First cast photo from Suicide Squad

Well, minus The Joker. But even with that we are getting our first look at a majority of the cast of Suicide Squad.

Director David Ayer also tweeted out a photo of Will Smith as Deadshot with some oddly light colored hands.

 

Personally, I don't like the cast photo. I think the whole trend of Warner Bros. making every single DC movie "dark and gritty" is getting old. The entire Suicide Squad looks like a bunch of Hot Topic shoppers in an ABC Family movie. I'm disappointed with Harley Quinn's look, too. I was hoping they weren't going to go the Arkham video game route.  It will be interesting to see The Joker if they were telling the truth and the whole tattooed look wasn't the final decision. Judging from this I don't have high hopes. 

Sorry Warner Bros., but Marvel is still whooping your ass.

First posters for Batman v Superman

I like these. They are simple as hell, but I am digging them.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - First Teaser

After an unexpected leak of the trailer last night, WB and Zack Snyder decided to just go ahead and release the first teaser for Batman v Superman today despite an IMAX event still scheduled for next week.

All I really have to say is that it looks like it could potentially be good, but I'm still not 100% on board. I think this version of Batman looks buff as hell and is definitely intimidating, but I don't really like the pegging Superman as a villain. I also hate that Batman voice. It sounds like he's speaking via a voice modulator... unless they are doing that on purpose to hide Affleck's real Batman voice.

Warner Bros. announces DC release dates

Warner Bros. made some very big announcements today regarding the new DC Universe. Within the announcement includes release dates and exactly which characters are getting solo films.

After Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits in 2016, the next DC film will be Suicide Squad. Suicide Squad is set to be directed by Fury director, David Ayer, and it also received a 2016 release date.
Next up on the schedule for 2017 is Wonder Woman and Justice League - Part One while The Flash and Aquaman received 2018 releases. Jason Momoa was confirmed to be starring as Aquaman and the studio confirmed Ezra Miller will star in The Flash.
2019 will bring us Justice League - Part Two and Shazam, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
2020 has a Cyborg movie scheduled along with a reboot of Green Lantern.

In addition to all of this, Warner Bros. did also announce there will be at lease one more solo Superman movie along with a solo Batman movie. With Green Lantern not coming until 2020 I think it's safe to say that if the character has any involvement in the Justice League movies it will be very minimal. I also think it's a bit interesting that Aquaman isn't coming until 2018 seeing that Jason Momoa is already confirmed to be part of Batman v Superman and Justice League - Part One.

Warner Bros/DC confirm Aquaman film

A while back we received rumors that Jason Momoa was in negotiations to play Aquaman in the upcoming Warner Bros/DC Comic movie, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and a separate Aquaman film. There are now reports that Warner Bros. has commissioned not only one, but two Aquaman screenplays and that Momoa's casting is basically confirmed.

Last week we got a schedule of release dates from Warner Bros. through the year 2020 and speculation immediately began on exactly what all of those release dates might be. The plan is obviously to compete with Marvel's Cinematic Universe and create a similar one for the new DC Universe that was kicked off by Man of Steel last year.
So far we have Gal Gadot portraying Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman and it's being assumed that one of the many untitled projects is a solo Wonder Woman film. The focus now has shifted to Aquaman where Warner Bros. is "aggressively" developing the project as they have commissioned two screenplays in hopes that they could use one or combine the two for a quick development process. Script #1 is being written by Gangster Squad writer, Will Beall, while the second script was given to 300: Rise of an Empire writer, Kurt Johnstad.
As far as Jason Momoa goes, there hasn't been any official release by Warner Bros. regarding his casting, but it's pretty much a given that if he is playing Aquaman in Batman v Superman that he will also helm the solo movie and be part of Justice League. Recently a Detroit radio station was caught red-handed teasing the project and Momoa's involvement, but director Zack Snyder made a surprise call into the show and claimed that Aquaman could, "cut the flesh of Superman if they came in contact." If that's the portrayal they're going for then I guess they picked the right actor.

