Zach Levi Cast As Shazam

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I have to say: I don’t think there’s been a bigger curveball production in the superhero game lately than Shazam!  For years I, like most people, figured this was one of those DC movie projects that were on the schedule but probably not going to actually happen, more of an announcement to get something on the board than anything else.  Then, out of nowhere, WB announced David F. Sandberg to direct, which seemed odd given he was known largely for the 2016 horror film Lights Out, the latest in WB’s newfound cash cow of low-budget/high-return horror offerings for the summer season. 

Some thought that perhaps Sandberg’s presence meant Shazam! would have a horror aesthetic, sort of in the vein of James Wan’s Aquaman, but as the interviews rolled in and we crept towards the start of production it seemed like it was going to be light-hearted and funny.  Now, finally, we have a star to attach to the vehicle: Zachary Levi will be playing the titular Shazam in the 2019 film. 

Justice League Trailer & News Update

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There’s no more beleaguered a film coming out this year than WB’s long-suffering Justice League film.  The production on this movie has been such a complete mess it’s like something out of a soap opera.  There’s been talk of a bloated production, constant re-edits after test screenings, executive panic and that’s not even touching on stuff we know like Joss Whedon coming in to relieve Zack Snyder after the tragic loss of his daughter.  

Hell, even that particular revelation couldn’t go by without its OWN revelation as Whedon entered a very public scandal of his own in the latter half of the year.  Mark my words, there will be large volumes written about how Justice League came to be.  I say all this now because of the fact that this latest trailer feels like something different yet also quite familiar feels intrinsically tied to the recent avalanche of lurid coverage.  In short, I think Justice League is finally finding itself in the editing and post-production and I actually think it looks…pretty good.

Justice League Trailer Breakdown

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I don’t think there’s a more inexplicable upcoming blockbuster than Justice League.  Built atop the critically charred bones of the Batman v. Superman, the superhero team-up film looks to be the latest in a long line of brand new starts for the DC entertainment universe, except it’s not even that because that’s Wonder Woman’s job.  The movie seriously seems to have no actual reason to exist.  Maybe a few years ago right Avengers proved that superhero team movies with ensemble casts could be a huge hit, but now it just seems like a late visitor from a bygone age. 

We’ve already seen so many failed attempts to launch the DCEU the entire shared universe concept is tanked, Wonder Woman looks like an infinitely more interesting and thoughtful attempt to course correct the franchise, Zack Snyder’s vision for this property has been consistently underwhelming, and we’ve already seen a slew of garbage superhero team-up movies.  Justice League only seems to be in production because the studio owns some superhero properties and they’ve run out of Lord of the Rings movies to fill the void.  By all accounts, this film should be a rolling dumpster fire…so why does it look kind of fun? 

Filmland - 8 Heroes Who Deserve the LEGO Treatment

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So, it’s now safe to assume that the LEGO Batman movie is a bona fide smash hit.  The animated spin-off to 2014’s breakout LEGO Movie has taken the world by storm with its brilliant, bighting, and irreverent parody of the brooding dark knight detective.  Coupled with a superb voice work from the rest of the cast and a script that gives us a shockingly fresh take on Batman by emphasizing the Bat Family as his strongest component, LEGO Batman has woken the world up to a whole new kind of superhero blockbuster.  

Given that Marvel is still the only name in the game producing quality superhero content I welcome our new world of animated, LEGO, superheroes, especially for beleaguered DC Comics who have yet to make a good live action superhero film during the 2010s.  Given that success and the innumerable mishandled or unattemptable superhero properties clogging up the pop cultural drain, I’ve come up with my list of 8 superhero franchises that deserve the LEGO treatment. 

Panel Vision - JLApe: Gorilla Warfare

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It is a truth universally acknowledged that apes on comics sell comics.  This is a fundamental cornerstone of comics going all the way back to the ‘50s.  It first emerged under one of the colossal giants of the medium Julius Schwartz, the man who served as editor of DC Comics during its Silver age through the ‘50s and ‘60s.  Schwartz claimed to have data showing a bump in sales of comics when a gorilla was featured on the cover, data that was so convincing it actually shaped all of DC’s output for a time.  

There were legitimately strict rules and limits on the whole idea of putting apes on comics, treating the phenomena as a finite resource to be carefully exploited to avoid oversaturation of the ape-based marketplace.  Given that those 2 decades have defined the shape of comics to this very day, apes on comics remains a popular tradition to this day.  With The Flash finally bringing Gorilla City to the small screen I figured now would be a perfect time to dive into the great legacy of apes on comics in possibly their finest moment: JLApe.

7 Cameos to Expect in Wonder Woman

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So far, the DCEU has been pretty terrible.  Even if you liked Man of Steel or Suicide Squad for some ungodly reason, there’s no denying that WB has had a serious problem tapping into the same level of mass popularity Marvel has mustered.  By the same token, the DCEU has come off a lot more scattershot than the competition, with the slow march towards Justice League hampered by the producers regularly hitting the restart button on what the big story should be.  

