Ben Afflek now EP on Justice League

Affleck to Play Bigger Role in Justice League

News broke yesterday that, Ben Affleck has been named an Executive Producer on the Justice League movie.  This comes weeks after news that Affleck is also going to write, produce, and direct his own solo Batman movies in the future as well.

This is no real surprise.  Affleck's reputation as a filmmaker is stellar and can only be a boost to the DC cinematic universe.  Because of his celebrity status, people often forget that Affleck is a huge comic book nerd.  His affinity for Batman is well known, as well as the Justice League.

I see this going one of two ways. First, this is  a pre-emptive strike by DC to possibly lessen the influence of Zack Snyder moving forward. Whereas I may debate the merits and credentials of Zack Snyder as a director, he does have a flair and talent for making movies look awesome on screen.  To me where he falters, is his ability to craft and create a consistent story- and this is where having another director such as Ben Affleck can help.  Additionally, Affleck can help alleviate some of the pressure that comes from being the head of the entire of DC Cinematic Universe.  Zack Snyder, rightly or wrongly, has come under increased scrutiny recently about his vision for these beloved characters.  Having an experienced additional set of eyes- who legitimately cares about the characters can only help the final product.


The second way is to look at this is that DC is going to move past Zack Snyder after Justice League 1 and allow Affleck to run DC Cinematic moving forward.  This would put Affleck in the "Kevin Fiege" role (the person who oversees Marvel Cinematic).  Affleck has experience in this role as he has written, produced, and directed 3 feature films.  He can wear all these additional hats and  he may be in a better position to handle the intense scrutiny that comes from this position better than Zack Snyder.  Affleck has familiarity and affinity with the source characters and materials- something that people often question regarding Zack Snyder.

This is a good thing I think for DC- either way it plays out.

Stop trying to make Superman more human

When I was a kid and my dad would show me those serials Superman shows from the 50's on his old school film projector, I was always fascinated by the power of Superman.  You know, faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive.... I always loved it when the bad guy would empty all the bullets out of his gun at and then throw the actual gun at Superman as if that was gonna hurt him.

Later, when the Superman movies came out in the 70's and 80's( we are only going to acknowledge the first 2), it was awesome to see his full powers on display with flight, x-ray vision, freeze breath, etc. And as much as I hate it, he even turned back time to save Lois at the end of Superman 1.

Yet after the last two movies failed, DC seemed to be over powerful Kal El.  It seemed to me they felt he was too powerful and people could not relate to him and when he does reappear on the small screen, the focus has shifted from Kal El to Clark in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Not that the show was terrible, but even tho we get Superman in the show, the focus was primarily on Clark( and Lois) and all the relationship and work foibles that occur between him being Superman.  DC doubles down on that a few years later when it debuts Smallville which totally focuses on Clark and Superman is an afterthought of the series which is alluded to more than seen.  Smallville focuses on his life as a teenager and all the teenage angst that is associated with being a teenager.  Now Smallville was a great show, I am not denying that, but it continued DC's focus on Clark over Kal El.

When we finally do get Superman back on the big screen with Superman Returns its an overly emotional Kal El whose powers are on full display, but he is burdened with all these real world problems- his girl got a baby and is engaged to some other dude and the parentage of said kid is in doubt.... They got Kal on some Maury Povich type shit!


Now even tho DC has been giving Superman a forum to shine as one of their biggest heroes, their handling of Superman recently borders on shameful.  Superman has generally always been a symbol of hope for the DC universe. He represents what we all can achieve and someone to believe in yet -DC has attempted to turn him into Batman with superpowers.  In Man of Steel,  they tinkered with his backstory, killed off Pa Kent, and had him kill off Zod... all of this was done to create this tortured, emotional version of Superman- who seems to have very little hope.  It's why he appears joyless in Batman V Superman  because he doesn't have anything to be happy about.  DC has created a cinema world where Superman is feared instead of loved by the populace.  Superman has become Charlie Brown in DCU with various people playing Lucy and pulling the ball away from him.  Its no wonder this Superman doesn't crack and go full Justice Lords and fulfill the destiny Luther predicted in JLU and begin his own brand of Justice in a world that already hates and fears him.

DC has become obsessed with attempting to give us more Clark than Superman.  Obsessed. Its why shows like Lois and Clark and Smallville get made, while Superman is regulated to cartoons.  They honestly feel people are more interested in Clark than Kal El and that's simply not true. Kids are not dressing up as Clark Kent at Halloween. The man inside the suit is not as interesting as the man wearing the suit.

