DCU Movies

[Ascended]

From a general audience perspective, I don't think it matters much. Someone who sees Xolo as Jaime in the new DCU (either in a Blue Beetle sequel or elsewhere) will simply assume that its the same character as in Blue Beetle, and he'll more or less be right. Peacemaker S2 will be treated as the continuation of Peacemaker S1. Waller will feature the same character who appeared in SS/TSS.

See, I think that's gonna be a problem. I think you're right, when casuals see Davis as Waller, or Robbie as Harley or whoever, they'll assume the new movies are just a continuation of the DCEU. Who wants that? Look at how their films performed the past year or two; they've done even worse than they deserved because the brand damage runs so deep. People are actively avoiding DC, how is it gonna help when the same faces are showing up? Instead of new actors to help herald the idea that this is a fresh start, Gunn is muddying the waters by keeping some of these actors and the last thing WB needs is audiences connecting the new stuff to the old. Even saying something like "Oh, they recast Superman" isn't gonna help as much as it should when Davis is there, showing people that despite the recasting it's still the same DC, and therefore not worth the ticket price.

Hardcore fans like us know the difference. We know Gunn is a new hand on the wheel, we know Legacy starts a whole new canon. Plenty of casuals don't, they'll just see actors connected to movies they didn't like, and if the actors are the same then what else is, and what reason do they have to give the new project a shot even if some other roles were recast? The presence of the old guard might tell casuals that it's still the same mess they learned to avoid.

I don't think this is a major problem or anything, keeping these actors isn't gonna kill the new DCU before it starts, but it's another hurdle when WB needs to smooth things out as much as possible.

Bottom line; the DCEU was so bad even keeping the good bits just isn't worth the association.

[Last Son of Krypton]

Beside Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, do posters expect or wish other of the main faces of the DCEU joining Gunn's DCU? Like a clean-shaven Momoa or a blonde Ezra Miller playing different versions of Aquaman and Barry Allen?

[marhawkman]

See, I think that's gonna be a problem. I think you're right, when casuals see Davis as Waller, or Robbie as Harley or whoever, they'll assume the new movies are just a continuation of the DCEU. Who wants that? Look at how their films performed the past year or two; they've done even worse than they deserved because the brand damage runs so deep. People are actively avoiding DC, how is it gonna help when the same faces are showing up? Instead of new actors to help herald the idea that this is a fresh start, Gunn is muddying the waters by keeping some of these actors and the last thing WB needs is audiences connecting the new stuff to the old. Even saying something like "Oh, they recast Superman" isn't gonna help as much as it should when Davis is there, showing people that despite the recasting it's still the same DC, and therefore not worth the ticket price.

Hardcore fans like us know the difference. We know Gunn is a new hand on the wheel, we know Legacy starts a whole new canon. Plenty of casuals don't, they'll just see actors connected to movies they didn't like, and if the actors are the same then what else is, and what reason do they have to give the new project a shot even if some other roles were recast? The presence of the old guard might tell casuals that it's still the same mess they learned to avoid.

I don't think this is a major problem or anything, keeping these actors isn't gonna kill the new DCU before it starts, but it's another hurdle when WB needs to smooth things out as much as possible.

Bottom line; the DCEU was so bad even keeping the good bits just isn't worth the association.

Casuals will mess it up either way though. You're not going to avoid casuals "getting confused"... since the casuals are getting confused since they aren't paying attention.

Beside Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, do posters expect or wish other of the main faces of the DCEU joining Gunn's DCU. Like a clean-shaven Momoa or blonde Ezra Miller playing different versions of Aquaman and Barry Allen.

It'd be a good way to signpost that it's not the same universe.

[Confuzzled]

1. I mean, there was some blond in her hair, but not a lot and not really like the character. Kind of thought that was just the actress' normal look at the time...
2. Did she? Didn't see the movie just commercials but I didn't notice much red hair. Also just talking superhero films tbh.
3. That was nearly 20 years ago...

Okay, it's not impossible then - but it's so improbable that imo it still feels like a pointless ask.

It's not. I'd bet most POC actors would love having their hair dyed to match the comic characters seeing the number of POC cosplayers there are in the world. What studios usually do though is pair them up with stylists who have no idea how to handle their hair and you end up with the mess and cheap Halloween store stylings that poor Anna Diop (Starfire) had to deal with on the Titans show.

Jurnee Smollett actually spoke about how important it was to have a black hairstylist on the set of Birds of Prey who'd know how she'd best be able to pull off the blonde look.

[Robotman]

I’ve seen a lot of people saying that Gunn’s DCU doesn’t make any sense, but The Flash does kind of explain everything. Not just Bruce talking about Barry creating “spaghetti” time lines but also during the climactic battle with the Dark Flash. The earths/realities were collapsing and colliding into each other. Possibly creating all new mixed up timelines and earths. Gunn’s DCU is just one of the new realities where a lot of things are different but some things are the same.

Gunn’s DCU is a spaghetti earth

Hah but real it is DC tradition to do half assed reboots.

[Ascended]

Casuals will mess it up either way though. You're not going to avoid casuals "getting confused"... since the casuals are getting confused since they aren't paying attention.

To a point, yeah. You're always going to have people wondering why Superman never helped the Avengers, or why Hellboy never invites Wonder Woman or Dr. Strange for coffee.

But that's quite different from the movies themselves splitting between 'reboot' and 'same old.' If casuals see Davis and Cena and whoever else in the new DCU, they're much more likely to think it's still the same DCEU with a couple re-castings, and less likely to recognize that this is fresh new start. Again, I don't think it's a huge deal breaker or anything, but given how poorly DC has been doing and WB's massive debt, seems to me that anything which could keep people out of theaters is worth avoiding.