That means that Wonder Woman will have yet another thankless task in addition to being the first woman-led superhero film of the modern era and needing to turn around the DCEU trend of making terrible movies.  Now, Wonder Woman will also have to be setting pieces in motion for future films like Shazam, Justice League, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman 2.  Given that, I’ve come up with a list of 7 character cameos that I think we can expect from Wonder Woman. 

Film Land - The Future of the DCEU

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Let’s talk about the DC Entertainment Universe or DCEU as it’s known for short.  The last time I ventured into these uncharted waters I emerged with a general sense of optimism that the people being entrusted with DC projects were all good choices who could lead to a good future.  However, in the time since then, 2016 has thoroughly drained away any and all optimism I might’ve had so if you’re expecting a kind summation of how the DCEU might correct itself in days to come you’ve arrived at the wrong article. 

No, we’re going to be looking at the DCEU as it is and was it’s been promised, and that means accepting that forward is not where we’re going, and the future most certainly isn’t bright.  In fact, I’d dare hazard the guess that barring some kind of surprise mega-hit, like Avengers/Dark Knight level hit, I don’t think the DCEU will be following us all into the 2020s- here’s why. 

4 DC Films That Could Join Aquaman & Flash in 2018

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Edited by Robert Beach

We’re three movies deep into what’s being called the DC Entertainment Universe. So far none of those entries have managed above “passable,” but they’ve all scored profit, so we’re going to be getting more of these films regardless. However, there might be some hope left for the DCEU as we blaze forward to the end of the decade. Most of the problems with the entries so far come from the meddling of the studio and directors who hold the material in general contempt. And yet, upcoming movies like Flash, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman seem to be helmed by people with real energy for the material. 

There’s still some ambiguity awaiting us, and that’s where I’m going to focus today, specifically on what’s happening with one of DC’s unclaimed movie slots. We know that DC will be releasing a film on October 5, 2018, after Aquaman but before Shazam, but we have no idea what that movie is. Thankfully, DC has a ton of projects in the works that could fit that slot. With that in mind, here are four DC movies we might see in 2018. 

Is Deathstroke coming to Justice League & Batman?

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Earlier today Ben Affleck posted a cryptic video on his twitter that seems more or less like a major DCEU confirmation.  The video was a brief clip of the DC Comics super villain and deadly mercenary Deathstroke slowly walking inside some kind of carrier jet and eyeing the camera menacingly.  Many, myself unfortunately included, have taken this to mean that Deathstroke will be included as a villain in 2017’s Justice League movie, the project Affleck is currently involved with. 

What’s more, given that Affleck will also be directing DC’s upcoming Batman solo feature there’s the strong chance Deathstroke will be going head-to-head with the dark knight in his next stand alone film.  While all of this is still steeped in speculation and rumor it’s certainly gotten people talking and raised a number of major questions about what this could mean for the still uncertain DCEU. 

The Man Who Killed Aquaman's Son: Black Manta Revealed as Aquaman Villain

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Edited by Robert Beach

One of the more frustrating elements of the so-called “DC Entertainment Universe” is that WB’s general apathy as producers means that the slow drip of information about their various projects is even slower and sparser than their competition. Where Marvel usually sets up bad guys or McGuffins in other films or designs a long stream of character reveals and posters, WB tends to favor stand-alone movies with little fanfare to the various characters revealed within them. That is unless they’re trying to turn audience opinion around. 

That’s why WB was so happy to dump Doomsday in the central trailers for Batman v. Superman or told everyone Wonder Woman was in the movie, or why the marketing for Suicide Squad was ALL about the quirky tone and nothing else. That same casual indifference reared its head again this week as James Wan and WB announced the villain of their upcoming Aquaman movie will be the long-time Aquaman villain Black Manta.

The Flash Season 3 Trailer Breakdown

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Edited by Robert Beach

In about two months, The Flash will premiere its third season on CW. After a shaky season 1 in 2014, The Flash busted out of nowhere to be the premiere series of the CW-verse. It continues to push the boundaries for how much a superhero TV show has ever adapted from its comic origins and bringing in hit new shows like Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl.  

Even though Arrow kicked off CW’s superhero shows, it was The Flash that made them a force to be reckoned with. Its winning combination of weird sci-fi, cool CG action, big, operatic emotional storytelling, and the great collection of lead actors propels the material.  

Now, the show faces its biggest challenge yet, adapting the rolling dumpster fire that was 2011’s Flashpoint event comic into a good season of television. We won’t know till the show comes out if they’ve succeeded, but based on this first trailer, yeah, I’d say they managed it.