This humanizing of Superman has its roots in those original Donner/Shuler Superman movies from the 70's and 80's.  The whole sub-plot of Superman 2 was Kal losing his powers so he could be with Lois. I think, since most people hold this movie as the best of all the Superman movies, they come back to this trope of what would happen if Clark was not or could not be Superman.  And honestly, I don't know or care.  The DCU needs Superman to be Superman- not some emotionally stunted person who cannot handle his true emotions- DC has Batman for that!

DC should be highlighting his powers and abilities, not downplaying them.  Kal El knows how powerful he is and keeps them in check himself, not because of some overly self important writer or director who feels Superman should be more like us.  Superman is NOT LIKE US! He is SUPERMAN! He is an alien, from another world/planet with SUPER human abilities.

I am not one of those, "Zack Snyder should drop out because..." people. He has his vision of Superman and we have seen it on full display for the past two movies.  That is fine, I guess.  But he and DC should not be surprised by all the negative clap back they are receiving from fans and from creators who are not enamored with this version of Kal El.  What I would like to see,  after his "death", Kal El comes back and is appreciated as the hero and savior he was sent to be on Earth. Sadly, I think we are going to get an angry, seeking revenge Kal El before we see his redemption. Maybe this is part of Snyder's long run plan for the character...Maybe. But until then, I am going to enjoy Superman in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited- those shows are the most accurate version of Superman anyway!

The Producer

We all have fan blindspots

Picture the scene, May, 1998, a young Producer has skipped work to attend an afternoon screening of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.  I was excited.  I had been waiting for this movie for the 20 plus years since Jedi had come out.  I had already spent loads of money on toys and merchandise and I had gotten my tickets 2 weeks before this screening.  I was beyond hyped!  It was hard to contain myself in my seat.  Then the theater goes dark and that John Williams theme drops and, if I was someone who cries, I woulda cried like a baby!   And the movie starts and its a spectacle- especially the FX. And you get all the light saber battles, and Maul, and Sidious, and the hints of Vader with young Annakin.  But you also get Jar Jar and awful dialogue and what the fuck are midiclorians anyway?
At the time tho, no one could tell me shit.  It was Star Wars! It was back and I was happy.  Now 1998, everyone did not have cell phones, there was no Twitter, or Facebook. At the time, you lived and died on news and fanboy interaction in chat rooms and message boards.  And most fan reaction to Phantom Menace was not as enthusiastic as mine.  In fact, some people hated it. I mean HATED IT! And as much as I tried to defend it, no one was trying to hear me. I was like, "Fuck them, they stupid!" So I went and saw it again. And Again. And I even copped a bootleg video copy in English( with Turkish subtitles).  No one could tell me that Phantom Menace was bad......Except that it was and is a bad movie.  Possibly the worst of the 3 prequels-which are all flawed.

I tell this story because I see the similarities in my defense of Phantom Menace with people defending Batman V Superman.  Now, Batman V Superman is leagues better than Phantom Menace- that is not my comparison.  My point is blerds/nerds will turn on each other and defend their flawed heroes, comics, movies,  and tv shows to the death when they feel that other people do not like what they like.  They say shit like, " You just don't understand", or " The movie was more complicated than you think" and often times they are flat out wrong.  Look, most of these movies- especially comic book movies are not breaking atoms in their depictions of our beloved characters.  People go to movies to be entertained, not to think.  That is why Transformers can make a billion dollars worldwide- not because its any good.  Its just mindless entertainment!  Yet if you tell the wrong person/persons that Transformers is stupid, @realOptimusPrime will attack you on Twitter and call you a moron because you didn't like that stupid movie.

Stop! I mean really, STOP! Look, I did not like or hate Batman V Superman.  I thought it was ok.  To me the movie was a mess- attempting to serve too many masters.  The movie took 3-5 comic book plots and tried to cram it all in one movie and it made the movie messy in terms of flow, storytelling, and length. I really do think there is a good movie in there at about 2 hours and 10 minutes( instead of 2 hours, 40 minutes). But people are going to town on this movie about how its so great and its the best comic book movie ever.... Sorry, I can't roll with that.  But you do you!  One of my biggest mantras that has come with age is that you should "Like what you Like".  If you like it, fine.  But don't try and convince me that I should like it and don't try and convince other people that they should like it.  If you like it, fine.  Be secure in your opinion why you liked it and move on.

