DC/WB Films/Worlds (No Spoilers)

[Jim Kelly]

Good thing the new year is almost upon us and this thread will be locked, so we can start a new one. Hurrah!

[Holt]

Jurnee Smollett and Ella Jay Basco have both been attacked on social media and we have people in this thread accusing the film makers of not caring about the source material.

In my mind one of these things is more serious than the others, tbh. It sucks when the actors get dragged into this (especially the racist crap they're spewing at Jurnee), but the complaints about not honoring the source material are the same thing you'll find regarding just about any comic film, and, to be fair, this is a film that is very wildly veering from the source. That doesn't mean it'll be a bad movie. There have been plenty of movies that deviated from the source material but were still good. But it's not surprising that it'd rub some fans the wrong way.

[batnbreakfast]

In my mind one of these things is more serious than the others, tbh. It sucks when the actors get dragged into this (especially the racist crap they're spewing at Jurnee), but the complaints about not honoring the source material are the same thing you'll find regarding just about any comic film, and, to be fair, this is a film that is very wildly veering from the source. That doesn't mean it'll be a bad movie. There have been plenty of movies that deviated from the source material but were still good. But it's not surprising that it'd rub some fans the wrong way.

Stop being a voice of reason. This is a comicbook site

[SiegePerilous02]

Not liking it is one thing. Being this insufferable and hypocritical about it is another.

Who defines what is insufferable and hypocritical?
Anyone who is a good person and has sense can see spewing racist crap and attacking actors is toxic, but beyond that being critical of a production that doesn't seem to be adhering close to any of the characters it is utilizing save Harley seems fair.

If it ultimately is a good film it will succeed on its own merits and the complaints will just be noise. If it fails, it can fail on its own merits as a film and lack of faithfulness to the source material can be a justifiable reason for why fans don't like it in addition to any other complaints they may have.

[Castling]

In my mind one of these things is more serious than the others, tbh. It sucks when the actors get dragged into this (especially the racist crap they're spewing at Jurnee), but the complaints about not honoring the source material are the same thing you'll find regarding just about any comic film, and, to be fair, this is a film that is very wildly veering from the source. That doesn't mean it'll be a bad movie. There have been plenty of movies that deviated from the source material but were still good. But it's not surprising that it'd rub some fans the wrong way.

What I find hilarious is that the general audience doesn't give two craps about the "source material" because they have no idea what BOP actuallyis as an IP. If BOP does well, it will become the source material for these characters going forward.
So, essentially, it's a vocal minority of comic fans who are being crude racists online.

[Castling]

I don't see a lot of love for Thor in how they handle him in the movies now. If anything it's an aversion for Thor's character from the comics and a love for how funny Chris Hemsworth is.

What surprises me is that Robbie would go for characters and a team hardly associated with Harley at all instead of with Catwoman and Poison Ivy.

It doesn't matter. In the DCEU, Harely's history and associations are different than they are in the comics. Honestly, it can't be that hard a concept to grasp. Most audiences don't know or care that Harley runs around with Catwoman or Poison Ivy. They just like Harley and want to know what she's up to next.

[SiegePerilous02]

It doesn't matter. In the DCEU, Harely's history and associations are different than they are in the comics. Honestly, it can't be that hard a concept to grasp. Most audiences don't know or care that Harley runs around with Catwoman or Poison Ivy. They just like Harley and want to know what she's up to next.

It's a concept people are grasping just fine.
Harley associating with the BoP instead of Ivy or Catwoman by itself wouldn't be a problem in itself. The issue is the BoP don't seem to be recognizable as themselves (and no, casting isn't an issue), one of their key members is absent entirely, and the focus seems to be disproportionately on Harley. So wondering why this is even a BoP movie based on all that added together, is perfectly fine (within reason).

[Frontier]

It's a concept people are grasping just fine.
Harley associating with the BoP instead of Ivy or Catwoman by itself wouldn't be a problem in itself. The issue is the BoP don't seem to be recognizable as themselves (and no, casting isn't an issue), one of their key members is absent entirely, and the focus seems to be disproportionately on Harley. So wondering why this is even a BoP movie based on all that added together, is perfectly fine (within reason).

I think Harley being associated with the team is a problem in and of itself because I just don't think Harley fits the group. So it seems like their shifting the team to have to cater more towards Harley.

[Stromberg]

It's a concept people are grasping just fine.
Harley associating with the BoP instead of Ivy or Catwoman by itself wouldn't be a problem in itself. The issue is the BoP don't seem to be recognizable as themselves (and no, casting isn't an issue), one of their key members is absent entirely, and the focus seems to be disproportionately on Harley. So wondering why this is even a BoP movie based on all that added together, is perfectly fine (within reason).

I don't know the character of Cassandra well enough to speak on her, but Black Canary had a mother who was a crime fighter, is a blond, beautiful metahuman with a Canary Cry is a martial artist and street fighter who wears blues, blacks, yellows/gold's and fishnet including one outfit that is pretty comics accurate; Huntress is a vigilante who's parents were in the mob and were murdered and she is out for revenge, she wears purples and blacks, carries small crossbows and in one pic we've seen she wears a mask; Renee Montoya is a lesbian police officer working for the Gotham PD; Roman Sionis is a sadistic criminal with a penchant for masks which he DOES wear in the film; Victor Zsaz is another violent criminal who has scars all over him because he cuts himself for every person he kills... How exactly are they going so far from the source material? No, Babs is not in the movie, through no fault of this production teams (they weren't allowed to use her), but she also hasn't always been in the BoP.

