Stop me if you’ve heard this one. A clown and his obsessive love walk into a toxic pit. Manipulation. Cruelty. Exploitation. Fans eat it up, blind to the abuse. They call it love. Good joke. Everybody laugh. Roll snare. Curtains.
Todd Phillips’ award-winning Jokerwalked a dangerous line. While technically impressive and anchored by Joaquin Phoenix’s powerful performance as Arthur Fleck, the film’s portrayal of women as mere objects or barriers, coupled with its muddled political stance and exploration of mental health, left it morally ambiguous and unsettling in today’s post-#MeToo landscape.
Now, in the sequel, we get a brief glimmer of hope that the film will address those consequences. Imprisoned after his public execution of a celebrity on live TV, Fleck is a hollow version of himself, sedated by a mix of drugs and the cruelty of an abusive guard (Brendan Gleeson).
When he meets Lee (Lady Gaga) in a group singing therapy class, they instantly connect. Lee “gets” him, and in a typical male fantasy, she doesn’t believe he needs to change. Thus begins a romance, blending magic musical realism and impotent sexual encounters.
As with the first film, we quickly learn not to trust what we see. Fleck/Joker frequently slips into elaborate song-filled fantasy mid-sentence, though Phillips and co-writer Scott Silver never fully commit to this device. Lee is portrayed as both fanatical and duplicitous, reinforcing the misogyny from the first film. I’m starting to wonder if that misogyny is in front of the camera or behind it.
The film’s highlight is Fleck’s highly publicised murder trial—a classic stage for dramatic revelations. Here we get to the core of the film, albeit through a disjointed mix of commentary on media, personality cults, the prison system, and maybe even reality TV. Phoenix excels in these moments, especially during his ‘small town lawyer’ routine in full makeup, sharing a heartbreaking exchange with Gary (Leigh Gill). But it’s also where the cracks show, revealing that the musical element is more afterthought than centrepiece.
It’s all incredibly frustrating, as there are moments of brilliance in there. With its nods to Warner animation, classical musicals and strong central cast, it looks like a winning formula on paper. Phoenix, for his part, still works wonders with the material, though there’s a sense that both he and the character are weary of Joker. Gaga, meanwhile, is stuck in a limiting role, but her costumes will no doubt be the ships that launch a thousand cosplays.
Taken at face value, for very little lurks beneath the surface of this set of first-draft ideas, JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX is either a skewering of toxic fandom at best, or a middle finger to the fans themselves at worst. The latter tracks with Phillips’s clear disdain for the source material, even if the little Easter eggs and references continue to try chew their cake and spit them out too.
As with the original Joker, the final laugh comes in an explosive finale that subverts expectations as much as it embraces them. In the film, Fleck defies his followers and pays the price and is literally chased down by his own creations. In reality, we see this dynamic in fandom and politics. What’s unclear is whether the monster was right all along or if it’s all just a cosmic joke. That’s all, folks.
2024 | USA | DIRECTOR: Todd Phillips | WRITERS: Scott Silver, Todd Phillips | CAST: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener | DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros. (US), Universal Pictures (Australia) | RUNNING TIME: 138 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 3 October 2024 (Australia), 4 October 2024 (USA)
Blue Beetle is one of those deep dive comic book characters that’s either really important to you or entirely inconsequential. It all depends on when you started reading comics. For some, he’s an integral part of comic history, and the inspiration for Watchmen’s Nite Owls. There’s even a period in the 80s when Beetle, along with regular partner Booster Gold, were part of a joke era of the Justice League International.
For the character’s live action film debut, DC has wisely chosen to focus on the more recent Jaime Reyes iteration. This immediately provides the film with a point of difference from the early-to-mid-century, whitebread origins of the majority of the canon. Here Jaime (Xolo Maridueña) returns home to Palmera City from Gotham Law University, the first of his family to earn a degree, but finds that his family faces eviction thanks to the Kord Industries developments.
That company’s ruthless CEO Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon) has recently acquired a mystical scarab she hopes to harness for her One Man Army Corps (OMAC) project. Yet when rebellious niece Jenny Kord (Bruna Marquezine) steals the scarab to help protect her father’s legacy, the powers of the object are unlocked – and naturally latch onto Jaime.
Originally slated for release on Warner’s (HBO) Max streaming service, BLUE BEETLE occasionally betrays its lower budget origins. The neon future stylings of the fictional Palmera City, replacing the comic book setting of El Paso, look wholly artificial. Director Ángel Manuel Soto and cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski shoot most scenes in the most functional manner possible.
Yet when the film splashes out into some key action sequences, mostly involving fight sequences with henchman Carapax (Raoul Max Trujillo), we do see where some of the money went. Like the similarly colour-themed Green Lantern, this Blue Beetle’s powers can manifest anything he imagines. This not only leads to some fun and fancy fights, but injects a healthy sense of fun into the plotting.
A lot of that feeling also comes from the family focus. Unlike most hero stories, where the brooding lead tries to walk a secret solo path, here the tight-knit family that surrounds the very likeable Jaime is filled with genuine character. From Adriana Barraza as the wise Nana with a past to the over-the-top George Lopez as the anarchistic uncle Rudy, these are not just background filler characters but essential parts of the Blue Beetle story. As a result, BLUE BEETLE does more for representation in single scenes than entire cinematic universes have done in dozens of films. Or as one Latino character puts it, “This time we get our own hero.”
Yes, it all comes down to a familiar clash of CG dolls with identical powers, but damn if it isn’t a lot of fun getting there. Although the film is ultimately left stranded in the limbo between Multiverses, neither referencing the DCEU nor the future of the franchise, there are also Easter eggs galore for the comic book faithful. With the door left wide open for the future of the DCU, here’s hoping that this isn’t the last we see of Jaime Reyes.
