There were all kinds of nerd-bombs unloaded upon a frothing populace of fanboys (and fangirls) last weekend, but the two biggest, megaton revelations came via Marvel/Disney, and DC/Warner Bros.
On the DC end, it was revealed that the follow-up to this year's mega-hit, MAN OF STEEL, will be a crossover film between Batman and Superman. It was also heavily implied that they may have a bit of a tiff. (Though the film itself will definitely NOT be an adaptation of Frank Miller's classic comic, THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS.)
That's the good news. The bad news, for me anyway, is that it's from the creative team behind Man Of Steel. That film had some impressive destruction on display, but plenty of highly questionable writing and directing choices. In addition to being really, really, boring.
And it's not going to be the Nolan Universe Batman. So who would be the perfect man behind the cowl? My buddy Pete recommend Byung-hun Lee; I could dig that. WB might be hesitant following the box-office disaster that was The Lone Ranger, but I think Armie Hammer would be great.
Ok; some pretty big shit, no? Marvel responded in kind with their little revelation about the second Avengers film. Instead of focusing on Thanos, as had originally been suspected, it seems the big bad will be the perennial Avengers comic villain Ultron.
I like the change-up. It seems natural that the Avengers will face off with Thanos eventually, seeing as how he threw down the gauntlet in film one, but maybe they're waiting for part three to roll out the intergalactic big bad. And if, as suspected, Tony Stark ends up being Ultron's creator (in a slight change from his comic book origins), that would tie in neatly with Stark's cinematic arc and centralized role on the team.
Meanwhile, in unrelated news, I'm just hoping for some more Pacific Rim. My favorite film of the year so far has been floundering at the domestic box office, but foreign sales have been promising. I need a sequel to that awesome shit! C'mon Tokyo, check it out!
