The DC/WB Superhero Movies Thread

[Ivan Drago]

At first I was pissed, but now I'm going to wait and see regarding Affleck. The movie will probably still suck with Goyer involved.

Why do I still care about this movie? The rumor that Bryan Cranston might play Lex Luthor. He would make a better Commissioner Gordon, though. . .

[Ezee E]

At first I was pissed, but now I'm going to wait and see regarding Affleck. The movie will probably still suck with Goyer involved.

Why do I still care about this movie? The rumor that Bryan Cranston might play Lex Luthor. He would make a better Commissioner Gordon, though. . .

I liked the idea of Giancarlo Esposito as Lex Luthor more.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Aaron Paul as Jimmy Olsen.

[number8]

Cranston has been cast as Luthor, apparently. Official announcement to come after Breaking Bad ends.

[Grouchy]

LOL at the people who wanted Crispin Glover as the Joker.

That would have been terrible.

Why? I still think it's an awesome idea.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Cranston has been cast as Luthor, apparently. Official announcement to come after Breaking Bad ends.

So I'm reading "Birthright" now, and they treat Luthor like he was a childhood friend of Clark's. I'm now assuming them being about the same age is a recent development in Superman canon?

[number8]

So I'm reading "Birthright" now, and they treat Luthor like he was a childhood friend of Clark's. I'm now assuming them being about the same age is a recent development in Superman canon?

Not at all. Jerry Siegel came up with that for the original Superboy comics. His origin story was that they were friends in Smallville, and Luthor was creating a Kryptonite antidote for Superboy when he accidentally started a fire. Superboy showed up and used his superbreath to extinguish the fire, but it blew spilled chemicals all over the place, destroying the lab and hitting Luthor's head, the chemicals making him permanently bald. Luthor believed Superboy did it on purpose, and hated him since, all the way to their rivalry in Metropolis as adults.

When Byrne rebooted everything post-crisis with Man of Steel, he erased all that and made Luthor a much older self-made mogul from Metropolis, and that's how it was then.

That is until the Smallville TV show adapted the original story and popularized the notion of Clark and Lex being childhood friends. Then Waid did Birthright not long after the show debuted to set a new origin story, and he decided to go with the original story, too, since now most people know it that way from the TV show. Geoff Johns did the same when he redid the origin story again a few years later in Superman: Secret Origin. It's the one that's stuck now.

In short: the 90s were the only time in which they weren't childhood friends.

[Ezee E]

Great casting for Cranston still. I hope they give him some good material, I've honestly not liked anything they've done with Luthor in the movies.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Thanks, man! Very informative.

Also, "Birthright" is really flippin' good.

[number8]

I'm fine with either version of Luthor, really. The only one I never liked was the real estate obsessed get-rich-quick crook. That portrayal has always seemed so beneath him.

[Skitch]

I think Cranston as Luthor is so perfect I wouldve preferred them throwing boatloads of cash at him to make that happen rather than Bale. Also, does anyone believe they really offered Bale 50 million? That number seemed so insane that I never really believed it.

[Watashi]

So I wonder if they are going to have a Batman villain AND a Superman villain? Riddler and Luthor teaming up?

They should just use Braniac.

[number8]

I think Cranston as Luthor is so perfect I wouldve preferred them throwing boatloads of cash at him to make that happen rather than Bale. Also, does anyone believe they really offered Bale 50 million? That number seemed so insane that I never really believed it.

Apparently Affleck's contract is a staggering 13-picture deal. WB wants Batman to show up in every DC movie they make in the future, to drum up interest. If so, then Bale's agreement would be extremely valuable. They had to go with an insane number to get him to agree to do something like that instead of going off doing dramas that win him critical acclaim and Oscars.

[Ezee E]

I think Cranston as Luthor is so perfect I wouldve preferred them throwing boatloads of cash at him to make that happen rather than Bale. Also, does anyone believe they really offered Bale 50 million? That number seemed so insane that I never really believed it.

$50 million is a small amount if they think it'll make well over $1 billion with his name attached.

[Watashi]

I feel kinda bad for Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

[Ezee E]

I feel kinda bad for Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Did he express interest?

His credits are slowing down. He only has Sin City and the movie that he directed coming up. Nothing in production.

[Watashi]

I'm assuming he must have signed on for a multi-film deal knowing where his character would be ending up.

[Skitch]

Apparently Affleck's contract is a staggering 13-picture deal. WB wants Batman to show up in every DC movie they make in the future, to drum up interest. If so, then Bale's agreement would be extremely valuable. They had to go with an insane number to get him to agree to do something like that instead of going off doing dramas that win him critical acclaim and Oscars.

Oh wow, well that makes sense then. I missed the detail of the 13 film deal.

I know Downey made crazy bank from Avengers, but the bulk of it was in back end deals (as I understood it), not in over-the-top up front.

[number8]

I'm assuming he must have signed on for a multi-film deal knowing where his character would be ending up.

Highly doubt that. I never believed the rumor that WB wanted to expand using him as Batman. They would never make a Batman movie where someone other than Bruce Wayne is Batman.

[Skitch]

I love JGL, but I prefer they leave Nolans Bat trilogy as is and move on. I'm not terribly interested in persuing a non-Bruce Wayne Batman.

[Watashi]

Highly doubt that. I never believed the rumor that WB wanted to expand using him as Batman. They would never make a Batman movie where someone other than Bruce Wayne is Batman.

I wasn't really thinking about Batman, just his involvement in the sequels to begin with. This new film is completely throwing away Nolan's canon, so we probably won't see Michael Cain or Morgan Freeman either.

[megladon8]

I've personally always preferred the idea of Luthor being a middle aged grizzly businessman with no personal connection to Clark.

That's just me, though. I still adored "Birthright".

[Sven]

I was really hoping that we, as a culture, had moved past the era of hating on Affleck. The reaction has been discouraging.

[D_Davis]

I was really hoping that we, as a culture, had moved past the era of hating on Affleck. The reaction has been discouraging.

I was pretty sure that everyone loved Affleck now.

With his recent work behind the camera being so great, I'm really disappointed that he would sign on with such a mainstream superhero film for so long.

[megladon8]

I think Ben Affleck is much better behind the camera than in front (where he is serviceable and rarely more).

Casey, on the other hand, is a freakin' great actor.