I hate that in society now we have "Embraced the debate".  This culture creates a system where people feel the need to convince you that they are right, and you are wrong( as the other person does the same).  This causes people to take the extreme opinion on anything and everything to attempt prove their point. And blerds and nerds are the worst at this.  They will defend their side to the end of the road( even when its clear they are wrong).  As I've gotten older, I really don't have the time or energy for that shit!  Its fun to read and watch it play out on line, but don't come at me with that bullshit!  It's a sure fire way to get blocked or unfollowed.

So if you liked Phantom Menace, or Fast and the Furious, or Thor 2, or XMen The Last Stand... embrace the shit that you love and stop trying to make me or anyone else love that shit!

Superman V Batman Review

I'm fresh out of the movie about 18 hours now.  I took my kids and the Mrs to see Dawn of Justice last night and I've had time to sleep on it and let the movie marinate in my brain to give this review. I do not like to write reviews in the moment.  Often times, I let the hype or hate wash over me and once I see the movie again, my initial reaction is no where close to my Netflix and chill reaction. This will be spoiler free....

Overall, I do not have any real emotion about this movie. I went in with very low expectations and came out not knowing how I feel.  If it was bad, I was going to rip it.  If it was good, I was gonna praise.  Its really neither.   I have been clear that I felt DC was rushing this Justice League idea from the beginning.  Batman V Superman was not planned to be the next sequel- no matter what they tell you.  If they had, they would've alluded to Bruce Wayne, or Wayne Enterprise, Gotham,  or Batman in Man of Steel.  They did not!  MOS is a polarizing movie for fans and DC got scared that if they needed to reboot Superman AGAIN, it was going to continue to damage the brand.  So they brought in their real MVP, Batman to sure up the Superman franchise.  And going in, you need to know that Batman V Superman is a Batman movie.  Batman/Bruce Wayne is the star and drives the movie with Superman riding in the passenger seat or the sidecar in one of those motorcycles.

The movie plot centers around Superman's place in the world... Is he a savior or is he the devil?  Both Lex Luthor and Batman have concluded that he is the devil and are both working on ways to stop/end Superman before he gets out of control.  There is plot about smugglers and who is playing who and who is manipulating who..... Both Lex and Bruce get to go on about their distrust of Superman... And they go on alot!  The movie is very slow for about an hour!  That first hour is actually kinda boring. Sadly, they rehash Batman history (which everyone knows) without any real point of doing it.  There are congressional hearings and dream sequences, and rescue scenes and much of it really did nothing to advance the narrative of the story.  Oh and  there is much angst among our heroes about what to do, how to do it,  and finding their purpose in the world and that takes alot of time.

The plot point that finally gets us to Batman V Superman is super contrived and could've actually been solved easily with a phone call or a conversation. Like for real!  Communication is key to any relationship, folks!  This leads to our battle between the heroes and its an ok fight, but if you saw any of the trailers, you have seen the overwhelming majority of the fight between Batman v Superman.  Along with much of the action with Wonder Woman.  Spoiling nothing, this leads to our fight against Doomsday which is fine enough, but this has been told better on Justice League Unlimited and on Superman: Doomsday.  Seeing it now on the big screen didn't really move me the way it should have, I guess.  This leads to the ending-which if you have ever read comics in the 90's, you could see coming a mile away.

The Good
Ben Affleck does great work at Bruce Wayne and Batman.
Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman is by far the best part of the movie. By far! I am more looking forward to her movie than Justice League.
The "cameo" by the Justice league is handled well and the movie did not feel overstuffed at all.

The Bad
The movie is a solid 30 minutes too long.  All the Batman origin stuff could've been cut and there is a C plot with Luthor and a victim from the Battle with Zod that could've been removed totally from the movie.  And enough with the slow mo, Zack Snyder.
I was not a fan of manic Lex Luthor.  Its a bit over the top and it made it hard to view him as a credible threat villain.  Plus, how he was able to resurrect Zod and use the Codex was a stretch beyond imagination.

Overall, the movie was just average for me.  I have no real ill feelings towards it, but I certainly didn't love it.  I really think there is a good movie in there somewhere- kinda like Man of Steel.  There are parts that are really good, parts that are really bad, and parts that are someplace in the middle. Its just that they are all so spaced apart, the movie becomes a jumbled mess of scenes that are strung together, but not connected.

So for me, I will not be seeing it again. I do not think I missed anything or will change my mind after reading other people's review.  In the genre, I think its average- DC specific- if you like MOS, you will probably like this, buts its inferior to Dark Knight to me and maybe slightly better than Dark Knight Rises... slightly.  Overall, just a table setter for their expanded universe.

