Upcoming DC movies

So there's been some rumors about what DC is going to announce in the next month at Comic-Con. I unfortunately will not be able to write anything about those announcements, even if I do get wind of them in the next few months.

I reminisce back to last year when such brilliant announcements came out during comic-con, and being so excited the minute I saw the announcement that they were making a Batman and Superman film.

And so much freaking stuff has come out since. We've got a title, we've got a shit load of casting announcements from Batfleck, to Gal Gadot, Cyborg, and Lex Luthor.

It makes me really bummed that I'm not going to be able to give you my thoughts on the announcements because I'm sure they are going to be fantastic.

The rumor mill has been running already and some of the surprises of Comic-con have been "spoiled" as it were, especially on the DC side of things. Now all the pieces of information I'm putting out now is, as I understand it, still rumors and it won't be confirmed until comic-con. Usually I don't like to write on rumors, as I did get burned by the Bryan Cranston/ Lex Luthor rumor.

So before I get going, just remember that these are all rumors. They've come from a decently reliable source but they are still subject to change and I could be totally wrong.

So what has been said?

Well the whole line up for the next 7 movies have been "announced", no big deal. If this turns out true, regardless of my thoughts of the movies they have lined up, its good to see that DC has a plan instead of putting out a movie and seeing how it goes over in audiences. It was allowed for Man of Steel but if they're going to compete with Marvel, they need to start having faith in their projects.

The first project after Batman v. Superman will allegedly be a Shazam movie. Now I'm a little skeptical of this because this movie is suppose to come out the same year as Batman v. Superman. I understand that its about 2 years out but by the same token, its 2 years out. Hopefully they've had this in the works, they have a director, they just need to start filming. I'm not saying its not possible, I'm just saying they've got to get going quick if they want to launch this movie.

I'm more concerned if Shazam is the right way to go. For those who don't know, Shazam is a superhero who becomes the hero when he says the word Shazam. In many incarnations of the story, he's been a child. So this strong, superman-like guy is actually a transformed kid who made a wish to a magic wizard. I'm exaggerating but you can see why I'm not really excited about this being the first movie after Batman v. Superman. I don't want the next DC Superhero to be a magic wish right out of Ted.

Now there's a caveat to that. Rumors have it that Dwayne Johnson will be taking on a role in the DC universe and the buzz has it pointing towards this role.

I'm still not totally convinced that Dwayne Johnson has the acting chops to pull off a superhero role in the DC universe. Especially after watching Pain & Gain and other movies, I think him in a superhero role is long overdue, however, I'm wondering if this will actually work.

I think the deciding factor for me is how Johnson does in the upcoming Hercules.

Here's the trailer.

If Johnson can give a serious performance of a hero as legendary as Hercules. I think it will give me hope and make me okay with a Shazam film.

Again, we don't know if the Rock is going to Shazam or even going to be in the film. He was set to play Black Adam (Shazam's rival) but even that isn't confirmed.

But everything I said above applies to any Superhero he ends up playing. I would like to see a little bit of humor set into these DC movies but they need to be a different tone than Marvel. Especially with Man of Steel setting that serious tone.

Overall, I'm hesitant about a Shazam film unless Dwayne Johnson is in it, then I'm optimistically hesitant.

And then there's Sandman...

I don't know anything about DC's Sandman...

All I know is that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is going to be involved. Acting in it, maybe. Producing and adding directorial guidance to it. I hope so.

After watching Don Jon, I really want to see what Levitt has to offer and why not see it in a comic book movie.

Still don't know how Sandman is going to connect to the Justice League universe being set up but I'll go see it... that's pretty much all I have to say about that.

And then we have the Justice League movie. Rumor has it that they will be filming Batman v. Superman back to back with the Justice League and Batman v Superman will be less of a Man of Steel sequel and more of a set up for the Justice League movie.

The movie of course is going to feature Batman and Superman. Wonder Woman is going to have a role in it, I hope a supporting role but nothing that reveals that she is Wonder Woman.

I'll redirect you to my Wonder Woman thoughts back when it was announced.

And finally, there will be a Cyborg cameo for sure played by Ray Fisher, a Broadway actor. I didn't do a review about that because it seems like such a small role and it feeds better into this review.

All of which I have to say, tread freaking carefully Zack Snyder.

Every time Snyder you make me bring out Kenny Powers. I'm okay with the fact that you finally came out and said, this is not a sequel to Man of Steel. It will not focus solely on Superman. Instead this will be a movie about Batman and Superman that will lead into the Justice League.

Or that is how I understand you.

I understand you're trying something different than Marvel, and I love it. I love that you're not doing separate movies for each member and making wait a billion years for a Justice League movie. Yes it worked really well for Marvel but you're DC, you're a company that takes risks... well sorta but you gotta do this in a different way.

