Booster Gold comes from the future of the same world as Blue Beetle (and some Star-Spangled heroes too), that’s cool.
Having Amanda Waller AND Maxwell Lord there as well, that’s actually awesome!
Atom and Elongated Man both living in present day, in the same America, it’s intriguing. When adding the fact that it’s the same world Wonder Twins visited in their own TV-series, we’ll be overwhelmed. Or maybe just myself
Now another heroic duo is formed on screen. We return to New Orleans to find Zatanna again. In another part of the country, there’s Minnesota and Doctor Fate.
It’s complete with real-life actor inspirations this time. Doctor Fate has traces of Robert Duvall.
There’s an aura of Greta Garbo, but younger, in Zatanna.
Two magic wielding characters team up, to deal with something that needs them both.
And maybe there will be some supporting heroic character too
A couple of actors from the heroes’ origin story films return, others are replaced.
Zoey Deschanel liked doing the first. Now she had to leave the role of Zatanna for other commitments but she still wanted to be a part of the sequel.
Like with Supergirl, two actresses born a few years apart were eyed for the character. One known and one less known.
One of them had actually been considered the first time and that was an advantage. The other one is younger and could perhaps be used later. Who knows for how long the DC films will go on
The directors of those first films are involved like the usual way with the team-ups events, but not as producers this time.
Instead, they’re co-producers, taking on another role in the production.
It’s because the films have gotten so big it needs original producers too.
Just look below at the number of involved studios.
Who should direct THIS one? There have already been used a lot of horror creators but for earlier films not based in horror. But when an adaption actually gets closer to the horror genre which this does, who can helm it?
Not just one but two, since this is a heroic team-up.
Darren Aronofsky could be suitable but he was just too busy to be the actual director, and took on a producer role instead.
M Night Shyamalan met with the studio(s) regarding the project. He let them know he wouldn’t agree on sharing the directing with someone else.
He wanted to have full mandate on the story, steer the plot the way he pleases and not give up any of his ideas. That’s why he always writes his own scripts by himself
His demands wouldn’t work.
It would have been interesting to see what he could have brought to the table, however.
One thing about team-ups is to get each hero’s respective story to work alongside the other’s.
For Zatanna, we find out more about her family’s connection to magic. The Homo Magi race play a more prominent role this time. They have wizards and witches of all ages. One youngster in particular has recently showed real skills.
It’s said they have been around as long as the human civilization. Who are they? Why are they born with magic?
Doctor Fate then. The Mesopotamian deity Nabu who trained him in another kind of supernatural magic, is not really a god but rather a part of a group of higher beings that exist “above” the world. They call themselves Lords of Order (we’ll see a couple of them). They had chosen Kent Nelson to be one of their Earth-based “agents”.
There is some mentioning about their evil counterpart, Lords of Chaos.
Are there some new things introduced here that weren’t shown/hinted in the first rounds?
Oh yes! Another dimension lays “beneath” the world. Here’s where Limbo Town is located. It's a gloomy place with blue-skinned humanoids of supernatural origin. They can also transform into monstrous beings called Horigals.
In some sense it’s similar to our world but with science and technology replaced by sorcery, occultism and dark magic.
Klarion The Witch Boy originates from here. He’s a vastly powerful kid with great knowledge about the more sinister kind of witchcraft, and of real black magic. He’s so wicked that even his own kind have cast him out.
Then he ends up in America, along with his dangerous cat-like creature Teekl. Here he finds an ally, the creepy Melmoth who has a gang of criminal pimp-dressed teenagers working for him.
Klarion starts whispering into people’s ears to do evil deeds. This includes a nod to the rich comic book universe of DC with a little appearance of a kid who’s clearly Jeremy Karne. He’s even credited with that name.
Can Klarion be stopped? What if he’s not alone in his evil-doings? Is there something else lurking in the shadows?
Zatanna and Dr Fate need all the help they can get. Will one Homo Magi be enough? Maybe there’s a need for a superhero or two as well?
Does it sound interesting? Wait, there’s more!
Another force is thrown into the mix. It’s a cosmic wrathful entity that, according to DC Comics, is involved in the bible’s Old Testament. We know its name, it’s Spectre. Now it returns to cleanse the Earth of evil, and it possesses a man to do its bidding. Sounds a little like the film End of Days, with the difference that Spectre is meant to be one of the “good guys”. But is it really that????
All of this is enough to fill two films. The plot is very complicated for just one. There has to be some really good writing to make everything work. If not, it will be too confusing and overstuffed.
Think of the film this as a Burtonverse stew, with Donnerverse (all of the Salkind films) as the salt and pepper. Because those cinematic creations were a “model” for the sequel.
The film also has huge influence from 80s fantasy films The Neverending Story, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal and Ridley Scott’s Legend. All dark in one way or another.
There’s also a Lynchian feel here, with themes from his urban-based films (meaning NOT Dune).
This is the first time there are not only elements from older films and but from books and their authors too. It’s because the DC adaptions should be even more heavy weight.
Hopefully soon, they have to be respected even among filmmakers who see themselves as auteurs.
In this case, the suitable writers to borrow from are Bram Stoker, H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King. You may already know why.
_________________________________________________________
Magic’s Fate (ABC/CBS/DreamWorks/Universal, 2009)
filmed in Louisiana, Minneapolis and Turkey
Directed by Dave McKean and Peter Cattaneo
Produced by Mike Richardson, Mark Gordon, Jon Avnet, Darren Aronofsky
Co-produced by Don Conscarelli, Joe Dante, Stephen Sommers
Written by Michael Goldenberg, Dave McKean, Peter Cattaneo, Tom Cruise
Costume design: Richard Taylor, Robert Lever
Set design: Alan Lee, Stephenie McMillan, Dave McKean, Tom Cruise
Music by Giorgio Moroder & Joseph Conlan
incl re arr of
Dana Kaproff’s Zatanna theme
The Doctor Fate theme by Klaus Doldinger & Shirley Walker
and Dennis McCarthy’s themes for Skyman and Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E
Cast
Kent Nelson/Doctor Fate: Bruce Greenwood
Zatanna Zatara: Rachael Leigh Cook
Klarion Bleak/The Witch Boy: Max Baldry
Beulah Bleak: Ivana Baquero
Submissionary Judah: Peter Mayhew
Melmoth: Michael Ironside
William “Billy” Beezer: Emile Hirsch
Zachary Zatara: Nick Stahl
John Zatara: Peter Cullen
Timothy Hunter: Christian Byers
Nabu: Chuck Norris
Arion: Steven Seagal
Amethyst: Sarah Michelle Gellar
Jim Corrigan/Spectre: James Spader
Sylvester Pemberton/Skyman: Matthew Lawrence
Courtney Whitmore/Star-Spangled Kid II: Abigail Breslin
Pat Dugan/S.T.R.I.P.E: Brendan Fraser
Minor roles and cameos
Exiled king of Limbo Town: Harry Dean Stanton
Limbo Town inhabitants: Stephanie Leonidas, Luke Goss, Ian Ziering, Zooey Deschanel
Homo Magi people: Christina Ricci, Jonathan Jackson, Wil Wheaton, Shailene Woodley
Teenage Kent Nelson during training (flashback): Rupert Grint
Tough biker: Mario van Peebles
Undertaker: Ian Holm
Old priest: Eli Wallach
Jeremy Karne: Robbie Kay
Mordru: Sylvester Stallone (update 10th April)Last edited:Sorry I've not posted in a while.
Did you wonder what happened to the Green Lanterns?
Now we’ll find out.
I must warn you there’s a lot of information given here. Especially with the number of names mentioned. Read carefully!
The sequel was early on supposed to be called Emerald Knights. The trekkie director Nicholas Meyer was already onboard back then.
The plans were changed, the script was put on ice. This should be one of the team-up events instead.
Who should Green Lantern meet, if not Green Arrow? Just as in the 1970s comic books.
It’s been four years since we last saw The Emerald Archer. He gets more than half of the focus here.
For the character, it’s interesting how he goes from a mild-mannered Gene Wilder type as Oliver, to in-suit be more like a James Caan/Steve McQueen combination.
When upset, he also tends to bark like an angry Nick Nolte.
It raises a question, when is he his true self?
The film deals with the Robin Hood mythos which has inspired the hero. But it hasn’t been pointed out as much as it’s done here. This is the third Arrow film, and the first to really bring in the Robin Hood angle.
As expected, we get the social commentary about crime, poverty and injustice.
There’s a new drug on the streets. It spreads like wildfire. A lot of young people are hooked. But it turns out to be dangerous. It’s messes with the mind and it’s very addictive. The users demand more and more of it, leading to many cases of overdosing.
The suspicious English billionaire James Bancroft (a new character) might be involved somehow.
And then there’s the Eastern Europe nobleman Werner Zytle. Comic book readers know him as Count Vertigo (no, he doesn’t wear any suit here but he can still warp senses with a gadget).
Are the two of them working together? Do they make a lot of money from the drug?
Green Arrow and his team must find out if the two have something to do with the drug.
What will happen when their secret is about to be exposed? Are they more ruthless than expected?
There’s some infusion from Dario Argento’s early giallo films here.
Other than that, there are similarities with Robert Wise’s Andromeda Strain and Richard Fleischer’s Soylent Green (because of the drug)
Bancroft is a businessman like Oliver Queen, and tries to outmanoeuvre him. Will Oliver be tricked? Will he lose everything? That could result in some rage from our hero.
Does Bancroft know he’s Green Arrow or does he just view him as an opponent in business?
Green Arrow was generic neo-noir in previous films (Batman is film noir, for comparison).
This gets a make-over. The filming location for Star City moves from Boston to Seattle. The city visuals become more dieselpunk, for having a more unique and darker feel.
Before pre-production, some work by Scorsese were eyed in order to give the script a special feel: Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, King of Comedy, Raging Bull, The Color of Money, Cape Fear and Casino.
A goal was also to pay homage to the westerns by Sergio Corbucci (Django, The Great Silence) and to Sergio Leone too (not only the Dollar trilogy, but his other westerns as well),
This team-up film also follows the legacy of two more directors: John Frankenheimer AND the great Sam Peckinpah.
All this put together, that’s heavy!
The purpose of looking back is that one should be able to imagine every mentioned director above, doing his own Green Arrow adaption. And that this film is a collage of cuts from all of them.
For instance, we can ask ourselves: what if the film could tonally be a spaghetti western set in present day?
What if the film is a gangster flic, AND a giallo, masked as superhero action? Holy green rings!!!
Why stop there? Throw in some early Fellini style as well!!
And treat the heroic team-up as if it’s a part of the Lethal Weapon franchise, the same kind of action and character dynamics.
Oh, that’s a lot!!!
The creative people went nuts here. This film HAS to stand on many legs, blending several styles together. That’s how it gets a worthy place in film history.
Heck, it has even got a car chase that takes place in San Francisco, because that was popular back in the 70s.
I can explain that the writers for every DC film are hired mostly because of their resume, which can be noticed in each superhero film. The writers’ previous work is brought back in the form of small traces here and there. That’s the whole point of hiring them.
This is done in addition to the above stuff, with the honoring of legendary actors/directors and their films.
The writing process starts each morning with watching a given film, then it's all about being creative for the rest of the day. Based on what's been seen.
Can you believe it? The writers get paid for watching films to be inspired by director/actors, so that the script will be affected.
With Magic’s Fate, the world of literature was brought into the DC films. It wasn’t enough with just elements from film history. The script could be even better if the writers looked at how authors tell a story, in books and stage plays.
