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Finally the counter punch from DC. Marvel has been running the movie comic book genre for years now and finally DC has begun to assemble its own league of heroes to take on the fight for cinema supremacy.
Having been first out of the blocks with Superman in the 70s and then Batman in the 80s it is a surprise that Marvel got the jump on the DC Warner Brothers partnership and have forged ahead releasing film adaptations of so many of their comic titles, going as far as unifying many of these titles in self-contained universe melding multi-hero pictures like Avengers Assemble and X:Men Days Of Future Past.
DC were unable to follow up Burton’s Batman with continued success in the Gotham universe as they allowed the franchise to be bastardised by Joel Schumacher. Having retreated into the shadows to lick its wounds, Marvel took their chance and filled cinemas with X-Men, Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four to greater or lesser success.
Perhaps it is key to Marvel’s current success that two of those first forays into comic book movie adaptations were team stories involving multiple characters and their relative plot lines and character developments. It’s possible this gave them a foundation and experience in making pictures that can handle and develop multi-character plots that leave fans feeling satisfied that their favorite character gets the screen time and plot exposure they believe their hero warrants.
Of course the exact path to where we are now with comic book heroes dominating the box offices is a surprising one if one looks at Marvel and DC’s release history.
The stark reality is that despite being first out of the gate, DC has not only fallen behind in the sheer number of its titles adapted for the big screen, but also in the number of characters they have managed to pull from the comic book pages. Marvel (I acknowledge that there are issues relating to Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four, but nonetheless) have managed to bring dozens of their characters to the silver screen and encompass them in a universe that allows spinoffs, team-ups, cross pollination of plots and sequels galore.
Up to this point DC has relied almost entirely upon Batman and Superman to maintain their presence in the world’s cinemas. The only breaks from this pattern being the debatable success of Superman spinoff Supergirl, the sealed universe picture Watchmen or the notorious failure of Green Lantern.
Marvel, on the other hand, while understanding that the rights issues surrounding some of their characters is a complex one that can be left for better explanation another time. For now let’s just look at the characters created by Marvel and their appearances in films ignoring the paperwork and money changing hands behind the scenes as whomever produces a Spider-Man or Fantastic Four movie I would suggest to the public generally these are Marvel films just like Iron Man or Captain America.
So where was I? Marvel initially launched itself into the world of movie comic book adaptation with their cult title Blade and then dove into adaption in a big way by unleashing two of its biggest properties Spider-Man and the Hulk. The Spider-Man titles (Spider-Man 3 aside) were largely regarded as a success. Hulk less so in solo vehicles but the popularity of the character and its portrayal by Mark Ruffalo in Avengers Assemble gives hope of a brighter and better future for the character in film.
The other titles adapted to screen from the Marvel canon is of course the X-Men. A title which has launched the largest franchise in comic book adaption with now seven films spun out of the X-Men universe. There have been great highs and major lows but the series rolls on and with each new iteration Marvel are able to excite and entice fans by bringing new characters to the screen for the first time.
Marvel’s strategy has seen them build a cinematic universe for its characters to inhabit by building slowly with Iron Man and teasing future projects at its conclusion. Iron Man was followed by The Incredible Hulk. Next came Iron Man 2 and this led onto Thor. After that came Captain America, and having established each of the major characters in solo outings, Marvel brought them all together in the global smash hit Avenges Assemble. Since then further solo sequels have followed for Thor, Iron Man and Captain America. These have generally been met with delight, praise and hunger from audiences with a seemingly insatiable appetite for Marvels comic book adaptations.
DC has a lot of ground to make up. In fact Marvel is so far ahead, it is now confident enough to release titles many outside of the hardcore comic book fans would have heard little to no word of before. Their current state of confidence is demonstrated in future release plans for titles such as Ant-Man, Deadpool and Doctor Strange as well of another series of sequels for Captain America, Thor and possibly Iron Man. DC had the slight issue of having just completed a series of Batman films that had arguably redefined the superhero comic book adaptation and raised the bar to new heights.
With this series complete and Christopher Nolan, the director and creative force behind the trilogy, declining to take the series any further, DC had the dilemma of having to reboot Batman again almost before the reels had stopped spinning in the projection booths for Dark Knight Rises.
As we know they have taken what I consider the rather bold step of going ahead with re-envisaging Gotham again, with a new director in Zack Snyder and cast with Ben Affleck donning the cowl this time around. Before all that, though, DC decided to begin their journey to a film universe of their comic book creations by rebooting Superman with Man Of Steel.
Of course Superman had already ‘enjoyed’ one reboot in the hands of Bryan Synger and his film Superman Returns and there had also been the flop Green Lantern. Both of these are frankly poor entries in the comic book movie cannon and are it’s fair to say not part of any serious plan to create a contained DC film universe. As much has been confirmed by David S. Goyer in June last year when he stated that Man Of Steel is the first film in a shared DC film universe.
“From [Man of Steel] onward, possible films could expand into a shared universe,” he said.
Initially, it had been rumoured DC would go against the Marvel formula and begin with its multi-character team-up movie The Justice League and then spin solo films out of that. However, the announcement by Warner Bros CEO Kevin Tsujihara has put pay to that notion and it is clear DC are going all out to match if not over shadow Marvels cinematic success.