That being said, don't lose focus on what you need to do in the Batman v Superman movie.

Make your Batman and Superman film about Batman and Superman. Give your future team a fantastic set of anchors to build off of.

Make the relationship between Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck something to go down in history. And give the two most iconic superheroes in history the face off they deserve. Is that too much to ask for?

I'll talk more about the Justice League movie towards the end as I talk about the other films.

The following film apparently will be a Wonder Woman standalone.

Believe it or not, aside from Batman v Superman, which I have been raving about since the day it was announced, a Wonder Woman standalone film is the movie I am looking forward to the most.

I'm actually kind of disappointed that they didn't switch Wonder Woman and Shazam. I really think they need to do a standalone Wonder Woman movie before the Justice League, but oddly enough, the Wonder Woman movie is going to follow the Justice League movie two months later in July of 2017.

Now I personally think this is DC's biggest wager. Because if this is in fact confirmed, they must have big hopes for Gal Gadot.

They must see something in her that the rest of the world does not because I'm not gonna lie, aside from Jesse Eisenburg, I'm still kind of confused on this particular casting.

Ideally this could launch Gal Gadot's career, but only if she's good.

She could be rocketed to the top of not just the comic book action movie world but the action movie world in general. But only if she's good.

Gal Gadot could be a huge symbol of how far women have come in the past few years, show a side of movies that we have never seen before, that there can be a good female Superhero film. But only if she's good.

I'm going to go back to my thoughts when the casting of Gal Gadot was announced.

Physically, I'm sure she can bulk up for the role. But its her acting that I am not convinced about. Granted, since writing that review, I still haven't seen any of the movies Gal Gadot is in. Its something that is on my long laundry list of things to do for this blog but I've picked up every Fast and Furious clip I can, and its not really impressive.

Again, I really hope she can do it, and I'm waiting till the film comes out to pass judgement, but dear lord, I really hope this works out. Because this is actually the best piece of news to come out of these rumors. I've been waiting on "confirmation" of a Wonder Woman standalone film, here it is. Thank you.

Just... Kenny Powers... okay?

Then that Christmas, there will be a team up film with the Flash and Green Lantern. 2017 is going to be a crazy year for DC. It could have been a crazy year for all comic book movies in 2015 but apparently DC wanted to further the connectivity of these films... I'll get to that later...

But Flash and Green Lantern.

Things to pull from this, confirms some of the members they're bringing into the Justice League movie. I was pretty sure that Green Lantern was going to be in there. The big surprise I guess is that the Flash is going to be in it.

Now its unclear on whether or not its going to be a whole new Flash or its going to be the Flash, or connected to the Flash television show.

Read my thoughts on DC TV to get my thoughts on the Flash so far.

In short I think they're going to create their own Flash separate from the TV show in order to get things straight not confusing.

I'll get back to that in a sec though.

The big thing I pulled from this is that Ryan Reynolds is not going to be reprising his role as Hal Jordan from the other Green Lantern film from 2011.

While I'm in no way surprised by this news, I am a little bit bummed. I think Ryan Reynolds gets too much crap from that movie.

Going even further back to my Green Lantern review, you may remember that I did not hate that film.

Yes it had its problems and looking back at the review, I don't say too many good things about it. But still, I didn't hate the movie, its not my favorite superhero film but I thought it gave an alright effort.

Needless to say, it needed a facelift and reboot. While I'm sad to see Ryan Reynolds not returning, I'm looking forward to the casting. Maybe they're announce it at Comic-Con and I'll be able to give my thoughts probably in late August?

What I imagine them doing is taking the Green Lantern in the direction of John Stewart instead of Hal Jordan. While I think they could do a Hal Jordan Green Lantern reboot, I think they're probably going to try and give the Justice League some diversity and go with a John Stewart.

Personally, if I could have anybody play John Stewart, it would be Idris Elba.

Its a casting that I know will never happen, but it just gets me excited to know that we have another character that will have to be casted which we will have another announcement coming, hopefully soon.

If they were going to go with a Hal Jordan, I think they need to swipe up Nathan Fillion before Marvel can put him in one of their movies. Its only a matter of time.

My bet is that I am very, very wrong either way they go. And perhaps if this report is wrong, maybe the whole deal of Ryan Reynolds not reprising the role is wrong as well.

What I will say however is that its probably a good choice and its probably true. I'm still skeptical on whether or not they're going to have a Flash and Green Lantern movie, but I'm almost certain they're not bringing Reynolds back. Its a shame, but its probably true.