It doesn’t mean that the different superhero adaptions should tell the same stories, but only that an author’s writing style, and his/her typical themes, can be brought over to the various films.
For this Green Arrow/Green Lantern team-up and the film’s storyline, which is serious, there’s an infusion of general works by Maxim Gorky and Bertol Brecht, and specifically Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.
Quite social-realistic and/or political guys there. It has to be matched by some adventure stuff, because that also belong here. The choice fell on sci fi author Brian Aldiss, and on Alexandre Dumas’ Count of Monte Cristo.
So yeah, the writers read books and stage plays too. When will they find time for the actual script? LOL
What’s new for THIS film is that the music is also taken to another level.
You know there’s a classical piece in Die Hard 2? And the powerful theme in 2001: A Space Odyssey?
The same composers, Sibelius and Richard Strauss, are honored here in 1-2 tracks each for the soundtrack.
It’s not their actual symphonic work that is used. It’s rather a case of the film composer flirting with two classical great minds while writing new music. He was told to so, and he didn’t mind it.
Now you can take a break before you read the rest
Back to the plot of the film.
People have pointed out that the DC adaptions tend to play it safe with the good characters. There’s nothing really at stake. Problems are always solved.
Well, not this time. Roy Harper gets addicted too. He hides his downward spiral until it can’t go unnoticed any longer. He almost dies when he has injected a too high dose into his arm. But he’s saved, the audience can sigh of relief for a while. Until he’s killed by a deadly mercenary, a “human war machine”. (sorry for the spoiler)
Who’s that? Wait and see!
What I’ve gone through above seems to be mostly for Green Arrow’s part of the film. The grounded hero of the story.
I didn’t forget the other half of the team-up. It’s not a Green Arrow solo adventure, with GL as a guest character, although it seems so.
With Green Lantern present, there’s more stuff crammed in. Is that even possible?
The character evolves, with some Peter Fonda characteristics. His part of the story kind of imitates the 80s V series, and the sci fi films Saturn 3 and The Last Starfighter.
Hal is on Earth while the other earthly Lanterns are on a space mission. We’ll never see that one.
He hears some talks about a Robin Hood vigilante who doesn’t shy away from using violence. Not much of a cosmic danger but still worth a look.
That’s how one of the most unexpected pairings ever happen, Green Lantern working together with Green Arrow, joining his crime-filled world with all its twists and turns.
Not just in American cities. It gets international, the duo end up in South Africa at one point. And then they are accidently thrown into some heavy urban crime which they must deal with. It doesn't put the country in a good light, but it's fiction.
Don’t worry. We’ll see the Lantern corps. We’ll get to Oa, which has gotten a visual re-do and now looks like an atompunk world.
There’s a disagreement going on between the corps and the Guardians, regarding how it's led.
A flashback shows how Hal got the ring from Abin Sur in previous GL film. There was another guy who was close to getting it, right? The ring almost landed in the palm of his hand before it steered off in another direction.
That was prison worker Guy Gardner. He was chosen first, he would have become a Green Lantern if Hal didn’t come in the way.
Guy did recognize the ring in media coverage of the hero and was struck with envy. It was meant for him, he nearly had it.
This started an obsession. He wanted that powerful ring for himself, that precious little weapon. He’s always been a self-absorbed person. And something of a hot head.
In this sequel, Guy spies on Green Lantern and finds out about his secret identity.
It’s revealed that he was in fact Hal’s childhood bully who tormented him after the loss of his father (which Alan Scott failed to save despite time travelling)
Out of costume, Hal is no match for Guy. He beats him up and claims the ring.
The Guardians don’t care. As long as there a Green Lantern on Earth, they’re happy. Guy seems to be doing good. He becomes his own kind of hero.
This will later ignite a rebellion in the corps. Many of them will deflect or go rouge.
Before that happens, Sinestro visits Earth to give Hal a new ring crafted specifically for him. Upon meeting Green Arrow, the corps leader is furious over the disgrace to the pure color green. It shouldn’t be used by what he refers to as an anarchist.
A big paycheck was offered David Fincher if he would direct this together with Ivan Reitman. Their qualities would suit the two heroes.
For example, the visuals behind the energy beams from Ghostbusters’ proton packs. That look could be used again when Hal/Guy uses the ring.
Ivan replied that he thinks the DC adaptions are about to develop beyond him. He will hold the film down, make it not reaching its full potential. And he’s already done Flash.
Fincher would really benefit the crime-filled urban setting with its violence, like in Panic Room, Seven and Fight Club. But he went to literary claiming that superheroes are beneath him.
Well, screw him! The film was going to be so good that it will reach high anyway.
It would only lack Fincher’s innovative camera movements. Those would have been a nice little visual detail, an extra dimension to the style. But not really needed.
Cruise tried to get Ridley Scott interested too, but he didn’t want to be involved with CBMs. That’s because he, by the start of 2008, hadn’t yet seen on what level they would become later.
Maybe if certain directors are pummeled in the face, over and over, with the quality of these films, they might understand that nobody are above them.
_____________________________________________________
Green Arrow & Green Lantern (MGM, 2009)
shot in Seattle, Houston, San Francisco and Johannesburg
Directed by Alex Proyas & Nicholas Meyer
Produced by Don Murphy, Brooke Breton
Co-produced by Walter Hill, John McTiernan, Peter Hyams
Written by Philippa Boyens, Robert Towne, Alfred Gough, Tom Cruise
Music by: Philiph Glass
incl re-arr of Michael Kamen’s GA theme
and Howard Blake’s GL theme
Costume design: Kym Barrett, Ngila Dickson
Set design: Anna Pinnock, Dan Hennah, Stuart Craig, Tom Cruise
Cast
Oliver Queen/Green Arrow: Ewan McGregor
Hal Jordan/Green Lantern: Jerry O’ Connell
Sinestro: Richard E Grant
Dinah Drake/Black Canary: Franka Potente
Roy Harper/Speedy: Kieran Culkin
Guy Gardner: Benno Fürmann
James Bancroft: Edward Fox
Werner Zytle: Burt Reynolds
Slade Wilson/Deathstroke: Marc Singer
Killowog: Ron Perlman
Tomar-Re: Brent Spiner
Carol Ferris: Tara Reid
Mayor of Star City: Morgan Freeman
The Guardians leader: David Bowie
Cameos and minor roles
Surprised astronomer: Gillian Anderson
Street musician: Kris Kristofferson
Happy old man: Mickey Rooney
Mrs Bancroft: Joanna Pettet
Gun store owner: John Goodman
Assassin: Gary Busey
Girl at bus station: Emma Watson
Upset druggie: Haley Joel Osment
Hospital nurse: Kate Hudson
Doctor at rehab center: Billy Warlock
TV reporter: Eric Stoltz
Johannesburg Godfather: Richard Roundtree
Easter eggs
Atom (Ray Palmer)
Elongated Man
Prince GavynLast edited:
Frodo
Avenger
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- Points
- 103
Wow. Sounds good and very interesting as a team up film.
I like the character dynamics and how Oliver and Hal are both facing their own individual challenges in addition to their alliance .
Thanks.Wow. Sounds good and very interesting as a team up film.
I like the character dynamics and how Oliver and Hal are both facing their own individual challenges in addition to their alliance .
Yes, the conflicts are both earth-based and cosmic.
I like how the film brings back old filmmaking styles: Argento when he made detective films, Fellini when he was more about neorealism than all the surreal/dreamy stuff that came later.
And this is still an action film. For example, Frankenheimer (one of the influences) made Ronin in 1998. Have you seen that?
I would like to put focus on the writers. Withouth them, this couldn't have been possible. It's them who take care of the story and all that's going on for the characters.
What scripts were they involved with before?
Bonnie & Clyde, Chinatown, Orca, Heaven Can Wait, Greystoke, Frantic, Tequila Sunrise, Days of Thunder,
Lethal Weapon 4, the first two Mission Impossible with Cruise, LOTR trilogy and King Kong (2005).
So I really believe they could manage to tell a good story here.
How did this team-up fare during its cinematic run?
Let's look at the top 20 of the films that had their opening in 2009.
(the fact that this film came towards the end of the year and still played at the beginning of 2010, would mean its total B.O. numbers are counted as of 2009)
1. Avatar
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
3. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
4. Green Arrow & Green Lantern
5. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
6. 2012
7. Up
8. The Twilight Saga: New Moon
9. Sherlock Holmes
10. Angels & Demons
11. Magic's Fate
12. Supergirl
13. The Hangover
14. Mon-El, the son of Daxam
15. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
16. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
17. Star Trek
18. Monsters vs. Aliens
19. Terminator Salvation
20. Fast & Furious
Wow, a big success! It made between $800 000 and $900 000, worldwide.
And the Zatanna/Dr Fate team-up somewhere around $500 000Here it comes! The movie-goers have been waiting for this!
Two superheroes (without biological parents alive) meet. They are the most known DC creations in the comic books, and the first ones to get blockbuster adaptions (1978/1989)
The two were rebooted during the first years of the 2000s, with Cruise and Depp in the roles.
A big number of other DC heroes were also brought to the big screen. A few of them got sequels as well.
It wasn’t just the main 3, 4 or 5 DC guys. This comic book universe is bigger than we realize.
Almost every character the general audience have a vague knowledge about, got his/her own adventure.
The genre grew bigger each year.
Then something happened. Some “solo heroes” teamed up and this boosted the interest in superheroes even more.
After a decade of DC, here’s the big prize for all of the people who have seen the films.
It’s The Big Blue Boy Scout versus The Caped Crusader.
Did I forget something? I have a feeling I did. It’s something important.
Ah, Robin The Boy Wonder is there as well. The third orphan.
The actors for the title characters are the same. But some cast has been changed.
John Nettles didn’t want to be a part of a film spectacle that could sideline Alfred. But I can ensure you the butler gets quite a lot of screen time. His replacement is a WELL known actor.
Perry White, Jimmy Olsen and Gordon are played by others. Overall better picks for these characters compared to last time. Not that the previous guys did bad, which they didn't. It's just that the new ones are better for the roles.
It could have something to do with the writing.
Even Dick Grayson is a new face. It’s someone who was really close to getting the role when Robin was to be reintroduced in Batman in 2007. He was second or third best at the try-outs.
Previous actor feared he would soon age out of the role, and he didn’t want to commit to the pro-longed process of filming/physical training either. It took too much of his time.
And now we get this guy:
Tom Cruise did a last attempt at getting Scorsese. He might be able to give in, now that two of the biggest pop culture characters unite onscreen.
His response was like this
A few other directors started to think he was silly in his stubbornness and pride.
Woody Allen said it’s strange how Scorsese could make all his gangster/urban crime flics but refuse to go to the “siblings” of his own films (referring to Green Arrow and Batman) for no other reason than that the characters are from comic books. It makes no sense at all!
Allen added that he doesn’t do any similar films to DC himself. But if he did, he wouldn’t turn such a project down. Not if he was offered to be involved in the writing process and getting an impact in the direction of the story.
Francis Ford Coppola, the man himself, actually visited the set a couple of times to see how the genre had evolved. He was positively surprised in how the dramatic moments were handled
One “big shot” did agree to be involved (bold name in the film’s crew)
Well, he had his prime behind him, and was kind of “pushed” to do it since a lot of actors from previous DC adaptions had been nagging him to do one cbm.
But all that matters is that he’s now in the process of making this team-up. Its seriousness suited his taste.