2023 | USA | DIRECTOR: Ángel Manuel Soto | WRITERS: Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer (Based on the DC Comics characters created by Keith Giffen, John Rogers and Cully Hamner) | CAST: Xolo Maridueña, Adriana Barraza, Damián Alcázar, Raoul Max Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, George Lopez | DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures (AUS), Warner Bros. (USA) | RUNNING TIME: 128 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 14 September 2023 (AUS), 18 August 2023 (USA)
“The Multiverse,” remarks one Bruce Wayne. “It’s all just a crapshoot.” He might be right, but it was the one defining feature of the DC Comics universe for decades. It tied together colliding worlds, various crises on infinite earths, and more reboots than we can count. Yet when it came to the movies, everyone from the MCU to Michelle Yeoh beat them to it.
It’s taken a while for Warner to build up enough cache to even attempt something as ambitious, at least on paper, as THE FLASH. After all, Sony had to reboot Spider-Man three times before they started mashing them up. The DC Extended Universe’s path here has been just as rocky, from a legally embattled star, to cancelled projects and a string of critically and commercially disappointing films. Yes, we’re looking at you Black Adam and Shazam: Fury of the Gods.
Yet THE FLASH, by its very nature and origin, is about tying together loose ends. Christina Hodson’s screenplay is loosely based on the DC Comics Flashpoint event of 2011, and has previously been adapted in CW’s The Flash series and as the DC Universe Animated Original Movie Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. That series rebooted the whole DCU for a line-wide reboot, but not before having some fun with the characters.
In Hodson and director Andy Muschietti’s version, Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) is feeling less than stellar about his lot in life. Between being on clean-up duty for the Justice League, and his dad’s (Ron Livingston) pending retrial for a wrongful conviction of murdering Barry’s mother, he is feeling less than valued. When Barry discovers he can use the Speed Force to time travel, he goes back to save his mother, despite Bruce Wayne/Batman’s (Ben Affleck) warnings.
In doing so, he creates a whole new timeline. Landing in an alternate past, he has to seek the aid of his younger self, a retired Batman (Michael Keaton), and Superman’s cousin Kara Zor-El (Sasha Calle) to stop this world’s General Zod (Michael Shannon) from finishing the work he started in Man of Steel.
Let’s start by addressing the elephant in the room: the special effects. If you’re reading this, chances are pretty good you’ve either heard some things about the CGI or have witnessed their uniqueness for yourself. There are some stellar sequences, and the doubling of Barry in almost every scene is flawless. The desert-based climactic battle is actually an effective use of multiple effects elements.
Still, when it goes wrong, it all goes very wrong very quickly. It begins with a nightmarishly rendered rescue sequence, a literal shower of CG babies and a dog. Yet this pales in comparison to the Speed Force sequences, where barely rendered versions of Miller and other DCEU characters loom over audiences like bootleg parade balloons. For a film that reportedly cost in excess of $200 million, one wonders where all the cash went.
We can sort of put the effects to one side though, as it’s not the biggest of the film’s problems. The cameos can be quite cool in places, but once they’ve occurred, everything else is just grist for the mill. Perhaps suffering in proximity to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, THE FLASH doesn’t learn Spidey’s most fundamental lesson: with great intellectual property comes greater responsibility. Hell, the 1989 Batmobile is used as nothing more than an armchair for one of the Ezra Millers.
Which isn’t to say that THE FLASH hasn’t found room to have a little fun. I will be the first (or 500th) to admit how cool it is to see Keaton back playing Batman, complete with little stings from Danny Elfman’s score. There’s a recurring gag about Eric Stoltz playing Marty McFly in Back to the Future in this universe. Even watching Barry suit-up from his Flash ring made this fanboy smile.
The issue is that there’s very little connective glue or character development for anyone. Barry simply reacts most of the time, often to himself, and Miller’s choices with the role simply aren’t charismatic enough to justify two of them on the screen. Keaton’s presence doesn’t make a massive amount of sense, but he at least seems to be having fun with what he’s given. Calle steps into the Supergirl role confidently, and we can look forward to her solo film, but her portrayal isn’t allowed to do more than a series of angry punches.
In the end, we’ve just seen it all done before, and better. CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths came closer to capturing the joy of the shared history of these characters, and one has to wonder if Flashpoint’s comic book plotting would have worked better here. In the text, it’s an alternate Thomas Wayne who has lost Martha and Bruce to crime and subsequently becomes Batman. The denouement sees him give Barry a letter to take home to Bruce to give him closure, which brings the Bat’s dark journey full circle. The film goes as far as referencing Bruce and Barry’s joint pain of parental loss, but it’s never developed any further. Like many things in the movie, it’s a missed opportunity.
If the closure of the DCEU is the point of THE FLASH, then time will tell. In fact, it’s hard to know why this movie survived the great Warner/Discovery cull when Batgirl was deemed to be too unmarketable for the cinema. After all, it too had a Keaton Batman. With James Gunn now helming the next chapter of the universe, we’re yet to see how much this plays into the franchise’s future. For now, it is stubbornly looking backwards, trying to keep a foot in each camp. For a character who runs a lot, surely they know that’s a trip hazard.