Deadpool puts DC on notice

@brothascomics was blown away by the success of Deadpool at the box office.  I am sure Marvel and Fox, in their most truthful moments, never expected the movie to do so well.  And lastly, I am certain executives over at DC had no inkling that Deadpool would become this huge monetary and critical success.

The success of Deadpool now places an enormous amount of pressure on Batman V Superman.  Granted, there was already pressure.  The pressure to make a good movie, coupled with box office expectations, in addition to the movie being the tentpole for DC Cinematic moving forward.  The pressure was already there.  But by Deadpool getting out first AND making such a huge box office splash, it now ramps up the expectations for BvS.  Deadpool is well on its way to making close to $300 million on a budget of about $60 million.  Fox/Marvel took a character, who is not a well know house hold name, and turned him into a superstar.  BvS stars the holy Trinity for DC and has more guest stars than a Pete Rock CD.  The alleged production budget on the movie is well over $200 million- making it the most exspensive comic book movie ever made.  DC needs the movie to be profitable for many reasons but it also cannot make less domestic than Deadpool at the box office.  That would be an epic fail for DC Cinematic and quite embarrassing moving forward with their properties.

There is already news out there that DC is nervous about the movie.  Executive speaking on conditions of anonymity are saying the movie response interanlly "has not been what they wanted" This could mean many things, but if comic book movies have taught us anything, nervous executives will  tinker with movies and take away the vision the writers and directors had for the movie. Movie executives only think about money and have no vision and they will meddle in the filmaking process with only money in mind. We learned this on Age of Ultron and on Fantastic Four. And from the outside looking in, BvS looks to have a lot of chefs in the kitchen which is why the movie looks overfull of characters and action, with a very small hint of the story surrounding it all.

So what happens if BvS shits the bed? And by shit the bed, I mean it does $200-300 million domestic.  Suicide Squad is already in the can and Wonder Woman is in production.  If the movie under performs, will we even see a Justice League movie? Aquaman? Cyborg? Green Lantern Corps? How much does BvS need to make to justify DC Cinematic moving forward?  Its a great question and one DC was thinking they would never have to ask.  Deadpool has changed everything moving forward!

I have been on the record for months that I am scared of this movie. I do not trust DC. I do not trust the director. And I do not trust their vision.  The movie has seemed rushed from the beginning and nothing I have seen from the trailers leads me to think otherwise.  But I have also said that I hope that I am wrong.  I want to be wrong here.  I want DC to make a great BvS movie! As fans, we all win when studios put out great movies.  Plus it will force Marvel to step up their game if they view DC as a legitimate threat to their movie empire.  But I am a firm believer of where there is smoke, there is fire. If these leaks from executives are real, this movie is in trouble and in turn the whole DC Cinematic Universe is in trouble.  And who knew the Merc with a Mouth would be to blame!

The Producer

DC gonna DC

Zod to Return in Batman V Superman

We are still almost a year away from this movie but the leaks keep coming.  The actor who played Zod in Man of Steel, confirmed that he would be in Batman V Superman- which would not be news at all because you clearly see his body in the body bag in the trailer released at comic con.  The bigger news is that the actor confirmed that he was fitted for "Wax flippers"  on his hands and legs filming his scenes for the movie.  This has led to massive speculation that Zod will somehow  be playing Doomsday in the movie as the "big bad" that brings the Trinity of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman together and begins the formation of the Justice League.

Werd?  This is the DC'iest moves of all DC moves.  This coming from the comic book company that allowed Supergirl to kick the moon out of orbit in a fight with Enchantress( as if that would not affect the earth).  Shout out to Sanders for the reminder!

Look, my side eye for DC is well known, but also well earned.  The closer and closer we get to this movie, the more concerned I am about it. Lets take out all the technical movie concerns such as the huge cast, the plot, and the run time of the movie-which I would say has to be over t3 hours at this point in the editing process.  From a straight comic book movie perspective, how much sense does Doomsday make for the franchise moving forward?  DC seems hard pressed to make sure Doomsday is in this movie.  So do they kill Superman because that is the true and only point for having Doomsday in any movie?  Well you would assume that is not going to happen based upon the Justice League movies that are being released.  And if you use Doomsday here-one of the few villains who is strong enough to fight and kill Superman and fight against the Justice League, where does that leave you when you do make the Justice League movie? Brainiac, I guess? But that only gets you through the 1st Justice League movie! You still have the sequel, with no real villain on the horizon that would make a credible threat to the Justice League.   This just reeks of DC's short sightedness and Zack Snyder's thirstiness to make things look cool and give people what he thinks they want without caring for the consequences of the franchise moving forward.