Now as far as The Flash goes, I really hope they keep the show and the movies separate. I think it allows for the shows to have their own freedom and will to do whatever they want and neither the movie or the show needs to be tied down.

The one thing I could possibly see them doing is having the TV shows be a younger version of the Flash, and everything that happened in Arrow and The Flash happened well before the events of Man of Steel.

Now there's a little bit of an inconsistency there due to the fact that the shows take place in current day but I would approve if Grant Gustin was a younger incarnation of the Flash that shows up in the Justice League and this team up film.

That way the shows don't really mess with the films and the films don't mess with the shows.

Again, there's a time consistency there but I will not accept Grant Gustin playing The Flash in the films. I refuse.

In a post a long time ago, I half-jokingly made the argument that Neil Patrick Harris should play the Flash.

Again, its a choice that I'm certain will never happen but I have the feeling they have to vary up the kinds of movies they're making. Similarly to Marvel making an Ant-Man starring Paul Rudd, why shouldn't they throw a little bit more humor into his series with a casting like Neil Patrick Harris as Flash.

I know its a little bit different because Marvel has opened it up to make the universe a little bit more of a fun one than DC has with Man of Steel but lets vary it up a little bit.

Moving on.

Allegedly after the Green Lantern and Flash Team up, there's suppose to be an official Man of Steel sequel.

Now with the exception of when Batman v Superman and The Justice League were suppose to be released, all information we had heard before, this is the news that I think is probably the most accurate.

The more and more I'm hearing about Batman v Superman, with casting news, and the very little I know about the story so far, it just seems as though this is a precursor to the Justice League.

Now Dawn of Justice can go one of two ways. It can be an awesome epic, pitting two of the world's most recognizable superheroes against each other in a battle of wits and strength that ultimately leads them to reconcile their differences and realize the hope in creating the world's newest superhero team bent on saving the world from unknown evil... or it could be an Iron Man 2 and just a prequel to the Justice League.

Please God! Let it be the former.

If you remember anything about what I thought of Man of Steel. I saw it as a great introduction and recreation of the origins of Superman. It gave him a more serious tone but stayed true to the bare bones of the story we know and love.

However, the movie never really gave Henry Cavill a chance to really develop Clark Kent/ Kal-El, his relationship to Lois Lane. He never got to actually BE Superman. He got his introduction, he's been introduced to the world, lets get him a chance to become Superman.

I'm realizing that while Batman v Superman will be a nice chance to show Kal-El BEING Superman, this movie isn't going to be a movie about Superman that pits him against Batman, instead this is going to be about both of them.

And that's a lot better than a prequel to the Justice League... as long as its not a prequel to the Justice League and actually a movie about Batman and Superman.

In short, the actual sequel needs to happen for sure. Whether its 2016 or 2018.

I've been rambling for a while but there's one more thing worth mentioning. Its not confirmed yet but hell, none of this stuff is. So why not speculate on it.

Apparently Jason Momoa has been set to play Aquaman in Batman v Superman. I'm happy and cautious at the same time.

I'm happy because Aquaman is finally coming to the big screen and I hope he can be turned into a badass. I have made fun of Aquaman as much as the next guy but I hope they can bring him into the movies and make him something really special.

I'm cautious for two reasons. 1. Its Jason Momoa. I saw Conan the Barbarian and it was a piece of garbage. Not totally Momoa's fault but it gets me cautious about the casting. 2. I want his exposure in the movie to be the same as the exposure I want for Wonder Woman. I want him to be in the movie but not as Aquaman. I them to allude to the fact he's Aquaman but never have him fight.

Like I said before, Batman v Superman needs to be about those two. Not a prequel to the Justice league. I feel like I'm repeating myself. I don't really want it to just be a cameo because I won't know how the performance is until the Justice League and then its just out there and there's nothing we can do about it.

So if Jason Momoa actually is Aquaman, I am cautiously optimistic.

However, I'm really getting into speculation territory. Almost none of what I have talked about has been confirmed and in the next few months, chances are half of this will be wrong. Now that I've had a couple days to think about it, I'm realizing that this is a hefty lineup. I realize that DC has to do something drastic to get back in competition with Marvel but it is going to be ridiculous if they are busting out 3 movies a year. Totally impossible? Not really. Improbable. Yes. So do I want to see this lineup? Yes. Do I expect to see this lineup? No. I do think DC is planning something ambitious but this may just be a lot of truths mixed up in the rumor wheel.

But I want to know you're thoughts. On anything. Momoa possibly being Aquaman? The line up? How probable you think this news is? What movies from DC do you want to see? Comment and discuss below.

I'll leave you with this. I went over a lot, my brain hurts. Lets go to some good old Robot Chicken. Enjoy!