A vision for how they should have adapted DC Comics heroes in the 2000

[Airwings]

Third Flash film.
The hero has now his own trilogy.

Leonardo DiCaprio left the role. If he hadn’t, Scorsese would refuse to work with him on Shutter Island.
The actor still remained behind the camera to the veteran director’s disliking.

To better match with a younger Barry actor, Iris was re-cast too.

Mel Brooks and Terry Gilliam consulted unofficially on the previous film. This time, both took on a more active part in the production.

Here we get the closest to have The Rouges.
Flash will have his hands full!!!
Mirror Master is the first villain of several to appear. He seems to be a bit supernatural here.

Mirror World is visited. It’s not populated by Orinocas as in the comics.
It's rather a plain mirror version of our own reality. But with a few differences.
Maybe some of the villains get to our world through portals? Who knows?

Midway through the film, Barry accidently ends up in 1990.
When he returns to present day, things have changed. Iris only know him as a childhood classmate.
And the Barry Allen of this alternate reality is a car mechanic without superpowers.
If he doesn’t reset time again and correct what’s wrong, he will lose his memories and become his new self.

There’s no Jay Garrick to help out this time!

This is quite an action-packed film. Heavier than the previous two (just look at the director!)
But there’s a lot of humor. Without it taking over.
Some classic surrealism also plays a big part

The script writers and the crew weaved some commedia dell’arte elements into the film.

The story flirts with Time Machine by H.G. Wells and Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett.

There’s traces of Gustave Flaubert and Dario Fo, in general. No specific work by them has more impact than the rest

Since there’s a new actor, the character is a bit different despite being the same as before.
Donald Sutherland and Richard Harris were an inspiration

On the director side, there’s a blend of the 80s films by Robert Zemeckis and Ivan Reitman here. Now and then, it’s quite noticeable.
You know the saying “always go for the best”?

The composer does from time to time almost copy the basics behind the classical music guys Vivaldi and Brahms. He did it on purpose.

A little Dixieland jazz is heard playing in the background in one scene.
Denis King and his orchestra plays live at a concert hall in another scene. It’s mostly swing and typical big band music then.

Norwegian pop group A-ha were talked into recording a song for the film.

One of the cameos is just a picture. It’s a poster of a Booster Gold movie, starring no-one else than… Zac Efron.
Does this clear things up or make everything more confusing?
We know the character has appeared in two earlier DC films. But it seems he’s just a fictional character in Flash’s world.

The usual easter eggs (without the characters showing up, like it’s always done):
Black Canary
Hourman
Sandman (Wesley Dodds)
Constantine

Return of the Flash (Paramount, 2011)
filmed in Kansas City and Denver

Directed by Tony Scott
Produced by Marsha Oglesby, Baz Lurhmann
Co-produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, Mel Brooks, Terry Gilliam

Written by Paul Attansio, Steve Kloves
Additional writing: Terry Gilliam

Music by: Mark Isham
incl re-arr of Flash theme by Giorgio Moroder & Jay Gruska

Costume design: Sanja Milkovic Hays

CAST
Barry Allen/Flash: Garret Hedlund
Iris West: Jennifer Love Hewitt
Sam Scudder/Mirror Master: Cillian Murphy
Mark Mardon/Weather Wizard: Jonathan Rhys-Meyers
Leonard Snart/Captain Cold: Kevin Spacey
Gorilla Grodd: Michael Clarke Duncan (voice)

Cameos and minor roles
Mayor of Central City: Alec Baldwin
Booster Gold movie poster: Zac Efron
Caretaker: Tim Curry
Package delivery man: Joshua Jackson
Denis King as himself

Teenager in 1990: Skandar Keynes
Futurist architect in 1990: Julianne Moore

Alternate reality
Car mechanics: Steve Buscemi, Chris Rock
Dissatisfied customer: Naomi Watts

Mirror World:
Chief of police: John Travolta
Mob boss: Harold Ramis
Mayor: David Strathaim

 

[Frodo]

Third Flash film.
The hero has now his own trilogy.

Leonardo DiCaprio left the role. If he hadn’t, Scorsese would refuse to work with him on Shutter Island.
The actor still remained behind the camera to the veteran director’s disliking.

To better match with a younger Barry actor, Iris was re-cast too.

Mel Brooks and Terry Gilliam consulted unofficially on the previous film. This time, both took on a more active part in the production.

Here we get the closest to have The Rouges.
Flash will have his hands full!!!
Mirror Master is the first villain of several to appear. He seems to be a bit supernatural here.

Mirror World is visited. It’s not populated by Orinocas as in the comics.
It's rather a plain mirror version of our own reality. But with a few differences.
Maybe some of the villains get to our world through portals? Who knows?

Midway through the film, Barry accidently ends up in 1990.
When he returns to present day, things have changed. Iris only know him as a childhood classmate.
And the Barry Allen of this alternate reality is a car mechanic without superpowers.
If he doesn’t reset time again and correct what’s wrong, he will lose his memories and become his new self.

There’s no Jay Garrick to help out this time!

This is quite an action-packed film. Heavier than the previous two (just look at the director!)
But there’s a lot of humor. Without it taking over.
Some classic surrealism also plays a big part

The script writers and the crew weaved some commedia dell’arte elements into the film.

The story flirts with Time Machine by H.G. Wells and Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett.

There’s traces of Gustave Flaubert and Dario Fo, in general. No specific work by them has more impact than the rest

Since there’s a new actor, the character is a bit different despite being the same as before.
Donald Sutherland and Richard Harris were an inspiration

On the director side, there’s a blend of the 80s films by Robert Zemeckis and Ivan Reitman here. Now and then, it’s quite noticeable.
You know the saying “always go for the best”?

The composer does from time to time almost copy the basics behind the classical music guys Vivaldi and Brahms. He did it on purpose.

A little Dixieland jazz is heard playing in the background in one scene.
Denis King and his orchestra plays live at a concert hall in another scene. It’s mostly swing and typical big band music then.

Norwegian pop group A-ha were talked into recording a song for the film.

One of the cameos is just a picture. It’s a poster of a Booster Gold movie, starring no-one else than… Zac Efron.
Does this clear things up or make everything more confusing?
We know the character has appeared in two earlier DC films. But it seems he’s just a fictional character in Flash’s world.

The usual easter eggs (without the characters showing up, like it’s always done):
Black Canary
Hourman
Sandman (Wesley Dodds)
Constantine

Return of the Flash (Paramount, 2011)
filmed in Kansas City and Denver

Directed by Tony Scott
Produced by Marsha Oglesby, Baz Lurhmann
Co-produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, Mel Brooks, Terry Gilliam

Written by Paul Attansio, Steve Kloves
Additional writing: Terry Gilliam

Music by: Mark Isham
incl re-arr of Flash theme by Giorgio Moroder & Jay Gruska

Costume design: Sanja Milkovic Hays

CAST
Barry Allen/Flash: Garret Hedlund
Iris West: Jennifer Love Hewitt
Sam Scudder/Mirror Master: Cillian Murphy
Mark Mardon/Weather Wizard: Jonathan Rhys-Meyers
Leonard Snart/Captain Cold: Kevin Spacey
Gorilla Grodd: Michael Clarke Duncan (voice)

Cameos and minor roles
Mayor of Central City: Alec Baldwin
Booster Gold movie poster: Zac Efron
Caretaker: Tim Curry
Package delivery man: Joshua Jackson
Denis King as himself

Teenager in 1990: Skandar Keynes
Futurist architect in 1990: Julianne Moore

Alternate reality
Car mechanics: Steve Buscemi, Chris Rock
Dissatisfied customer: Naomi Watts

Mirror World:
Chief of police: John Travolta
Mob boss: Harold Ramis
Mayor: David Strathaim

Sounds Awesome Airwings !

I really like the cast. Hedlund as Barry, JLH as Iris, Cillian Murphy as Mirror Master, JRM as Weather Wizard.

The film sounds exciting !

 

[Airwings]

Sounds Awesome Airwings !

I really like the cast. Hedlund as Barry, JLH as Iris, Cillian Murphy as Mirror Master, JRM as Weather Wizard.

The film sounds exciting !

Thank you

Did you photoshop the Tron suit into Flash?
Good work there!
Looking at Hedlund in your pics, he's definately a good replacement for Leo.
But it's the same Barry. No reboot.

This 3rd Flash expand DC films further. There have been time travelling before, but also mythological gods, and (humanoid) aliens from other planets, and hidden earthly magic societies etc before. Barry Allen has also gone inside the Speed Force realm.
Now we get a mirror world too, which I suggest is a different dimension. While still it being "Earth".
And then Barry screw things up and change his own reality's timeline. It's a bit Flashpoint there, right?
Where will this expansion of DC stop? lol
The Booster Gold movie poster seen in the film is there for a reason. It's not only for fun. The fun to it is that Efron agreed to pose as the hero on the poster.

A big question is why Disney allowed Paramount to use a character they hold the rights to (and they've made two films about). Did the hero has another name on the poster despite looking exactly like Booster? What do you think?
Everything will be revealed before too long. Just wait!

I like having Tony Scott onboard as a director. He will bring some heat to the film.
Oliver Stone did that too for B&S, but Scott will do it to a higher extent. He's more of a true action guy than Stone.
Do you like some of Scott's films?

I wonder what he will do with a script that actually has some involvement from Gilliam.

 

[Frodo]

Did you photoshop the Tron suit into Flash?

I can't take credit for that manip. I found it on google. I think it's pretty cool as well.

I like having Tony Scott onboard as a director. He will bring some heat to the film.
Oliver Stone did that too for B&S, but Scott will do it to a higher extent. He's more of a true action guy than Stone.
Do you like some of Scott's films?

Oh yeah, I like both of the Scott's brothers films.
I just recently watched Top Gun for the first time and I thought it was awesome. He would have been a great director for a Flash film.

 

[Airwings]

I can't take credit for that manip. I found it on google. I think it's pretty cool as well.

Oh yeah, I like both of the Scott's brothers films.
I just recently watched Top Gun for the first time and I thought it was awesome. He would have been a great director for a Flash film.

It is!!
I wonder if Garret will ever be in a cbm.

Scott has done a lot of actioners. He is a bit stylish in the genre too. Which may suit Flash well
His work also includes Days of Thunder, Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Deja Vu and Unstoppable.