2023 | USA | DIRECTOR: Andy Muschietti | WRITERS: Christina Hodson | CAST: Ezra Miller, Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon, Ron Livingston, Maribel Verdú, Kiersey Clemons, Antje Traue, Michael Keaton | DISTRIBUTOR: Universal (AUS), Warner (US) | RUNNING TIME: 144 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 15 June 2023 (AUS), 16 June 2023 (US)
It’s been four years since the joyful Shazamhit cinemas, and in many ways it feels as though the world has moved on since then. With the DC Extended Universe all but abandoned by its parent company, David F. Sandberg’s sequel is very much the abandoned child of a neglected franchise. Hell, even some of the kids are old enough to play adult versions of themselves now.
So, SHAZAM: FURY OF THE GODS wastes little time in establishing its basic setup. Old world gods Hespera (Helen Mirren) and Kalypso (Lucy Liu) have returned to claim the magical staff that gave Billy (Zachary Levi/Asher Angel) and his adoptive family their powers in the first film. They don’t want to stop there, of course: some of these gods want to reclaim the world.
It couldn’t come at a worse time. Billy is feeling some serious imposter syndrome. Rejected by his city, and holding on too tight to a family he’s afraid of losing, even visions of the Wizard (Djimon Hounsou) are barely enough to hold it all together.
As the James Gunn-led DC Universe gets ready to relaunch the hero brand onto the world, SHAZAM: FURY OF THE GODS feels like an attempt to throw a little bit of everything against the wall and see what sticks. In fact, it quite literally covers the walls of sets with posters and iconography from other studio-owned franchises. After all, this is a sequel that comes saddled with not one but six (or more) heroes and very little time to explore them.
Even the set-ups feel like a mishmash of borrowed ideas from other films. The first set-piece action sequence is a collapsing bridge, the kind we’ve seen fall and down in [checks notes] literally every action film ever. There’s a pinch of Doctor Strange in Anthea’s (Rachel Zegler) powers. There’s a dragon. Terraforming. At one point, the film seems to empty out the archives of Ray Harryhausen’s workshop onto the streets of Philadelphia. Skittles joins E.T.’s Reece’s Pieces in the realm of promotional considerations as plot device. Hell, the back half of the film seems to be borrowed from Under the Dome (or The Simpsons Movie if you prefer).
You know what else it is? Fun. It’s nowhere near as unabashedly joyful as the first outing, and you can see the conscious machinations pedalling furiously behind every laden scene. Yet even if the setups are familiar, the goofy charm of these characters continues to shine through. Riffing on the (name-dropped) Fast and the Furious notion of family, you can’t help but root for these little guys in the face of adversity.
Zegler makes a terrific new addition to the cast, arriving off the back of several critically acclaimed roles. You’ll see all of her character turns coming, but she wears them well. Mirren and Liu feel like they’ve walked straight out of a Power Rangers tribute and into the DCU, but Mirren in particular lends the film some weight. Plus, you haven’t lived until you’ve seen Liu ride a CG dragon over the City of Brotherly Love. On the downside, these new additions to an already stacked cast means that the some of the more interesting arcs (such as D. J. Cotrona’s) are given perfunctory resolution.
The film’s technical elements are solid too. While contemporaries have run into a mess of pre-visualised muddiness, SHAZAM’s final major sequence is a reliably old-school city smasher. Filling Philly with overgrown plants and creatures, it briefly gives each of those characters something to do – even if it’s only for 20 minutes or so. The soundtrack, swinging from Bonnie Tyler to remixes of Elvis Presley, is perhaps emblematic of the ‘let’s see what works’ storytelling.
While SHAZAM: FURY OF THE GODS ultimately lands as a mostly self-contained entity, and can be enjoyed whether you’ve seen any previous entries or not. Yet it wouldn’t be a modern event film without pointing other pathways to the future. At the time of writing, we couldn’t possibly comment on how and where they are going. Still, if they maintain the basic DNA of this series, that can’t be a bad thing.
2023 | USA | DIRECTOR: David F. Sandberg | WRITERS: Henry Gayden, Chris Morgan | CAST: Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Rachel Zegler, Adam Brody, Ross Butler, Meagan Good, Lucy Liu, Djimon Hounsou, Helen Mirren | DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures (AUS), Warner Bros. (US)| RUNNING TIME: 130 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 16 March 2023 (AUS), 17 March 2023 (USA)
The DC Extended Universe is at something of a crossroads right now. Following the eventual release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Matt Reeves’ The Batman took a step away from established continuities. Then Discovery, Warner’s new business daddy, dumped Batgirl as a tax write-off. With Wonder Woman 1984 failing to excite audiences or critics, it’s been left to the historically second tier characters of Aquaman and Shazamto bring some light back to this comic book world.
Black Adam emerges from the pages of the latter, traditionally being a foil and anti-hero to Shazam’s misfit family of heroes. In director Jaume Collet-Serra’s adaptation, his story begins in the fictional kingdom of Kahndaq in 2600 BCE. A tyrannical ruler makes the citizens mine for the rare Eternium in the hopes he can craft a mystical crown. When a rebellious child stands up to his oppressors, the wizards of Shazam save him to become their champion, Teth-Adam.
By the time the story proper picks up, the rest of the backstory has become legend. Modern day Kahndaq is under the thumb of the criminal organisation Intergang. Multiple parties are in search of the ancient crown, including the wanted Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi) and her family. The quest results in the unleashing of the destructive Teth-Adam (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson) on the modern world, although his motivations are now ambiguous. Suicide Squad’s Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) activates the Justice Society to take him down, including Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Dr. Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell) and Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo).
BLACK ADAM is, to put it bluntly, chaos on wheels. Swinging from scenes that are thuggish smash and grabs to other high-octane set pieces, it leaves very few moments for reflection in its two-hour running time. The many tonal shifts are exacerbated by a soundtrack that pings about from the Smashing Pumpkins through The Rolling Stones, Ennio Morricone, Kanye West and Player’s ‘Baby Come Back’ (used twice!) Lorne Balfe’s score is competent, but has no strong motifs to distinguish it. Mind you, none of this means that it isn’t also crazy fun at times.