During the filming, he had to shake his head at Scorsese’s pride. How could he turn something like THIS down?
Even two filmmaking guys in Scorsese’s “generation”, but less known, were involved in some way, at the end of their careers (written in italics).
How can this cinematic event be described? What did Scorsese miss out on?
What was it that he didn’t want to do as a director?
For a starter, it’s a special kind of action.
You know the “muscle action” films of the 80s? Whatever that means to you, it can be found here: Terminator, Rambo, Predator, Missing in action, Robocop etc etc.
Guess what? The first character on that list even stands model for one of the villains:
Metallo.
Yes, we’ll finally get him!!!!!
So far it doesn’t sound like a typical Scorsese film.
It’s not all action though. The faster pace from previous Bat slows down a bit. Let Green Arrow have his all fights and chases. For Batman, the mood is just as important, if not even more.
Even if he's ninja-like, the atmosphere is crucial.
We also get more time to spend with the characters. Because at this point, the various DC adaptions have become more and more character-driven, to the point of beyond what’s typical for the genre.
Batman is film noir, and the influence this time is the genius Orson Welles.
It’s a great deal of “looking back” when it comes to The Caped Crusader. His first appearance in the film happens at night, and it’s done in the same style as a silent movie (without the scene really being silent at all, and without having a poor 1920s picture quality). It’s for the purpose of creating a special moment for the character.
It’s a short-lived moment of movie magic that’s interrupted by Robin. But the sidekick doesn’t destroy anything at all. He’s rather a good addition to the film.
But I know the real deal here is to have Batman and Superman meet, for the first time in live action. That’s the main draw.
However, with The Boy Wonder present, it’s an extra layer.
The Zorro-esque part of Batman would be fun to explore, wouldn’t it? We don’t have to wait, it happens here.
The relationship between Bruce and Dick is fleshed out. We see how the young ward at Wayne Manor is taught the codes and manners of their social class, and everything that goes with it.
It's not just training for crime fighting, but other things. Leisure fencing and tennis, mastering partner dance, getting knowledge about art and high culture etc.
The two grow really close during the film in a father-son way. At the end, they’re no longer mentor and apprentice. They’re family!!
Bruce and Dick represent some of the heart and soul in the film.
This stands contrast to their alter egos. While Robin is something of a Wesley Crusher and symbolizes youth and hope to some extent, he’s just as much of an ass-kicker as Batman. He’s sinking down into the same darkness. But he’s not yet there.
Dick can be saved. He’s even managed to get himself a girlfriend and is up in seventh heaven about it.
Bruce is a lost cause. It’s gone too far for him. No woman can get under his skin.
Superman then? He’s filled with pure goodness, he handles himself in a manner that puts a nobleman to shame.
And Clark is as far from being heroic as possible. Like it should be.
There’s much more to Kal-El. He’s a surviving kryptonian, a god among men. But despite his powers, he can’t be everywhere at once. In that sense, he’s a human.
Or maybe humanoid is a better word.
He grew up at a rural farm, learnt our ways of life. Then he moved to the big bright city.
We’ll find out about his inner thoughts. He can’t be all that goody two shoes, can he?
No, he isn’t a one-dimensional character. In previous two films, we’ve actually seen some self-doubt.
It’s hard to define how Superman has been treated character-wise after the reboot. But I’ve mentioned before, he’s less of a godly saviour (as in Donnerverse) and more a “Santa Claus” figure. What does that even mean?
What’s CAN be said, is that he has gotten a Gregory Peck make-over for this film. The same physical presence as that actor.
Superman is also, by the people of Metropolis, seen much more as an alien than he was in Donnerverse
What is causing their worlds, Gotham and Metropolis, to meet?
I already mentioned Metallo. It’s someone Batman and Superman must work together to take down. Neither can’t do it alone. Being partly robotic, he’s too strong for a human to fight, and there’s the kryptonite thing going on. Which is the first time it's used after the reboot. Donnerverse had too much kryptonite and it felt fresh to not have it again for a while.
Batman needs his own personal antagonist in the story. He’s not just showing up to assist Supes in the fight with Metallo. There’s more going on.
A trip to Smallville happens. We are also taken overseas, to Germany.
I looked at the 66 series again. What campy villain should get a serious make-over this time?
Not the cowboy guy Shame. Superman has already dealt with something similar (Terra-Man).
Not Archer either. It wouldn’t work since there are Green Arrow films.
I settled for Egghead. He’s the Batman bad guy for the film!
Lex Luthor can be obvious to have as well.
The Superman villain and the Batman villain working together? Of course that should happen! Both are brilliant minds, one just happens to be way more eccentric than the other.
This explains how the two heroes meet each other.
But how can Egghead manage to be serious at all?
It’s all about the writing. They based him partly on Telly Savalas. He was never campy but could actually be menacing.
Is it still too comic book-y to suit Scorsese? Wait, there’s more!
This film is, on one side, a love letter to George Roy Hill. He might not be seen as one of the master directors but he made Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, The Great Waldo Pepper, Slap Shot, A Little Romance and The World According to Garp. Just to mention some.
On the other side, the same is done for Brian De Palma (Phantom of the Paradise, Obsession, Blow Out, Body Double, Scarface, Untouchables, Carlito’s Way). That’s more like it, the kind of material that is regarded higher.
Not all of Palma’s work could be used though but some titles are hinted at through scenery or word-play: The Fury, Dressed to kill, Casualties of war
The writers infuse some little stuff (character-types/themes/visuals and overall mood) from particular films too:
Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, Robert Wise’s The Day The Earth Stood Still, John Carpenter’s Starman, David Bowie’s The Man Who Fell to Earth, Joe Johnston’s Rocketeer, Sam Raimi’s Darkman, Joel Schumacher’s Phantom of the Opera, Louis Malles’ Atlantic City, Scorsese’s Goodfellas, Peter Bogdanovich’s Paper Moon, Hal Ashby’s Harold and Maude, John Boorman’s Hope and Glory, Ken Loach’s Kes, and the two 48 hours films by Walter Hill.
Why? Because each of them could lend something to the team-up.
The world of literature is given in this film.
In GA & GL, there was a whodunit tone. It continues here. This time in the form of Arthur Conan Doyle’s fiction. Suitable for Batman’s role in the plot. He’s the world’s greatest detective, they say.
The writers gave parts of the script a “Dickensian” feel (which means related to Charles Dickens). Other than that, they borrowed from Mary Shelley (guess why!) and Honoré de Balzac, and some stuff from author/playwright August Strindberg.
One could also find a bit of Isaac Asimov's robot philosophy when it comes to Metallo.
I would like to mention that specific literary works inspired the film as well:
Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, Rousseau’s The New Heloise, and On Education by the same author
For the soundtrack, the great Thomas Newman gave the music a classical aura when he looked at Leonard Bernstein for inspiration.
He also used the elements that the late film composer Bernard Herrmann had in his body of work.
In addition, I can mention that a jazz club is visited in a scene. The live band is performing a ragtime melody. It’s worth bringing it up because it has a significance. Older music of America/Europe should from now on be honored through the DC adaptions.
All of the above, together, is what Scorsese refused to do.
He didn’t even look into what the film really was. He doesn’t with any cbm. Because “it’s not cinema!”.
Just as he claims in our real world.
This cbm, though, is almost on pair with his best work. One main difference is that this event film includes male people in tights. Other than this visual detail, the plot is like that of a "real film". The quality is very high.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Batman vs Superman: World’s Finest (Warner Brothers, 2010)
filmed in Chicago, New York, Annapolis and Berlin
Directed by Oliver Stone
(some scenes co-directed by William Friedkin)
Written by Oliver Stone, William Nicholson, David Franzoni, Tom Cruise
Produced by Raffaella De Laurentiis, Peter Bogdanovich
Co-produced by Alan Parker, Jonathan Demme, Barry Levinson, Michael Mann (former Bats/Supes directors)
Music by: Thomas Newman
incl. re-arr of Elmer Bernstein’s Superman theme
and Jerry Goldsmith’s Batman theme
+ a theme exclusively written for Robin
Costume design: Judianna Makovsky, Janty Yates
Costume consultant: Neal Adams
Production design: Emilio Ardura, Crispian Sallis, Arthur Max
Cast
Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman: Hugh Jackman
Bruce Wayne/Batman: James Purefoy
Dick Grayson/Robin: Liam Aiken
Lex Luthor: Billy Zane
Egghead: Timothy Olyphant
Metallo: Jason Statham
Alfred Pennyworth: Robert Duvall
Gordon: Viggo Mortensen
Bullock: Michael Madsen
Mayor of Gotham: Don Johnson
Lois Lane: Kate Beckinsale
Jimmy Olsen: James Franco
Perry White: Sam Neill
Mayor of Metropolis: Woody Harrelson
Minor roles and cameos
Hiro Okamura: Brandon Soo Hoo
Dick’s tutor: Nicholas Hammond
Lex’ assistant: Brandon Call
Fence instructor: David Bradley (not the Potter actor)
People at tennis court: Yasmine Bleeth, Zane Pais, Ashley Olsen
Dance instructor: Julie Christie
Dick’s girlfriend Samantha: Imogen Poots
Restaurant waiter: Owen Wilson
Bank manager: Kathleen Turner
Music professor: Lauren Bacall
Smallville farmer: Bruce Boxleitner
Smallville milkman: Elliot Gould
Truck driver: Powers Boothe
Band leader: Sidney Poitier
Dancing couple: Bud Cort, Shelley Duvall
Graffiti painters: Daniel Radcliffe, Jeremy Sumpter
Thug: Frankie Muniz
Art gallery owner: Daliah Lavi
Literature expert: Bibi Andersson
Count Montgomery: Sean Connery
It's just one easter egg this time. It's one hint about Stargirl.Last edited:
Frodo
Avenger
- Joined
- May 12, 2004
- Messages
- 15,537
- Reaction score
- 13,301
- Points
- 103
Here it comes! The movie-goers have been waiting for this!
Two superheroes (without biological parents alive) meet. They are the most known DC creations in the comic books, and the first ones to get blockbuster adaptions (1978/1989)
The two were rebooted during the first years of the 2000s, with Cruise and Depp in the roles.
A big number of other DC heroes were also brought to the big screen. A few of them got sequels as well.
It wasn’t just the main 3, 4 or 5 DC guys. This comic book universe is bigger than we realize.
Almost every character the general audience have a vague knowledge about, got his/her own adventure.
The genre grew bigger each year.
Then something happened. Some “solo heroes” teamed up and this boosted the interest in superheroes even more.
After a decade of DC, here’s the big prize for all of the people who have seen the films.
It’s The Big Blue Boy Scout versus The Caped Crusader.
Did I forget something? I have a feeling I did. It’s something important.
Ah, Robin The Boy Wonder is there as well. The third orphan.
The actors for the title characters are the same. But some cast has been changed.
John Nettles didn’t want to be a part of a film spectacle that could sideline Alfred. But I can ensure you the butler gets quite a lot of screen time. His replacement is a WELL known actor.
Perry White, Jimmy Olsen and Gordon are played by others. Overall better picks for these characters compared to last time. Not that the previous guys did bad, which they didn't. It's just that the new ones are better for the roles.
It could have something to do with the writing.
Even Dick Grayson is a new face. It’s someone who was really close to getting the role when Robin was to be reintroduced in Batman in 2007. He was second or third best at the try-outs.
Previous actor feared he would soon age out of the role, and he didn’t want to commit to the pro-longed process of filming/physical training either. It took too much of his time.