Flash is a character that sticks out from my other DC stuff.
He's the only one who acknowlegdes other heroes (if we exclude the team-ups).
Take Booster Gold again. He's a character in a superhero film inside Barry Allen's world.
Does this mean Barry lives in a kind of semi-reality where superheroes are only fictional? Except for his speed powers (and the villains), could everything else is realistic?
Go back to the first Flash film where he read Jay Garrick comic books as a child. Then as an adult, it came as a surprise that Jay was real.
Could it be that something is hidden beneath the surface there? Does all the other heroes live in another reality? Not Mirror World but a third version of Earth maybe?

Later this week, I'll post next film

 

[Airwings]

If you remember, Emerald Knights was the title of a script idea they had for the second Green Lantern film. This wasn’t used when they decided to have the hero meet Green Arrow and form a plot around that.

But now it was time to get back to the story. MGM convinced a good writer to come onboard and make it better than it already was. He got help from the director during the process.
Together, both guys also produced.

Designers for sets and costumed were called back from GA & GL.

There are several human Lantern members. All of the ones from the two previous films are appearing here. MGM could even get the very same actors to return.
There have been some criticism from people that the there's a change of actors a bit too often. It makes the DC films lack the feeling of consistency.
Having the same cast for the Lanterns feels good.
Hal Jordan has also been a bit underused because he had to share the spotlight with other earthly ring bearers.

In the film, Alan Scott continues being a member of the corps with a real Lantern uniform
As you know, he was granted membership after defeating Krona.
He’s is on a mission in deep space with John Stewart and Kyle Rayner. It's the same mission as when Hal was left on Earth and met Oliver Queen.
The three Lanterns travel in their space ship very far and, by coincidence, discover some mind-boggling things about our universe. It appears to be something else out there. It’s beyond the borders of our universe but it’s also something that is everywhere, in every galaxy. It can’t be seen but the its energy can be detected. Like a saucepan of boiling water underneath a lid, right before the eyes.
If reality is warped, like it can be at some places in space, you might get a quick glimpse of “it”, if you’re lucky. But you won’t probably understand what you’re seeing. It looks just like… universe.
Halfway through the mission, Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner joins the Lantern trio.

Wormholes, supernovas, black holes, quasars etc, are seen through the film

This happens at the backdrop of Sinestro and a bunch of Lanterns taking the final step in revolting against the Guardians, and going rouge.

Kilowog and Tomar-Re have less important roles this time. Instead we see other other Lanterns take more focus. These are the golden-skinned Arisia Rrab (a more clothed one), and the pink Katma Tui (from the same planet as Sinestro).
It’s important to have female Lanterns as well!
Abin Sur is also back, and tries to reclaim his role in the corps.

The demonic entity Parrallax shows up in the second act and becomes a big but unexpected danger. Things gets even worse when Hal is infected.

The Lantern corps also find out that their rings are weakened by the yellow color. Strange that they didn’t have a clue before.
Only Alan’s original ring, which holds the essence of Starheart, is unaffected by yellow. But this ring can manipulate the bearer, on the other hand.

This is a pure sci fi adventure. Almost all of it takes place in space, with several scenes from Oa.
We don’t see much of Earth. Only about 5-10 minutes.

The film is stylistically a blend of 60s Lost in Space series and 70s Battlestar Galactica series, as well as the Star Trek films 1994-2002 and several 70/80s sci fi flics. Here’s a list:
Dark Star, The Black Hole, Peter Hyams’ 2010, Flight of the Navigator, Space Raiders, Joe Dante’s Explorers, Ridley Scott’s Alien, Tobe Hooper’s Invaders From Mars and Lifeforce (also by Hooper).

The Lantern uniforms look nearly like the ones in the V series, but with modifications to suit all the wearers’ different personalities.

Check out this link
J Kerezman Costumes (costumecostumecostume.com)


There’s a celtic fantasy theme throughout the film, adjusted to suit the space setting and the high tech we see.
Here’s where the word Knights come into play.

The story takes several ingredients from Alexandre Dumas’ Three Musketeers and R.L. Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Not any sci fi in those books though but some ideas can still be transferred between genres.
Here and there, it’s also a little mix of Arthur C Clarke, Margit Sandemo, Jean Paul-Sartre and Hemingway. With some Henrik Ibsen too. Quite diverse sources of inspiration.
It has to be because the film has a philosophical side and a dose of existentialism. It's not just “action in space”.

The music has sometimes a feel of the classical composers Franz Liszt and Guiseppe Verdi.

Kraftwerk made a song for the film.

Easter eggs in the Earth-based scenes:
Invisible Boy, Doctor Mid-Nite

Green Lanterns: Emerald Knights (MGM, 2011)
Directed by Ang Lee
Produced by Ang Lee, Michel Gondry

Co-produced by Peter Hyams*, Nicholas Meyer, Alex Proyas (*=updated)

Based on the original story by Philippa Boyens, Robert Towne, Alfred Gough
Additional writing: Michel Gondry, Ang Lee

Music: Eric Serra
incl re-arr of Howard Blake’s Green Lantern theme

Costume design: Kym Barrett, Ngila Dickson
Set design: Anna Pinnock, Dan Hennah, Stuart Craig

CAST
Alan Scott: Cary Elwes
John Stewart: Eddie Murphy
Kyle Rayner: John Leguizamo
Sinestro: Richard E Grant
Hal Jordan: Jerry O’Connell
Guy Gardner: Benno Fürmann
Arisia Rrab: Dominique Swain
Katmau Tui: Mandy Moore
Leader of the Guardians: Bob Hoskins
Abin Sur: Patrick Stewart

Cameos
Kilowog: Ron Perlman
Tomar-Re: Brent Spiner
Carol Ferris: Tara Reid
Carl Ferris: Dennis Quaid
Ferris Air employees: Pamela Anderson, James Van Der Beek
Ferris Air intern: Anna Popplewell
Jessica Cruz: Eva Mendes

 

[Frodo]

If you remember, Emerald Knights was the title of a script idea they had for the second Green Lantern film. This wasn’t used when they decided to have the hero meet Green Arrow and form a plot around that.

But now it was time to get back to the story. MGM convinced a good writer to come onboard and make it better than it already was. He got help from the director during the process.
Together, both guys also produced.

Designers for sets and costumed were called back from GA & GL.

There are several human Lantern members. All of the ones from the two previous films are appearing here. MGM could even get the very same actors to return.
There have been some criticism from people that the there's a change of actors a bit too often. It makes the DC films lack the feeling of consistency.
Having the same cast for the Lanterns feels good.
Hal Jordan has also been a bit underused because he had to share the spotlight with other earthly ring bearers.

In the film, Alan Scott continues being a member of the corps with a real Lantern uniform
As you know, he was granted membership after defeating Krona.
He’s is on a mission in deep space with John Stewart and Kyle Rayner. It's the same mission as when Hal was left on Earth and met Oliver Queen.
The three Lanterns travel in their space ship very far and, by coincidence, discover some mind-boggling things about our universe. It appears to be something else out there. It’s beyond the borders of our universe but it’s also something that is everywhere, in every galaxy. It can’t be seen but the its energy can be detected. Like a saucepan of boiling water underneath a lid, right before the eyes.
If reality is warped, like it can be at some places in space, you might get a quick glimpse of “it”, if you’re lucky. But you won’t probably understand what you’re seeing. It looks just like… universe.
Halfway through the mission, Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner joins the Lantern trio.

Wormholes, supernovas, black holes, quasars etc, are seen through the film

This happens at the backdrop of Sinestro and a bunch of Lanterns taking the final step in revolting against the Guardians, and going rouge.

Kilowog and Tomar-Re have less important roles this time. Instead we see other other Lanterns take more focus. These are the golden-skinned Arisia Rrab (a more clothed one), and the pink Katma Tui (from the same planet as Sinestro).
It’s important to have female Lanterns as well!
Abin Sur is also back, and tries to reclaim his role in the corps.

The demonic entity Parrallax shows up in the second act and becomes a big but unexpected danger. Things gets even worse when Hal is infected.

The Lantern corps also find out that their rings are weakened by the yellow color. Strange that they didn’t have a clue before.
Only Alan’s original ring, which holds the essence of Starheart, is unaffected by yellow. But this ring can manipulate the bearer, on the other hand.

This is a pure sci fi adventure. Almost all of it takes place in space, with several scenes from Oa.
We don’t see much of Earth. Only about 5-10 minutes.

The film is stylistically a blend of 60s Lost in Space series and 70s Battlestar Galactica series, as well as the Star Trek films 1994-2002 and several 70/80s sci fi flics. Here’s a list:
Dark Star, The Black Hole, Peter Hyams’ 2010, Flight of the Navigator, Space Raiders, Joe Dante’s Explorers, Ridley Scott’s Alien, Tobe Hooper’s Invaders From Mars and Lifeforce (also by Hooper).

The Lantern uniforms look nearly like the ones in the V series, but with modifications to suit all the wearers’ different personalities.

Check out this link
J Kerezman Costumes (costumecostumecostume.com)


There’s a celtic fantasy theme throughout the film, adjusted to suit the space setting and the high tech we see.
Here’s where the word Knights come into play.

The story takes several ingredients from Alexandre Dumas’ Three Musketeers and R.L. Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Not any sci fi in those books though but some ideas can still be transferred between genres.
Here and there, it’s also a little mix of Arthur C Clarke, Margit Sandemo, Jean Paul-Sartre and Hemingway. With some Henrik Ibsen too. Quite diverse sources of inspiration.
It has to be because the film is has a philosophical side and a dose of existentialism. It's not just “action in space”.

The music has sometimes a feel of the classical composers Franz Liszt and Guiseppe Verdi.

Kraftwerk made a song for the film.

Easter eggs in the Earth-based scenes:
Invisible Boy, Doctor Mid-Nite

Green Lanterns: Emerald Knights (MGM, 2011)
Directed by Ang Lee
Produced by Ang Lee, Michel Gondry

Co-produced by Nicholas Meyer, Alex Proyas

Based on the original story by Philippa Boyens, Robert Towne, Alfred Gough
Additional writing: Michel Gondry, Ang Lee

Music: Eric Serra
incl re-arr of Howard Blake’s Green Lantern theme

Costume design: Kym Barrett, Ngila Dickson
Set design: Anna Pinnock, Dan Hennah, Stuart Craig

CAST
Alan Scott: Cary Elwes
John Stewart: Eddie Murphy
Kyle Rayner: John Leguizamo
Sinestro: Richard E Grant
Hal Jordan: Jerry O’Connell
Guy Gardner: Benno Fürmann
Arisia Rrab: Dominique Swain
Katmau Tui: Mandy Moore
Leader of the Guardians: Bob Hoskins
Abin Sur: Patrick Stewart

Cameos
Kilowog: Ron Perlman
Tomar-Re: Brent Spiner
Carol Ferris: Tara Reid
Carl Ferris: Dennis Quaid
Ferris Air employees: Pamela Anderson, James Van Der Beek
Ferris Air intern: Anna Popplewell
Jessica Cruz: Eva Mendes

Another awesome story Airwings!.