The next DC release is as previously discussed the much publicised Batman V Superman which will feature a cameo from Wonder Woman, allowing her to spinoff into her own vehicle in 2017. In the midst of those two releases, DC has boldly scheduled the release of Suicide Squad which to me is the equivalent of Marvel releasing Guardians of the Galaxy to follow Iron Man, a move that displays confidence that there is an audience for a relatively-unknown franchise despite the lack of foundation with more well-known characters, or a foolhardy move that may leave DC with another Green Lantern on its hands. Time will tell.
There is also a rumour that Batman V Superman isn’t a sequel to Man of Steel and there will be a direct sequel to the aforementioned at a later date. As far as I am aware, though, this remains unconfirmed speculation. Whatever the case, the Batman reboot and continuation of the rebooted Superman plus the arrival of Wonder Woman is all planned to set the stage for 2017’s attempt to break Marvel’s Avengers box office record with The Justice League, which, as with Man of Steel, Batman V Superman, and its own sequel will be directed by Zack Synder.
This reveals another area where DC have imitated Marvel by giving it’s prize characters over to one director with a vision and allowing them create their own iteration of the self-contained universe and influence all aspects of its screen presence by helming a sequence of films that form the core of that universe.
This is the same approach employed by Marvel with Joss Whedon, director of Avengers Assemble and its upcoming sequel and creative influence on both Thor and Captain America films and their sequels.
Following Wonder Woman, DC believe they will have set the stage for potentially the biggest film release in its history with the release of the much anticipated Justice League. Further aping the Marvel formula, DC then plan to spin solo vehicles out of the Justice League with Aquaman, Shazam, Cyborg, and perhaps most intriguingly the reboot of Green Lantern in 2020.
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice – March 25th, 2016
The film is written by Chris Terrio, from a story by Zack Snyder and David S. Goyer, and directed by Snyder. The cast includes Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, and Holly Hunter.
Suicide Squad – August 5th, 2016
Dan Lin is producing, Justin Marks is scripting and David Ayer is directing. Deadshot is the lead character along with Flag, Captain Boomerang, Vixen, Multiplex, Mindboggler and Waller as members of the team. The cast includes Will Smith, Tom Hardy, Cara Delevingne and Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. Margot Robbie is playing Harley Quinn and Jared Leto is the Joker.
Wonder Woman – June 23rd, 2017
Gal Gadot has been cast as Wonder Woman and also signed a three picture deal with the studio, which includes Justice League and a solo Wonder Woman film.
Justice League – November 17th, 2017
David S. Goyer has been hired to write the sequel of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as a new Justice League. Zack Snyder will be directing Goyer’s Justice League script, although Warner Bros was reportedly courting Chris Terrio to rewrite Justice League, after having been impressed with his reworking of Batman v Superman. It has also been announced that the film would be released in two parts, with Part One releasing on November 23, 2017, and Part Two in 2019. Snyder will direct both films.
Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa and Ray Fisher are expected to reprise their roles of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Cyborg, respectively. Ezra Miller was cast as The Flash, appearing for the first time in a live-action theatrical film, and is expected to appear in Part One. The film is also set up the reboot of the Green Lantern film universe.
The Flash – March 23rd, 2018
Ezra Miller is set to play the title role of the Flash. Miller is also set to reprise his role in both upcoming Justice League films.
Aquaman – July 27th, 2018
Warner Bros. have hired screenwriters Will Beall and Kurt Johnstad to pen two separate scripts for an upcoming Aquaman film. The film is being developed on dual tracks, meaning that two scripts will be written, one by Beall and one by Johnstad, but only the best version will move forward with Jason Momoa starring.
Shazam – April 5th, 2019
Shazam is being executive produced by Toby Emmerich, and screenwriter Darren Lemke of Jack the Giant Slayer and Turbo has been hired to write the script. Dwayne Johnson confirmed his attachment officially announcing his casting as Black Adam. Emmerich told Entertainment Weekly in an interview that the film will have a tone unto itself separate from the concurrent Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice film: with a sense of fun and humour, but with real stakes and an anti-hero version of Black Adam.
Justice League 2 – June 14th, 2019
The film was announced in October 2014, and is scheduled to be released on June 14, 2019.
Cyborg – April 3rd, 2020
The film was announced in October 2014, and is scheduled to be released on April 3, 2020 with Ray Fisher starring.
Green Lantern – June 19th, 2020
This film was announced in October 2014, and is scheduled to be released on June 19, 2020.
Over the coming years we will see whether DC can emulate and perhaps surpass Marvel’s success in cinemas around the world. From internet chatter it would seem Marvel have a larger and more vocal fan base but this may change as DC work on building its own empire.
With Marvel being ahead and having released many more films DC will be judged against the films of Marvel that have gone before. Having such a high bar of mass popularity to be compared with DC will most likely suffer harsh judgement from critics and the masses online.
Combined with having two of the toughest tasks in cinema in creating a popular and successful Superman and following the Nolan Batman trilogy means there are big challenges ahead in the DC film universe.
The next six years look extremely interesting.