In a crowded market of action movies, the screenplay (from Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines, and Sohrab Noshirvani) has an each way bet: we get to see The Rock tearing through henchmen with violent indifference, while there’s a hero squad who seem to be there purely for fanservice. (Mind you, it’s the Rock, so we know that he isn’t going to finish the movie as a completely bad guy). After small screen appearances in the Arrowverse/The CWverse, I have to admit to getting a little bit thrilled seeing a stacked Dr. Fate and Hawkman mixing it up on the big screen.
The characters are a bit of a mixed bag though, often feeling like they’ve stepped in from another movie entirely. Brosnan is refined and cool as hell as Fate, even if his powers and motivations are ill-defined. Hodge’s Carter Hall comes off as a dick more often than not, combining several of the many incarnations of Hawkman over the years. Cyclone (who first appeared in the Elseworlds graphic novel Kingdom Come) and Atom Smasher were total missed opportunities though, mostly wasted as filler characters or set-ups for future stories. The Rock abides.
BLACK ADAM may not reach the dizzying heights of DC’s most epic stories, or the sheer fun of its sibling Shazam, but it is still entertaining for the duration. As for where the DCEU heads next, much of that will probably depend on the box office results of this and the next few films. If you stay until the mid-credits teaser, you will get a pretty strong indication on who that might involve. (Hint: it’s very exciting). For now, Warner is taking a swing at a new direction, and maybe only Dr. Fate knows where it will land.
2022 | USA | DIRECTOR: Jaume Collet-Serra | WRITERS: Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani | CAST: Dwayne Johnson, Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Quintessa Swindell, Bodhi Sabongui, Pierce Brosnan | DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures (AUS), Warner Bros. Pictures (USA) | RUNNING TIME: 124 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 20 October 2022 (AUS), 21 October 2022 (USA)
A vigilante steps out of the darkness with all the understated presence of a gunslinger on the old west frontier. You have to hand it to director Matt Reeves: after ten live-action screen appearances since Tim Burton’s 1989 film, and countless TV and animated outings, he’s found a new way of showcasing the caped crusader. Yet as the spotlight on the Dark Knight gets brighter, the edges of Gotham get even darker.
In fact, from its voyeuristic opening to the sudden appearance of a killer in the shadows, THE BATMAN has all the earmarks of a horror film. Pulling on elements from various comic book sources, including bits from the excellent Zero Year run of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, Reeves and Craig’s script cleverly sets us down two years into Batman’s adventures in Gotham. This means we don’t have to see poor Martha’s pearls hitting the pavement of Crime Alley once again, as well emphasising the moniker of The World’s Greatest Detective for the first time.
As a serial killer known as The Riddler terrorises Gotham’s elite, GCPD detective James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) involves vigilante Batman (Robert Pattinson) in the investigation despite the objections of his fellow cops. Haunted by his own traumatic past, Bruce Wayne/Batman is torn as he uncovers family secrets and connections with the enigmatic cat burglar Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz), mob enforcer Oswald “Oz” Cobblepott (Colin Farrell) and crime lord Carmine Falcone (John Turturro).
With THE BATMAN, Reeves delivers one of the most stylish and gorgeously shot Batman films to date, casting Gotham in a timeless mix of neon, grimy streets and drug-filled nightclubs. Making full use of shadows and light, and providing plenty of places for the titular vigilante to emerge from, Reeves and production designer James Chinlund (War for the Planet of the Apes) give cinematographer Greig Fraser (Dune) plenty of visually literate images to linger on. At times, we’re smack dab in Times Square somewhere between the 1940s and 1970s, with overlapping neon signs that might have been captured by French photographer Andreas Feininger. At others, we’re in the corner diner of an Edward Hopper painting. The recurring motif of red bathes many scenes in a sinister red glow, and the use of Batman’s first-person point of view technology adds a peep show vibe to that ickiness.
Without the burden of an origin story, this Batmanwastes little time before cracking skulls and taking names. “Two years of nights have turned me into a nocturnal animal,” narrates Pattinson, as the obligatory Nirvana track kicks in to signify dissatisfaction. As we watch him break the bones of thugs, or indiscriminately fight his way through a nightclub, few objections will come from an audience of battle-hardened players of the Arkham video game series. These action sequences reach some magnificent heights, including the thundering introduction of the new Batmobile, backed by the dirge of a Michael Giacchino score that rattles the speakers and our back teeth in equal measure. The ensuing chase is doggedly determined to not keep any objects in the centre of frame for more than a half-beat, discombobulating us in a sea of darkly-lit angular shots. Yet the set-piece finale is quite a masterfully executed piece, albeit vaguely reminiscent of elements seen in The Dark Knight Rises.
The casting is genuinely inspired too. Pattinson steps confidently into a role already belonging to so many others, owning the new suit that’s equal parts Capullo and artist Lee Bermejo. Reeves keeps the presence of emo alter ego Bruce Wayne to a minimum, as that seems to be a less comfortable space for Pattinson. Similarly, Kravitz looks as though she may have stepped straight out of one of Darwyn Cooke’s illustrations, offering us a more complex version of the character than we’ve seen before. While we might have cringed our way through some of the Anonymous-influenced rants of Paul Dano’s Riddler, it’s the unrecognisable Farrell as Penguin that will have most talking, clearly having a ball under all those prosthetics.