There are so many untitled dates on the Warner Bros/DC schedule so it's difficult to wrap your head around it all, but realistically speaking we could see Aquaman as early as 2016. There is a spot on August 5, 2016 as well as two unfilled dates in 2017 (June 23rd and November 17th). There is no real timetable on Justice League anymore, but many expect it by 2017. Realistically at this point we could have solo films for Wonder Woman and Aquaman in 2016 and early 2017 and have Justice League on November 17th.
However, Zack Snyder is currently shooting Justice League back-to-back with Batman v Superman, so they might turn tradition upside down and release Justice League in 2016 before any other solo films. There really is no telling, but I don't know why they would let a project sit on the shelf for two years after filming wraps.

Batman v Superman release changes again

It appears that Marvel has officially won the battle of the release date. Warner Bros. announced that the release date for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has now changed for the third time to March 25, 2016.

BvS previously shared the release date of May 6, 2016 with Captain America 3. The studios have been battling for months over this release date and Marvel refused to budge. Warner Bros. obviously thought their best plan of attack would be to move the date again and grab audiences 6 weeks prior to the release of Captain America.
In addition to this release shift, Warner Bros. has also announced untitled dates for 9 films and 2 "event films" that haven't received titles yet.

The current WB/DC Comics schedule is now:

August 5, 2016
June 23, 2016
November 17, 2017
March 23, 2018
July 27, 2018
November 16, 2018 (event film)
April 5, 2019
June 14, 2019
April 3, 2020
June 19, 2020
November 20, 2020 (event film)


One plus side for WB is that, as of right now, none of these dates are shared with a Marvel project. That will avoid more problems like BvS has experienced. Either way this is a very ambitious schedule and I highly doubt any of these dates will stick if people don't like Batman v Superman and/or Justice League. There is no way.

What we didn't get at SDCC this year

San Diego Comic-Con was full of surprises and footage, as always, but there is still a decent amount of things that fans expected to happen that simply didn't. Here are some of the things I can think of that were absent from SDCC that either should have been there or I assumed would be there and just weren't.

1. We got nothing for Justice League

I understand Justice League is still a few years away, but I honestly expected some kind of teaser for it. A photo, a logo... something. Don't get me wrong, I managed to see a leak of the BvS footage and it looked great but I expected something for Justice League.

2. No information on future DC films

We all saw that "leak" of Warner Bros' schedule for DC films that was leaked as a Comic-Con reveal. The basic fact of it is that it didn't happen. We didn't get any confirmation of release dates, future character movies, or crossovers. It was another thing that was expected but we didn't get it.

3. No footage for Jurassic World

Most of us expected at least a teaser for Jurassic World and it did not happen. The most we got for the fourth installment was the vehicle and the posters. Universal chose to tease test footage for Skull Island and announce Godzilla 2 instead.

4. No information on Marvel's massive schedule

Sure, we got a release date for Guardians of the Galaxy 2, but we didn't get anything else. I was expecting Marvel to reveal some more release dates and do something similar to what we got last year. Marvel didn't close out Hall H with the big bang they usually do.

5. Nothing on Doctor Strange

Along with Marvel's kind of disappointing weekend, we didn't get anything regarding Doctor Strange. The role hasn't been cast yet but we have a release date and a director. I assumed we would at least get a logo.

6. Nothing for Fantastic Four

Yet another thing most people expected to be present at SDCC was completely missing. We got nothing for the reboot of Fantastic Four. I don't see any reasoning seeing that they already have a cast and everything.



Aside from not having panels for things like Mockingjay - Part 1 there were a lot of surprises this year and not all of them were good. I'm a bit disappointed with SDCC this year because it doesn't feel like we got a lot of major announcements. It was mostly panels for stuff we already knew about. There was a serious lack of excitement for the future of franchises.

SDCC: Wonder Woman revealed during BvS panel

We received our first glimpse at Gal Gadot as the DC hero Wonder Woman today during the Warner Bros. panel today. It is a similar photo to what we saw of Superman a couple weeks ago and many are already talking about the different costume.