[SiegePerilous02]

I don't know the character of Cassandra well enough to speak on her, but Black Canary had a mother who was a crime fighter, is a blond, beautiful metahuman with a Canary Cry is a martial artist and street fighter who wears blues, blacks, yellows/gold's and fishnet including one outfit that is pretty comics accurate; Huntress is a vigilante who's parents were in the mob and were murdered and she is out for revenge, she wears purples and blacks, carries small crossbows and in one pic we've seen she wears a mask; Renee Montoya is a lesbian police officer working for the Gotham PD; Roman Sionis is a sadistic criminal with a penchant for masks which he DOES wear in the film; Victor Zsaz is another violent criminal who has scars all over him because he cuts himself for every person he kills... How exactly are they going so far from the source material? No, Babs is not in the movie, through no fault of this production teams (they weren't allowed to use her), but she also hasn't always been in the BoP.

Harley even being involved with the team is a pretty big departure, and rumors suggest that Huntress at least begins as a mob enforcer which would be a pretty huge departure if so.

spoilers:

Cass sounds basically like a homeless asian girl with otherwise no similarities to the comic version

end of spoilers

Also in this day and age, comic accurate costumes are a big draw for a visual medium drawing on another visual medium. Both BC and Huntress have some practical costumes that could be adapted. Though these may also show up towards the end as a surprise for all we know.

[Castling]

It's a concept people are grasping just fine.
Harley associating with the BoP instead of Ivy or Catwoman by itself wouldn't be a problem in itself. The issue is the BoP don't seem to be recognizable as themselves (and no, casting isn't an issue), one of their key members is absent entirely, and the focus seems to be disproportionately on Harley. So wondering why this is even a BoP movie based on all that added together, is perfectly fine (within reason).

IT. DOES. NOT. MATTER.
The BOP as an IP are virtually unknown. The general audience doesn't care who the BOP are aside from being new characters Harley hangs with away from the Squad. The hope is that this film will introduce the IP to audiences on the back of Quinn's popularity. And word has it that it's not Robbie's Quinn who is the standout, but Smollet's Black Canary, which could lead to a solo feature for her.
Also, it's been noted that the marketing is using Harley to sell a what is an ensemble film, through and through.
As for Batgirl, she is not available at this point in time, but will presumably receive her own solo in the future.

[Castling]

Harley even being involved with the team is a pretty big departure, and rumors suggest that Huntress at least begins as a mob enforcer which would be a pretty huge departure if so.

I disagree. Two thirds of the Gotham City Sirens have been members of BOP, as have vicious killers like Lady Shiva. So, given it's not a departure for villains to join, it shouldn't be that off-putting that Harley is finally included in some way.

As for Huntress, she's the daughter of mobsters, so her involvement with them isn't that surprising, especially since she uses her position to exact revenge on the families that put a hit on her parents.

[SiegePerilous02]

IT. DOES. NOT. MATTER.
The BOP as an IP are virtually unknown. The general audience doesn't care who the BOP are aside from being new characters Harley hangs with away from the Squad. The hope is that this film will introduce the IP to audiences on the back of Quinn's popularity. And word has it that it's not Robbie's Quinn who is the standout, but Smollet's Black Canary, which could lead to a solo feature for her.
Also, it's been noted that the marketing is using Harley to sell a what is an ensemble film, through and through.
As for Batgirl, she is not available at this point in time, but will presumably receive her own solo in the future.

Give it a rest.

I already said that the general audience doesn't give a crap either way. This is about some of the fans who have issues with the representation of an IP they are already invested in. And some of those concerns are within reason based on what is being presented to us and what the studio has already done with some of their previous movies.
The movie can still be good on its own merits and if it leads to a Black Canary spin off all the better (kind of like how GoTG worked out). But there are fans being overly defensive of this to any criticism at all as there are those who are being overly cynical about it.

[Stromberg]

IT. DOES. NOT. MATTER.
The BOP as an IP are virtually unknown. The general audience doesn't care who the BOP are aside from being new characters Harley hangs with away from the Squad. The hope is that this film will introduce the IP to audiences on the back of Quinn's popularity. And word has it that it's not Robbie's Quinn who is the standout, but Smollet's Black Canary, which could lead to a solo feature for her.
Also, it's been noted that the marketing is using Harley to sell a what is an ensemble film, through and through.
As for Batgirl, she is not available at this point in time, but will presumably receive her own solo in the future.

THIS ⬆️
And odds are that if this film makes money the Barbara Gordon they introduce will then team up with Black Canary and Huntress later on.

[Holt]

What I find hilarious is that the general audience doesn't give two craps about the "source material" because they have no idea what BOP actuallyis as an IP.

Sure. That's the case for most comic book movies. But that's not my point. I'm not talking about how the general audience is gonna react, but how some people who are fans of the material are not happy with those changes and are disappointed with what's been revealed so far. Nobody here is naive enough to think that the comic fans being mad is going to tank the film.