Yet the film is often relentlessly bleak, and never quite gets out of those dark depths in a lengthy running time that makes you feel every inch. At times it treads a little too close to glorifying the violent models laid down by Watchmen’s Rorschach (complete with diarised narration) or the more recent Joker portrayals, but that’s par for the course with the film’s western motifs — and anything post-Frank Miller when it comes to the Bat. The torture techniques of the Riddler are especially disturbing, leaning into the sadism of certain horror flicks. If there are comparisons to be made with serial killer thrillers like Zodiac (and straight-up visual references to Se7en), one sometimes wonders who we are supposed to be rooting for. The Riddler himself points this out in a climax that effectively uses alt-right messageboards as a plot device, recognising the thin line between those who claim their ‘truths’ and the ones who act upon them in violent ways.
Which is the essential dilemma of the modern superhero film, or any depiction of the character since at least the 1980s. The Modern Age darkness of Batman began as a response to the militaristic nationalism of US discourse at the time, also reflected in The Dark Knight Returns, Alan Moore’s Watchmen and Marvel’s Punisher to name a few. In an attempt to update the themes, film also takes an each-way bet on police corruption, condemning the system that allowed it while also serving some soft ‘rotten apples’ messaging. Writing about another hero, one that also went through a dark 80s transformation, Lampert (2007) concludes that the perpetuation of this model offers few options. “Either crypto-fascist super-cop, or crypto-fascist criminal; either way, the political choice is clear.” Reeves’ Batman starts with one foot firmly in the latter camp, and if this is an origin story of sorts, then it is about his journey towards the former.
While ending on a moment of hope, and laying down a path for the future, some may still feel that Reeves has already done his job, without any need to return to this particular world. As DC and Warner showcase a mixture of DCEU and retro offerings on the horizon, it’s unclear where this – allegedly the first of a trilogy of films – will fit in their grand plans. Yet as the final scenes hint at where the series might go next, it’s already starting to feel like we’re in familiar territory. For now, it’s a curious standalone Elseworlds piece that works best as an experiment in styles and a mixture of screen influences, with some great casting and a sophisticated sense of comic and cinema aesthetics.
2022 | USA | DIRECTOR: Matt Reeves| WRITERS: Matt Reeves, Peter Craig | CAST: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Barry Keoghan, Andy Serkis, Colin Farrell | DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros. | RUNNING TIME: 176 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 2 March 2022 (AUS), 4 March 2022 (AUS)
Who would have thought that almost four years after the financially disappointing release of Justice League we’d still be talking about it? Let alone watching a cut almost twice the length?
The fans behind the #ReleasetheSnyderCut had a pretty good idea. Thanks to a social media campaign that cast its heroes and villains in archetypes as dichotomous as the comic book source material, Warner has invested almost $70 million in restoring cut footage and shooting new scenes. The result is somewhat remarkable.
When Snyder was forced to walk away from the film, partly to deal with a family tragedy, Warner handed the controls over to Joss Whedon. Coming off the back of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Whedon infused the film with a trademark levity that the studio — desperately playing catch-up with Marvel — thought was needed. The result was a film lighter in tone to Snyder’s Man of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, something I described at the time as “a strange assembly of disconnected pieces that still manages to…form something that looks and feels more or less functional.” The problem, as any fan will tell you, was that very little of it belonged to Snyder.
The film immediately distinguishes itself by showcasing the literal and figurative aftershock of Superman’s (Henry Cavill) death in the previous film. Snyder takes the time to examine the impact on each of the people who will eventually become part of the Justice League. In other words, we really see — to use the title of a 1990s comic — a World Without a Superman. The principal shift, of course, is the chief villain reveal of Darkseid (Ray Porter), the New God of Apokolips who is the ultimate power behind Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds).
With over two hours of extra stuff, this is more than a simple ‘special edition’ or ‘director’s cut.’ Indeed, there’s so many listicles dedicated to playing spot the difference, it would be be both redundant and time consuming to do so again here. What this mammoth beast provides that the Whedon cut did not is context. It speaks volumes about Joss that the bit he cut out was Cyborg’s (Ray Fisher) entire character arc, an essential story that gives added meaning to his various Motherbox McGuffins and the dramatic relationship with his father. Similarly, Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) is the Flash now, and there’s a clear path forward for him in future films if they pan out. The new moments with Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) are also sublime.
This may not be perfect, and falls short of being a masterpiece by any objective standard, but if it fails it is not through lack of raw ambition. This is a Justice League in live action that at least partially recognises the scope of their potential, carved out of the same darkly filtered rock from which all of Snyder’s brutalist leanings spring. Yet for every rich new character moment, there’s a shameless bit of fan service. The introduction of a fan favourite character, for example, adds little beyond a moment of recognition.
From a technical point of view, the film is a visually impressive beast as well. Snyder has explained in the past why the IMAX-designed 4:3 aspect ratio, one typically seen in contemporary indies like First Cow, was used over the now traditional widescreen viewpoint. It might be a little jarring at first to modern eyes, but we soon adjust to the focus. Snyder’s trademark dark hues dictate the visual language, from the bleakness of Aquaman’s (Jason Momoa) fishing village to Superman’s new black threads. Think of it as a visual throwback to the heyday of 80s VHS, the kind where this film would have fit in alongside other insane high-concept blockbusters.
The apparent critical and commercial positivity of ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE leaves us in a bit of a quandary. Snyder is not the first filmmaker to get a second bite at a failed film: Blade Runner might be the most reworked film in the canon, while Francis Ford Coppola has widely acclaimed re-releases of Apocalypse Now Redux and most recently, The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone. The Alien: Special Edition is now considered to be the superior version. George Lucas crafted an industry out of re-cutting his Star Wars films.