1st Justice League Trailer Analyzed

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Edited by Robert Beach 

Well, I can safely say I didn’t see this one coming.  Basically from its announcement WB/DC’s proposed Justice League movie has been the butt of everyone’s joke. It came off as a transparent Avengers rip-off not helped by the lackluster reception to Man of Steel, the distaste for Ben Affleck’s casting as Batman, and the unmitigated disaster that was Batman v. Superman. 

Even fans of this stuff weren’t onboard with Justice League, especially given the only member of the cast that seemed like a real slam dunk was Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman. Then SDCC 2016 happened, and we got our first look at 2017’s Justice League. Out of nowhere, the tables have completely turned.  Suddenly, even the most dedicated cynics have at least moderately relented. Everyone’s starting to wonder if this movie is going to be good? 

Film Land - The Future of DC Films

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Edited by Robert Beach

There’s no denying that the comic book superhero is the dominant culture myth of the 2010s.  Ever since the double-barreled blast of greatness that 2008’s Iron Man and Dark Knight the genre has risen to greater and greater heights, dominating the foreign and domestic box office, making a massive mark on the national psyche, and making name heroes out of obscurities like Ant-Man or the Guardians of the Galaxy.  All of this makes it even more bizarre that WB, the people who own DC Comics and thus half of the entire collection of viable superhero properties, have had such a difficult time turning their huge library of IP into quality films or solvent blockbusters. 

For whatever reason, WB has yet to turn out a good superhero film this decade, instead handing in a series of embarrassing failures like Green Lantern, Dark Knight Rises, Man of Steel, and most recently Batman v. Superman.  Things seem to be changing however as WB has recently released a whole sweep of information about their plans for the rest of the decade.  Could this single an end to years of failure and the beginning of a DC movieverse to rival Marvel?  Let’s see. 

J.K. Simmons Cast As Commissioner Gordon

Edited by Robert Beach 

As March dawns, we must accept the fact that we seem to be barreling head first towards the inevitability that the DC movie universe will 1) be happening and 2) be guided by the unwavering hand of Zack Snyder. Between the pretty terrible kick-off of Man of Steel and the ongoing train wreck that’s been the Dawn of Justice marketing campaign, this hardly seems like a march towards quality than a slow descent into mismanagement and insincerity. 

However, one thing that has consistently buoyed this downward spiral is the presence of top-quality actors in various roles sprinkled across the films. Ben Affleck, Jared Leto, and Jeremy Irons are all Oscar winners for a very good reason. Now, the powers that be at WB have added a fourth Oscar winner to the line up with J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon.

Static Thoughts - DCAU Crossovers

So, this past Wednesday CW’s Arrow featured a one-off crossover with the cancelled Matt Ryan Constantine show in an episode called Haunted.  The episode was decent enough with most of the fun coming from just how gung-ho Matt Ryan was to both play John Constantine again and get to do all kinds of wizard shenanigans that he never got to sink his teeth into enough on his own show.  However, the episode got me thinking about the idea of crossovers in general, with a specific lens for the superhero genre.  Crossovers in superhero stories are as old as the genre itself mainly because “superhero” as a genre is so vague and open that it tends to absorb a ton of broader genres such as fantasy, adventure, sci-fi, and horror into it.  At the same time, crossovers have always been a great way for superhero TV to expand its world and test more obscure and bizarre characters who might not have found an audience otherwise.  The best example of this is from the DC Animated Universe that started with Batman: The Animated Series and concluded with the massive Justice League Unlimited, which included almost every DC hero imaginable (even Aztek got in there.)  I’m ranking the individual crossovers from the Batman and Superman shows. 

Week of Review - Batman: The Brave and The Bold

In the history of Batman the character has had three major flashpoints wherein he achieved mainstream prevalence and wide scale importance.  The first was in 1966 with the Adam West TV show, the second was in 1989 with Tim Burton’s Batman, and the third was in 2008 with the release of Dark Knight.  I’ve often referred to the 4 year period from 2007-2010 as the definitive years of the 2010s and the explosion of popularity Batman enjoyed over that period is integral to understanding the superhero dominated landscape that we now live in.  Obviously enough Batman had been present outside the comics in the previous years of the 2000s be it through the Justice League show or his The Batman cartoon but 2008 brought Batman to a mass audience like never before.  Dark Knight represented a moment of transcendence for Batman in a way he never really achieved in the mainstream before; it was the moment people realized Batman didn’t have to be meaningless. 

Batman ’89 and Dark Knight Returns had established Batman wasn’t just for kids but Dark Knight showed the entire world that you could tell a Batman story that was driven by a defining ethos and ideology with a point behind it.  Couple that with the success of Iron Man’s winning combination of fidelity, continuity, and character introspection and the ensuing cocktail of geek cinema in 2008 basically set the stage for everything that would come after.  So, when DC chose to capitalize on this success with a new Batman cartoon it only makes sense they’d go lighter and more kid friendly than ever before.