I love the idea of the V uniforms serving as a basis for the lanterns suits.
I also like taking ideas which aren't specific to sci-fi and importing them over to the film.
It's what Nicholas Meyer did with Star Trek 2, which he calls Horatio Hornblower in Space mixed with Moby Dick.

Also dig the cast . You put alot of thought and work into these projects , and they always turn out well.
Keep up the good work..

 

[Airwings]

Another awesome story Airwings!.

I love the idea of the V uniforms serving as a basis for the lanterns suits.
I also like taking ideas which aren't specific to sci-fi and importing them over to the film.
It's what Nicholas Meyer did with Star Trek 2, which he calls Horatio Hornblower in Space mixed with Moby Dick.

Also dig the cast . You put alot of thought and work into these projects , and they always turn out well.
Keep up the good work..

Thank you very much
I always put a lot of effort in the films to acchieve greatness

I think the suits should be real ones, not green energy. And what better inspiration is there than the V uniforms? They already look a bit comic book-y

I picked stories that can be used for the film's plot.
We have philosophical sci fi with Clarke on one side, slow-paced Nordic fantasy by Sandemo on another side. And then classic adventures such as Treasure Island (which is about a journey onboard a ship) and Three Musketeers (about noble soldiers). The latter two books have caught the interest of numerous generations of younger readers.
The Parrallax creature has a similarity to Alien, as well. Scary to think about.

As Meyers is co-producing here, I guess that using non-sci fi is familiar to him
I have updated the post and added another co-producer. It's someone who had to be there because he directed the first GL film that had Alan in the lead, and John & Kyle in smaller roles, and now he must ensure that these characters are treated the way they should. Because they are "his" creations when it comes to live action.
And now he passes the torch to Ang Lee, who will take on the same role as a "father".
Is this something strange to do?

Michel Gondry adjusted the original idea to something a little different. I'm sure he wrote something really thought-provoking with the updated script.
Did you notice how the film is teasing another universe?

The cast is no longer in tune with its time, as it was 2007 (four years earlier). The film required new faces for most of the characters. But the actors returned because it's the right thing to do.
Leguizamo has aged out of his character, though.
Eddie Murphy too. And imagine him being forced to act straight in a big role here.
Do you think the audience will still laugh at him or will they be able to see him as a serious hero?

 

[Frodo]

Thank you very much
I always put a lot of effort in the films to acchieve greatness

I think the suits should be real ones, not green energy. And what better inspiration is there than the V uniforms? They already look a bit comic book-y

I picked stories that can be used for the film's plot.
We have philosophical sci fi with Clarke on one side, slow-paced Nordic fantasy by Sandemo on another side. And then classic adventures such as Treasure Island (which is about a journey onboard a ship) and Three Musketeers (about noble soldiers). The latter two books have caught the interest of numerous generations of younger readers.
The Parrallax creature has a similarity to Alien, as well. Scary to think about.

As Meyers is co-producing here, I guess that using non-sci fi is familiar to him
I have updated the post and added another co-producer. It's someone who had to be there because he directed the first GL film that had Alan in the lead, and John & Kyle in smaller roles, and now he must ensure that these characters are treated the way they should. Because they are "his" creations when it comes to live action.
And now he passes the torch to Ang Lee, who will take on the same role as a "father".
Is this something strange to do?

Michel Gondry adjusted the original idea to something a little different. I'm sure he wrote something really tought-provoking with the updated script.
Did you notice how the film is teasing another universe?

The cast is no longer in tune with its time, as it was 2007 (four years earlier). The film required new faces for most of the characters. But the actors returned because it's the right thing to do.
Leguizamo has aged out of his character, though.
Eddie Murphy too. And imagine him being forced to act straight in a big role here.
Do you think the audience will still laugh at him or will they be able to see him as a serious hero?

I think the audience could see him as a serious hero around that time. He was great in his dramatic role Dreamgirls in 2006, so I think he could have convinced people he could be a serious hero.

I actually have him as Blade in a late 80s, serious, Marvel film, in the midst of his comedy film career. In that timeline, he has to convince audiences that Blade isn't a comedy or a spoof.

 

[Airwings]

I think the audience could see him as a serious hero around that time. He was great in his dramatic role Dreamgirls in 2006, so I think he could have convinced people he could be a serious hero.

I actually have him as Blade in a late 80s, serious, Marvel film, in the midst of his comedy film career. In that timeline, he has to convince audiences that Blade isn't a comedy or a spoof.

I think you are right.
Maybe I was a bit harsh with the actors here
I saw Murphy in Dreamgirls. It felt really good to see him be an actor for once, and not the joke he's become.
Have you noticed that he looks younger than his age today?

Murphy as Blade, that would be something.
I start to look forward to finish my DC vision so that I can have time to check out other threads again.

 

[Airwings]

Time to sum up 2011 in my alternate reality.
As usual, there never was a PotC film series.

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
2. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
3. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1
4. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
5. Kung Fu Panda 2
6. The Dynamic Duo
7 .Fast Five
8. Return of the Flash
9. Green Lanterns: Emerald Knights
10. Mortal Heroes

11. The Hangover Part II
12. The Smurfs
13. Cars 2
14. Puss in Boots
15. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
16. Rio
17. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
18. The Intouchables
19. The Adventures of Tintin
20. Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked

This is a record-breaking year. All released DC titles are among the ten highest grossing films at the B.O. Amazing!

But look at the bunch of films right at the bottom of top 10. It seems that DC can't get higher than that with any of the non Supes/Bats characters. Never mind how much money they make, half a billion or more. These are still the highest spots they can reach at the annual lists. It's become a trend that only the GA&GL team-up could break.
Why is is that so? All the heroes that got new films this year had built a fanbase from previous films, and become a part of recent pop culture.

Should I complain? The superhero hater Scorsese ended up lower than the 35 spot with Hugo Cabret, which is a great film.
80s retro nostalgia Super 8 didn't make top 20, and it was still a hit.
I can put things in a wider perspective by going to our real world. We got young mutants in First Class. The MCU also took off with Thor and Cap.
That's three superhero films. Guess what?! All of them were outside of top 10 despite being real blockbusters.

But it's ALWAYS a letdown that Twilight manages to beat any DC film, as it's the case even in my alternate reality.

 

[Airwings]

Do you remember the joint production between CBS and Universal, from 2005? It was a series of short filmes, directed by Stephen Sommers, under the title Star-Spangled Heroes?
The first segment "The Earthly Staff" focused on Ted Knight. Then played by Stephen Dorff.
We saw him become a hero then, and fight the villain Brainwave (Rick Moranis).

The character was recast (Hugo Weaving) when he showed up again three years later in a minor role in "Booster Gold and The Blue Beetle(s)". Some people then expressed the opinion that it will be interesting to see him in his own film.
So here it is. A real solo story where he doesn’t play second fiddle to other heroes.
It’s not an anthology film either, like his live action debut was, but a real full-length superhero movie.

Ted is mostly going by the name Starman in the comics, the first of many to use the alias. But the cinematic version still sticks with Spaceman.

The film merges both his previous live action appearences together, and goes beyond them.
We see his work as a NASA scientist. The invention of the gravity staff is presented in a flashback. And when he kinda stumbled into the superhero business as a side effect of that
We find out more about him in this film. The character is fleshed out.
He’s got a wife and two sons (like he has in the comics). The family isn’t an ideal one though, it has its share of problems.
Ted spends a lot of time at work, he’s a bit of a workaholic even before he becomes a hero. The question is if the family can manage to stay together.

CBS held the rights and wanted to do something different here. To go back to the DC films of 2005-06 where they weren’t as big as they have become, as of 2011.
This film should be smaller in scale. The story be less complicated than other DC films, meaning not having too many of these side plots.
For the cast, the goal was to aim a bit lower. To not follow the pattern as the rest of the DC adaptions do.
To have another type of actors. Not all these vintage names from the 80s and so on, which has become a DC trademark. Regardless of which film studio.
To only have lesser famous names in the roles, the kind of actors that became known during the 00s.
Well, CBS didn’t really follow through with the plans, as you can see further down.
The thing is, when Hugo Weaving agreed to return in the main role, the rest of the casting process was affected.
As it turned out, there are still the older “stars” who’s been in the business for decades.
More of these recent young teenage names are still showing up, also here. It’s something other DC films had introduced some time ago.
But as these young actors entered the scene during the 00s, one can claim this is where CBS actually followed their plan for the casting.

There was another thing CBS wanted to do differently too, though.
To avoid any of those retro influences that’s been so common, and make the film more up-to-date.
Like a more modern actioner. That was on the mind when getting the crew together.

Tom Cruise thought all of these plans were a good ideas.
Yes, he was still the godfather of superhero film adaptions, getting the right people behind and in front of the camera.

To make the film have the required cinematic standard, CBS worked together with other TV stations: german RTL and danish DR.

In the film, Spaceman is taking the hero thing seriously. He fights bad guys.
It takes places directly after the Booster Gold and Blue Beetle team-up, which means this is set in 2008. The story is unique in that sense. The reason for doing this will be revealed later down the line.
The hero is being talked into going to Africa to collect a relic of great value. It’s Amanda Waller to wants him to do that. It’s a part of a Checkmate operation, without sending the usual group of brutal agents.
But what’s this mission really about???
What I can reveal is that this the first step towards something new. Checkmate is about to become A.R.G.U.S.

It’s not really a solo film actually. Other heroes are showing up in smaller roles.
They are characters that weren’t belonging to some Hollywood studio or TV channel. DC Comics themselves had the rights to these heroes. CBS had to make a deal with them to be allowed to use these characters.
Talking about first steps is also valid here. CBS and DC Comics got in the first stages of something big that will happen later.
Ah, I bet you’re curious now!!

Who are the heroic characters showing up?
“African relic” gives you a hint about the first.
For the second, I can reveal that there’s a school teacher who is fed up with all the street-level crime out there, which also has affected his students. He decides to do something about it and becomes… *something*
Peter Gambi, the guy who created Spaceman’s superhero costume, also does the same for the teacher.
This is the most realistic part of the film. Despite the guy’s powers.
CBS wanted to get some advice from Ken Loach how to make that part of the film be as much realism as possible. The TV channel had to struggle to get that because the old British director only makes social-realistic films and couldn't care less about Hollywood stuff.

And then there’s the usual couple of typical comic book villains/misfits, as always in DC films
So it kinda became a CBM after all. But very much its own kind.