Yet here we also seem to have a studio conceding to aggressive fan wish-fulfilment, the kind that would have crowd-sourced a new edition of The Last Jedi if they had their way. Indeed, on the same day that the reviews came out, the #SnyderCut base were already calling for Warner to #ReleasetheAyerCut, referencing their attempts to restore David Ayer’s Suicide Squad to a state of pre-studio interference.
The distinction is that Snyder never got to finish the film he envisioned, and this seemingly provides some closure on that. Although one could still quibble about the odd tone of the ending, or that even after four hours we’ve just been set up for a (possibly dead in the water) sequel, this is grand storytelling in the biggest crossover tradition. This is Snyder’s voice writ large, and whether it is too little (or too much) too late will be seen in how Warner pivots on this pop cultural moment. After all, given the social media movement behind the (re)release, we know there’s a vocal group who sees this as a matter of, well, justice.
2021 | USA | DIRECTOR: Zack Snyder| WRITERS: Chris Terrio, Zack Snyder, Will Beall | CAST: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Willem Dafoe, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Connie Nielsen, J. K. Simmons | DISTRIBUTOR: Foxtel/Binge (AUS), HBO Max (US)| RUNNING TIME: 242 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 18 March 2021
With the launch of SUPERMAN & LOIS on the CW this month, the seventh spin-off series in the Arrowverse, there’s a lot of buzz around the Man of Steel again.
The setup for the show sees Clark Kent/Superman (Tyler Hoechin) and Lois Lane (Bitsie Tulloch) returning to Smallville, and learning to juggle their working lives while raising their two young boys. Wait, what?
While Lois and Clark are new to this world, the relationship between Superman and Lois Lane is as old as comic books. It has weathered multiple reboots and remains (mostly) constant across the Multiverse, continuing to adapt to whatever crisis the world throws at it. So, join us as we take a dive into some of the comics that will help you get in the mood for the show.
Superman: Lois and Clark
From everything we’ve seen so far, much of the basic setup for this show is taken from this 8-issue comic series. Like his TV counterpart, this series sees Superman and Lois settling into a freshly minted world in the wake of a Crisis-level event (in this case, Convergence). In this case, the main couple are refugees from an older version of Earth. They are raising their son on a farm, content in the knowledge that the new Earth’s Superman is doing what needs to be done. Of course, no Man of Steel can stay in retirement for long. If you dig on a bearded Superman and that black suit, this is the book for you.
Single issues: Superman: Lois and Clark #1 – 8 (2015-2016) Collected edition: Superman: Lois and Clark (2016)
Superman: Son of Superman
A direct follow-up to the above in the wake of the DC Rebirth event, Peter J. Tomasi and artist by Patrick Gleason run with the concept of Clark and Lois as parents. In the wake of a global tragedy, this Superman must step up and become a new hero. One suspects that some of the stories from the new show will be loosely based on this setup.
Single issues: Superman: Rebirth #1, Superman (Vol. 4) #1-6 (2016) Collected edition: Superman – Vol. 1: Son of Superman (DC Universe Rebirth)
Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?
Crafted as an “imaginary story” – the kind that the legendary and tyrannical Mort Weisinger concocted during his lengthy editorial run – this is Alan’s Moore pre-Crisis coda. Using the framing device of an older Lois Lane being interviewed, Clark Kent is outed as Superman. His various enemies gathering to work against him and his allies rush to help him face his ‘final’ fate. Before Watchmen put the final word on heroics, here’s Moore having fun with history. It’s all here: the goofy characters Krypto, the tragi-comic Bizarro, the light sci-fi of the Legion, Lana Lang and Jimmy Olsen. Yet Moore infuses Curt Swan’s lovingly rendered imagines with an incredibly heart-breaking significance and a knowing wink.
Single issues: Superman (Vol. 1) # 423 + Action Comics (Vol.1) #583 Collected editions: Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? or DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore
Lois Lane: Enemy of the People
Greg Rucka puts Lois into full investigator mode when a White House press conference leads her to a secret that will rock the foundations of the world and impact on Superman’s life. Its sort-of-ripped-from-the-headlines leanings had certain corners of the web up in arms, but it showcases Rucka’s innate knowledge of Lane as a character.
Single issues: Lois Lane (Vol. 2) # 1-12 Collected editions: Lois Lane: Enemy of the People
Superman for All Seasons
If you know Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale’s work (Batman: The Long Halloween, Spider-Man: Blue), then you’ll be aware they love two things: classic takes on characters and seasonal snapshots. Filled with Norman Rockwell inspired art, this acts a parallel origin story told from the perspective of Jonathan Kent, Lex Luthor, Lois Lane and Lana Lang. Lois’s narration of summer is particularly apt for our reading here, as it reflects on the impact Superman’s appearance has on her journalism career. A beautiful book.
Single issues: Superman for All Seasons # 1-4 Collected editions: Superman for All Seasons: Deluxe Edition
Lois Lane: When It Rains, God is Crying
While the lofty title is typical of the mid-80s melodrama (think: Chris Claremont’s God Loves, Man Kills or Jon J. Muth’s Dracula: A Symphony in Moonlight & Nightmares), the subject matter is a little more serious. Originally released as two extra large sized issues (coming to about 100 pages of story in total), Mindy Newell crafts a Lois-centric where Clark is a background character. The rather dark story, brilliantly illustrated by Gray Morrow (Tarzan, Green Arrow: The Wonder Year) is about child abduction and murder – including some hitherto hidden secrets about Lana Lang’s past.
