The DC/WB Superhero Movies Thread

[Skitch]

I don't get how a 5-o-clock shadow makes him more intimidating.

I must be one scary mofo.

I AM THE NIGHT!

[megladon8]

That detail to me communicates tired desperation. Perhaps a bit of age as well.

But I don't see it as intimidating.

[Gittes]

Are you saying that people with stubble look desperate and old? Because I know a few people who sport the stubbly look and... Just kidding. I get what you're saying.

The facial hair activates a range of associations and we'll have to wait until the film is released to have a surer sense of which of those are going to be made salient by Snyder et al. Your readings make sense, I think. But I don't see how it's a leap to suggest that the stubble is very much of a piece with a look that is, on the whole, more intimidating than previous live-action iterations. Desperation works, but that reading puts us at a very short distance from a sense of dangerousness. A desperate man can be a dangerous man. There's the intimidation. I detect the suggestion that, in comparison with previous live-action Batmen, this latest incarnation has forsworn a bit more of his already tenuous alliance with civility and/or stability (I'm talking about stereotypical signs of civility; a clean-shaven look, for better or worse, still carries a certain cachet, and many filmmakers rely on such potent visual cues). I mean, this is all speculative, but the stubble seems to indicate, in miniature, the whole revisionist approach: this is a Batman who is a little edgier. He maybe plays a little dirtier than previous iterations. He's more weary and morose. To put it crudely: he's seen some shit.

This isn't exactly a new idea, either, right? Quite obviously, there are no hard and fast rules, and no exact correspondence between stubble and dangerous and/or troubled psychologies. Yet certain associations have been established via cinema and television, among other mediums. Walter White is a good example. In Breaking Bad, Cranston's facial hair seems indivisible from my sense of the character's wickedness and hubris (this is hardly a revelatory point, since these physical changes clearly coincided with his darker internal developments). As with the picture of Affleck and his stubble, you can't look at Cranston's facial hair in isolation. It's a component to a larger and, in Cranston's case, craggier landscape (just as Affleck's stubble is complemented by his posture, scowl, glare, bulkiness, etc.; all of these elements amount to what I believe is a somewhat intimidating presence, at least in comparison to most of the previous examples).

You could also look at the character of Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, from Angel:



He starts out as a physically inept, erudite softie. Later, certain events catalyze his transformation into a worldweary, Byronic hero and a rather formidable threat. Again, the creative team behind the show are playing with (and reinforcing) familiar cues and attendant ideas. How was this "new" Wesley allied with sexiness and danger and whatnot? Well, that's a complicated question, but one of the key methods entailed swapping his clean shaven look for some stubble. A bold and eminently readable change, to be sure. I'm just bringing up these examples to clarify my perspective. In these cases, facial hair is mobilized in a way that doesn't seem all that dissimilar (in terms of the associations that come to mind) from the picture of Affleck as Batman.

An unkempt look suggests unkempt methods. Physical dishevelment can adumbrate psychic dishevelment. Hence, the intimidation. That's my point. I don't think this is a radical interpretation of that image.

[Gittes]

This is going off topic a bit, but I'm now recalling other examples that aren't as germane to the discussion of the picture of Affleck as Batman and its particular associations. There's Jack's hirsute phases in Lost, for instance, which accompanies some of his more grief laden periods in that show. There's also that episode of Frasier that focuses on Frasier growing a beard and the implications of that, how it informs his personality and his friendship with Roz, makes him newly sexy, etc. Oh, and there's Jerry and George growing moustaches on Seinfeld, Stan's incredible beard in Mad Men, and Joaquin Phoenix's impressive muttonchops in Inherent Vice, which very deliberately recalls Neil Young. I'm probably forgetting a really good and obvious example.

By the way, I know we're not debating the fact that facial hair can signal different things. I'm just bringing up these other examples for fun. Lots of memorable uses of facial hair across cinema and television.

[Ivan Drago]

First pic of Will Smith as "Deadshot".



This is going to be the new Batman and Robin, isn't it?

[megladon8]

Wow.

DC is now trying to claim the Joker pic was a big joke.

This attempt to backtrack is pathetic.

They should just say "yeah we listened to you. It's terrible. We're going to try something else."

[Gittes]

This is going to be the new Batman and Robin, isn't it?

I know pretty much nothing about the character, besides the fact that a mask typically covers his entire face and they'll probably revise this in the film. What's the problem with this picture? I'm not questioning your judgment or anything. Just curious because I don't know a lot about Deadshot.

[megladon8]

"Since Deadshot is black in our movie, let's make him look like a pimp!"

[number8]

Better than his original costume.

[megladon8]

I feel like the DC universe movies are such a train wreck already...I can't take my eyes away.

Honestly I'll be surprised if half the announced titles actually end up getting made.

[Gittes]

This is going to be the new Batman and Robin, isn't it?

I should also add that, while I understand that Batman & Robin is trash to many people, I think it's pretty cool. Not without its problems, but the widespread hate no longer matches my own perspective.



No, I'm not saying it's "cool" because Thurman is attractive (I mean, she is attractive, but that's really neither here nor there in terms of discussing the virtues of the movie). I love the lurid splendour in that .gif. It's very neat that we got a live-action Batman movie that operated on such a vivid and decidedly bonkers wavelength.

[Dukefrukem]

Impressive. Only question mark I have is King Shark/Croc?*.

[Dukefrukem]

I feel like Tom Hardy would have been better playing Captain Boomerang. He's already got the Bane coat.

[Henry Gale]

Clearer shot of Adewale as Killer Croc:

[Henry Gale]

But seriously, WB/DC need to get new photographers for their promo shots for this movie. Or at least a photoshopper that won't colour-time and juice the contrast to make them look like they're out of a bad goth-cosplay catalogue.

[Dukefrukem]

Oh and who wants to take bets [

Show Spoiler

Adam Beach dies first?

](far left guy)

[TGM]

So who all is who in that pic?

[Dukefrukem]

(left to right) No idea who Adam Beach is playing [

Show Spoiler

(I'm guessing someone who calls Waller's bluff and gets his head blown off)

] Captain Boomerang, (Katana is crouching), Enchantress, Rick Flagg, Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark/Killer Croc (can't tell who but it looks like Adewale so Croc) El Diablo,

[megladon8]

It should have a caption "Joker couldn't make it as we are completely redoing his costume."

[Henry Gale]

It should have a caption "Joker couldn't make it as we are completely redoing his costume."

Wasn't that a major factor with the response to the Joker picture: That they didn't have to reveal a costume since he was, y'know, shirtless? Which made the reaction even more confusingly delirious since he's likely not even in the movie that way.

Anyway, Smith posted this too:



Is every character gonna have shit written on them?!

EDIT: EVEN THE RIFLE

[Dukefrukem]

Looks like they ripped it from the Arkham games.

[Dead & Messed Up]

God, now I'm just reminded of how condescending those hints in Arkham games could be. Look at that: "Takedowns are risky. Takedowns are risky. Takedowns are risky." Maybe I should be careful about my takedowns.

[Skitch]

The speed at which this weird ass project is seemingly moving along is crazy to me.

[Ivan Drago]

I'm surprisingly good with most of this.

Just wish they went the mo-cap route with Killer Croc, though. He and El Diablo look like they're about to go bowling.

[Ezee E]

Only impressed with Katana, Harley Quinn, and the masked Deadshot.

Diablo, Boomerang, and Beach are straight up horrible. Boomerang looks like an advertisement for a halloween outfit. So does El Diablo.