In addition to this peek at Wonder Woman, guests were shown a small bit of footage. Here is a description via Matt Goldberg:

"It’s pouring down rain in the night sky. Batman is an armored suit, his eyes glowing, and standing next to the Bat-Signal. He pulls down a switch and powers it up. The Bat-Signal (bearing the new Bat-Symbol) blasts into the sky. We pan to follow the light, but in the sky, floating in front of the signal, is Superman. His arms are crossed. His cape billows in the wind. Batman, with his mask’s glowing eyes, stares down the Man of Steel. And the Man of Steel stares back. His eyes begin to glow red. Cut back to the Dark Knight. He is unmoved. Cut to black."

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is currently scheduled for May 6, 2016. 

SDCC: New image of Ben Affleck as Batman emerges

I hate admitting this. Like, I really hate it... but Ben Affleck looks pretty awesome as Batman.

There. I said it.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has a panel in Hall H on Saturday, so it is expected that we will get something. It's a bit early for a trailer but Warner Bros. might show some footage so far. BvS is currently set  to go head to head against Captain America 3 on May 6, 2016.

First image of Superman from Batman v Superman

And it looks a lot like The Dark Knight Rises posters. I am disappoint.

Familiar or not, this image does tease Superman's arrival in Gotham. The bleak surroundings kind of give it away. It leaves the curiosity of whether the next poster will be Batman in Metropolis.

Daniel Radcliffe wants to be Batman's sidekick

LOL

Daniel Radcliffe, you know the kid who played Harry Potter, has made it public that he would love to play Robin in a new reboot of Batman stating he thinks he'd be perfect for the role.
During a rapid-fire Q&A with Buzzfeed, he was asked which franchise he would join if prompted and had a choice. Radcliffe answered quickly with Batman saying he'd love to play Robin.

I don't know if it's just because the guy is like 5'5" or what, but I laughed for minutes after reading this. I'm not totally ragging on Radcliffe here because he has proven he has a lot more to offer than Harry Potter. He has been very successful on Broadway and has had other performances in film that weren't all bad. Also good for him for overcoming a severe drinking problem and looking healthy once again. I just don't see him as Robin at all. No way. Not even a little bit.

Standalone Batman film rumored for 2019

It looks as though we will have to wait another 5 years to see another Batman film.

Latino Review claims that Warner Bros/DC are continuously trying to model themselves after Marvel Studios in the sense of looking ahead. Disney and Marvel already confirmed that they are working on plans through the year 2028 while Warner Bros. and DC Comics plans seem to end just in the next couple years. We recently received a possible leak of the studios' Comic-Con plans to announce films through 2018, but that still puts them 10-years behind the curve.
Apparently there are whispers that Ben Affleck will suit up on his own for a standalone Batman film in 2019. If the Comic-Con leak is true it would be the next release after Man of Steel 2 is 2018. It would also make Affleck the oldest actor to portray Bruce Wayne as he will be 47 in 2019.

If this is true (keep in mind this is a rumor) it would give a potential filming date of 2017 after Justice League is released. It would also be the first standalone Batman since Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises was released back in 2012.
We will see Batman next in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice which is currently set for release on May 6, 2016.

The Flash - Extended Trailer

The CW keeps jumping on the DC bandwagon and here is an extended trailer for the upcoming series, The Flash. It is kind of a crossover show with Arrow, starring Stephen Amell, and it premieres this Fall.




I honestly don't know how I missed this trailer as it hit like a month ago, but what can you do. I think it looks more interesting and well done than I expected, but I don't think I am going to watch it. My history with CW shows hasn't been very good. I still haven't watched Arrow, either.

Jason Momoa to play Aquaman in Batman v Superman

Game of Thrones veteran Jason Momoa is rumored to have been cast to play Aquaman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The role will apparently expand into Justice League and maybe more.