Single issues: Lois Lane (Vol. 1) #1 + 2 (1986)
All-Star Superman
This is not at the bottom of this list because of any ranking system. It’s down here because it’s the ultimate Superman story. The last Superman story that we might ever need. Written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Frank Quitely. With a year left to live, Superman reveals his identity to Lois to spend his remaining time with her. One of the more touching moments is when Clark imbues Lois with powers for a day, and she gets to see what it is like to be a Superwoman through his eyes. Arguably the greatest Superman story ever told.
Single issues: All-Star Superman #1 – 12 (2005-2008) Collected editions: Absolute All-Star Superman or All-Star Superman (DC Black Label Edition)
Further reading
The Man of Steel (1986)
One of those classic tales that is also very much of its time and place. If Alan Moore and Curt Swan’s Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? was the final word on Superman in a pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths world, this John Byrne led mini-series was a declaration of what the Man of Steel would be going forward. It was the official origin — at least up until the universe got rebooted again. Dated, but a good yarn in and of itself.
Kingdom Come (1996)
One of the more notorious Elseworlds stories, it deals with an alternate future tension between out-of-touch traditional heroes and their edgier and largely amoral children. While it’s a great story about the restoration of the hope Superman represents, it’s less successful for Lois, and is an example of the notorious mid-90s habit of ‘fridging’ heroines to spur on the male hero. This story has been referenced in the Arrowverse as well, with Brandon Routh returning to play a future version of his Superman Returns character during the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover.
Superman: Last Son of Krypton (2006-2008)
Not to be confused with Elliot S! Maggin’s tie-in novel for Superman: The Movie, this arc (also known simple as Last Son) combines the talents of writers Geoff Johns and director Richard Donner. Influenced by the latter’s films, it introduces Christopher Kent, the adopted son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane who is in fact the biological son of General Zod and Ursa. There’s parallels with the newer books at the top of this list.
Be sure to explore more comics! Once you’ve seen a good Superman, you can never stop at just one.
It’s fair to say that DC Comics has struggled to find a consistent screen voice over the last decade. Where the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to celebrate comic bookery with abandon, the DC Extended Universe‘s grimmer fare has forced out a continuity despite itself.
The exceptions, of course, are the success of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn (Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey), the underrated Shazam!, and Gal Gadot’s breakout turn as Wonder Woman. Her second solo outing begins brightly, with a kind of soft reboot on Themyscira and a wonderful action sequence that firmly establishes the updated 1980s setting.
Yet once the scene is established, the screenplay – by Patty Jenkins, comic book legend Geoff Johns, and David Callaham – fails to maintain the momentum. A convoluted plot sees a crystal McGuffin discovered by scientist Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig), granting her the confidence and strength she’s always craved.
Meanwhile, struggling businessman Maxwell Lord (The Mandalorian‘s Pedro Pascal) also craves the crystal, and Diana/Wonder Woman’s old beau Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) quantum leaps his way into the 80s. Each of these three storylines could have sustained the film by itself. The problem is that the lengthy WONDER WOMAN 1984 (or WW84 to use its onscreen title) never quite sticks to any narrative effectively, falling into the familiar trap of too many villains and not enough story.
Yes, there are some spectacular individual set-pieces, including a wonderful Egyptian highway action run, but it never feels coherent. To pave over any narrative sins, like changing continents from one scene to the next, Diana’s powers also seem to manifest whenever the plot requires them. Similarly, the finale relies too heavily on digital puppetry and a cheap denouement trick that arguably makes everything we’ve just watched redundant.
On the plus side, Zimmer’s score is one of his more joyful to date, and there’s a general air of positivity we’ve not seen in DC films for a long time. It’s a technically proficient film as well, although a few special effects wobbles – including a horrible villain look – can probably be attributed to the difficult circumstances that history will record as “the year 2020.”
Likewise, the cast of this thing are working their little leg warmers off to make the most of the material. Pascal in particular owns every inch of his screen time, so much so that there are points we’re left wondering if this is still a Wonder Woman film. It’s also great to see Wiig channelling her comedic timing into something more sinister. The return of Pine probably wasn’t needed, but he does add a charming presence and provides an opportunity to churn through dozens of 80s outfits.
With no tangible links to the rest of the DC Extended Universe, or even post-credits pieces teasing future productions, WONDER WOMAN 1984 is still a refreshing break from relentless world-building. It’s wish fulfilment in its purest form and there are certainly worse ways to end this year.
2020 | US | DIRECTOR: Patty Jenkins | WRITERS: Patty Jenkins, Geoff Johns, David Callaham| CAST: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, Robin Wright, Connie Nielsen | DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros./Roadshow Films| RUNNING TIME: 106 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 26 December 2020
When ARROW was launched in 2012, it did everything it could to not be a comic book series. Despite borrowing storylines from Batman lore, the ‘no capes, no powers’ policy ensured it had more in common with contemporary melodrama than comics. Eight years later, the character concluded his run by leading one of the biggest superhero crossovers in the history of the medium. That journey wasn’t always an easy one.
It will come as no surprise to anybody who has read my stuff that I am a little bit of a fan of Green Arrow. So when a series was first announced back in 2012, I was equal parts excited and trepidatious. After all, for every Batman: The Animated Series there was a Mutant X.
The CW itself had just come off the back of Smallville, a decade long origin story for Superman that never quite put him in the cape. While Green Arrow had turned up in that show, his bright green suit and modern shades never quite gelled with my mental version of Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow’s civilian identity.
So, for his first starring role in media in over 70 years, he would become someone else. He would become something else.