There's not any inspiration from a big bunch of other films and directors, books or authors.
Not even the usual classical composers. Those things can hold the production down. It has to stand on its own legs. To be a film with its own feel.
But with that said, why can’t it still borrow from something else? If there’s a limit to how much things it could flirt with.
So here it goes. The Spaceman film goes into the territory of detective fiction. The script writers studied Raymond Chandler and his character Philip Marlowe.
If you have seen the African film Hyenas (1992), you will recognize a little from it here.
You will also be thinking about Hotel Rwanda, Blood Diamond, Catch a Fire, The Gods Must Be Crazy, Do The Right Thing, Boyz n the Hood... and the Bond films From Russia With Love, Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever.

The usual easter eggs also make their way into this film. Cruise said that they have to be there.
This time, there are hints about:
Elemental Lad
Sandman (the Garret Sandford version)
Swamp Thing
Jason Blood/Etrigan The Demon

Spaceman (CBS/RTL/DR, 2012)
filmed in Washington DC
Hamburg, Germany
Kenya (both Mombasa and a small rural countryside village)

Directed by Martin Campbell
Produced by Neil Burger, Joe Johnston, John Waters

Written by Neil Burger, Hester Schofield, Ann Peacock, Kevin Smith

Costume design: Isis Mussenden

Music by: Bill Conti
incl re-arr of Dennis McCarthy’s Spaceman theme
Incl themes for Vixen, Black Lightening

CAST
Ted Knight/Spaceman: Hugo Weaving
Amanda Waller: Phylicia Rashād
Johnathon Smythe/Kyle Nimbus/Mist: Bruce Dern
Waylon Jones/Killer Kroc: Jonny Lee Miller
Mari McCabe/Vixen: Angela Bassett
Adele Drew: Andie MacDowell
David Knight: Caleb Landry Jones
Jack Knight: Mykola Allen
Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightening: Cuba Gooding jr
Peter Gambi: Michael Lonsdale

Cameos
The ancient warrior Tantu (flashback): Terrence Howard
Henry King/Brain Wave: Topol
NASA leader: Warren Beatty
NASA scientist: Frances McDormand
NASA’s hired mathematician: Sela Ward
Checkmate agent: Paul Walker
Pan am pilot: Colin Firth
Air stewardess: Alexis Bledel
Peter Gambi’s assistant: Emmy Rossum
Couple counselor: Sharon Stone

 

[Airwings]

MGM had risen as a major player in the superhero genre. The studio was behind two trilogies.
Not long after the latest GL adventure, another film was released.
Black Canary goes from being a sidekick to getting her own film.

Oliver Queen is nowhere to be seen!
Well, except in one single scene. But not dressed up in his heroic outfit this time.
The spotlight is really on Dinah Drake.

Franka Potente was done with the character after three films. But she stayed as a co-producer, and she could also talk the german director Tom Tykwer into getting onboard the production and put a little of his own mark on it.

John Woo had finished his Battle of Red Cliffs project and was able to take the helm on an American film again. He surely has his own way of doing action and action scenes, which suits the female crime-fighter well.
As the film has some dark and violent stuff (it deals with mysticism and sorcery), Wes Craven was hired to balance this with Woo’s action

The story has Black Canary crossing the path with a vigilante who wears a gas mask (Sandman). When they decide to work together to take down the evil Baron Bedlam, another character gets in their way. It’s Katana who has her own agenda, she’s out for revenge. We find out why in a flashback.

It turns out Bedlam works with a Chinese crime syndicate. A gang of ruthless killers led by the mysterious godfather Oyaban. These are trying to tighten their grip on the American underworld, to take control of it. If someone gets in their way, they become dangerous. But that in turn opens up for the creation of superhero. We see the birth of Dr Mid-Nite.

Frankie is a teenager who gets caught in the crossfire. This character was created for the film (and the actor playing him).

And then yet another hero joins in later to help take down a big bad who is pulling the strings behind everything. He’s Felix Faust, a really powerful dark sorcerer, and he has the *Demon Three’ as allies.

For the second film in a row, we get to see a flashback from ancient times in Africa. Faust’s origin had to be explained. He went down the evil path when he opposed a king. This event predates the medieval Kingdom of Mali

The neo noir and the dieselpunk setting from last Green Arrow continue here.

The film leans on some 70s actioners. These are Assault on Precinct 13, Death Wish and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, with the Chinese A Touch Of Zen (1971) thrown in there.
Thematically, it steals bits and pieces from Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China as well:

The plot also imitates author Mickey Spillane and his detective character Mike Hammer.

The tradition of having jazz in DC films continues. In one scene, there’s a piano player who performs a boogie woogie tune.

The soundtrack has vibes of classical composers Sergei Rachmaninov and Dmitri Shostakovich.

Easter eggs:
Lightening Lad
Kid Devil
Deadman
Green Hornet & Kato
Batgirl
Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond/Martin Stein)

Black Canary (MGM, 2012)
shot in Seattle, Hong Kong and Senegal

Directed by John Woo
co-directed by Wes Craven

Produced by John Woo, Wes Craven,
Co-produced by Alex Proyas, Nicholas Meyer, Franka Potente

Written by Ben Rice, Christopher Markus, John Kamps, Scott Kosar
Additional writing: Tom Tykwer

Costume design by Kym Barrett, Ngila Dickson

Music by: Ennio Morricone
incl new Black Canary theme
incl new themes for Katana, Sandman, Doctor Mid-Nite, Constantine

CAST
Dinah Drake/Black Canary: Claire Danes
Wesley Dodds/Sandman: Donnie Wahlberg
Sandy Hawkins: Dylan Riley Snyder
Frederick DeLamb/Baron Bedlam: James “Jim” Belushi
Tatsu Yamashiro/Katana: Michelle Yeoh
Takeo: Stephen Chow
Shado: Devon Aoki
Charles McNider/Doctor Mid-Nite: Steven Mackintosh
Frankie: Craig Roberts
Felix Faust: Vincent Cassel
John Constantine: Tom Sturridge
Abnegazar: Michael Dorn (voice)
Rath: Vincent Kartheiser (voice)
Ghast: C. Thomas Howell (voice)

Minor roles and cameos
Mayor of Star City: Dean Stockwell
Cops: Eli Roth, Maggie Q
Chief of police: Ernie Hudson
Bricklayer: Kevin Pollak
Maseo: Donnie Yen (flashback)
Dian Belmont: Charlotte Gainsbourg
Oliver Queen: Ewan McGregor
Politician: Marcia Gay Harden
Yoabun: Jackie Chan
Jazz pianist: Robert Englund
King Nommo of Kor: Yaphet Kotto (flashback)
Factory worker: Martin Lawrence
Ra’s al Ghul: Ray Liotta

 

[Airwings]

We go back to Star-Spangled Heroes (2005), directed by Stephen Sommers
In the second segment in the anthology film we saw the superhero crazy boy Sylvester Pemberton (Rory Culkin) don a suit and fight crimes with his family’s chauffeur Pat Dugan (Brendan Fraser).
Fraser returned three years later when the duo showed up in "Booster Gold and The Blue Beetle(s)", with Matthew Knight replacing Culkin.
Now they get their own full-length adventure. Which makes it possible to do some character growth.

The film ties to the duo’s both previous live action appearences, and goes even further.
It takes place in 2008, right after we last saw the characters.
Mr and mrs Pemberton have quite big roles here. We follow some of their family life.

For this comic book adaption, a new studio was formed. CBS and DC Comics launched their joint project called DC Films. It’s a great step forward, since there will be upcoming projects.
German RTL had been involved in Spaceman and wanted to do the same here. Swedish SVT had been approached too but they thought the script didn’t match their ideals.
Now they agreed to be a part of the adaption of Star-Spangled Kid instead. It's a bit more harmless.

The Pembertons is a rich family, that’s for sure.
It starts with Sylvester being accepted at a private boarding school.
Already during the first days, he’s intrigued with the mystery that two English kids have disappeared there before. Edwin Paine back in 1958 and Charles Rowland in 1983. Their bodies were never found.
What does the 25 years in-between mean? It's also exactly the same number of years since last time.

An older kid at the school, Lyle Norg, is a biochemistry and physics genius who’s on the brink to create a new formula. The science teacher Rex Tyler offers all his support. But who is he really and what does he want for Lyle?
Only true DC fans will know

Star-Spangled Kid has to avert the plans of Ventriloquist, a dangerous crime lord who's all through and through a real 1930s mafia boss. A twist is that it might be someone else in charge.
The revengeful Huntress/Tigress is also after the bad guy. Her questionable methods have turned her into a kind of villain herself.

Did you think that was everything?
Oh, no it’s more!
Checkmate is planning to enhance their agents’ physical strength and stamina. It goes bad when the first test subject Hank Heywood goes nuts and runs away. Will someone have to calm him down?

And then there's a trip to Scandinavia
.
Star-Spangled Kid is already very much his own kind of superhero character. He’s still something of a child. There’s a big portion of suspension of disbelief already there.
Tod Solondz was asked to step in and give advice on how the characters should be handled in an even more unique way, as well as the film as a whole.

The script has its share of burlesque moments.
It also infuses some ‘Bud Spencer & Terence Hill’ inspirations. You know, the pairing of one muscle man and one fast agile fighter together in fun action adventures.
80s comedy Revenge of the Nerds is somewhat copied here.
The film also reminds you of the Harry Potter films, but just a little.
In comparison to the above, it’s more noticeable a love letter to John Landis: Kentucky Fried Movie, Animal House, Blues Brothers, Trading Places, Spies Like Us, Three Amigos and Coming to America, with adding Into the Night, to keep it atleast a little serious.
The film honors John Hughes the same way: Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Pretty in Pink and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
If we on top of that throw Bille August’s family TV-series Buster’s World, and John Carpenter’s Memoirs of an Invisible Man and Dario Argento’s Suspiria into the mix, then you might get the idea how this Star-Spangled Kid adaption is.

