Commenting on the critics with Simon Columb…
Ben Child writes for The Guardian on Wednesday, June 6th 2012:
“The film would unite Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman on the big screen for the first time, and comes after Joss Whedon’s comic book tale overtook the final Harry Potter movie to become the third highest-grossing film of all time last month. Warner has hired a new writer, Will Beall of upcoming mobster tale Gangster Squad, to resurrect a project that was shelved four years ago for a variety of reasons. Few other details are available at such an early stage, but the film would also be expected to include lesser-known figures such as the Flash, Green Lantern and the Martian Manhunter, all of whom appeared in various iterations of the original comic book.”
Read the full article here.
There is a worry with all of this. Clearly all the studios are paying attention to The Avengers. What will they do next? 20th Century Fox, as previously mentioned, have considered bringing the multiple X-Men properties together whilst we know that post-The Dark Knight Rises, Warner Bros. are rebooting Batman, with Man of Steel arriving next year too. Sony have Spider-Man… (please just pick up the phone and call Marvel!)
With regards to Justice League, prior to The Avengers, Captain America: The First Avenger took only $368m worldwide, whilst The Incredible Hulk took only $263m. Warner Bros.’ Green Lantern took $220m – and was considered a huge disappointment. But, if Man of Steel is an Iron Man-type hit, then I think it would be worth trying to bring Green Lantern into this. I am positive that the success of The Avengers will have had a huge effect on sales and viewings of Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger. Hey, the promise of The Avengers was the only reason I watched them. The one thing which Marvel never lost sight of was the end goal – and if Warner Bros are thinking properly, I’m sure they could not only pull Green Lantern off the floor, but they could plan the new Batman franchise to be in line with what the Justice League could be.
Imagine if, next year we have Man of Steel, the year after a Wonder Woman film (isn’t Joss Whedon interested in this?) and then, the year after a Justice League film, the rebooted Batman. At the moment, I have no interest in watching Green Lantern, but if it was suddenly an official part of the series, damn right I would hunt it out.
I think Warner Bros. has to be careful and be sure to not simply copy what Marvel has completed so far though – otherwise we will all see it as a poorer version of The Avengers. I would like to think that there will be a huge difference in tone to each DC Comics film – Gothic Batman, Space-Based Green Lantern, Pro-US Stars and Stripes Superman. One thing about Marvel is how similar all the films seem to be – Warner Bros. could be much more interesting by having these clear shifts between the films (and, rather than two films a year, they could release one a year, giving them time to ensure a quality product).
Who knows. As usual, we shall wait and see what happens because this could either be the best time period for super hero films… or it could be what destroys Warner Bros.
Originally published June 10, 2012. Updated April 10, 2018.