ARROW began a loose but spiritually faithful adaptation. Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) returns to his native Starling City after spending five years on a “hellish island,” or so we’re led to believe, after which he becomes the hooded vigilante known variously as the Hood/Vigilante/The Arrow/Green Arrow as the show progresses. The show initially sets up the titular character as an anti-hero, primarily concerned with hunting down a list of people his father had given him who had “failed” the city.
Dubbed “The Vigilante” by the media, and actively hunted by the police, he slowly lets people into the fold, including his ‘driver’ John Diggle (David Ramsey), his tech guru Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) and eventually a supporting crew known as Team Arrow, fighting crime as the city’s hero. Yet for the first season at least, the show plays to the conventions of a CW soap drama just as much as it does an action series. Meanwhile, Ollie’s origin story played out through a series of flashbacks that served as a B-story for much of the show’s run.
The brave and the bold
Things began to turn during the second season “The Scientist,” a backdoor pilot that introduced Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and ultimately the first spin-off show: The Flash. Thus began an annual crossover that didn’t just acknowledge the existence of a larger world, but began actively constructing one. By the time the show ended, it was part of a shared universe with Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, Constantine, and Black Lightning.
The proximity to the Scarlet Speedster and the Girl of Steel began to rub off on ol’ Ollie, and we even saw him smile once in a while. Stories became more ambitious, allowing some ‘meta’ heroes and villains and eventually abandoning the prohibition on capes. Mind you, it would still take another few years before the show allowed itself to call its hero “Green Arrow.”
Interconnected universes are all the rage now, but it’s hard to overemphasise how unique this construction has become. Outside of Dick Wolf’s (Law & Order, Homicide, Chicago P.D. etc) shared universe, ARROW‘s most significant contribution to television is creating a baseline from which all these other shows grew. To put that in multiversal terms, it’s the Earth-Prime of modern DC Comics superhero shows.
In the same way that comic books often gave homes to orphan characters that didn’t have a larger enough audience for their own title, ARROW served as a launching pad or home for other characters. The fourth season saw the show double-down on magic by pitting Green Arrow against Damien Darkh (Neal McDonough), the enhanced semi-immortal ex member of the League of Assassin, along with introducing the previously animated Vixen (Megalyn Echikunwoke) into the live-action universe. It also integrated the NBC orphaned John Constantine (portrayed by Matt Ryan) into the Arrowverse in the episode “Haunted.”
“Yeah buddy, I know…”
Social justice has been a part of Green Arrow’s
makeup since the 1960s, most prominently on Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams’ Hard
Travelling Heroes (1970 – 1972) run and later Judd Winick’s arc (2003
– 2008). While neither series were directly adapted to the screen, the spirit
of representation was present in the entire Arrowverse.
Much of that has to do with mega-producer Greg
Berlanti, who oversaw no less than 15 shows in the 2019–20 season. From the
beginning, he was committed to diverse and representative casts, shining a
light on voices often neglected by mainstream superhero media. He discussed
this approach with Deadline in a 2019 interview:
“We weren’t doing each one to be a first of this or a first of that. We wanted the worlds of the stories we were telling to reflect our world—just as we do for a lot of our shows, even the ones that don’t have capes. We want the stories to feel, as much as possible, like they are taking place in a world that we all live in.“
Indeed, by the last few seasons Team Arrow was one of the most diverse casts on television. Canary Sara Lance was openly bisexual. Curtis Holt/Mr. Terrific is African American and gay. This approach extended into other Arrowverse shows as well: Sara Lance and Anissa Pierce (Nafessa Williams) have taken lead roles in shows like Legends of Tomorrow and Black Lightning, while Supergirl had a prominent ‘coming out’ storyline for Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh) before introducing Nia Nal (Nicole Maines), the first transgender superhero on television.
So, when Oliver’s
son William (Ben Lewis) travelled back in time from 2040 and came out to his
dad in Season 8, it never felt anything less than an organic part of the show.
Indeed, Ollie’s response to his son coming solidified his position as the
ultimate woke hero: “Yeah buddy, I know… we just, well we hoped that you were
gonna come out to us when you were comfortable. You clearly didn’t get that
chance. And, that’s on me so, I’m sorry.”
While certain
social media hate groups continue to decry any form of diversity in superhero
media, ARROW and its brethren demonstrates that social justice is in its
DNA. After all, as a leftie from way back, you don’t want to get on Ollie’s
hate list and fail this fandom.
You have saved this franchise
Which isn’t to say that ARROW was always great television. After all, the claim of ‘important’ doesn’t always come with consistent quality. If I’m being honest, there are entire seasons that chaotically went from one plot to another without settling on a single theme. Hampered by flashbacks, and eventually flash forwards, ARROW increasingly became tied to form where its counterparts just seemed to be having more fun.
Yet it was the latter that gave the show the finale it deserved. With a laser focus in Season 8 on the coming Crisis, the 10-episode season was both a celebration of the character and the universe it spawned. Its ending not only gives Ollie a hero’s death but a hero’s victory that quite literally rewrote the DC television universe as we know it. It also paved the way for the future with “Green Arrow and the Canaries,” a backdoor pilot where his daughter takes up the mantle.
In the time that ARROW was on the air, its comic book counterpart struggled, was rebooted a couple of times and, at the time of writing, is not actively in print. The TV series may have had its ups and downs, but its stability allowed a whole television universe to flourish out of its shadows. When the history of superhero television is written, it will hopefully be remembered as the shot across the bow that signalled the start of something new.
Elements of this article referenced my book, Moving Target: The History and Evolution of Green Arrow from Sequart Publishing. This article is pretty much the unofficial 14th chapter of that book, so if you want to learn more then please buy a copy! It contains interviews with the comic creators and a complete look at the first 75 years of his history.
