DC/WB Films/Worlds (No Spoilers)

[Nite-Wing]

I'd take a red lion, Batwing(David zavimbe) or static movie before I'd be subject to another version of cyborg born out of Geoff John's take which kinda sidelined him unintentionally with all the dumb apokolips tech

[Pinsir]

The issue with just randomly grabbing super heroes and plopping them in a movie is that it often leads to bland stories since they aren't actually being developed off an existing story. I'm not saying that good cbm are 100% based off of their comic book counterparts and that there isn't type room to develop new material, but I think its telling that the better comic book franchises, like Batman and Spiderman have the most 'good' comic book material to mine from.

Someone like Iron Man, which started with a strong first entry and then had flailing sequels. What good stories does Iron Man actually have to develop from? I know IM 3 is based off of the Extremis arc btw, but is that a good story or a good when compared to the rest of Iron Man's material?

[Amadeus Arkham]

Someone like Iron Man, which started with a strong first entry and then had flailing sequels. What good stories does Iron Man actually have to develop from? I know IM 3 is based off of the Extremis arc btw, but is that a good story or a good when compared to the rest of Iron Man's material?

Extremis is a rather dark sci-fi thriller that’s main antagonist is a white supremacist terriost(pretty timely given the current wave of white supremacist killings)with Extremis powers who Iron Man at the end of the story ends up killing by blowing his head off.

Which is totally unlike the buddy cop tone of Iron Man 3 which toned the story quite a bit from the comics(I still like Iron Man 3).

[Jokerz79]

Oh, you're right that a Superman movie will get a lot more attention than someone like Enemy Ace. But twenty years ago Enemy Ace would have been dead in the water before it even hit theaters, lucky to make its production costs back and break even. Today it would do fine and probably warrant a sequel, assuming the film was actually well done.



Marvel's brand power definitely makes it easier. If DC made that Enemy Ace film and it was a good movie, it would likely make respectable BO and do decently (maybe Shazam numbers or so). If Marvel made Enemy Ace and it was the exact same movie, it'd make maybe a billion, just riding off Marvel's name (maybe Captain Marvel numbers).

Would it? The 90's had a lot (mostly bad) but a lot of Indy or D List characters getting films not just Batman. Crow, Mask, Barb Wire, Tank Girl, Judge Dredd, Steel, the Phantom, the Shadow, Spawn, Dick Tracy, & Blade.

Even WB started off in the 00's with lesser known to the General Public properties or D-Listers Catwoman, V for Vendetta, Watchmen, Constantine, Jonah Hex, Losers, RED and RED 2, & Green Lantern (Being the biggest character not named Superman or Batman).

[Frontier]

Extremis is a rather dark sci-fi thriller that’s main antagonist is a white supremacist terriost(pretty timely given the current wave of white supremacist killings)with Extremis powers who Iron Man at the end of the story ends up killing by blowing his head off.

Which is totally unlike the buddy cop tone of Iron Man 3 which toned the story quite a bit from the comics(I still like Iron Man 3).

Iron Man never even uses Extremis himself in the movie like he did in the comic, which kind of bummed me out a little.

[Holt]

In the grand scheme of things, very few superhero movies are heavily based on any one specific storyline. Even the really great ones like The Dark Knight and Spider-Man 2 tend to combine a lot of original material with a bunch of little influences from various stories rather than doing a 1:1 adaptation.

[Frontier]

In the grand scheme of things, very few superhero movies are heavily based on any one specific storyline. Even the really great ones like The Dark Knight and Spider-Man two tend to combine a lot of original material with a bunch of little influences from various stories rather than doing a 1:1 adaptation.

I think probably the biggest exception is Shazam since it takes so much from the Johns New 52 story.

They just took Black Adam out and expanded on the kids.

[The_Lurk]

imagine being the dude online desperate to defend that Cyborg has a dick



btw, he doesn't

He evolved

[Holt]

Yep. David Walker said at a con he had a problem with it, so he presumably brought it back when he had Cyborg regenerate his body during his run.

I think probably the biggest exception is Shazam since it takes so much from the Johns New 52 story.

They just took Black Adam out and expanded on the kids.

Indeed. I wonder how closely the Black Adam movie will hue to his New 52 origin story.