At the very least, Davis and other other returning actors could have been kept out of stuff until after Legacy had a chance to establish the DCU as a new normal rather than a continuation. If people saw that this was a fresh start, and *then* heard about some returning actors, then okay, that probably wouldn't be an issue at all. But Waller is going to be front and center right from the start, how many people will think, because of that, that the new DCU is just the old DCEU and therefore not worth watching?

Gunn’s DCU is a spaghetti earth

Gods I hope they don't try to explain it. It's just a fresh start, no different from any other franchise that decides to relaunch. I don't need a "Kelvin timeline" explanation for this and I don't want one. And it's not at all necessary; CW didn't have to explain why "Superman & Lois" was a different Clark from "Smallville," and "Smallville" didn't have to 'reboot explain' why it was different from "Lois & Clark."

Hah but real it is DC tradition to do half assed reboots.

It's a tradition, but is it a good one? I had really hoped that Gunn would be wiser than comic editors.

[Primal Slayer]

1. I mean, there was some blond in her hair, but not a lot and not really like the character. Kind of thought that was just the actress' normal look at the time...
2. Did she? Didn't see the movie just commercials but I didn't notice much red hair. Also just talking superhero films tbh.
3. That was nearly 20 years ago...

Okay, it's not impossible then - but it's so improbable that imo it still feels like a pointless ask.

So you're proven wrong but now it's all these stipulations?

[Last Son of Krypton]

Not just Bruce talking about Barry creating “spaghetti” time lines but also during the climactic battle with the Dark Flash. The earths/realities were collapsing and colliding into each other. Possibly creating all new mixed up timelines and earths. Gunn’s DCU is just one of the new realities where a lot of things are different but some things are the same.

When the multiverse falls apart and the universes collapse into each others, Nic Cage's Earth crashes into the Donnerverse and destroy it (they get all back to normal once young Barry dies).

You wouldn't say (yet) that the Snydervese has collapsed into the Gunnverse and destroyed it.

[marhawkman]

To a point, yeah. You're always going to have people wondering why Superman never helped the Avengers, or why Hellboy never invites Wonder Woman or Dr. Strange for coffee.

But that's quite different from the movies themselves splitting between 'reboot' and 'same old.' If casuals see Davis and Cena and whoever else in the new DCU, they're much more likely to think it's still the same DCEU with a couple re-castings, and less likely to recognize that this is fresh new start. Again, I don't think it's a huge deal breaker or anything, but given how poorly DC has been doing and WB's massive debt, seems to me that anything which could keep people out of theaters is worth avoiding.

At the very least, Davis and other other returning actors could have been kept out of stuff until after Legacy had a chance to establish the DCU as a new normal rather than a continuation. If people saw that this was a fresh start, and *then* heard about some returning actors, then okay, that probably wouldn't be an issue at all. But Waller is going to be front and center right from the start, how many people will think, because of that, that the new DCU is just the old DCEU and therefore not worth watching?

Or.... use Davis and Cena to establish the new normal.

You allude to the idea that people would watch just because they're there. Well, that's a reason TO have them not a reason to avoid them. Does the audience actually CARE if it's a reboot if the story is good? How much does the average movie goer actually CARE about whether they know how it connects to what they saw before?

[skyvolt2000]

Or.... use Davis and Cena to establish the new normal.

You allude to the idea that people would watch just because they're there. Well, that's a reason TO have them not a reason to avoid them. Does the audience actually CARE if it's a reboot if the story is good? How much does the average movie goer actually CARE about whether they know how it connects to what they saw before?

They don't care.

They see the actor not the character. Nobody asked what Johnny Storm was doing fighting T'Challa in Black Panther. They knew it was Michael B Jordan playing another role.

It's fanboys that want to hold these roles against character and mainly actors that they HATE.

The actors were not the reason the previous era stunk. It was the folks in charage.


And for those wondering The Flash movie figures are now $3.00 at Target.

[thefinalguy]

People only get upset about "hair color" when the actor isn't white.

If it was truly a purist thing (although in a sense it is) there'd be heat for everyone, and it's not.

[Jokerz79]

People only get upset about "hair color" when the actor isn't white.

If it was truly a purist thing (although in a sense it is) there'd be heat for everyone, and it's not.

Keanu Reeves seems like one of the nicest and down to Earth guys in the film industry. But a Black Hair Yank has no place playing Constantine yet many people who bitch about hair color when it's a POC have no issue with him returning.

[Johnny]

People only get upset about "hair color" when the actor isn't white.

If it was truly a purist thing (although in a sense it is) there'd be heat for everyone, and it's not.

Make Margot Robbie's Barbie brunette or redhead instead of blonde and see if people won't be upset. "Hair color vs skin color" has always been a rather hollow argument.

Keanu Reeves seems like one of the nicest and down to Earth guys in the film industry. But a Black Hair Yank has no place playing Constantine yet many people who bitch about hair color when it's a POC have no issue with him returning.

Keanu Reeves is also half-Asian. He's technically a POC too, is he not? Noone has a problem with him. Or Dean Cain's Superman.

[marhawkman]

Make Margot Robbie's Barbie brunette or redhead instead of blonde and see if people won't be upset. "Hair color vs skin color" has always been a rather hollow argument.

Yeah, the real question is "does the actor look the part?"

Keanu Reeves is also half-Asian. He's technically a POC too, is he not? Noone has a problem with him. Or Dean Cain's Superman.

It's amazing how these "discussions" of needing more "PoC" actors... seem to ignore everyone who isn't as obvious as Samuel L Jackson. It's like, did you even look up who already is or did you just paint them white in your head?

[Last Son of Krypton]

James Gunn is back writing Peacemaker Season 2, follow up to the non-canonical Season 1.



Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx52eh0RJ2d/