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Monthly Archives: May 2014
Superheroes on TV
Superheroes used to exist only on the page. Sometime within the last twenty years, they took over the big screen. Most recently, they’ve been trying to take over the small one.
During the premiere of 24: Live Another Day, FOX aired its first promo for their upcoming “Gotham,” a TV show about Commissioner Gordon’s start in the Gotham Police Department. Watch it below:
The internet exploded, first with huge view counts and overwhelmingly positive comments, and then with the news that Fox (the movie studio, not the TV channel), was looking into bringing one of their superhero properties to the small screen. Potential names being thrown out included X-Force, Fantastic Four, and even Deadpool.
With two superhero shows already on TV (Agents of SHIELD and Arrow), two currently in production (The Flash and Gotham), and Marvel’s five-series deal with Netflix, could TV become the new medium of comics? It’s possible, especially with shows like Agents of SHIELD holding continuity with movies as well. There’s always the chance, however, of these universes becoming too convoluted, or maybe people simply becoming overexposed to the world of the superhero.
For now, however, I think we’re good. Any addition to the superhero world on television is a good one to me.
Zack Snyder to Direct “Justice League”
In a relatively low-key move, DC and Warner Brothers have announced that Zack Snyder will, in fact, be directing their future “Justice League” movie, due to premiere sometime after 2015. While this is relatively unsurprising, it sets in stone a few things for the DC movie-verse:
1. It will be under the creative control of Zack Snyder and David S. Goyer, who has written the scripts of “Man of Steel” and “Superman vs. Batman,” as well as contributing to the Batman Nolanverse. Unlike Marvel, who has Kevin Feige at the helm behind-the-scenes, planning and organizing before passing his web down to individual directors, these two will have total creative control. Is this bad? Not necessarily. It means a lot less complexity and a lot more consistency. Those can be good or bad, depending on how this next movie hits with audiences.
2. DC will be taking its properties much more slowly than Marvel has been. If they are set on using one director for all of their properties (as this implies), it means that there need to be a few years between each movie– no chance of two or three stand-alone films between each team up. Each movie will have to really build off the other, which means:
3. Wonder Woman? Probably not getting a solo movie any time soon. Neither will Batman, though he’s already had three in the past few years, and is headlining this next DC project.
4. I don’t have a clue how DC plans to move their universe forward from this Justice League movie. After The Avengers, we had three solo movies dealing with the fallout and repercussions for each of our heroes, PLUS a brand new property to be introduced. DC can’t do that, so what comes afterwards? Another Superman movie? Finally that Wonder Woman movie? If they’ve only got room for one or two movies between each Justice League film, will they bother introducing new characters, or pick 2 characters out of their lineup that they consider “most important?” Or create more “teamup” films that feature two big names. We’ll have to see. Marvel’s formula has worked thus far, and they plan to keep it working through 2028. We have no proof DC’s will fail, but it seems odd to break a formula that’s worked so well for the competition.
Spider-Man Press Tour Highlights
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 opened across America this weekend to some middling reviews but great box office numbers and fan reaction, once more supporting Sony’s position that this reboot was a good idea. One of the best parts of this set of Spider-Man movies, however? The bubbly, hilarious cast of Emma Stone, Andrew Garfield, Jaimie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, and all the others involved. Stone and Garfield in particular (who are dating in real life) have been having an absolute blast on this press tour. Check out some highlights below:
Emma and Andrew on Saturday Night Live:
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/spiderman-kiss/2779008
Emma Stone kills it in this lip synching competition:
Emma has a serious question for Andrew: