Super week for DC superheroes
It’s been a fantastic week for comic book geeks to get their “Squee” on, with major announcements being made about 2 of DC Comics’ most iconic characters, and their leap from the printed page to live-action media. As Warner-DC’s non-print media division, DC Entertainment undergoes a major shake-up, apparently some long in-development projects have been jolted back to life. These are Wonder Woman and Superman reboot, The Man of Steel.
Fans have been waiting for a Wonder Woman film for years – and I previously wrote in detail about my desire for a World War II-set film that paid homage to the Amazonian princess’s Golden Age roots, complete with tongue-in-cheek bondage allusions. However, Warner Bros. executives have apparently never quite worked out what to do with Diana, arguably the most powerful character in the DC Universe next to Superman.
Last year’s animated Wonder Woman film was excellent, but a live-action project remained stuck in development hell, jumping from different writer to writer; director to director over the past 20 years at least. Then again, given the “original” and “hip” treatment given to Catwoman in that horrific Halle Berry movie, perhaps it was a blessing Wonder Woman wasn’t rushed into cinemas.
Well, now it turns out Wonder Woman isn’t coming to cinemas at all. Apparently the character will be getting her own TV series instead, to be produced and written by Ally McBeal and Boston Legal’s David E. Kelley.
There are, of course, pros and cons to Diana hitting the small screen. For the record, the upcoming series isn’t the first Wonder Woman TV show. Back in the 1970s, Wonder Woman, the TV series transformed Lynda Carter, as the title character, into a poster icon to rival Farrah Fawcett in her red one-piece swimming costume.
Anyway, the new Wonder Woman series is apparently intended to be a high profile replacement for superhero series Smallville, which has just entered its final season. And just like Smallville, which has taken many (frustrating for comic fans) liberties with the Superman story, fidelity to the comics is unlikely to be a priority with Wonder Woman, the TV series.
Sigh.
So Wonder Woman: The Series could easily go the way of quickly cancelled Birds of Prey (a femme-centric Gotham-set series WITHOUT Batman), and Aquaman, which didn’t even get past the pilot. Apparently, while sci-fi series – like Battlestar Galactica – are able to overcome the limitations of television’s lower budgets, superheroes just end up looking embarrassingly cheesy.
Sigh again.
The one small spark of hope is David E’ Kelley’s involvement. His chick detective-adventure series Snoops may have bombed in terms of ratings back in 1999 but it was fun while it lasted. More importantly, once you get past the neurosis and quirkiness of so many of his characters, Kelley knows how to write fiery exchanges between the sexes. That was 90% of Ally McBeal! And given that the character of Wonder Woman has grown up in an isolationist women-only society ignorant of our world’s gender norms and relationships, the battle between the sexes should be a vital component of the new show.
In the animated Wonder Woman movie, most of the film’s amusement value came from Diana’s distrust of flirty men and her simultaneous disgust for women who play up their physical weakness for male attention. If the new Wonder Woman series places emphasis on the same issues, I’ll be more than happy to see Diana masquerading as a demure, bespectacled legal clerk to James Spader’s smarmy attorney or something... because I don’t for one second believe that Kelly will be able to make a TV show where lawyers and the legal system don’t occupy important roles.
Anyway, as for Wonder Woman casting, I really I have no idea who should play the title character. If the series was being made a decade or so ago, I would have thrown my support behind Lucy Lawless because, well, Xena: Warrior Princess was pretty much Diana. Now I’m hoping they cast an unknown who is both beautiful and convincingly “built” to pass for a highly trained military combatant. Please, Mr Kelley, no anorexic, fat lipped waifs please!
Wonder Woman: The TV Series is apparently in the planning stage, but I imagine we could see it on our screens as early as next year – or, more likely, sometime between 2012 and 2013.
Moving on to the second big DC announcement of the week, the long-discussed Superman reboot finally has a director. Set for release in late 2012, The Man of Steel will be helmed by 300 and Watchmen’s Zack Snyder. The new film will be based on a script by Blade’s David S. Goyer and his The Dark Knight co-writer Jonathan Nolan, and the entire project will be overseen by The Dark Knight and Inception helmer Christopher Nolan.
On confirming his involvement, Snyder had this to say about the character of Superman, and new film:
"I've been a big fan of the character for a long time, he's definitely the king of all superheroes, he's the one. It's early yet, but I can tell you that what David [Goyer] and Chris [Nolan] have done with the story so far definitely has given me a great insight into a way to make him feel modern. I've always felt he was kind of awesome. I'll finish 'Sucker Punch' and get right at it."
Snyder is a love-him-or-hate-him filmmaker (which I’ve discussed at length before) but I’m definitely in his supporter’s camp. The man sure as hell knows how to make comic book adaptations! At the same time, I’m intrigued about his unlikely teaming with Nolan. Both are directors with strong creative visions and distinct, very different cinematic styles. While Snyder has embraced blue screens and digital effects to create entire, deliberately artificial-feeling worlds, Nolan is known for avoiding CGI whenever possible – preferring instead to find innovative real-life solutions so that the onscreen universe appears more credible and immersive. With Snyder and Nolan it’s a case of hyper-style meets hyper-substance.
The Man of Steel is apparently supposed to be to 2006’s Superman Returns what The Incredible Hulk is to Hulk. It’s vibrant, it’s fun, it’s something that contemporary audiences will be able to identify with, and it’s not another origin tale. Original reports listed Brainiac and Lex Luthor as the film’s villains, although current rumours are that Superman will face off against General Zod, a Kryptonian warlord who featured so prominently in the movie Superman II. Either way, Kryptonian history and legend is supposed to be very central to The Man of Steel.
As for casting, I’m sure an unknown will be chosen for the role of Superman and his timid alter-ego Clark Kent. My personal choice however would be Mad Men’s tall, dashing Jon Hamm – although I would also buy him as Bruce Wayne any day. You see, I’m a little tired of twentysomething superheroes on the big screen. I want my movie Superman, and my Batman, to be grown MEN of experience like they were in the comics for a very long time. Hamm radiates virility, and given that his Mad Men character, Don Draper already struggles with a secret identity, it shouldn’t be too much of a stretch for the actor to step into Superman/Clark Kent/Kal-El’s shoes. Plus, Hamm has just worked with Zack Snyder on Sucker Punch, so he already has a relationship with the Man of Steel director – who, like Tim Burton, has his favourite collaborators, before and behind the camera.
A pre-existing relationship with Snyder is also the reason I automatically think of Gerard Butler for the role of General Zod. Butler played Leonidas in 300, and provided the narration for Tales of the Black Freighter, Watchmen’s animated story within a story. Butler is not a subtle actor, but Zod is not a subtle character – or at least he wasn’t when Terrance Stamp played him in Superman II.
As for Superman’s love interest Lois Lane, as long as she’s not played by vapid Kate Bosworth or someone like her, it’s all good. Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler director Darren Aronofsky was one of the recent top contenders to helm The Man of Steel, and there were mutterings that he was going to push for his recent Black Swan leading lady, Natalie Portman, to play the feisty, trouble-seeking reporter. Such a casting claim belongs on the highly suspect rumour pile however
What more can I say than I’m massively excited for a Zack Snyder Superman? I think of all that beautiful slow-motion aerial combat in Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole and I get the shivers when I think of the same treatment being applied to Superman. As far as I'm concerned The Man of Steel is the best possible movie present for Christmas 2012.
Fans have been waiting for a Wonder Woman film for years – and I previously wrote in detail about my desire for a World War II-set film that paid homage to the Amazonian princess’s Golden Age roots, complete with tongue-in-cheek bondage allusions. However, Warner Bros. executives have apparently never quite worked out what to do with Diana, arguably the most powerful character in the DC Universe next to Superman.
Last year’s animated Wonder Woman film was excellent, but a live-action project remained stuck in development hell, jumping from different writer to writer; director to director over the past 20 years at least. Then again, given the “original” and “hip” treatment given to Catwoman in that horrific Halle Berry movie, perhaps it was a blessing Wonder Woman wasn’t rushed into cinemas.
Well, now it turns out Wonder Woman isn’t coming to cinemas at all. Apparently the character will be getting her own TV series instead, to be produced and written by Ally McBeal and Boston Legal’s David E. Kelley.
There are, of course, pros and cons to Diana hitting the small screen. For the record, the upcoming series isn’t the first Wonder Woman TV show. Back in the 1970s, Wonder Woman, the TV series transformed Lynda Carter, as the title character, into a poster icon to rival Farrah Fawcett in her red one-piece swimming costume.
Anyway, the new Wonder Woman series is apparently intended to be a high profile replacement for superhero series Smallville, which has just entered its final season. And just like Smallville, which has taken many (frustrating for comic fans) liberties with the Superman story, fidelity to the comics is unlikely to be a priority with Wonder Woman, the TV series.
Sigh.
So Wonder Woman: The Series could easily go the way of quickly cancelled Birds of Prey (a femme-centric Gotham-set series WITHOUT Batman), and Aquaman, which didn’t even get past the pilot. Apparently, while sci-fi series – like Battlestar Galactica – are able to overcome the limitations of television’s lower budgets, superheroes just end up looking embarrassingly cheesy.
Sigh again.
The one small spark of hope is David E’ Kelley’s involvement. His chick detective-adventure series Snoops may have bombed in terms of ratings back in 1999 but it was fun while it lasted. More importantly, once you get past the neurosis and quirkiness of so many of his characters, Kelley knows how to write fiery exchanges between the sexes. That was 90% of Ally McBeal! And given that the character of Wonder Woman has grown up in an isolationist women-only society ignorant of our world’s gender norms and relationships, the battle between the sexes should be a vital component of the new show.
In the animated Wonder Woman movie, most of the film’s amusement value came from Diana’s distrust of flirty men and her simultaneous disgust for women who play up their physical weakness for male attention. If the new Wonder Woman series places emphasis on the same issues, I’ll be more than happy to see Diana masquerading as a demure, bespectacled legal clerk to James Spader’s smarmy attorney or something... because I don’t for one second believe that Kelly will be able to make a TV show where lawyers and the legal system don’t occupy important roles.
Anyway, as for Wonder Woman casting, I really I have no idea who should play the title character. If the series was being made a decade or so ago, I would have thrown my support behind Lucy Lawless because, well, Xena: Warrior Princess was pretty much Diana. Now I’m hoping they cast an unknown who is both beautiful and convincingly “built” to pass for a highly trained military combatant. Please, Mr Kelley, no anorexic, fat lipped waifs please!
Wonder Woman: The TV Series is apparently in the planning stage, but I imagine we could see it on our screens as early as next year – or, more likely, sometime between 2012 and 2013.
Moving on to the second big DC announcement of the week, the long-discussed Superman reboot finally has a director. Set for release in late 2012, The Man of Steel will be helmed by 300 and Watchmen’s Zack Snyder. The new film will be based on a script by Blade’s David S. Goyer and his The Dark Knight co-writer Jonathan Nolan, and the entire project will be overseen by The Dark Knight and Inception helmer Christopher Nolan.
On confirming his involvement, Snyder had this to say about the character of Superman, and new film:
"I've been a big fan of the character for a long time, he's definitely the king of all superheroes, he's the one. It's early yet, but I can tell you that what David [Goyer] and Chris [Nolan] have done with the story so far definitely has given me a great insight into a way to make him feel modern. I've always felt he was kind of awesome. I'll finish 'Sucker Punch' and get right at it."
Snyder is a love-him-or-hate-him filmmaker (which I’ve discussed at length before) but I’m definitely in his supporter’s camp. The man sure as hell knows how to make comic book adaptations! At the same time, I’m intrigued about his unlikely teaming with Nolan. Both are directors with strong creative visions and distinct, very different cinematic styles. While Snyder has embraced blue screens and digital effects to create entire, deliberately artificial-feeling worlds, Nolan is known for avoiding CGI whenever possible – preferring instead to find innovative real-life solutions so that the onscreen universe appears more credible and immersive. With Snyder and Nolan it’s a case of hyper-style meets hyper-substance.
The Man of Steel is apparently supposed to be to 2006’s Superman Returns what The Incredible Hulk is to Hulk. It’s vibrant, it’s fun, it’s something that contemporary audiences will be able to identify with, and it’s not another origin tale. Original reports listed Brainiac and Lex Luthor as the film’s villains, although current rumours are that Superman will face off against General Zod, a Kryptonian warlord who featured so prominently in the movie Superman II. Either way, Kryptonian history and legend is supposed to be very central to The Man of Steel.
As for casting, I’m sure an unknown will be chosen for the role of Superman and his timid alter-ego Clark Kent. My personal choice however would be Mad Men’s tall, dashing Jon Hamm – although I would also buy him as Bruce Wayne any day. You see, I’m a little tired of twentysomething superheroes on the big screen. I want my movie Superman, and my Batman, to be grown MEN of experience like they were in the comics for a very long time. Hamm radiates virility, and given that his Mad Men character, Don Draper already struggles with a secret identity, it shouldn’t be too much of a stretch for the actor to step into Superman/Clark Kent/Kal-El’s shoes. Plus, Hamm has just worked with Zack Snyder on Sucker Punch, so he already has a relationship with the Man of Steel director – who, like Tim Burton, has his favourite collaborators, before and behind the camera.
A pre-existing relationship with Snyder is also the reason I automatically think of Gerard Butler for the role of General Zod. Butler played Leonidas in 300, and provided the narration for Tales of the Black Freighter, Watchmen’s animated story within a story. Butler is not a subtle actor, but Zod is not a subtle character – or at least he wasn’t when Terrance Stamp played him in Superman II.
As for Superman’s love interest Lois Lane, as long as she’s not played by vapid Kate Bosworth or someone like her, it’s all good. Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler director Darren Aronofsky was one of the recent top contenders to helm The Man of Steel, and there were mutterings that he was going to push for his recent Black Swan leading lady, Natalie Portman, to play the feisty, trouble-seeking reporter. Such a casting claim belongs on the highly suspect rumour pile however
What more can I say than I’m massively excited for a Zack Snyder Superman? I think of all that beautiful slow-motion aerial combat in Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole and I get the shivers when I think of the same treatment being applied to Superman. As far as I'm concerned The Man of Steel is the best possible movie present for Christmas 2012.
Comments
Well I don't see her as Xena, I see her as D'Anna Biers, the 3rd Cylon copy in Battlestar Galactica. http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0008080/