And now we get this guy:
Tom Cruise did a last attempt at getting Scorsese. He might be able to give in, now that two of the biggest pop culture characters unite onscreen.
His response was like this
A few other directors started to think he was silly in his stubbornness and pride.
Woody Allen said it’s strange how Scorsese could make all his gangster/urban crime flics but refuse to go to the “siblings” of his own films (referring to Green Arrow and Batman) for no other reason than that the characters are from comic books. It makes no sense at all!
Allen added that he doesn’t do any similar films to DC himself. But if he did, he wouldn’t turn such a project down. Not if he was offered to be involved in the writing process and getting an impact in the direction of the story.
Francis Ford Coppola, the man himself, actually visited the set a couple of times to see how the genre had evolved. He was positively surprised in how the dramatic moments were handled
One “big shot” did agree to be involved (bold name in the film’s crew)
Well, he had his prime behind him, and was kind of “pushed” to do it since a lot of actors from previous DC adaptions had been nagging him to do one cbm.
But all that matters is that he’s now in the process of making this team-up. Its seriousness suited his taste.
During the filming, he had to shake his head at Scorsese’s pride. How could he turn something like THIS down?
Even two filmmaking guys in Scorsese’s “generation”, but less known, were involved in some way, at the end of their careers (written in italics).
How can this cinematic event be described? What did Scorsese miss out on?
What was it that he didn’t want to do as a director?
For a starter, it’s a special kind of action.
You know the “muscle action” films of the 80s? Whatever that means to you, it can be found here: Terminator, Rambo, Predator, Missing in action, Robocop etc etc.
Guess what? The first character on that list even stands model for one of the villains:
Metallo.
Yes, we’ll finally get him!!!!!
So far it doesn’t sound like a typical Scorsese film.
It’s not all action though. The faster pace from previous Bat slows down a bit. Let Green Arrow have his all fights and chases. For Batman, the mood is just as important, if not even more.
Even if he's ninja-like, the atmosphere is crucial.
We also get more time to spend with the characters. Because at this point, the various DC adaptions have become more and more character-driven, to the point of beyond what’s typical for the genre.
Batman is film noir, and the influence this time is the genius Orson Welles.
It’s a great deal of “looking back” when it comes to The Caped Crusader. His first appearance in the film happens at night, and it’s done in the same style as a silent movie (without the scene really being silent at all, and without having a poor 1920s picture quality). It’s for the purpose of creating a special moment for the character.
It’s a short-lived moment of movie magic that’s interrupted by Robin. But the sidekick doesn’t destroy anything at all. He’s rather a good addition to the film.
But I know the real deal here is to have Batman and Superman meet, for the first time in live action. That’s the main draw.
However, with The Boy Wonder present, it’s an extra layer.
The Zorro-esque part of Batman would be fun to explore, wouldn’t it? We don’t have to wait, it happens here.
The relationship between Bruce and Dick is fleshed out. We see how the young ward at Wayne Manor is taught the codes and manners of their social class, and everything that goes with it.
It's not just training for crime fighting, but other things. Leisure fencing and tennis, mastering partner dance, getting knowledge about art and high culture etc.
The two grow really close during the film in a father-son way. At the end, they’re no longer mentor and apprentice. They’re family!!
Bruce and Dick represent some of the heart and soul in the film.
This stands contrast to their alter egos. While Robin is something of a Wesley Crusher and symbolizes youth and hope to some extent, he’s just as much of an ass-kicker as Batman. He’s sinking down into the same darkness. But he’s not yet there.
Dick can be saved. He’s even managed to get himself a girlfriend and is up in seventh heaven about it.
Bruce is a lost cause. It’s gone too far for him. No woman can get under his skin.
Superman then? He’s filled with pure goodness, he handles himself in a manner that puts a nobleman to shame.
And Clark is as far from being heroic as possible. Like it should be.
There’s much more to Kal-El. He’s a surviving kryptonian, a god among men. But despite his powers, he can’t be everywhere at once. In that sense, he’s a human.
Or maybe humanoid is a better word.
He grew up at a rural farm, learnt our ways of life. Then he moved to the big bright city.
We’ll find out about his inner thoughts. He can’t be all that goody two shoes, can he?
No, he isn’t a one-dimensional character. In previous two films, we’ve actually seen some self-doubt.
It’s hard to define how Superman has been treated character-wise after the reboot. But I’ve mentioned before, he’s less of a godly saviour (as in Donnerverse) and more a “Santa Claus” figure. What does that even mean?
What’s CAN be said, is that he has gotten a Gregory Peck make-over for this film. The same physical presence as that actor.
Superman is also, by the people of Metropolis, seen much more as an alien than he was in Donnerverse
What is causing their worlds, Gotham and Metropolis, to meet?
I already mentioned Metallo. It’s someone Batman and Superman must work together to take down. Neither can’t do it alone. Being partly robotic, he’s too strong for a human to fight, and there’s the kryptonite thing going on. Which is the first time it's used after the reboot. Donnerverse had too much kryptonite and it felt fresh to not have it again for a while.
Batman needs his own personal antagonist in the story. He’s not just showing up to assist Supes in the fight with Metallo. There’s more going on.
A trip to Smallville happens. We are also taken overseas, to Germany.
I looked at the 66 series again. What campy villain should get a serious make-over this time?
Not the cowboy guy Shame. Superman has already dealt with something similar (Terra-Man).
Not Archer either. It wouldn’t work since there are Green Arrow films.
I settled for Egghead. He’s the Batman bad guy for the film!
Lex Luthor can be obvious to have as well.
The Superman villain and the Batman villain working together? Of course that should happen! Both are brilliant minds, one just happens to be way more eccentric than the other.
This explains how the two heroes meet each other.
But how can Egghead manage to be serious at all?
It’s all about the writing. They based him partly on Telly Savalas. He was never campy but could actually be menacing.
Is it still too comic book-y to suit Scorsese? Wait, there’s more!
This film is, on one side, a love letter to George Roy Hill. He might not be seen as one of the master directors but he made Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, The Great Waldo Pepper, Slap Shot, A Little Romance and The World According to Garp. Just to mention some.
On the other side, the same is done for Brian De Palma (Phantom of the Paradise, Obsession, Blow Out, Body Double, Scarface, Untouchables, Carlito’s Way). That’s more like it, the kind of material that is regarded higher.
Not all of Palma’s work could be used though but some titles are hinted at through scenery or word-play: The Fury, Dressed to kill, Casualties of war
The writers infuse some little stuff (character-types/themes/visuals and overall mood) from particular films too:
Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, Robert Wise’s The Day The Earth Stood Still, John Carpenter’s Starman, David Bowie’s The Man Who Fell to Earth, Joe Johnston’s Rocketeer, Sam Raimi’s Darkman, Joel Schumacher’s Phantom of the Opera, Louis Malles’ Atlantic City, Scorsese’s Goodfellas, Peter Bogdanovich’s Paper Moon, Hal Ashby’s Harold and Maude, John Boorman’s Hope and Glory, Ken Loach’s Kes, and the two 48 hours films by Walter Hill.
Why? Because each of them could lend something to the team-up.
The world of literature is given in this film.
In GA & GL, there was a whodunit tone. It continues here. This time in the form of Arthur Conan Doyle’s fiction. Suitable for Batman’s role in the plot. He’s the world’s greatest detective, they say.
The writers gave parts of the script a “Dickensian” feel (which means related to Charles Dickens). Other than that, they borrowed from Mary Shelley (guess why!) and Honoré de Balzac, and some stuff from author/playwright August Strindberg.
One could also find a bit of Isaac Asimov's robot philosophy when it comes to Metallo.
I would like to mention that specific literary works inspired the film as well:
Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, Rousseau’s The New Heloise, and On Education by the same author
For the soundtrack, the great Thomas Newman gave the music a classical aura when he looked at Leonard Bernstein for inspiration.
He also used the elements that the late film composer Bernard Herrmann had in his body of work.
In addition, I can mention that a jazz club is visited in a scene. The live band is performing a ragtime melody. It’s worth bringing it up because it has a significance. Older music of America/Europe should from now on be honored through the DC adaptions.
All of the above, together, is what Scorsese refused to do.
He didn’t even look into what the film really was. He doesn’t with any cbm. Because “it’s not cinema!”.
Just as he claims in our real world.
This cbm, though, is almost on pair with his best work. One main difference is that this event film includes male people in tights. Other than this visual detail, the plot is like that of a "real film". The quality is very high.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Batman vs Superman: World’s Finest (Warner Brothers, 2010)
filmed in Chicago, New York, Annapolis and Berlin
Directed by Oliver Stone
(some scenes co-directed by William Friedkin)
Written by Oliver Stone, William Nicholson, David Franzoni, Tom Cruise
Produced by Raffaella De Laurentiis, Peter Bogdanovich
Co-produced by Alan Parker, Jonathan Demme, Barry Levinson, Michael Mann (former Bats/Supes directors)
Music by: Thomas Newman
incl. re-arr of Elmer Bernstein’s Superman theme
and Jerry Goldsmith’s Batman theme
+ a theme exclusively written for Robin
Costume design: Judianna Makovsky, Janty Yates
Costume consultant: Neal Adams
Production design: Emilio Ardura, Crispian Sallis, Arthur Max
Cast
Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman: Hugh Jackman
Bruce Wayne/Batman: James Purefoy
Dick Grayson/Robin: Liam Aiken
Lex Luthor: Billy Zane
Egghead: Timothy Olyphant
Metallo: Jason Statham
Alfred Pennyworth: Robert Duvall
Gordon: Viggo Mortensen
Bullock: Michael Madsen
Mayor of Gotham: Don Johnson
Lois Lane: Kate Beckinsale
Jimmy Olsen: James Franco
Perry White: Sam Neill
Mayor of Metropolis: Woody Harrelson
Minor roles and cameos
Hiro Okamura: Brandon Soo Hoo
Dick’s tutor: Nicholas Hammond
Lex’ assistant: Brandon Call
Fence instructor: David Bradley (not the Potter actor)
People at tennis court: Yasmine Bleeth, Zane Pais, Ashley Olsen
Dance instructor: Julie Christie
Dick’s girlfriend Samatha: Imogen Poots
Restaurant waiter: Owen Wilson
Bank manager: Kathleen Turner
Music professor: Lauren Bacall
Smallville farmer: Bruce Boxleitner
Smallville milkman: Elliot Gould
Truck driver: Powers Boothe
Band leader: Sidney Poitier
Dancing couple: Bud Cort, Shelley Duvall
Graffiti painters: Daniel Radcliffe, Jeremy Sumpter
Thug: Frankie Muniz
Art gallery owner: Daliah Lavi
Literature expert: Bibi Andersson
Count Montgomery: Sean Connery
It's just one easter egg this time. It's one hint about Stargirl.
It's another great cast of very good actors in the lead and supporting roles.
I like the idea of bringing Grayson into a WF film as opposed to the usual idea of it just being Superman and Batman , with Robin being absent from the story.
Olyphant as Egghead would certainly be a force to reckon with .
I never thought of Duvall as Alfred, but come to think of it, he would do a good job. I also like the idea of Viggo as Gordon.
Thanks!
I'm satisfied with the cast myself. They would suit the roles well I think
This Egghead is quite different to the original. Based off Savalas and Yul Brunner
Of course Robin should be involved. He was brought back to the big screen in previous film so his absence would be really weird
The film's quality isn't just the cast. I would once again want to point the other people out.
