Justice League is DOA

Things are not looking good for the future of DC related films.  Let’s take a minute and see where we are right now.  The only two DC superheroes who could be considered active as far as movies go are Batman and Superman.  Yes, there was a recent Green Lantern movie but it wasn’t very good.

Batman has been semi-active in movies beginning with 1989’s film starring Michael Keaton.  Things went well for a few movies before George Clooney came along.  Granted, the disaster otherwise known as Batman & Robin wasn’t all Clooney’s fault, but he definitely deserves his share of the blame.  Fast forward 8 years and we get the first Christopher Nolan directed Batman film with Christian Bale.  That turned into probably the greatest superhero trilogy ever made.  Right now, Batman is golden.

Superman, however, appears to be just beginning a glorious rise.  After a very long hiatus Big Blue returned in the aptly named but mediocre Superman Returns.  After giving some time for that bad taste to be forgotten, we received the recent Man of Steel starring Henry Cavill.  Though not amazing, it is definitely a good movie with solid sequel potential.

That brings us to the present.  Batman just went out with a bang – Bale and the rest of the cast rightfully wish to seal their legacy and move on to other projects – and the franchise would benefit from some cooling off before another reboot.  Superman is in prime position to continue gaining momentum with Cavill.  So what does Warner Bros decide to do?  Destroy Everything.

Mistake #1:  Don’t try imitating Marvel.  The Avengers was fantastic.  It worked so well because you had 5 movies involving 4 main characters which all lead up to The Avengers as a culminating event.  It also worked because the different superheroes all have different abilities which complement each other.  It also worked because while each character is powerful, they are all roughly as powerful as each other.  The Justice League has always been a failed concept.  Superman is just worlds apart (pun intended) from other superheroes.  Batman is great and all, but any problem he can contribute to would be solvable by Superman in a few minutes.  Likewise, Batman has no business trying so solve anything that would be a struggle for Superman.  There is just too much difference in the power levels of the characters in the Justice League to allow them to function as a cohesive group.

Mistake #2:  Batman needs time to cool.  We all witnessed greatness with the Dark Knight trilogy.  Thankfully, the major players are smart enough to realize that sticking around would tarnish their legacy.  Studios are in the business of making money, but this seems like a rather short-sighted approach.  Batman would be best served by letting the character recede out of the limelight for a while before reintroducing a new Batman story.

Mistake #3:  Poor planning is evident.  Marvel’s five movies that preceded The Avengers were all deliberately planned as one universe.  That is what allowed them all to come together so seamlessly.  This type of planning has not existed for the DC characters.  Batman was alone in Gotham.  Superman was alone in Metropolis.  That isn’t a bad thing, but the characters exist in very different worlds which won’t come together as easily.

Mistake #4:  Ben Affleck.  The news is out and being talked about everywhere:  Ben Affleck is the next Batman.  Some people seem to think this is a great idea and you can find all sorts of bloggers rambling about why this is so awesome.  It’s not.  When looking back at past Batmans, Ben Affleck fits most closely with George Clooney.  It’s kind of ironic given the fact that they are good friends.  It’s also kind of strange because Clooney doesn’t look back on his days as the Caped Crusader too fondly.  Simply put:  George Clooney isn’t an action hero and neither is Ben Affleck.  No one can deny that they are both talented in other ventures, but both wrong for the role of Batman.

Marvel will continue to rake in money pumping out a new, carefully orchestrated blockbuster every 6 months.  That is definitely something to aspire to but Warner Bros would be better served by figuring out what is best for them instead of playing follow the leader.