The usual easter eggs then:
Adam Strange
Red Tornado
Beast Boy
Saturn Girl
Ultra Boy

The Star-Spangled Kid, and Stripesy (DC Films/RTL/SVT, 2012)
filmed in Washington DC and Copenhagen, Denmark

Directed by: Jon Favreau

Produced by: Harald Zwart, Jon Favreau, Alejandro Amenábar, Brad Anderson
Co-produced by Joe Johnston, John Waters

Written by Jon Favreau, David Zucker, Phil Traill, John August, Alejandro Amenábar, Brad Anderson
Story and character consultant: Todd Solondz

Costume design by Marlene Stewart, Michael Kaplan

Music by: John Powell
incl re-arr of Dennis McCarthy’s Star-Spangled Kid theme
incl new themes for Dead Boy Detectives, Hourman, Invisible Boy, Commander Steel

Cast
Sylvester Pemberton/Star-Spangled Kid: Bobby Coleman
Pat Dugan//Stripesy: Nathan Fillion
John Pemberton: Dominic West
Gloria Pemberton: Ashley Judd
Arnold Wesker/Ventriloquist: Julian Glover
Paula Brooks/Huntress (a.k.a. Tigress): Elisabeth Shue
Edwin Paine: Hero Fiennes-Tiffin
Charles Rowland: Asa Butterfield
Rex Tyler/Hourman: Paul Blackthorne
Lyle Norg/Invisible Boy: Troye Sivan
Hank Heywood/Commander Steel: Scott Speedman

Minor roles and cameos
Pemberton’s gardener: Adam Sandler
Pemberton’s butler: Fred Ward
Principal: Tim Matheson
Exchange student: Brandon Walters
Arnold Wesker’s partner in crime: Michael Richards
Sylvester's dentist: Frances O'Connor
Lyle's siblings (Jimmy and Jennifer): Lucas Cruikshank, Miley Cyrus
Drama teacher: Virginia Madsen
Rock star: David Hasselhoff
Amanda Waller: Phylicia Rashād

 

[Airwings]

Here we’re served a DC adaption that tends to follow the structure and style of a picaresque novel.
The story blends themes from
James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray
J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye
Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron
Walt Whitman’s collection of poems in Leaves of Grass

Talking about poetry, there are a few scenes where the characters quote works by Emily Dickinson or John Keats, as an integral part in some of their lines.

Works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Nick Hornby are also infused in some capacity.

The film flirts with Joel Schumacher’s St Elmo’s Fire, John Waters’ Hairspray, Maximilian Schell’s First Love (1970), Jerzy Skolimowski’s Deep End (also 1970), Uli Edel’s Christiane F, Larry Clark’s Kids and Art Linson’s The Wild Life (a forgotten gem of a film).

There are vibes from George Lucas’s American Graffiti and other such films that deal with young people, cars and early rock/pop music (so-called ‘rock & roll teen films’)

You will also notice traces of Robert Altman’s Brewster McCloud, Joel Schumacher’s The Lost Boys, Gus van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho, John Waters’ Pecker, Jaromil Jireš’ Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, Eloy de la Iglesia’s Forbidden Love Game (1975),
Adrian Lyne’s 9½ Weeks, and Todd Haynes' Velvet Goldmine.

And then we get a big deal of martial arts too. The hero must enter the cinematic world of 70s Hong Kong action to save the day.

The soundtrack is inspired by the composers George Gershwin and Igor Stravinsky.

Bepop jazz is heard several times. At one point, the characters even have a short jam session. Think of a ‘garage band’, but with jazz instead of rock.

Röyksopp, a group known for electronic music, contributed to the film with a new song.

Yeah, all great details there! But who’s the hero?
Maybe you’ve already guessed it???

It’s Robin. In his own film even.
Bruce Wayne only appears at the end when he (and Alfred) receives a letter from his young ward (with Aiken’s voice over)

It starts with Dick Grayson leaving Gotham, heading to Europe. He needs to get away after breaking up with his girlfriend Samantha and the nightmares that hunt him after being drugged by Scarecrow. Bruce is still recovering after Bane.
He arrives in Netherlands where he will share an apartment with a couple of other young people. These already live a bohemian lifestyle, which Dick will adapt himself too.
We see them play music, make paintings, collect tulips, ride horses, go to bathhouses, or just hang out and chill. It’s all about enjoying life. Sometimes they go to an underground club or a disco.

It's authentic in how it portrays young people living together.
People come and go at the apartment. A variety of different personalities. A couple of them are even queer.
I’m not saying that anyone of the youngsters are hippies. But they're all free spirited, and a flower power element is still there.
DC Comics was against showing any pot smoking in the film. That’s understandable.
We have to settle with imagining the characters doing that off-screen.

This a poetic coming-of-age story, with the same qualities as an independent drama film, in which our hero goes through a symbolic metamorphosis. He will discover something new about himself.
Bromances will form. Romantic feelings will arise. Grayson gets a new girl, if only for a short time.
Beware! The film has nudity and sensual scenes. Characters have sex in and off camera a couple times. Grayson will make love to his girl.
The cast themselves tried to push the line for what was acceptable to show regarding drugs and sexuality, but
their ideas didn't get green-lighted.

Do you think this is only a teen drama?
Don’t worry. It’s still a superhero film to an extent.
The villain Bookworm (from the 66’ series) gets a make-over here and becomes more sinister. He has tracked down Robin's whereabouts to toy with him, using all of his book-related clues. He’s really a mastermind but it seems he's obsessed with Robin and to get rid of him.
Later, the villain pits his ally Green Hornet against the hero.
But is Britt Reid really working together with Bookworm?

Robin must deal with Hornet’s gadgets before he clashes with Kato. This takes place in a worn-out harbor area.
These two characters aren’t really DC but the film was allowed to sort do a “remake” of the 60s fight between Bruce Lee and Burt Ward. However, this time it’s longer and way more violent. This is where the old Hong Kong action element plays in.
We get the ultimate showdown! Who will be the last one standing in what seems like a death match?

This is Liam Aiken’s last time as Dick Grayson. As he was 21 during the filming, he knew the age was catching up on him and that’s why he decided to leave while he still was believable as a teenager.
Robin is set to appear in other films down the line but he couldn’t stick around for much longer.
Together with the three(!) directors, Aiken looked for someone who could replace him.

Easter eggs in the film (characters hinted, not shown)
David Knight/Spaceman
Helena Bertinelli/Huntress
Sandy Hawkins/Sandman
The Phantom Stranger
Raven

Robin - The Boy Wonder (Warner Bros, 2012)
filmed in Amsterdam and the dutch countryside

Directed by John Badham & Tom Cruise
Additional directing: Peter Bogdanovich

Produced by Gus van Sant, Joshua Michael Stern
Co-produced by Adrian Lyne, William Friedkin

Written by Robert Mark Kamen, Gus van Sant, Joshua Michael Stern, Dean Devlin, Larry Karaszewski

Music by Nicholas Hooper
incl re-arr of Thomas Newman’s Robin theme
incl a Green Hornet theme

Costume design: Phoebe Wong, Laura Jean Shannon

Cast
Dick Grayson/Robin: Liam Aiken
Sylvester: Jamie Campbell Bower
Paula: Sarah Bolger
Bookworm: Tobey Maguire
Bill: Harry Eden
Jessie: Trevor Morgan
Angelica: Vanessa Hudgens
Britt Reid/Green Hornet: Edward Norton
Kato: John Cho
Josephine: Juno Temple
Donald: Graham Phillips
Gus: Chris Colfer
Marcus: Ed Sanders
Raymond: Gabe Nevins
Louis: Victor Sévaux
Gordon: Bisse Unger

Cameos
Airport guard: Bradley Cooper
Taxi driver: Vincent D'Onofrio
Owner of the apartment block: John Moulder-Brown
Man reading newspaper onboard tram: Dylan Baker
Horse owner: Kristin Scott Thomas
Tulip farmer: Jürgen Prochnow
Bouncer at club: Vin Diesel
Bartender: Sam Rockwell
Disco dancer: Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Alfred: Robert Duvall
Bruce Wayne: Ben Chaplin

 

[Frodo]

Here we’re served a DC adaption that tends to follow the structure and style of a picaresque novel.
The story blends themes from
James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray
J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye
Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron
Walt Whitman’s collection of poems in Leaves of Grass

Talking about poetry, there are a few scenes where the characters quote works by Emily Dickinson or John Keats, as an integral part in some of their lines.

Works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Nick Hornby are also infused in some capacity.

The film flirts with Joel Schumacher’s St Elmo’s Fire, John Waters’ Hairspray, Maximilian Schell’s First Love (1970), Jerzy Skolimowski’s Deep End (also 1970), Uli Edel’s Christiane F, Larry Clark’s Kids and Art Linson’s The Wild Life (a forgotten gem of a film).

There are vibes from George Lucas’s American Graffiti and other such films that deal with young people, cars and early rock/pop music (so-called ‘rock & roll teen films’)

You will also notice traces of Robert Altman’s Brewster McCloud, Joel Schumacher’s The Lost Boys, Gus van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho, John Waters’ Pecker, Jaromil Jireš’ Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, Eloy de la Iglesia’s Forbidden Love Game (1975),
Adrian Lyne’s 9½ Weeks, and Todd Haynes' Velvet Goldmine.

And then we get a big deal of martial arts too. The hero must enter the cinematic world of 70s Hong Kong action to save the day.

The soundtrack is inspired by the composers George Gershwin and Igor Stravinsky.

Bepop jazz is heard several times. At one point, the characters even have a short jam session. Think of a ‘garage band’, but with jazz instead of rock.

Röyksopp, a group known for electronic music, contributed to the film with a new song.

Yeah, all great details there! But who’s the hero?
Maybe you’ve already guessed it???

It’s Robin. In his own film even.
Bruce Wayne only appears at the end when he (and Alfred) receives a letter from his young ward (with Aiken’s voice over)

It starts with Dick Grayson leaving Gotham, heading to Europe. He needs to get away after breaking up with his girlfriend Samantha and the nightmares that hunt him after being drugged by Scarecrow. Bruce is still recovering after Bane.
He arrives in Netherlands where he will share an apartment with a couple of other young people. These already live a bohemian lifestyle, which Dick will adapt himself too.
We see them play music, make paintings, collect tulips, ride horses, go to bathhouses, or just hang out and chill. It’s all about enjoying life. Sometimes they go to an underground club or a disco.

It's authentic in how it portrays young people living together.
People come and go at the apartment. A variety of different personalities. A couple of them are even queer.
I’m not saying that anyone of the youngsters are hippies. But they're all free spirited, and a flower power element is still there.
DC Comics was against showing any pot smoking in the film. That’s understandable.
We have to settle with imagining the characters doing that off-screen.

This a poetic coming-of-age story, with the same qualities as an independent drama film, in which our hero goes through a symbolic metamorphosis. He will discover something new about himself.
Bromances will form. Romantic feelings will arise. Grayson gets a new girl, if only for a short time.
Beware! The film has nudity and sensual scenes. Characters have sex in and off camera a couple times. Grayson will make love to his girl.
The cast themselves tried to push the line for what was acceptable to show regarding drugs and sexuality, but
their ideas didn't get green-lighted.