It's not so much the people from 70s/80s/90s sci fi and fantasy films and TV shows (writers/producers/designers) anymore, like it used to be the first years of my big DC vision. Those guys were crucial in shaping this new superhero genre but then we started to move beyond them. To more drama, action and thriller.
We can take the original producers here, for example.
Raffaella De Laurentiis was involved in the two Conan films and then went on with Dune, Ron Howard's Backdraft, Stallone's Daylight, Connery's Dragonheart, Ben Kingsley's The Last Legion and Jackie Chan/Jet Li team-up The Forbidden Kingdom.
Another film on her resume is Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow
Those times a producer happens to be a film director, like Peter Bogdanovich, it also affects the film's direction. He's been doing films since late 60s. Paper Moon is among his works.
William Friedkin steared the film even more, as a co-director.
He's done such titles at The Boys in the Band, French Connection, The Exorcist, and also To Live and Die in L.A.
But we can ask why does it need a co-director at all, when Oliver Stone is helming the thing
Forces like this help this Superman/Batman film to a high level. It's very importantI’ve done about 2/3 of my planned DC films now
We have seen kids grow up to be a superhero a few times. It’s a process that takes time.
Have you ever thought it should happen in the blink of an eye? Suddenly the powers are there. Yes, WHAT IF!!!!
Imagine how cool that would be. But a heavy weight to carry for young people. Especially when dealing with a big threat.
You may guess where I’m going here. Lightening bolts, magic and SHAZAM.
The hero is called Marvelous here, not adding “captain” to his name.
He could have gone with Marvel if it wouldn’t result in a lawsuit from a rivaling comic book company.
As you know, Shazam is actually another character in the story.
The property was to be found at the strangest of places - Hallmark.
That’s right! Not at a film studio! Not at ABC/CBS/NBC either, but Hallmark!!!!!!!
It's true. Hallmark got the rights at the end of the 90s.
What would THEIR take on a superhero be like? The budget can’t be high enough for this sort of thing, can it?
No, despite their Hall of Fame productions each having twice the budget of a TV film, they had to make this adaption with the help from BBC (who's known for their drama productions) and the Norwegian NRK. This in order to be able to make a more expensive film so that it can have a cinematic release.
Why not working together with an American TV channel or a Hollywood studio?
Because then there might be pressure to get into a more formulaic style.
Atleast Hallmark feared that. Their goal was to have a more un-american kind of storytelling, while still having a slightly American drama vibe.
Believe it or not, they did make it work. The solution was to put Billy Batson more in the focus. He doesn’t say the magical word until 35-40 minutes into the film.
Some things have been changed. Billy’s sister Mary Batson (or foster sister, with Bromfield as last name) is not even in the film. He’s given a brother instead, Willy.
The parents must really have lacked imagination when naming their kids, lol
Sunny Sparkle is an obscure side character in the comic books who’s made bigger for the film. In case you don’t know about him, he’s a kid who’s so angelic that everybody wants to give him gifts, and this can even affect criminals.
It could actually have been changed to Sonny to not sound that cheesy and “comic book like”, but NO. He's Sunny!!
This DC adaption is such a triviality compared to the more serious and/or dark DC films that had been coming out for a year.
It's the first one where the main characters are kids. Except for the villain, but he doesn’t have that much screen time.
It was especially hard to cast a Hallmark film, because it is its own thing. Almost like a genre today, kinda. It’s all about relationships and everyday people. No spectacle films!!!
Their films can be well-written dramas sometimes. Take a look at 2003’s A Painted House. That one almost appears to have a slow-paced pre-Shazam tone, but with a different story.
Child actors are also something of a challenge. Especially the younger ones. They grow so fast and talent is more difficult to find than we understand.
Someone who was initially considered for the lead, had to switch to another role in the film. He didn’t match the few co-stars who were already picked. He was looking out of place.
And they had to search some more to find the right actor for Billy. It was the trickiest role to cast because it demanded much.
The story is like this:
Billy Batson likes to dream about being in fantasy lands. Often together with Sunny, his best friend. This is accompanied by Viennese waltzes, ballet music and polkas.
There, they are a knight or a heroic prince, on different adventures. Sometimes rescuing a princess. Their imagination is great.
Billy is constantly teased and tormented for this. The mean bully Justin and his pack have chosen him as their victim.
But Sunny doesn’t get his share of that. Nobody would ever harm him.
One day, Billy’s parents die while doing archeological fieldwork at Knossos, Crete. The circumstances regarding their death are not known. His older brother Willy was with them but has gone missing.
The boy is devastated for the loss. He’s taken care of by child welfare service and supported by the woman who handles his case, Ann Doohan. In a short time, he’s placed with the Freeman family where he will later get a friend for life in their son.
This in particular could make it sound like a serious, tragic drama film. The story has such parts too, though it’s mostly fun and lightweight.
During the mourning process, Billy falls deeper into dreamland. A dragon is making its way into the fairy tale realm, casting its shadow. (foreshadowing the future, in reply)
We’re no longer sure what’s real and what’s imaginary until a real wizard searches him out. It’s Shazam
The boy is taken to a magical cave and granted powers. Because he will need them and “time will tell why and when”.
Some ordinary superhero deeds follow. His foster brother Freddie is so impressed.
We find out that it was the parents’ assistant Theo Adam who killed them. He had gotten into an unexpected state of rage when a medallion was found in a hidden tomb.
The essence of the mighty ancient Egyptian warlord Teth-Adam was inside the jewelry. He had been taken down by a group of magic people when he tried to conquer the Minoan Empire, and was destroyed and buried. They had to push themselves to the limit because he was really powerful.
Before that happened, he had secretly become a father and hidden away the child.
It just so happens that Theo Adam is the descendant of him. That’s why he was affected by the medallion.
Destiny works in mysterious ways.
Little by little, Theo is taken over by the spirit of his ancestor. He’s getting an urge to get rid of Billy. Because he was also chosen to be a champion once. And he can’t stand competition.
That also sounds dark.
But darkness isn’t what we get here. The film is one you can watch with your children.
It’s like a Disneyfied Grimm story, meaning it’s kind of a kids’ fairytale with some family-related struggles, and magic, and bright fantasy realms with royal castles/ballrooms.
A really evil person too, who craves power for the sake of it, but never wins.
Then a happy ending to it all. Here with Marvelous and the wizard Shazam forced to work together to deal with Theo Adam, who’s not even fully powered yet. He’s only possessed by the spirit of his ancestor, meaning there’s no actual Black Adam here.
Think of Cinderella, Show White and Sleeping Beauty, but with a boy protagonist and an adult male antagonist instead. Then you know what this is about.
Lol, the characters can even suddenly burst into song a couple of times here. Right out of nowhere. This makes the film close to a musical, but without being such for real. The drama isn’t interrupted that many times.
At one point, jazz music is brought in. Billy and Freddie, who isn't disabled here, perform a charleston dance in the street. They actually do! It’s almost parodic.
Don’t be alarmed!. Theo Adam never sings or dances!
In addition to the Disney-esque stuff, a little homage is paid to H.C. Andersen. A handful different stories by him are infused in one way or another. Mostly The Ugly Duckling, as you might expect.
This film also has some influences from newer 1900s children literature. Roald Dahl has tonally a big impact. So does Dr Seuss, with his silliness.
If you look closely, you could even claim the writers “steal” from some particular books: A.A. Milne’s Winnie-The-Pooh, Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio and L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz.
And then you’re right. They did!
The music made for the film has elements from the classical composers Johann Strauss I and Tchaikovsky.
German big band leader James Last recorded an extra version of the superhero’s main theme, which is played during the end credits
Moral lessons taught in the film are: be kind, show respect, do good for others, accept yourself for who you are, follow your dreams, do what you’re born do to, raise to the challenge…. and most importantly; don’t be afraid to sing and dance
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Marvelous (Hallmark/BBC/NRK, 2010)
filmed in Tennessee, its countryside as well as Memphis
Directed by Chris Weitz
Produced by Michael Nelson, Aurelio De Laurentiis
Co-produced by Robert Shaye, Ben Sombogaart, Frederik Du Chau
Written by Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz, Ed Naha, Terry Rossio
Music by: Marvin Hamlisch (incl. a "marvelous" theme)
Costume design: Sammy Sheldon Differ, Alex Ross
CAST
Billy Batson: William Miller
Marvelous: Chris Klein
Freddy Freeman: Colin Ford
Sunny Sparkle: Nathan Gamble
Theo Adam: Jack Davenport
David Freeman: Andrew McCarthy
Rebecca Freeman: Diane Lane
The wizard Shazam: Max von Sydow
Ann Doohan: Mary Steenburgen
Justin: Chris O’Neil
Clarence Batson: Patrick Dempsey
Marilyn Batson: Lauren Graham
Willy Batson: Alex Neuberger
Minor roles and cameos
Imaginary king and queen: Alan Alda, Honor Blackman
Princess in fantasy land: Rachel Hurd-Wood
Justin’s bully friends: Billy Unger, Chase Ellison
Imaginary fairy godmother: Harriet Andersson
Confused postman: Jerry Seinfeld
Ice skater: Jessica Alba
Joking school janitor: Ben Stiller
Food store clerk: Katie Holmes
Shocked guy: Joseph Cross
Silent window cleaner: Rowan Atkinson
Guys dressed as cowboys: David Charvet, Johnny Simmons, Johnny FlynnLast edited:“Why don’t we get a sequel to Aquaman? It’s been ages since the film”
“Oh, but you will!”
Here it is.
Don’t be disappointed when I tell you that a few actors have been replaced. It can still be good, you know!
What happens this time?
Atlantis will make its existence known to the world.
What countries will acknowledge it? The Atlanteans don’t care at first, they’re the “oldest nation” in the world.
The sunken island has left the “ancient greek steampunk” aesthetics it had last time, and moved towards something called clockpunk. While still looking Hellenistic.
This change isn’t explained, lol.
Atlantis is a remarkable place. So many different characters can be found there.
There’s even Dolphin. Not the animal but actually a young woman named that.
Do you remember that Aquaman prevented the hijacking of a ship in the previous film?
One of the Somalian modern-day pirates now wants revenge, and has become Black Manta.
Our hero also deals with drug trafficking outside the coast of Florida. It will take him to its source, a Mexican drug cartel.
He’s ditched his human name Arthur Curry, by the way. He’s now only Orin, prince of Atlantis.
His brother Orm is not just king but the self-proclaimed Ocean Master. A case of hubris, perhaps?
There you have it! Plenty of stuff to fill up the film!
Oh, you won’t get away that easy. There’s more. Enough to fill two sequels.
Things are going on in Atlantis. Orin had a quarrel/brawl with Orm in the first film. Now they’re actually fighting over how their empire should be ruled and who better suited for the throne.
Yeah, it would have been fun to see Clive Owen and Brad Pitt clash. But the new actors aren’t bad either.
When looking for a new couple that could play off each other, Jude Law and Christian Bale were in mind. That could have been something.
Matt Damon was also suggested for the lead.
But none of them ended up in the film
It doesn’t matter because the ones we get are amazing
Back to the plot.
Brothers with opposing views, monarchy in trouble, birthright, maybe a coming revolution? Hmm, that sounds like something Bernardo Bertolucci would handle well, with a grand scale.
If you’ve seen 1900, The Last Emperor and Little Buddha, you know what I’m talking about. If Aquaman could be on the same level, it would be an achievement.
Cruise knew that the Italian director was not well and couldn’t helm a big film again.
But it won’t hurt to ask for some advice about the script.
