2017
- Wonder Woman (dir. Patty Jenkins)
- June 2, 2017
- Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Ewen Bremner, Said Taghmoui, Lucy Davis, Elena Anaya
With all this “narrative” stuff swirling, where does that leave Wonder Woman? Should we be optimistic? Well, anytime we have comic book or DC movie questions, we turn to our Heroic Hollywood founder El Mayimbe for his knowledge and expertise. According to him, the difference between the first three DCEU films and this one is down to one man – Geoff Johns.
“The Geoff Johns era begins with Wonder Woman,” he told The Daily Beast’s Jen Yamato. “They’ve got their Feige. According to my sources, Patty Jenkins asked him to come aboard and help write the screenplay. He’s got his fingerprints all over Wonder Woman, all over Justice League. He’s going to be the savior; the golden boy.”
The anonymous “open letter” nonsense isn’t coming from any reputable sources; in fact, the opposite is being reported by those in-the-know. I expect Wonder Woman to be a soft “reset”for the ongoing narrative we’ve talked about (Oh, they can make competent movies!), paving the way for the next film, the first to really do the DCEU justice . . .
- Justice League (dir. Zack Snyder)
- November 17, 2017
- Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, J.K. Simmons, Willem Dafoe, Amber Heard
The big kahuna. The live-action debut of the flagship DC superteam would be grand no matter what, but given the stumbles of the DCEU, a lot of pressure and responsibility are on Zack Snyder and his collaborators to get it right. As Umberto has said, hope, optimism and especially redemption are a big deal for the film inside and out, as Batman seeks to atone for his amorality in Batman v Superman and the filmmakers seek the same for the negative narrative around their fledgling “shared” universe.
Thankfully, there’s a lot to be hopeful and optimistic about as Snyder & co. pursue redemption. The May set visit, the promotions of Affleck and Johns and news of a simplified story concerning the Mother Boxes, the ancient war between Man, Atlanteans and Amazonians vs. Darkseid and Batman’s JL recruitment drive. The biggest weakness the film has from afar is its villain Steppenwolf, who remains stubbornly uncast even with shooting almost finished. The situation recalls Guardians of the Galaxy where Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper were not cast as the voices of CGI characters of Groot and Rocket Raccoon until post-production. Most films but especially comic book and superhero fare are reliant on the villain for its plot and stakes so I sincerely hope Justice League gets one worthy of their first live-action assembly.