Do you think this is only a teen drama?
Don’t worry. It’s still a superhero film to an extent.
The villain Bookworm (from the 66’ series) gets a make-over here and becomes more sinister. He has tracked down Robin's whereabouts to toy with him, using all of his book-related clues. He’s really a mastermind but it seems he's obsessed with Robin and to get rid of him.
Later, the villain pits his ally Green Hornet against the hero.
But is Britt Reid really working together with Bookworm?

Robin must deal with Hornet’s gadgets before he clashes with Kato. This takes place in a worn-out harbor area.
These two characters aren’t really DC but the film was allowed to sort do a “remake” of the 60s fight between Bruce Lee and Burt Ward. However, this time it’s longer and way more violent. This is where the old Hong Kong action element plays in.
We get the ultimate showdown! Who will be the last one standing in what seems like a death match?

This is Liam Aiken’s last time as Dick Grayson. As he was 21 during the filming, he knew the age was catching up on him and that’s why he decided to leave while he still was believable as a teenager.
Robin is set to appear in other films down the line but he couldn’t stick around for much longer.
Together with the three(!) directors, Aiken looked for someone who could replace him.

Easter eggs in the film (characters hinted, not shown)
David Knight/Spaceman
Helena Bertinelli/Huntress
Sandy Hawkins/Sandman
The Phantom Stranger
Raven

Robin - The Boy Wonder (Warner Bros, 2012)
filmed in Amsterdam and the dutch countryside

Directed by John Badham & Tom Cruise
Additional directing: Peter Bogdanovich

Produced by Gus van Sant, Joshua Michael Stern
Co-produced by Adrian Lyne, William Friedkin

Written by Robert Mark Kamen, Gus van Sant, Joshua Michael Stern, Dean Devlin, Larry Karaszewski

Music by Nicholas Hooper
incl re-arr of Thomas Newman’s Robin theme
incl a Green Hornet theme

Costume design: Phoebe Wong, Laura Jean Shannon

Cast
Dick Grayson/Robin: Liam Aiken
Sylvester: Jamie Campbell Bower
Paula: Sarah Bolger
Bookworm: Tobey Maguire
Bill: Harry Eden
Jessie: Trevor Morgan
Angelica: Vanessa Hudgens
Britt Reid/Green Hornet: Edward Norton
Kato: John Cho
Josephine: Juno Temple
Donald: Graham Phillips
Gus: Chris Colfer
Marcus: Ed Sanders
Raymond: Gabe Nevins
Louis: Victor Sévaux
Gordon: Bisse Unger

Cameos
Airport guard: Bradley Cooper
Taxi driver: Vincent D'Onofrio
Owner of the apartment block: John Moulder-Brown
Man reading newspaper onboard tram: Dylan Baker
Horse owner: Kristin Scott Thomas
Tulip farmer: Jürgen Prochnow
Bouncer at club: Vin Diesel
Bartender: Sam Rockwell
Disco dancer: Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Alfred: Robert Duvall
Bruce Wayne: Ben Chaplin

This sounds very interesting as a Robin solo film.
I would have loved to have seen it. I love the idea of Grayson's personal journey taking overseas and away from Gotham .
It actually makes sense given his circus origins, that he would gravitate back to a bohemian lifestyle, and would feel the pull away from the life of a wealthy man's ward.

Instead, he'd be able to grow out of the shadow of Gotham and Batman , and experience a whole new type of world which could shape him , much like Bruce was shaped by his own journeys.
I also like the inclusion of Kato, GH, and Bookworm.

 

[Airwings]

This sounds very interesting as a Robin solo film.
I would have loved to have seen it. I love the idea of Grayson's personal journey taking overseas and away from Gotham .
It actually makes sense given his circus origins, that he would gravitate back to a bohemian lifestyle, and would feel the pull away from the life of a wealthy man's ward.

Instead, he'd be able to grow out of the shadow of Gotham and Batman , and experience a whole new type of world which could shape him , much like Bruce was shaped by his own journeys.
I also like the inclusion of Kato, GH, and Bookworm.

Thank you, Frodo!

This is an experimental film in the sense it goes further away from a superhero adventure than previous DC films did. It was risky to make the film this way.
But there will be action. I can imagine a chase through the city.
Green Hornet has brought his car Black Beauty overseas. Robin has his motorcycle.

Having Bookworm as main villain is like going to the bottom of the barrel, lol. It was a low point even in the 66' series.
Who's next? The Archer? The cowboy Shame?
How can the funny but annoying Bookworm be updated to something more dangerous?

Dick Grayson has been living as rich for some time, raised with good manners and so-called 'high culture' all around him.
Imagine how it feels to be let loose with no restraints. And in a bohemian environment even.
What will young people do then? Drugs.. drugs.. sex... sex... sex.
Amsterdam is such a liberal place it can be called the city of sin, haha.

As you say, he's been in a circus before. My own version of the character was an acrobat/dancer in Cirque de Soleil. It's more flashy and flamboyant than a classic circus.

And this leads me to next topic.
Now it's the right time to reveal something because of recent news.
As a part of my big DC vision, I planned for a long time to let Grayson be some level of queer in this film. But I pulled it back in the last moment because it felt so cheap to let those rumours be true. They have been following the character for many decades but it has never been a part of the official canon.
The new facts about Tim Drake didn't reach me until the day after I posted this film.
What strange a coincidence!
Maybe I should go that route, after all?

That Bernard guy seems to also be in tune with my upcoming plans. I checked out the comic strip two days ago and almost laughed when I saw him next to Tim.
But I promise my plans were made before Tim was outed as bisexual and going on a date with him.
Stay tuned, Frodo!!! You will understand the next time Robin appears on-screen.
There will be a handful of films before then, though.

 

[Airwings]

This film is a team-up with two superheroes. Both had a solo film before.
Parts of the story is written as an imitation of a libertine novel, but in some scenes it a robinsonade (a theme first created in the book by Daniel Defoe).

It copies work by fantasy author Dave Eddings, along with Hunter S Thompson, Émile Zola and John Steinbeck. Great world-building and storytelling of different kinds.

I would like to mention some literature (incl plays) that are weaved into the film:
Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles
H.G Wells’ The First Men in the Moon
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World
Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy
Thomas Moore’s The Gypsy Prince
Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac
Marquis de Sade’s The 120 Days of Sodom
Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest
Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire
Voltaire’s Candide
Machiavelli’s The Mandrake
Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre
Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Some sci fi there, but a lot of social satire.

And then we have War of the Worlds. The tripods are actually based on a real Martian battle vehicle. It makes me wonder if H.G. Wells went to Mars and actually saw one, lol.
They’re not that huge however. More like a Mini Cooper. The three legs aren’t longer than an average human.
Tripods don’t have a death ray. It’s just a laser gun. But for somebody not familiar with that technology, it must have been like a nightmare to see it in action on the battlefield.

The team-up borrows from films too:
Forbidden Planet (1956), Planet of the Apes (1968), The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), Star Wars’ original trilogy and the typical ‘Roger Moore James Bond’ we saw in Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun.
Add the two 1950s war films The Bridge on the River Kwai and Paths of Glory, then we get close to what this DC adaption is.

All this mentioning of Mars gives hints about one of the two heroes.
It's Martian Manhunter, and he will meet Mon-El.

It’s sort of a space opera and an exotic adventure, but with a serious side. There’s something apocalyptic underneath.
But that the film close to the buddy cop genre makes it fun, I would say.
One is older and calm, the younger tend to be reckless and act on impulse.
The two superheroes will be bickering now and then.

Let’s look into the plot:
Lar Gand still lives his life in France, the country where he first ended up when he was sent to Earth. He is more and more of a Parisian. He loves to take a walk along Seine during sunsets. There’s a lot of “Bonjour” and “Merci”.
He's found a good friend among the locals in Raphaël. They are both interested in old French architecture (which reminds Lar about Daxam)
He has a fling with a lady friend, Céleste. They are romantically involved.
There is a slight age difference but he points out that he’s got a thing for older women.
Occasionally, he does the typical superhero stuff under the name Mon-El.

Other countries are jealous. They all want a piece of the cake and claim that France doesn’t deserve to hold onto such a powerful hero inside their borders.
The relationship between France and UK is about to become cold. Germany has sent a spy to observe Mon-El.
Both Italy and The United States plan to put pressure on Interpol.
If this continues, there will be a crisis for EU.

One day, John Jones shows up in his human disguise together with Dr Saul (the man who teleported him here by accident). They’re looking for the hero they’ve heard about.
When Mon-El has just performed some superheroics, John asks him if they can talk but he’s turned down. Because Mon-El doesn’t do fan service, and he’s tired of foreigners who want to have a moment with him.
And if there’s some serious crime-related matter on the hand, he thinks the detective looks like he’s quite capable of handling things by himself.

The martian tries again later, in his original form, when there aren’t any people around and Lar Gand is out of costume.
At the sight of the green humanoid, he goes “I don’t offer that kind of services any longer”, referring to his past as an escort. Because he first thinks the alien wants to spend some hours with him.

John reveals he’s J'onn J'onzz, The Martian Manhunter, and he needs help from what he understands is ‘the most powerful being on Earth’.
“How did you find me here?”
“I read minds”

The war on Mars is getting worse. It’s about to become a genocide. The white ones are doing terrible things against the green population.
The warlord from from previous MM film gets a name here. He’s Benn Blanx, a ruthless maniac.

I won’t go in every detail what happens, but at least Lar Gand a.k.a. Mon-El agrees to go to the red planet with J'onzz.
The duo travel to Mars and land on a mountain, with a breathtaking view of the landscape.
One challenge will arise. Among them, only Lar will still have his super strength there.

Some stuff from the film:
A few white martians have set up bases at Phobos and Deimos, and our moon too.
While the heroes are away, a few of them come to Earth to see if they can extend their war to the blue neighbour planet. They perform an act of terrorism outside a café in Paris. There are a couple of casualties.
(A little trivia: here’s where the obscure American comic book characters Johnny Mann and Miguel Devante appear. Here re-imagined as, respectively, a German and a French character. But without superpowers, they’re only regular humans)
Cops arrive at the scene. Will they succeed in capturing the white Martians?

Last time we saw Martian Manhunter on film, life on Mars was treated as a realistic idea. Not only intelligent life, but also a technologically advanced world.
We’re in for another surprise here.
Saturn has a civilization too. Oh ****!!! Haha
Not the actual planet but its moon Titan.
The saturnian queen Eve Aries can be called a villain as well. Her kingdom has high tech that can be used as weapons. But she has no problem with the martians killing each other. Not even them invading Earth.
Why should the mighty Saturn care about the problems of ‘dwarf planets’? What’s the point of interfering if not getting something in return?

