What does Warner Brothers/DC need to do in order to stand toe-to-toe with the
Marvel Cinematic Universe? I admire that DC isn’t attempting to copy Marvel by
releasing standalone films for each of their superheroes before they are all featured
together in the Justice League films. We know for certain that Wonder Woman,
Aquaman and Cyborg will be showing up alongside the title heroes in Batman v
Superman: Dawn of Justice, although we are in the dark about how much screen time
they will have and the size of their roles in the film. One could argue that they are trying
to cram too many characters into this film. My faith in the film comes from the fact that
Academy-Award winning screenwriter Chris Terrio (Argo) is the writer. Future DC films
need good writers in order to be financially as well as critically successful. My advice for
DC would be to never let David S. Goyer near another one of their projects. His poorly-
written screenplay for Man of Steel is the reason why the film was certainly not what it
could have been. Zack Snyder is not a bad director by any means. He is a terrific visual
stylist and I deeply enjoyed his adaptation of Watchmen. He just needs a decent script to
work with. It would also be a mistake to let him direct any other DC films aside from
Batman v Superman and both halves of Justice League. DC must give other directors a
chance. The Dark Knight trilogy was a monumental success largely due to Christopher
Nolan’s brilliant direction. With a solid director and a solid script, any superhero film can
be successful.
Casting is an extremely important part of bringing a comic book to life on the big
screen. This is the reason why the internet went up in flames on the day it was announced
that Ben “Batfleck” Affleck would be playing Bruce Wayne/Batman. Similar backlash
followed the casting of Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor; something which personally
disappointed me after the rumors that Bryan Cranston and Joaquin Phoenix were being
considered for the role. Some were even unhappy with the casting of little-known Israeli
actress Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. The picture released over thesummer where she is
wearing her Amazonian armor didn’t exactly draw an overwhelmingly positive reaction
from fans. This proves that fanboys are unhappy with any type of casting. Backlash will
result from casting a high-profile actor such as Ben Affleck or a much less prolific star
like Gal Gadot. The only casting choices which didn’t generate any sort of negative
reaction were Ray Fisher as Cyborg and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Black Adam.
This is why I believe that DC can redeem everyone’s faith by casting the right actor for
Green Lantern. DC MUST use the John Stewart incarnation of Green Lantern for their
cinematic universe. We all saw what happened the last time Hal Jordan was used in a
film. Denzel Washington might be a little too old for the role, especially considering how
he’ll be in his mid-60s by the time the Green Lantern reboot is released in 2020. There is
always Idris Elba. I doubt that casting him would tick anybody off. With good writers,
good directors and the right actors in the right roles, the DC Cinematic Universe has the
potential to be an overwhelming success to rival the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