[chamber-music]

I like Steel as well.

A lot of the more popular DC characters outside of the top ones are legacy characters.

The issue with just randomly grabbing super heroes and plopping them in a movie is that it often leads to bland stories since they aren't actually being developed off an existing story. I'm not saying that good cbm are 100% based off of their comic book counterparts and that there isn't type room to develop new material, but I think its telling that the better comic book franchises, like Batman and Spiderman have the most 'good' comic book material to mine from.

Someone like Iron Man, which started with a strong first entry and then had flailing sequels. What good stories does Iron Man actually have to develop from? I know IM 3 is based off of the Extremis arc btw, but is that a good story or a good when compared to the rest of Iron Man's material?

The most popular comic characters tend to have the better stories to draw from because they have had continuous solo comics being published with top writing talent crafting stories.

DC and Marvel both have some other less known interesting characters that never reached their potential for whatever reason. Some characters just never landed the right writer with the right depiction or direction of the character for them to catch on.

A number comics have been improved by screenwriters. I think most of Mark Millars material has been improved by filmmakers.

Iron Man was very loosely based on Extremis.

Iron Man has Armor Wars, Demon In A Bottle and Doomquest among his most noted storylines.

[Jim Kelly]

I think what movie and TV adaptations prove is that sometimes the stories that didn't move the needle for the comic reading masses actually do come out well on screen. I liked Morrison's DOOM PATROL well enough (although trying to remember it is like trying to remember a dream I had once), but it appealed to a very niche audience at the time. I think the DC Universe version makes the DP much more accessible, while still being of high quality.

[Dr. Ellingham]

The notion that DC can somehow do what Marvel has done is unrealistic. WB knew this, knows this - so they are not trying to replicate Marvel. They're trying to create standalone brands.

And without a big franchise and preexisting audience to build off, their B-level IPs will succeed or fail based on their merit and appeal. Think Shazam and Aquaman - that's the range.

[Ascended]

Would it? The 90's had a lot (mostly bad) but a lot of Indy or D List characters getting films not just Batman. Crow, Mask, Barb Wire, Tank Girl, Judge Dredd, Steel, & Blade.

Even WB started off in the 00's with lesser known to the General Public properties or D-Listers Catwoman, V for Vendetta, Watchmen, Constantine, Jonah Hex, Losers, RED and RED 2, & Green Lantern (Being the biggest character not named Superman or Batman).

We are very far removed from the 90's or early 00's. Now, maybe if that Enemy Ace film was made back then it'd have reached the same kind of cult classic status that Blade and The Crow have reached, but the odds of it actually being commercially successful? Pretty damn low. Today, it'd have much better odds of making real money, and if Marvel made it there's little doubt that it would be wildly successful.

[stargazer01]

The notion that DC can somehow do what Marvel has done is unrealistic. WB knew this, knows this - so they are not trying to replicate Marvel. They're trying to create standalone brands.

And without a big franchise and preexisting audience to build off, their B-level IPs will succeed or fail based on their merit and appeal. Think Shazam and Aquaman - that's the range.

Unrealistic? LOL, they have done it already in the 70s with Superfriends and in the 90s and 00s with the JL animated universe and animated movies. And the Arrowverse (many like it). IT HAS BEEN DONE and well.

The problem is Warner Bros lack of vision and ineptitude to develop the connected universe using the best DC and JL stories. They tried Injustice with Zack Snyder. I'm not surprised it was so divisive and finally hurt the brand so much. But they can rebuild with better and more commercial movies. It doesn't have to do the billions the mcu is doing, but they can make profitable movies and gain more audiences back. Aquaman just did it.

[Pinsir]

In the grand scheme of things, very few superhero movies are heavily based on any one specific storyline. Even the really great ones like The Dark Knight and Spider-Man 2 tend to combine a lot of original material with a bunch of little influences from various stories rather than doing a 1:1 adaptation.

Its true that very few films are based on specific story lines, but the good ones usually are. Aquaman and Shazam are based on Geoff John's run, MoS is basically just a remake of Superman II, and Wonder Woman draws heavily from Perez's first arc. Its not even necessarily an issue that the comics themselves are good, but that they provide a direction.