As it turned out, Bertolucci happily accepted to go through an early draft. He thought it was an intriguing adventure with a lot of twists and turns. He knew what Cruise and the studio wanted from him, and handed the script back with notes on every page and an attachment where a handful of scenes had been re-written.
Atlantis politics aside, climate change and its effect on marine life is in focus in the film. It’s claimed to be man-made.
Atlanteans are angry over pollution from our factories, cars and airplanes.
Oil spills and the sea being treated as a trash dump, are other things brought up.
Because of everything, Orm prepares to launch a surprise attack on the surface world. He also plans to lift Atlantis out of the Ocean.
Oh, heavy!!!
But they have now even developed beyond the technological level they were at, when it was a island.
The Elders of Atlantis approach Orin and let him into some very old and hidden facts.
A secret council is held.
Orm’s war must be prevented at all costs, for the sake of both sides. There’s only one solution, and it’s an ancient trident.
It was forged when people came from elsewhere and established Atlantis a loooong time ago.
It’s a king’s staff, the symbol of leadership for every Atlantean leader through many thousand years until the kingdom came to an abrupt end.
Who are these people? Was there really something before Atlantis? Wasn’t it the first civilization?
The answer is, they’re from Lemuria.
Orin can’t believe what he’s told. He thought Lemuria was a myth, like all Atlanteans do. It’s so pre-historic that it was even ancient (forgotten?) by the time Atlantis sunk, more than 12 0000 years ago. At that point, Lemuria was to them what Atlantis is in our real world. Not believed to be a real place.
But it’s true! Atlantis wasn’t the first civilization. Lemuria was.
Let me do a brief backstory!
For a period close to a million years, Lemuria flourished and also started to expand.
Other parts of the globe were colonized by them.
Lemurians built the places we know from myths: Avalon, Thule, Shangri-La, El Dorado, Arcadia and Hyperborea.
These are called “antediluvian civilizations” (meaning “pre-flood”), but Lemuria existed even a long time prior to them. They’re a very old empire, the ancient of the ancients. We can’t even grasp the timespan.
When Lemuria established their last colony which they called Atlantis, it was their biggest achievement. This was the highlight of what’s called the golden age.
Atlantis is also the most known antediluvian civilization.
But in just 50 000 years, which isn’t as long as it sounds, things went south. The Atlanteans lost their way and became too hungry for power and material wealth. The desire to be in control was sky high. Atlantean technology was the most advanced the world had seen, and so was their military power.
Devastating wars happened. It ended the long Lemurian reign, the first human empire lost. They put up of a hell of a fight but it wasn’t enough
Their precious land became too ravaged, war-torn and damaged to live in. They had to find a new place to live and to hide from their enemy. To not have Atlantis suspect anything, they let waves devour the huge Lemurian continent and everything on it.
A few thousand years later, they struck back and destroyed Atlantis from afar with the help of (super-) natural forces. So much that the island sunk. An eye for an eye.
The Lemurians took the trident back during the disaster. Atlantis was no longer worthy of it.
Does it sound intriguing? I will describe the Lemurians further down.
A footnote is that Greenland is believed to have been a lush green place at one point in earth’s history.
Maybe Antarctica too, but I’m not sure if there are such claims about the south pole.
Let’s go back to the film.
There are only eight days to locate the hiding descendants of the mysterious Lemurian empire. They can be somewhere in the Pacific Ocean because that’s where their land was originally located. They can actually be elsewhere too, now.
Orin takes his purple-eyed protégé Garth with him to retrieve the indestructible Trident of Atlantis before Orm declares war. Dolphin tags along too.
Italy is visited during the mission.
The one who holds that staff, he’s the rightful king
Orin and his young companions don’t know if Lemurians are peaceful as the legends claim, or if they’re hostile.
If that wasn’t enough, Black Manta is on their trail. He hasn't got enough even after the first violent encounter.
Let’s skip to the ending, lol
Orin takes over the leadership of Atlantis.
At a UN meeting, an old-fashioned jazz big band plays and our hero talks to some important people before he signs a peace treaty
The story is kind of an “Arthurian plot”. The trident is a powerful symbol that can unite kingdoms, an there’s only one who can wield it: the one who’s meant to be king
Magic and prophecy play a part in this kind of story. The hero has loyal followers too. Yes, the film presents an Arthurian adventure, for sure. And it has nothing to do with the name Arthur Curry lol.
But there’s not really a Merlin here.
As soon as the heroes embark on the quest, the film is more fantasy than the previous film, and more sci fi too. That makes it what’s called science fantasy.
While it’s a new film, there’s a bit of the style from the really old but epic silent films Intolerance (which is called a colossal spectacle) and Birth of a Nation, both by D.W. Griffith. He’s called the father of Hollywood.
The 1976 cult sci fi Logan’s Run is an inspiration as well. The tone and visuals in that film.
Aquaman 2 also has an aura of James Cameron over it, partly deliberately since he’s used water/liquid as a theme or a setting for several of his films (do you remember The Abyss?), partly for the way he handles action in his work.
An attempt was made to get him to do this sequel, but he was too involved with Avatar to have time. It wasn’t out yet when he was offered the Aquaman sequel. He also planned to make a franchise out of his own event film.
Ah, Avatar. I can reveal that the Na’vi are not that different from how Lemurians are portrayed here.
There’s no copying involved. The similarity is accidental. Perhaps Cameron just used the Lemuria myth as well? Who knows?
Main difference is that Cameron’s blue-skinned Indians don’t have any city-like society. Lemuria has that!
But the spirituality is the same. They both live in harmony with nature and there’s a vague element of the supernatural forces in their everyday life. Which the Lemurians actually can channel through their simple weapons. Almost like Gandalf and the other wizards do in LOTR/Bilbo.
Maybe the Lemurian people can even be compared to the various Elves in LOTR trilogy. Again, purely accidental!
The Na’vi doesn’t have that advantage with the same kind of simple weaponry, which is seen in the battle with the humans in Cameron’s film.
In Lemuria, crystals were also used as “computers”. To store information and knowledge. They didn’t use scrolls or books that much.
The script writers flirt with the authors Virginia Wolf and Jules Verne. The latter wrote novels that really fits in with Aquaman, especially the story in the sequel:
Journey to the Center of the Earth, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Mysterious Island, Master of the world, An Antarctic Mystery, The Lighthouse at the End of the World, Invasion of the Sea, Five Weeks in a Balloon, The Floating Island, Around the Moon and the posthumously released Paris in the Twentieth Century.
Verne had much amazing work that could be transferred to the aquatic superhero and Atlantis/Lemuria.
It’s not only the adventures he wrote but some of the titles of his novels as well. They’re intriguing and make your imagination go wild.
Verne is known as a sci fi writer. To get a fantasy tone into the mix was important.
Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea series and Terry Brooks’ large body of works did help with that.
Certain literature has a higher impact on the script than each of the books above has on its own:
Boris Palsternak’s Doctor Zhivago, Thomas More’s Utopia, Dante’s Divina Commedia,
The music in the film is influenced by the classical composers Ravel and Schumann.
The French “electronica pop” duo Air wrote a song to the film.
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Aquaman 2: Atlantis Rising (Paramount, 2010)
filmed in Florida, Rome and, of course, New Zealand
Directed by Paul Verhoeven
Produced by Sadie Frost, Uli Edel, Kirk Jones, Jay Russell, Brad Pitt
Co-produced by Mike Hodges, Lawrence Kasdan, Rick Berman
Written by David Koepp, Michael Miner, Uli Edel
Music by Alexandre Desplat (incl. re-arr of James Horner's theme)
Costume design: Lindy Hemming, Ruth E Carter
Set design: Grant Major, Jim Erickson
Cast
Orin/Aquaman: Paul Bettany
Orm: Jim Caviezel
Garth: Josh Hutcherson
Vulko: Kevin Costner
Mera: Alicia Witt
Black Manta: Jamie Foxx
Atlanna: Linda Hamilton
Dolphin: Amanda Bynes
Minor roles and cameos
Ronno, the Mer-Boy: Thomas Turgoose
Aquarius, Orm’s son: Robert Timmins
Drug trader boss: Pete Postlethwaite
Business man and drug manufacturer: Steve Carell
Politician involved in drug trafficking: Cybil Shepherd
Mexican gangster: Diego Luna
Royal advisors at Atlantean court: Armand Assante, Mary Stavin
Atlantean court jester: Justin Long
Elder Atlanteans: Shirley MacLaine, James Tolkan, Brian Blessed, Ellen Burstyn, Eva Marie Saint, Betty White
Italian historian: Roberto Benigni
Italian social scientist: Giancarlo Giannini
Lemurian Queen: Ursula Andress
Lemurian General of the guards: Brian Cox
Lemurians: Bill Nighy, Meg Foster, Sam Riley, Ed Speelers, Carmen Electra, Axel Etel
UN delegates: Catherine Deneuve, M. Emmet Walsh, James Earl Jones, Diana Rigg
Easter eggs:
Starman (Wiiliam Payton)
Doctor Fate
Vixen
And just to give you some feelin', here are pics
Last edited:There are many planets with civilizations in the comics from DC. Some of them have been seen in the film adaptions I’ve presented:
Mars, Daxam, Oa, Krypton.
It's time to go to another one – Thanagar!
Finally we’ll get there! You will be stunned. The place feels like it’s ancient Egypt in a neo punk setting (I will get back to the Egypt link).
When looking more closely, for example the helmets the Hawk police wear, it’s definitely tech noir!
Never mind those strange sci fi labels. Just call the film cyberpunk and be done with it.
Can I describe what happens? Its complicated as always.
Carter and Shiera are in Egypt, working at a museum. Vandal Savage is still after them. He didn’t get enough even after their first fight.
The heroic couple are also stalked by their young admirer Charley
But then, they learn that they weren’t born in acncient Egypt. They were once winged police officers on an alien world.
Now, they’re called back in service. The police force needs them. There are more criminals to be caught and other things to be dealt with.
A bunch of earthly teenagers have been taken hostage by the Thanagarian government, as a bait for the couple to return and do their duty. If not, who knows what will happen to the kids?
Doesn’t sound like a nice thing to do.
What can be said about Thanagar?
It's a militaristic world that have conquered a few other planets in the past. To get their hands on resources.
Now they’re facing the Manhawks, an even more ruthless version of themselves.
In this film, it’s not another species as they're in the comic books. It’s been simplified for the film (fanboys will rage, lol).
It's members of their own kind that have gotten long-time exposure to a weird kind of radiation in outer space, and changed into something more bird-like and violent. Like a disease.
I could mention vampirism or zombiefication as examples, but then you will get the wrong idea of what this sickness is.
Comparing it to werewolves would be better, but still not completely similar.
It's worth mentioning that Thanagarians came to Earth many thousands of years ago. We were one of the worlds invaded by them.
They struck our most developed civilization for its time. Partly because it needed to be dealt with first, partly because it was the most fun challenge.
Some resisted and put up a fight, but these were fought and driven out.
The majority of the inhabitants were more simple and didn’t pose a threat.
The Thanagarians took care of the leadership and demanded to be worshipped.
You may have guessed where it was?
The land was Egypt, which they re-shaped to their own liking. Making it look similar to their homeworld.
The Thanagarians were the ones who introduced the pyramid structure in the area. Because that’s the shape of their bigger starships, as well as some important buildings back home.
Before that, Egypt was more like a very early version of the Minoan empire on Crete.
The soil was much more fertile. The land was once green, a lush place.