It’s soon revealed that Saturn has a problem of its own. There’s no heir to the throne.
The queen becomes attracted to Lar Gand because of his blue blood. She reads him like a book and knows he’s royal.
What follows is some temptation. She promises that if the hero makes sure she will bear a child, she might come to the aid. But just maybe.
Imagine her sitting decadently on her throne, looking bored, and snarkily pointing out: “Who else are you gonna ask to help you out? Queen Celerita? Then she giggles.
It’s not the first time Lar has confronted a seductive female monarch who’s mad.
He will later face the fact that he won’t have a choice but going to bed with her.
Eve has a trick up her sleeve though. She has found out Lar has grown allergic to lead while on Earth. With her saturnian science, she manages to vastly increase his vulnerability to the metal.

Lar Gand’s home planet Daxam is struggling after one of their princes and a royal advisor disappeared some 15 years ago (see previous film).
The White Triangle, a fascist group comparable with Hitler’s nazis, has gone from being underground to get some political power. They plan to do a revolution back home.
We don’t see Daxam in this film. We only get the leader of White Triangle (Roxxas). He’s traced Lar Gand to our solar system. He arrives to take care of him, and that makes the evil daxamite another threat to deal with. Maybe he has struck a deal with Saturn Queen?
Is she really that evil?

During the second half of the film, Courtney Whitmore (Stargirl) and William Payton (Starman) appear, and assist the main heroes.

In the last scene, Lar Gand takes Roxxas’ space jet and sets the course home. He has to bring order there again and save Daxam’s role in United Planets.

Hmm, it seems I presented a lot of things after all..

Expect much action and adventure here in this team-up!!!!!!
The backside of war is explored, how civilians suffer. The rise of Nazism and The Holocaust is touched upon.
The film also uses some modern-day politics (the Europe/Interpol stuff).
All of this is the serious part of the story.

While the tone tends to be light and entertaining, this is not the most family friendly film one can find. Not just for pointing out the Martian war’s similarity to WW2, or criticism of modern globalism. The ‘adult moments’ include some sexual stuff we see on-screen. It’s almost erotic.
While this is done with tongue in cheek and done for laughs, it can still be bothersome.

Now, how do the non-Earth planets look in the film?
Mars has the look of a raypunk desert world with advanced, but dirty, steampunk tech.
Saturn can’t be described lol. Just kidding. The best term to use will be lunarpunk.

The music written for the film is of the same kind as the classical composers Rossini and Bizet.

During the scenes in Paris, we hear some French chansons being played.

Jean-Michel Jarre plays the film’s title theme “Interplanetary Valiants”, which he co-wrote with Randy Newman
He did covers versions of the two heroes’ themes as well.

Easter eggs:
Power Girl
Kory Anders/Starfire
Thom Kallor/Star Boy
Cyborg
Shado

Interplanetary Valiants (20th Century Fox/DC Films, 2012)
filmed in Paris and Arizona (Grand Canyon etc)
some shots were also made in Greenland and the Moon Valley in Chile

Directed by Luc Besson
Additional directing by Emir Kusturica

Produced by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Emir Kusturica, Luc Besson
Co-produced by John Landis, Chris Columbus, Nicolas Roeg, Sean S. Cunningham, Tobe Hooper
UPDATE 2021-9-1

Written by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Emir Kusturica, Scott Alexander, James Vanderbilt
Additional writing: Luc Besson

Set design: Roger Ford, Rick Heinrichs, Michael Howells
Costume design: Janet Patterson, Colleen Atwood, Nic Ede

Music: Randy Newman
incl re-arr of Le Holdrige’s Martian Manhunter theme,
and Mon-El theme by Trevor Jones & Edward Shearmur
and Dennis McCarthy's themes for Starman and Stargirl

Cast
John Johns/J'onn J'onzz: Denzel Washington
Lar Gand/Mon-El: Kevin Zegers
Commander Benn Blanx: Dean Norris
Eve Aries/Saturn Queen: Emmanuelle Seigner
M'gann M'orzz: Cameron Diaz/Halle Berry
Roxxas: Christopher Lambert UPDATE 2021-9-4
Céleste: Audrey Tautou
Raphaël: Louis Garrel
William Payton/Starman: Gaspard Ulliel
Courtney Whitmore/Stargirl: Imogen Poots

Cameos and minor roles
Head of BND (German Federal Intelligence Service): Fritz Vepper
Johann Mann (German secret agent): Thomas Kretschmann
Dr Saul Erdel: Anthony Zerbe
President of France: Alain Delon
French minister of Home Affairs: Juliette Binoche
Head of DGSE (French foreign intelligence service): Isabelle Huppert
Interpol’s Italian representatives: Monica Bellucci, Burt Young
White martian: Kelsey Grammer
Michel Devante: Léo Legrand
Retired ethnology professor: Jean-Paul Belmondo
American minister of Defence: Chris Cooper
Rich American woman: Anjelica Huston
Young green martian: Michael Cera
Old saturnian scientist: Hal Holbrook

 

[Airwings]

I've now covered more than a decade of DC adaptions. It's been an amazing journey.
Many, many actors have played characters from the comic books. A lot of famous faces have showed up in cameos/minor roles.
If we look at the latter, we missed out on some that could have appeared too but never did. Because they left us too early.
I think that there are ones that could be convinced to show up in a scene. Or play a role.
Most likely they would agree to do it.
These are Jonathan Brandis, Pat Morita, James Doohan, Anne Bancroft, Paul Gleason, Richard Harris, Rodney Dangerfield,
Dennis Weaver, Brittany Murphy, Rod Steiger, Farrah Fawcett, Jill Clayburgh, Peter Graves and Ernest Borgnine.

Yes, Jonathan Brandis!
I still think it was a mistake I didn't pick him for Jimmy Olsen instead of Topher Grace in the first Superman.

The number of films is remarkable. I decided to list them all, before presenting something really really big.
This is how it could have been in a better world where not only Warner Brothers had the rights to differerent superheroes but other studios too.

Wonder Twins (TV-series, 2000)
Blue Beetle (TV-film, 2000)

Superman Reborn (2000)

The Green Arrow (2002)

Batman: The Caped Crusader (2003)

Booster Gold (2004)
Atom (2004)
Elongated Man (2004)

Zatanna (2005)
Star-Spangled Heroes (2005)
Green Arrow 2: The Emerald Archer (2005)
Superman Lives (2005)

Doctor Fate (2006)
The Flash (2006)
Martian Manhunter (2006)
Wonder Woman (2006)

Hawkman (2007)
Aquaman (2007)
Green Lantern (2007)
Batman Continues (2007)

Flash: The Scarlet Speedster (2008)
Wonder Woman 2: The Journey (2008)
Booster Gold and the Blue Beetle(s) (2008) (first team-up!)
League of Annoyance (2008) (villain-based film where Atom & Elongated Man appear)

Mon-El, the son of Daxam (2009)
Supergirl (2009)
Magic’s Fate (2009) (Zatanna & Doctor Fate)
Green Arrow & Green Lantern (2009)

Batman vs Superman: World’s Finest (2010)
Marvelous (2010)
Aquaman 2: Atlantis Rising (2010)
Hawkman & Hawkwoman: The Legacy of Thanagar (2010)

The Dynamic Duo (2011)
Mortal Heroes (2011) (Supergirl & Marvelous)
Return of the Flash (2011)
Green Lanterns: Emerald Knights (2011)

Spaceman (2012)*
Black Canary (2012)*
The Star-Spangled Kid, and Stripesy (2012)*
Robin - The Boy Wonder (2012)
Interplanetary Valiants (2012) (Martian Manhunter & Mon-El)

The ones marked with * weren't a part of my original plan but added later. That will also be the case with most of my upcoming ones.

 

[Frodo]

I've now covered more than a decade of DC adaptions. It's been an amazing journey.
Many, many actors have played characters from the comic books. A lot of famous faces have showed up in cameos/minor roles.
If we look at the latter, we missed out on some that could have appeared too but never did. Because they left us too early.
I think that there are ones that could be convinced to show up in a scene. Or play a role.
Most likely they would agree to do it.
These are Jonathan Brandis, Pat Morita, James Doohan, Anne Bancroft, Paul Gleason, Richard Harris, Rodney Dangerfield,
Dennis Weaver, Brittany Murphy, Rod Steiger, Farrah Fawcett, Jill Clayburgh, Peter Graves and Ernest Borgnine.

Yes, Jonathan Brandis!
I still think it was a mistake I didn't pick him for Jimmy Olsen instead of Topher Grace in the first Superman.

The number of films is remarkable. I decided to list them all, before presenting something really really big.
This is how it could have been in a better world where not only Warner Brothers had the rights to differerent superheroes but other studios too.

Wonder Twins (TV-series, 2000)
Blue Beetle (TV-film, 2000)

Superman Reborn (2000)

The Green Arrow (2002)

Batman: The Caped Crusader (2003)

Booster Gold (2004)
Atom (2004)
Elongated Man (2004)

Zatanna (2005)
Star-Spangled Heroes (2005)
Green Arrow 2: The Emerald Archer (2005)
Superman Lives (2005)

Doctor Fate (2006)
The Flash (2006)
Martian Manhunter (2006)
Wonder Woman (2006)

Hawkman (2007)
Aquaman (2007)
Green Lantern (2007)
Batman Continues (2007)

Flash: The Scarlet Speedster (2008)
Wonder Woman 2: The Journey (2008)
Booster Gold and the Blue Beetle(s) (2008) (first team-up!)
League of Annoyance (2008) (villain-based film where Atom & Elongated Man appear)

Mon-El, the son of Daxam (2009)
Supergirl (2009)
Magic’s Fate (2009) (Zatanna & Doctor Fate)
Green Arrow & Green Lantern (2009)

Batman vs Superman: World’s Finest (2010)
Marvelous (2010)
Aquaman 2: Atlantis Rising (2010)
Hawkman & Hawkwoman: The Legacy of Thanagar (2010)

The Dynamic Duo (2011)
Mortal Heroes (2011) (Supergirl & Marvelous)
Return of the Flash (2011)
Green Lanterns: Emerald Knights (2011)

Spaceman (2012)*
Black Canary (2012)*
The Star-Spangled Kid, and Stripesy (2012)*
Robin - The Boy Wonder (2012)
Interplanetary Valiants (2012) (Martian Manhunter & Mon-El)

The ones marked with * weren't a part of my original plan but added later. That will also be the case with most of my upcoming ones.

Pretty Impressive and Epic library of a decade worth of DC on Filmword:.