DC has so much riding on this movie and they are pushing all their chips in.  Its a gamble but if you give people too much, there will be no reason for fans to come back for a sequel because you gave us everything in the first movie.  This reminds me of Fox forcing Dr. Doom into every Fantastic Four movie instead of  building up to Doom.  Use minor other characters and plot to build to your "Big Bad". Leave the audience wanting more, not less( See Avengers 2).

Everything I have thought about this movie since it was announced has come true.  Its going to be a crazy long, over hyped, plotless,  Zack Snyder jizz fest.  It will have DC fan boys all hyped up and they will defend it to the end no matter how bad it actually is( see Man of Steel).  And it will make money but not enough money to justify the sequels that its supposed to spawn in its wake.  I hope I'm wrong, but I'm probably not!

-The Producer

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Batman V Superman Trailer Review

So the trailer that everyone was waiting for finally dropped at Comic-Con! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't waiting around to see it myself and I am a Marvel guy and I have my issues about this movie already.  I still do after seeing the trailer.  Zack Snyder knows how to make movies look good.  How many of you saw the  trailer for Sucker Punch and even Watchmen and thought, " of this is going to be the shit"! He makes great trailers and visual looking movies!

This trailer is no different but it gives us something to look forward to.  I am not the DC hater that Big Hutch says I am.  But I do have my concerns about their cinematic universe because all of this seems so rushed.  So I will start with a critique and then move on to the screen captures.

1. This movie was not planned out. I don't care what they say.  Look, they are taking the idea that Gotham and Metropolis are sister cities like Oakland and San Fransisco.  I kinda like that idea, honestly.  But, if this movie was planned out ahead, they would have mentioned this in Man of Steel( MOS) and even shown a Wayne building in that movie.  They didn't because this was never meant to be the sequel.  MOS is a super flawed movie and I think they realized that and to boost up the hype for a 2nd movie, they added a more trusted property by placing Batman in it!  That is my biggest critique and you can see some shots of  Bruce now during the destruction of Metropolis looking very distressed!

The trailer shows that a Wayne Building was destroyed and that Bruce was not happy.  They are really going with an older looking Bruce Wayne here. I am not sure why?

Superman has to answer for the destruction of the city and we get the narration and video of him going to court it seems. Its so funny that they would make him come to court and he would in the comics because that is what Superman would do.  Yet they allow him to kill in MOS which is not what Superman would do. I digress

Bruce is still upset about what happens.  Trailer shows how he is being taunted for allowing this to happen and we get some intense Affleck looks here! Plus we see Robin's suit which has been burnt and defaced by the Joker.  I kinda hope Robin does not show up in this movie, too.  It already has enough heroes( and we didn't even see Cyborg or Aquabro in the trailer)

Morpheus makes an appearance to tell Clark that no one cares about a report on how to take down Batman! Kinda funny that Lawrence Fishburn is playing Perry White

The women in Superman's life give him two different messages. Funny the wife and the potential mother in law don't get along. Louis is saying that what Superman does matters and he offers hope to people that have no hope.  His momma is telling him you don't owe these people shit!

Luthor finally makes his appearance.  Holly Hunter plays a reporter( she should play Vicki Vale if they want to unite the two worlds) and she interviews alot of people in the trailer.  Luthor being one.  We see him with hair and its been leaked that somehow he gets a hold of Zod's body and is able to somehow mine Kryptonite out of it!

We get our first appearance of Diana Prince, AKA Wonder Woman.  I will say that I was not a fan of the actress when she was cast. But she looks great as both!  We get to see her use her powers a little.  The big reveal is who they are all fighting because something or someone will bring the three of them together.

There were some screen captures I did not understand.  Batman is fighting in what looks to be like Iraq or Afghanistan against these soldiers but they have Superman patches on their arms.  Was very curious about that!

The last part of the trailer shows battle scenes from our two stars.  Typical stuff! I hope it does not go one for 30 minutes like the battle in MOS.  That would be my other concern, too.  There has to be this battle and then there has to be another battle with the "super villain", as well as battles for Wonder Woman to shine.  This movie is gonna run long I bet!

So there it is! I kinda got hyped watching this.  I cannot wait for my 10 year old to see the trailer because he is a big fan of both characters.  And that is what I have to tell myself sometimes.  These movies are not made for you.  They are made for younger kids and I have to go in thinking that way and not be so hyper critical.  We all benefit from DC pulling this off and making an awesome movie.  It will case Marvel to step up their game and put out better movies.  So good job DC!  Marvel the ball is in your court for D23. Don't disappoint us!

-The Producer