The famous Egyptian mythology was modelled after Thanagarians.
While on Earth, they discovered something new to them. Our earth has magic.
They learned to master it quickly and could make their souls immortal, living on as godly spirits.
Leading members of the invading force, and the following couple of generations, actually had names such as Ra, Set, Horus, Isis, Osiris etc, so it wasn’t a stretch.
After taking over Egypt, they didn’t feel a need to conquer anymore for a long time.
Katar Hol and Shayera Thal, as our heroes were called back at Thanagar, lived about a couple of thousand years after this war. They were not only partners on the police force but had feelings for each other too.
The couple went to Earth on a mission to check up some local disturbance but their spacecraft malfunctioned and they had to eject themselves to survive. Then they were found by the priest Hath-Set.
Evil as he was, he decided to wipe their minds and give them fake memories. He already had some control over the royal palace.
He altered their physical shape to have them look different. Katar was placed at the court, as a young prince. Shayera became his priestess, as well as his mistress.
That’s how Khufu and Chay-Ara came to be, as seen in previous film. And that’s why they felt a connection to the hawk armor found in the wreckage of their ship.
The Hawk sequel goes into the following Ridley Scott territory:
Blade Runner, Someone To Watch Over Me, Black Rain, 1492, G.I. Jane, Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven.
There’s an infusion of John Boorman:
Zardoz, Excalibur, The Emerald Forest
Especially the director’s “weirdness”.
Quite noticeable traces of Wolfgang Petersen’s Stargate and David Lynch’s Dune and Predator 2 are also seen.
Because the male lead is played by someone else, there was an opportunity to bring something new to the character. He’s Clark Gable, and young Anthony Quinn, and 60s/70s Sean Connery. All weaved into one
To get a rich story as possible, the script writers blended works from authors Günther Grass, Franz Kafka, Rudyard Kipling, Philip K Dick and Terry Goodkind,
And from poet Charles Baudelaire and playwright Henrik Ibsen.
I can also mention a particular book that they read beforehand:
1984 by George Orwell. That one describes a bit of Thanagar.
The music is inspired by the composers Dvořák and Gustav Mahler.
One group contributed to the film with a song. I will reveal which one if you are curious.
Easter eggs:
Martian Manhunter
Adam Strange
Hawkman & Hawkwoman: The Legacy of Thanagar (Universal, 2010)
Filmed in Cairo + the Sahara desert + the Australian outback
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen
Produced by Robert Gordon, Stefen Fangmeier, Zach Helm
Co-produced by John Carpenter, Alfonso Cuarón
Written by Fran Walsh, William Wisher, Alfonso Cuarón, Robert Gordon, Zach Helm
Music by: David Arnold (incl re-arr of the theme by Mike Post/Eric Wurst/David Wurst)
Costume design: Bob Ringwood, Jany Temime
Set design: Bo Welch, Satarupa Bradley
CAST
Katar Hol/Carter Hall: Karl Urban
Shayera Thal/Shiera Sanders: Jessica Biel
Vandal Savage: Joe Mantegna
Fell Andar: Christopher Eccleston
Byth Rok: Laurence Fishburne
Corla Tavo/Corla Shilak: Linda Blair
Darl Klus: Udo Kier
Krotan: F. Murray Abraham
the kidnapped youngsters
Jenny: Dakota Fanning
Raymond: Jimmy Bennett
Teresa: Dakota Blue Richards
Frank: Zach Mills
William: Samuel Patrick Chu
Cameos and minor roles
Earth:
Charley Parker: Jonathan Timmins
Cairo museum visitor: Hilary Duff
Thanagar:
Various police officers through the film: Hilary Swank, Billy Cudrup, Juliette Lewis, Michael Pitt, Kelly Macdonald, Jeremy Jackson
Police captain: Patrick Warburton
Politicians: Charlotte Rampling, Gabriel Byrne, Hugh Grant, Kristina Wayborn
Obnoxious teen: Nicholas Hoult
There's also cameo appearances of so-called "egyptian deities":
Nephthys: Jacqueline Bisset
Thoth: Leonard Nimoy
Isis: Vanessa Redgrave
I haven't yet decided if they're spirits, ancient holograms, old Thanagarians or "gods".
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There are many planets with civilizations in the comics from DC. Some of them have been seen in the film adaptions I’ve presented:
Mars, Daxam, Oa, Krypton.
It's time to go to another one – Thanagar!
Finally we’ll get there! You will be stunned. The place feels like it’s ancient Egypt in a neo punk setting (I will get back to the Egypt link).
When looking more closely, for example the helmets the Hawk police wear, it’s definitely tech noir!
Never mind those strange sci fi labels. Just call the film cyberpunk and be done with it.
Can I describe what happens? Its complicated as always.
Carter and Shiera are in Egypt, working at a museum. Vandal Savage is still after them. He didn’t get enough even after their first fight.
The heroic couple are also stalked by their young admirer Charley
But then, they learn that they weren’t born in acncient Egypt. They were once winged police officers on an alien world.
Now, they’re called back in service. The police force needs them. There are more criminals to be caught and other things to be dealt with.
A bunch of earthly teenagers have been taken hostage by the Thanagarian government, as a bait for the couple to return and do their duty. If not, who knows what will happen to the kids?
Doesn’t sound like a nice thing to do.
What can be said about Thanagar?
It's a militaristic world that have conquered a few other planets in the past. To get their hands on resources.
Now they’re facing the Manhawks, an even more ruthless version of themselves.
In this film, it’s not another species as they're in the comic books. It’s been simplified for the film (fanboys will rage, lol).
It's members of their own kind that have gotten long-time exposure to a weird kind of radiation in outer space, and changed into something more bird-like and violent. Like a disease.
I could mention vampirism or zombiefication as examples, but then you will get the wrong idea of what this sickness is.
Comparing it to werewolves would be better, but still not completely similar.
It's worth mentioning that Thanagarians came to Earth many thousands of years ago. We were one of the worlds invaded by them.
They struck our most developed civilization for its time. Partly because it needed to be dealt with first, partly because it was the most fun challenge.
Some resisted and put up a fight, but these were fought and driven out.
The majority of the inhabitants were more simple and didn’t pose a threat.
The Thanagarians took care of the leadership and demanded to be worshipped.
You may have guessed where it was?
The land was Egypt, which they re-shaped to their own liking. Making it look similar to their homeworld.
The Thanagarians were the ones who introduced the pyramid structure in the area. Because that’s the shape of their bigger starships, as well as some important buildings back home.
Before that, Egypt was more like a very early version of the Minoan empire on Crete.
The soil was much more fertile. The land was once green, a lush place.
The famous Egyptian mythology was modelled after Thanagarians.
While on Earth, they discovered something new to them. Our earth has magic.
They learned to master it quickly and could make their souls immortal, living on as godly spirits.
Leading members of the invading force, and the following couple of generations, actually had names such as Ra, Set, Horus, Isis, Osiris etc, so it wasn’t a stretch.
After taking over Egypt, they didn’t feel a need to conquer anymore for a long time.
Katar Hol and Shayera Thal, as our heroes were called back at Thanagar, lived about a couple of thousand years after this war. They were not only partners on the police force but had feelings for each other too.
The couple went to Earth on a mission to check up some local disturbance but their spacecraft malfunctioned and they had to eject themselves to survive. Then they were found by the priest Hath-Set.
Evil as he was, he decided to wipe their minds and give them fake memories. He already had some control over the royal palace.
He altered their physical shape to have them look different. Katar was placed at the court, as a young prince. Shayera became his priestess, as well as his mistress.
That’s how Khufu and Chay-Ara came to be, as seen in previous film. And that’s why they felt a connection to the hawk armor found in the wreckage of their ship.
The Hawk sequel goes into the following Ridley Scott territory:
Blade Runner, Someone To Watch Over Me, Black Rain, 1492, G.I. Jane, Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven.
There’s an infusion of John Boorman:
Zardoz, Excalibur, The Emerald Forest
Especially the director’s “weirdness”.
Quite noticeable traces of Wolfgang Petersen’s Stargate and David Lynch’s Dune and Predator 2 are also seen.
Because the male lead is played by someone else, there was an opportunity to bring something new to the character. He’s Clark Gable, and young Anthony Quinn, and 60s/70s Sean Connery. All weaved into one
To get a rich story as possible, the script writers blended works from authors Günther Grass, Franz Kafka, Rudyard Kipling, Philip K Dick and Terry Goodkind,
And from poet Charles Baudelaire and playwright Henrik Ibsen.
I can also mention a particular book that they read beforehand:
1984 by George Orwell. That one describes a bit of Thanagar.
The music is inspired by the composers Dvořák and Gustav Mahler.
One group contributed to the film with a song. I will reveal which one if you are curious.
Easter eggs:
Martian Manhunter
Adam Strange
Hawkman & Hawkwoman: The Legacy of Thanagar (Universal, 2010)
Filmed in Cairo + the Sahara desert + the Australian outback
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen
Produced by Robert Gordon, Stefen Fangmeier, Zach Helm
Co-produced by John Carpenter, Alfonso Cuarón
Written by Fran Walsh, William Wisher, Alfonso Cuarón, Robert Gordon, Zach Helm
Music by: David Arnold (incl re-arr of the theme by Mike Post/Eric Wurst/David Wurst)
Costume design: Bob Ringwood, Jany Temime
Set design: Bo Welch, Satarupa Bradley
CAST
Katar Hol/Carter Hall: Karl Urban
Shayera Thal/Shiera Sanders: Jessica Biel
Vandal Savage: Joe Mantegna
Fell Andar: Christopher Eccleston
Byth Rok: Laurence Fishburne
Corla Tavo/Corla Shilak: Linda Blair
Darl Klus: Udo Kier
Krotan: F. Murray Abraham
the kidnapped youngsters
Jenny: Dakota Fanning
Raymond: Jimmy Bennett
Teresa: Dakota Blue Richards
Frank: Zach Mills
William: Samuel Patrick Chu
Cameos and minor roles
Earth:
Charley Parker: Jonathan Timmins
Cairo museum visitor: Hilary Duff
Thanagar:
Various police officers through the film: Hilary Swank, Billy Cudrup, Juliette Lewis, Michael Pitt, Kelly Macdonald, Jeremy Jackson
Police captain: Patrick Warburton
Politicians: Charlotte Rampling, Gabriel Byrne, Hugh Grant, Kristina Wayborn
Obnoxious teen: Nicholas Hoult
There's also cameo appearances of so-called "egyptian deities":
Nephthys: Jacqueline Bisset
Thoth: Leonard Nimoy
Isis: Vanessa Redgrave
I haven't yet decided if they're spirits, ancient holograms, old Thanagarians or "gods".
Pretty awesome and epic Airwings.
Karl Urban as Hawkman is inspired , and I also think Jessica Biel is a great fit for Hawkwoman.
Mantenga could also play a good Vandal Savage with the intellect combined with menace.
The rest of the cast is also really cool.
Wolfgang Peterson is also a great fit given his work on films like Troy.
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“Why don’t we get a sequel to Aquaman? It’s been ages since the film”
“Oh, but you will!”
Here it is.
Don’t be disappointed when I tell you that a few actors have been replaced. It can still be good, you know!
What happens this time?
Atlantis will make its existence known to the world.
What countries will acknowledge it? The Atlanteans don’t care at first, they’re the “oldest nation” in the world.
The sunken island has left the “ancient greek steampunk” aesthetics it had last time, and moved towards something called clockpunk. While still looking Hellenistic.