It would have been cool of this is what we got at the beginning of the century.
I know you've put alot of work into each film from the bottom up . Well done.
Which ones of these are your favorite so far ?

 

[Airwings]

Pretty Impressive and Epic library of a decade worth of DC on Filmword:.

It would have been cool of this is what we got at the beginning of the century.
I know you've put alot of work into each film from the bottom up . Well done.
Which ones of these are your favorite so far ?

It's beyond awesome. Just the numbers of creative people involved, making every hero unique from the others.
This is bigger than MCU which was always a shared universe. My films weren't trying to be. Superheroes needs to be established alone without being interrupted by others. At least the major ones.
When that is acchieved, THEN team-ups can happen. The formula is 1+1, more or less.

I don't know what I would do if these films actually came to be. Suddenly they were real. Could we handle the excitement?
Maybe this is what happened in an alternate reality?
The multiverse is a popular thing nowadays.
Let's just find the right Earth so we can enjoy 12 years of DC adaptions.
I would refuse to leave it until I've seen them all.
And then I would take copies with me here. They would fill my book shelf pretty good.
It's not only for the films but also all the bonus material: production documentaries, interviews with actors/directors/writers, deleted scenes, bad takes etc.
Heck, it would be a fanboy's wet dream to just look at the dvd/blu-ray covers. To hold them..
I counted to 41 titles. That's so many I would faint only by looking at a complete collection.
Just think about how many weeks it will take to go through, with one film per day.
And more will come

I don't have a favorite. Because the latest is always the best one lol
Who's yours? Maybe more than one?
To be honest, I wouldn't want to remove any of them. They all need to be there.

Of course it would have been amazing to be there from the start and follow them year by year. Then to never know what will happen later, what films to come etc.
BUT, it would also be really interesting to start watching them now in correct order. To look for hints about the upcoming adventures. Because they are just a little connected. Which we didn't know from the beginning.
Like how Wonder Twins showed up in League of Annoyance, even if that one focused more on other heroes.

Star-Spangled Heroes is an intriguing chapter that sticks out because it's a collection of short films. And it started something.
The first and second segment had Spaceman, and Star-Spangled Kid & Stripesy. They came back in Booster Gold and the Blue Beetle(s).
Third and fourth segment had Skyman, and Star-Spangled Kid II & S.T.R.I.P.E. Their return were in Magic's Fate.
Fifth segment went to space, with Prince Gavyn. He later appeared in Mortal Heroes.
Sixth and seventh segment showed us Starman, and Stargirl. These two had minor roles in Interplanetary Valiants.
What this means is that characters from all segments show up as supports, everytime two different solo heroes team up. From the first to the seventh. As if these star-related people have a bigger role to play in the wider DC universe. Very interesting!!!
I have used them all at this point. What's next?

The answer is that I have started over again with a second round. The first two segments have already been brought back.
But now the star-characters get solo films instead.

Oops, I revealed too much here

 

[Airwings]

Here's the next one!

It started at the time when Booster Gold met the first Blue Beetle (a hero) and the second one (a villain). The latter switched sides at the end and became a good guy.
In this film, the third guy with the superhero alias was introduced

Then there was another time. Atom and Elongated Man had supporting roles, when villains were in the focus for the first time. Wonder Twins also appeared in a few scenes.

What happens when we continue the stories from those above, together with mainly TWO of the DC films from 2012?
And if we on top of that, add a few unexpected surprises from other adaptions (which I can’t reveal yet)?

The answer is: The first team film. The very first one!
A real team, not just 2-3 characters.
It explains how the heroes get together. The backstory has something to do with the films I refer to above.

It gets serious, really serious! But it can also be fun.
Fun, fun and fun. With some noticeable darkness behind.
The different individual superheroes weren’t identical to each other in previous films. They won’t be here either.
It could be truly boring if they were. No team dynamics at all.

The characters are many ways treated like the they’re living inside the Golden Age of DC (some even belong to that period).
The film obviously takes place in modern day. But it touches on the 1930s as well. To the extent that it could almost be set back then as well.
That decade had The Great Depression and the true rise of Nazism.
Just look at the urban atmosphere shown in the film. It’s the same as when Hollywood portrays Chicago of that decade.
You can also spot something Gestapo-like when you look more closely. Along with a certain character’s interest in the occult.
(a comparison to something later in the 1900s, will be mentioned inside the plot).
The film doesn’t go all the way. This is not the actual 1930s. It only looks back at chosen aspects of that time so that we can compare now and then.

Works by Emily Brontë, Molière and Sophocles are weaved in. It’s drama/tragedy and satire/humor
Detective/spy fiction is brought over, a bit. In this case, the hardboiled James Bond books by Ian Fleming (NOT the films)
The script writers studied Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 too.

Different stage genres are thrown in there: Comedy of manners, and Satyr play, and Horatian satire.

There will be a couple of heavy fights. One of them includes a battlefield.
So there’s obviously the same kind of energy as in a war film.
For the very first major superhero team adaption, you can spot the same tones as in a few 60s films of that genre:
The Dirty Dozen, The Hill, The Young and the Brave.
Maybe the heroes can be compared to the soldiers and officers in those, even outside of the action sets?

The film also copies small pieces from non-war films:
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965), Get Carter (1971), Kadoyng (1972), The Boy Who Turned Yellow (1972), Wicker Man (1973), The old Bixby Hulk TV films, The Glitterball (1977), Omen 2 (1978), The Halloween films, The Brood (1979), Blues Brothers (1980), Cloak & Dagger (1984), Gostya iz budushchego (1984), Gremlins (1984), Back To The Future 1-2,
The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988), Darkman (1990), Rocketeer (1991), 3 Ninjas (1992), My Girl 2 (1994),
Village of the Damned (1995), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV series (1993-96), 3rd Rock from the Sun
and the Harry Potter films.
How can these vastly different titles possible fit in with each other?
I can say it’s like a jigsaw puzzle. When all the pieces are brought together, you’ll have a picture. This film is that picture.

The story is only Earth-based. We don’t need to leave our planet when it's a big number of characters.
What is Earth, though? The story will re-define everything we think we know.

A Russian director was hired to helm the film. It wasn’t enough for him. He asked for other roles in the production. Then he brought some designers he’s collaborated with before. In a sense, he took more control of the huge project.
Regarding the characters and the story, he wanted to have fun with the term Americana and what’s typically American. Especially when it comes to superheroes a.k.a. men in tights, and American action films in general. He’s a Russian, after all

I see that it could be some beautiful shots from Texas, among the many locations used in the film.
I haven’t made up my mind if there will be a scene at a ranch. Well, why shouldn’t there be? Cowboys are really an American thing. The director could try to break apart the glorified western myths and put another light on those.
Parts of the film WILL take place in the American deep south. The state of Louisiana plays a quite important role.

When it comes to music, we’ll hear New Orleans jazz, as well as Southern blues.

The composer for the film was influenced by Josef Strauss and Beethoven.
There will be the dramatic and the beautiful, and then some waltz, polka and march

Some of the later DC films had a song or a tune by a popular artist or group.
It won’t be the case here. Instead, a number of names were hired to record their own variations of the heroic themes. They could choose which one they wanted. Then a mixing engineer put the pieces in scenes where they fit. Sometimes overlayed with other music.
The list is quite interesting:
Frank Mills, Herb Alpert, Kenny G, André Rieu, The Shadows, Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin, B.B. King.

Then we get to the plot.
I’m not a script writer. I only try to come up with ideas.
What I’ve created is a text that goes on forever. It will take time to read.
It’s roughly how I think the story can unfold during the film. Overall speaking, that is.
Single scenes and certain lines can be changed/deleted if you wish
But all in all, this is quite close to how a film like this SHOULD be.
However, in reality it won’t be like that. Everything will be simplified and watered down.

I’ll give you what I’ve written in my next post.

The crew and cast will be presented later.

 

[Frodo]

Who's yours? Maybe more than one?

I've got several favorite.
My favorites so far are

Batman: The Caped Crusader (2003)
Martian Manhunter (2006)
Green Arrow & Green Lantern (2009)
Aquaman 2: Atlantis Rising (2010)
Hawkman & Hawkwoman: The Legacy of Thanagar (2010)
The Dynamic Duo (2011)
Mortal Heroes (2011) (Supergirl & Marvelous)
Mon-El, the son of Daxam (2009)

.

 

[Airwings]

I've got several favorite.
My favorites so far are

Batman: The Caped Crusader (2003)
Martian Manhunter (2006)
Green Arrow & Green Lantern (2009)
Aquaman 2: Atlantis Rising (2010)
Hawkman & Hawkwoman: The Legacy of Thanagar (2010)
The Dynamic Duo (2011)
Mortal Heroes (2011) (Supergirl & Marvelous)
Mon-El, the son of Daxam (2009)

.

Nice list there

Epics like Aquaman and Hawkman that turn Earth's history upside down.
Batman&Robin horror
Modern day Robin Hood meets intergalactic space cop
Crazy soap opera with Mon-El (the sequel went the same route but took place much closer to home - Mars&Saturn - which makes it a bit disturbing *lol*. But it's a cast to kill for with all those european names)

I'm surprised that you still like the first Martian Manhunter so much.
But not when it comes to Johnny Depp Batman. That one is a slow-paced and moody masterpiece that survives the test of time. Was it directed by Jonatan Demme? I don't remember my own films

It's an overweight for the latter years.
Two titles each year for the period 2009-11.
What year do you think it's the best between those three?

I'll be taking a boat trip today. Maybe I'll post the plot of the big team film tonight or tomorrow.

I just wanna say something first.
The story will end up being different after the cast is revealed. Now I'm messing with your mind

 

[Airwings]

I've got several favorite.
My favorites so far are

Batman: The Caped Crusader (2003)
Martian Manhunter (2006)
Green Arrow & Green Lantern (2009)
Aquaman 2: Atlantis Rising (2010)
Hawkman & Hawkwoman: The Legacy of Thanagar (2010)
The Dynamic Duo (2011)
Mortal Heroes (2011) (Supergirl & Marvelous)
Mon-El, the son of Daxam (2009)

.

Another thing

All these films counted together, what do you think are the most successful superheroes so far in my alternate reality? The media coverage plays in. The same with how high they rank in popculture.
My guess for the top ten heroes, in right order, would be:

Batman
Superman
The Flash
Green Lantern
Green Arrow
Robin (he actually got his own spot)
Wonder Woman
Aquaman/Hawkman (a tie)

At 10th place we find the Star-Spangles heroes, together as a collective unity (that's cheating, lol)

Then comes the rest....