I'm liking the 80s vibe in WW84. Looks like it will be a fun flick.
I must admit, I had little interest in Birds of Prey. I realize its not a Suicide Squad sequel, but it was kind of marketed as such - or at least, marketed as being of the same cinematic style. I didn't much care for the style of SS, although I appreciate that they tried something different. And I do think the title is a problem - as a non-comic-book nerd, "Birds of Prey" doesn't mean anything to me. It could have just a well been a WWII flick as a DC movie.
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I'm pretty happy if this is the final suit. Kind of reminds me of the Arkham games. Also the music choice was pretty good. Hopefully it's the new bat theme in some capacity
I'm really curious what story line they're going to be adapting. With them casting Pattinson, I have to imagine it's going to be a "fresh" / "young" Batman. I wonder if they're adapting Batman: Year One or something like that.
I could be way off but it might be The Long Halloween, they've announced quite a few confirmed villains already (Catwoman, RIddler, Penguin, Carmine Falcone) and it's also supposed to be a trilogy so they could go really anywhere. It does seem from this tease they are going for a very dark, brooding, and realistic Batman.
Man, I LOVE his look and so far my FAV suit of any of the movies. Patterson is no fool... he is a TOP grade actor. I think we are in for a real treat. IF WE WERE REALLY LUCKY... a Phoenix cameo at the end of this film would be amazing.. I really hope they bring these worlds together.... Especially with the 'noir' tones of that little bit we seen.. could match up with the JOKER world perfectly.
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Personally I want them to leave them separate. Marvel is already doing the connected universe thing. I'd kinda like it if DC went the other way and left everything a bit disjointed. Gives them room to experiment and try different things. If they stuck to their DCEU plans we never would've gotten a movie like Joker.
Not really. Pheonix and Leger's Joker's aren't really the Joker I want to see going up against a Batman that has a real rouge's gallery. I think they both work in a world were Batman stands on his own and is more "realistic" like the Christopher Nolan movies, but in the broader DCEU where you have other super heroes with super powers I want the Joker to be more like The Joker from Batman: The Animated Series. Less anarchist / anti establishment. Less clear motivation. More pure chaos / the antithesis of Batman. More what the Joker tends to be in the comics, a force of nature.
To be honest though I find it unlikely we'll be getting more Pheonix Joker, unless they manage to convince him to do a Joker 2 (which is rumored but both Todd Phillips and WB have denied it). Pheonix is the "artist" type and doesn't seem the type to go in for the whole "franchise / reoccurring role" thing.
I can dig what Dan is saying. I loved Heath's Joker but still felt I guess cheated that it was makeup and not falling into a chemical vat that gave him his look. I understood the reasoning and still greatly enjoyed the Dark Knight but wished the Joker's origins were more true to how it has mostly been portrayed over the years in the comics. I liked Joker also but really can't envision that version, no matter how great Phoenix played him, battling Batman.
I agree; DC would do well to get away from the shared universe thing and just do separate movies - or series of movies centered around single characters. But I think they have to do one or the other - either a shared universe or separate movies. Trying to do both, where they have DCEU and standalone movies with different actors playing the same characters in both will just become a narrative mess.
Thats not to say separate movies couldn't lead to a team up/Justice League-type movie at some point, but they would be well served by establishing good quality movies with strong characters played by good actors first, and see how that plays.
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They're still in the same universe, just not overtly so. There are small references in every movie to other movies. Birds of Prey is a direct sequel to Suicide Squad with scenes from Suicide Squad. Wonder Woman 1984 will probably not reference anything in the universe so far since it takes place so long ago, unless they again have some modern day stuff. I now fully expect them to have The Flash movie be Flashpoint (which has been confirmed) to keep Batman vs. Superman and Justice League canon, just on another Earth. So Barry (from BVS and Justice League) will be able to create a new reality going forward that has the same Wonder Woman and the same Aquaman, and the same Harley Quinn and the same Shazam, but a different Batman, and a different Superman, and probably a different Joker. It makes sense (well if you're a comics fan it makes sense) and it doesn't ignore what came before. Only Barry will know that Bruce used to be different. I doubt they'll go Batman Beyond and have Affleck play old Bruce.