This change isn’t explained, lol.
Atlantis is a remarkable place. So many different characters can be found there.
There’s even Dolphin. Not the animal but actually a young woman named that.
Do you remember that Aquaman prevented the hijacking of a ship in the previous film?
One of the Somalian modern-day pirates now wants revenge, and has become Black Manta.
Our hero also deals with drug trafficking outside the coast of Florida. It will take him to its source, a Mexican drug cartel.
He’s ditched his human name Arthur Curry, by the way. He’s now only Orin, prince of Atlantis.
His brother Orm is not just king but the self-proclaimed Ocean Master. A case of hubris, perhaps?
There you have it! Plenty of stuff to fill up the film!
Oh, you won’t get away that easy. There’s more. Enough to fill two sequels.
Things are going on in Atlantis. Orin had a quarrel/brawl with Orm in the first film. Now they’re actually fighting over how their empire should be ruled and who better suited for the throne.
Yeah, it would have been fun to see Clive Owen and Brad Pitt clash. But the new actors aren’t bad either.
When looking for a new couple that could play off each other, Jude Law and Christian Bale were in mind. That could have been something.
Matt Damon was also suggested for the lead.
But none of them ended up in the film
It doesn’t matter because the ones we get are amazing
Back to the plot.
Brothers with opposing views, monarchy in trouble, birthright, maybe a coming revolution? Hmm, that sounds like something Bernardo Bertolucci would handle well, with a grand scale.
If you’ve seen 1900, The Last Emperor and Little Buddha, you know what I’m talking about. If Aquaman could be on the same level, it would be an achievement.
Cruise knew that the Italian director was not well and couldn’t helm a big film again.
But it won’t hurt to ask for some advice about the script.
As it turned out, Bertolucci happily accepted to go through an early draft. He thought it was an intriguing adventure with a lot of twists and turns. He knew what Cruise and the studio wanted from him, and handed the script back with notes on every page and an attachment where a handful of scenes had been re-written.
Atlantis politics aside, climate change and its effect on marine life is in focus in the film. It’s claimed to be man-made.
Atlanteans are angry over pollution from our factories, cars and airplanes.
Oil spills and the sea being treated as a trash dump, are other things brought up.
Because of everything, Orm prepares to launch a surprise attack on the surface world. He also plans to lift Atlantis out of the Ocean.
Oh, heavy!!!
But they have now even developed beyond the technological level they were at, when it was a island.
The Elders of Atlantis approach Orin and let him into some very old and hidden facts.
A secret council is held.
Orm’s war must be prevented at all costs, for the sake of both sides. There’s only one solution, and it’s an ancient trident.
It was forged when people came from elsewhere and established Atlantis a loooong time ago.
It’s a king’s staff, the symbol of leadership for every Atlantean leader through many thousand years until the kingdom came to an abrupt end.
Who are these people? Was there really something before Atlantis? Wasn’t it the first civilization?
The answer is, they’re from Lemuria.
Orin can’t believe what he’s told. He thought Lemuria was a myth, like all Atlanteans do. It’s so pre-historic that it was even ancient (forgotten?) by the time Atlantis sunk, more than 12 0000 years ago. At that point, Lemuria was to them what Atlantis is in our real world. Not believed to be a real place.
But it’s true! Atlantis wasn’t the first civilization. Lemuria was.
Let me do a brief backstory!
For a period close to a million years, Lemuria flourished and also started to expand.
Other parts of the globe were colonized by them.
Lemurians built the places we know from myths: Avalon, Thule, Shangri-La, El Dorado, Arcadia and Hyperborea.
These are called “antediluvian civilizations” (meaning “pre-flood”), but Lemuria existed even a long time prior to them. They’re a very old empire, the ancient of the ancients. We can’t even grasp the timespan.
When Lemuria established their last colony which they called Atlantis, it was their biggest achievement. This was the highlight of what’s called the golden age.
Atlantis is also the most known antediluvian civilization.
But in just 50 000 years, which isn’t as long as it sounds, things went south. The Atlanteans lost their way and became too hungry for power and material wealth. The desire to be in control was sky high. Atlantean technology was the most advanced the world had seen, and so was their military power.
Devastating wars happened. It ended the long Lemurian reign, the first human empire lost. They put up of a hell of a fight but it wasn’t enough
Their precious land became too ravaged, war-torn and damaged to live in. They had to find a new place to live and to hide from their enemy. To not have Atlantis suspect anything, they let waves devour the huge Lemurian continent and everything on it.
A few thousand years later, they struck back and destroyed Atlantis from afar with the help of (super-) natural forces. So much that the island sunk. An eye for an eye.
The Lemurians took the trident back during the disaster. Atlantis was no longer worthy of it.
Does it sound intriguing? I will describe the Lemurians further down.
A footnote is that Greenland is believed to have been a lush green place at one point in earth’s history.
Maybe Antarctica too, but I’m not sure if there are such claims about the south pole.
Let’s go back to the film.
There are only eight days to locate the hiding descendants of the mysterious Lemurian empire. They can be somewhere in the Pacific Ocean because that’s where their land was originally located. They can actually be elsewhere too, now.
Orin takes his purple-eyed protégé Garth with him to retrieve the indestructible Trident of Atlantis before Orm declares war. Dolphin tags along too.
Italy is visited during the mission.
The one who holds that staff, he’s the rightful king
Orin and his young companions don’t know if Lemurians are peaceful as the legends claim, or if they’re hostile.
If that wasn’t enough, Black Manta is on their trail. He hasn't got enough even after the first violent encounter.
Let’s skip to the ending, lol
Orin takes over the leadership of Atlantis.
At a UN meeting, an old-fashioned jazz big band plays and our hero talks to some important people before he signs a peace treaty
The story is kind of an “Arthurian plot”. The trident is a powerful symbol that can unite kingdoms, an there’s only one who can wield it: the one who’s meant to be king
Magic and prophecy play a part in this kind of story. The hero has loyal followers too. Yes, the film presents an Arthurian adventure, for sure. And it has nothing to do with the name Arthur Curry lol.
But there’s not really a Merlin here.
As soon as the heroes embark on the quest, the film is more fantasy than the previous film, and more sci fi too. That makes it what’s called science fantasy.
While it’s a new film, there’s a bit of the style from the really old but epic silent films Intolerance (which is called a colossal spectacle) and Birth of a Nation, both by D.W. Griffith. He’s called the father of Hollywood.
The 1976 cult sci fi Logan’s Run is an inspiration as well. The tone and visuals in that film.
Aquaman 2 also has an aura of James Cameron over it, partly deliberately since he’s used water/liquid as a theme or a setting for several of his films (do you remember The Abyss?), partly for the way he handles action in his work.
An attempt was made to get him to do this sequel, but he was too involved with Avatar to have time. It wasn’t out yet when he was offered the Aquaman sequel. He also planned to make a franchise out of his own event film.
Ah, Avatar. I can reveal that the Na’vi are not that different from how Lemurians are portrayed here.
There’s no copying involved. The similarity is accidental. Perhaps Cameron just used the Lemuria myth as well? Who knows?
Main difference is that Cameron’s blue-skinned Indians don’t have any city-like society. Lemuria has that!
But the spirituality is the same. They both live in harmony with nature and there’s a vague element of the supernatural forces in their everyday life. Which the Lemurians actually can channel through their simple weapons. Almost like Gandalf and the other wizards do in LOTR/Bilbo.
Maybe the Lemurian people can even be compared to the various Elves in LOTR trilogy. Again, purely accidental!
The Na’vi doesn’t have that that advantage with the same kind of simple weaponry, which is seen in the battle with the humans in Cameron’s film.
In Lemuria, crystals were also used as “computers”. To store information and knowledge. They didn’t use scrolls or books that much.
The script writers flirt with the authors Virginia Wolf and Jules Verne. The latter wrote novels that really fits in with Aquaman, especially the story in the sequel:
Journey to the Center of the Earth, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Mysterious Island, Master of the world, An Antarctic Mystery, The Lighthouse at the End of the World, Invasion of the Sea, Five Weeks in a Balloon, The Floating Island, Around the Moon and the posthumously released Paris in the Twentieth Century.
Verne had much amazing work that could be transferred to the aquatic superhero and Atlantis/Lemuria.
It’s not only the adventures he wrote but some of the titles of his novels as well. They’re intriguing and make your imagination go wild.
Verne is known as a sci fi writer. To get a fantasy tone into the mix was important.
Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea series and Terry Brooks’ large body of works did help with that.
Certain literature has a higher impact on the script than each of the books above has on its own:
Boris Palsternak’s Doctor Zhivago, Thomas More’s Utopia, Dante’s Divina Commedia,
The music in the film is influenced by the classical composers Ravel and Schumann.
The French “electronica pop” duo Air wrote a song to the film.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aquaman 2: Atlantis Rising (Paramount, 2010)
filmed in Florida, Rome and, of course, New Zealand
Directed by Paul Verhoeven
Produced by Sadie Frost, Uli Edel, Kirk Jones, Jay Russell, Brad Pitt
Co-produced by Mike Hodges, Lawrence Kasdan, Rick Berman
Written by David Koepp, Michael Miner, Uli Edel
Music by Alexandre Desplat (incl. re-arr of James Horner's theme)
Costume design: Lindy Hemming, Ruth E Carter
Set design: Grant Major, Jim Erickson
Cast
Orin/Aquaman: Paul Bettany
Orm: Jim Caviezel
Garth: Josh Hutcherson
Vulko: Kevin Costner
Mera: Alicia Witt
Black Manta: Jamie Foxx
Atlanna: Linda Hamilton
Dolphin: Amanda Bynes
Minor roles and cameos
Ronno, the Mer-Boy: Thomas Turgoose
Aquarius, Orm’s son: Robert Timmins
Drug trader boss: Pete Postlethwaite
Business man and drug manufacturer: Steve Carell
Politician involved in drug trafficking: Cybil Shepherd
Mexican gangster: Diego Luna
Royal advisors at Atlantean court: Armand Assante, Mary Stavin
Atlantean court jester: Justin Long
Elder Atlanteans: Shirley MacLaine, James Tolkan, Brian Blessed, Ellen Burstyn, Eva Marie Saint, Betty White
Italian historian: Roberto Benigni
Italian social scientist: Giancarlo Giannini
Lemurian Queen: Ursula Andress
Lemurian General of the guards: Brian Cox
Lemurians: Bill Nighy, Meg Foster, Sam Riley, Ed Speelers, Carmen Electra, Axel Etel
UN delegates: Catherine Deneuve, M. Emmet Walsh, James Earl Jones, Diana Rigg
Easter eggs:
Starman (Wiiliam Payton)
Doctor Fate
Vixen
And just to give you some feelin', here are pics
View attachment 45434
I like the concepts here with Aquaman 2. It mixes the grandeur and mythological elements with the more real world aspects of Arthur and Black Manta's backgrounds.
Paul Bettany is an interesting choice for Aquaman. Even though he's played villains and supporting roles in the past , it would be interesting to see him play a Leader for once.
He certainly has the physical stature being 6'3, and he also has a regal quality about him.
You can believe he is a Prince or a King. These pics are several years old I think, but he has longer hair here, and gives off an Aquaman vibe to me.
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Hallmark channel would be an interesting fit for Marvelous film and story. It'd be interesting to see them delve into the superhero realm , and Captain Marvel would fit there very family friendly content.
Shazam is one of those DC characters I don't know much about beyond the film, but your story sounds interesting and visually , it would be a treat..Similar threads
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