Yes, I get that, and I think that works and can continue to work. By all means, have Wonder Woman movies and Flash movies and Suicide Squad movies using the characters and actors that have worked from the previous films. But they don't need to force them in a single narrative. They don't need to have cute cameos as a teaser for movies to come. Have them stand alone as their own narrative threads. Let them establish the tone that fits the characters.
And then you have Joker, which is explicitly *not* DCEU, and was creative in ways that a DCEU movie couldn't be. So don't have a DCEU.
Marvel have the shared universe thing down. DC can succeed by doing something different - by not doing that.
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“If you don't know what you want," the doorman said, "you end up with a lot you don't.”
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I don't think it needs to be all or nothing. Mostly I think that they need to commit to something being out of canon. Take 'Joker' for example, if they take and squeeze that version of the character into the DCEU because the movie was successful, I think it actually cheapens what they've accomplished with that movie. On top of that it'd be narratively confusing for the DCEU because the story they built just doesn't really fit with the story they have in the DCEU.
As far as "The Batman" goes, my understanding is that it's "In Universe" but a prequel to anything we've already seen. Batfleck was a much older Bruce Wayne than Pattinson's Bruce Wayne will be. The suit itself is a pretty big giveaway there, what they've shown of it makes it look like a "Version 1" type of suit. Lots of leather and stitching.
I'm not saying it HAS to be all or nothing, but I think you get better movies if its all or nothing.
Imagine if Disney started making Star Wars movies or series that featured the same characters as the movies to date, but they were explicitly not in the same canon, and played by different actor. It would be confusing, for a start, and most fans would be asking, "Why are we doing this? Just tell good in-universe stories".
Personally, I think not having a shared universe frees you up to do things with the characters without needing all the movies to have the same rules, or the same histories. There doesn't need to be a single canon. The Chris Reeve Superman movies weren't in the same canon as the Tim Burton Batman movies, and neither were in the same canon as the Nolan Batmans. It was fine. All three of those series worked. Well, except for Batman and Robin. Okay, and Superman IV. But you get my point.
And I completely agree about Joker. Let it be its own thing. Build on that foundation with more movies if you must, but keep Margot Robbie out of it.
And I wish The Batman weren't in the same canon. I wish Robert-Pattinson-Batman didn't grow to become Ben-Affleck-Batman, because that gives you more freedom to shape the character in ways that wouldn't lead to Batfleck.
Just my 2c, of course.
HBJ
“If you don't know what you want," the doorman said, "you end up with a lot you don't.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
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Saw someone mention that the bat symbol on his chest could be made from the gun that killed his parents. Interesting.
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The movie has already made over $145M worldwide so already pretty much twice its budget, I don't see how that can be considered a flop yet people keep saying it, hoping it comes true.
I don’t hope it comes true. I LOVE that comic movies are getting made but yes I hated this. Either way I don’t want it to fail. I was just pointing out my thoughts were correct. A comic movie that makes the money this has... is done. I mean look at some other DC properties... they made FAR more than this and are done.
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I'll give you that it's closer to your low end than my guess, but it still wasn't a 50% drop. 48% according to rotten tomatoes. It still fell number 2 this weekend. Probably would've been much higher, but Sonic significantly out performed what anyone thought it was going to do. Plus it should have a higher than normal Monday, because of Presidents Day, which will help it's box office totals.
All this said I don't think this movie is a flop or failure by any means. Sure it didn't do gang busters, but it reviewed well for DC and will surely break even, and then some when you get into home video sales. At the end of the day though it reviewing well is what DC needed from this movie, and they got that. We'll definitely see another Harley Quinn movie. Hopefully they'll do a better job marketing it. They either need to lean into the 'R' rating much more (like Deadpool) or they need to back off and make it PG-13.