Momoa was previously rumored for the role of Doomsday in the DC Universe, so I don't know if I would take this too seriously just yet. The plot that is circling around states that Lex Luthor (to be played by Jesse Eisenberg) will attempt to turn Metropolis against Superman after the destructive events in Man of Steel. Aquaman (aka, Arthur Curry) comes in after his irritation about General Zod's destruction in the Indian Ocean with the World Engine

I personally think Momoa is an interesting choice for Aquaman. By interesting I mean weird. He doesn't resemble the comic character one bit and I just don't think he's the right fit for this specific character. This is how we are used to seeing Aquaman:

 

Now, take a look at Jason Momoa:

The guy was previously rumored for the role of Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy, but that role went to Dave Bautista. He has also starred in the rather terrible reboot of Conan the Barbarian along with shows like Game of Thrones, Stargate: Atlantis, and Baywatch.
I think he would probably suit Green Lantern a bit better than Aquaman.

Did Warner Bros' Comic-Con plans just leak?

According to a source, Warner Bros. plans for Comic-Con have leaked a bit early. All I have to say is if this is true they are showing their desperation and showing it hard.

Apparently, the plan was to announce the release dates for upcoming DC Comics films at SDCC and to announce certain team-ups and pretty much confirm that Justice League is filming back to back with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Also, a hint that BvS might not be a Man of Steel sequel after all. Here is the "leaked" schedule:

• Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will kick things off in May 2016
• Shazam will be released in July 2016
• Sandman will round out 2016 with a Christmas release
• Justice League kicks off 2017 in May
• Wonder Woman gets her own film in July 2017
• Green Lantern and The Flash team up for a film at Christmas 2017
• Man of Steel 2 hits theaters in May 2018

Along with this, the leak includes that  the reason BvS was delayed was so Warner Bros. could finalize contracts with actors so there can be numerous Justice League cameos in the film as a lead into the remaining 2017 films.
This all is very crammed and close together, but it isn't out of the realm of possibility. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is already attached to star in a Neil Gaiman adaptation of Sandman, so seeing a 2016 release date for that isn't too surprising. However, we have heard absolutely nothing about Shazam so that very well could be WB's big announcement at SDCC. In order for all of this to be announced with any substance, WB is no doubt rushing to finalize even more contracts to go with the announcement.
Previous rumors included a 2016 release for a Suicide Squad film, but that was apparently scrapped by the studio.

One major thing missing from this list, if it is indeed real, is a standalone Batman film. Ben Affleck has signed a multi-film contract, but there was no info on whether it was mainly as a supporting role or if he would star in a separate Batman film.
It was also included that Ryan Reynolds will not be reprising his role as Green Lantern, so they will be starting from scratch there. We already have Wonder Woman cast, so I guess we can expect to see what Gal Gadot can do on her own. We don't have any further casting regarding the Justice League or The Flash so that should be coming soon even if the solo movies are bullshit.

This is one hell of a schedule. We will see if there is any substance to all this in about a month.

Batman vs Superman receives an official title

It seems that referencing this project as Batman vs Superman was partially correct. It was announced today that the Man of Steel sequel's official title is Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. We even have the logo!

This is obviously just foreshadowing to the announced Justice League movie and nothing more. At least that's how I see it.I also must agree with the biggest criticism so far that the title is way too long. Not to mention that this is the ugliest Batman logo ever. It looks like a brick with random points on it.

So there we have it. An ugly Batman logo to go with the ugly Superman logo. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (and yes, it is "v" and not "vs") comes out on May 6, 2016.

First look at Wonder Woman's invisible jet

Fucking Zack Snyder.

Yes, this is the first visual of Wonder Woman's invisible jet in the Batman vs Superman project. I'm not even kidding when I say I gave my computer screen this look.

If we keep getting stupid stuff like this I might say something really mean.

[Updated] Zack Snyder to direct Justice League

We still won't see the Batman vs. Superman project until 2016, but Warner Bros. is moving quickly to lock down director Zack Snyder for their DC universe. It was announced that not only is Zack Snyder locked to direct Justice League, but that Batman vs. Superman will be a direct lead into the film.

In addition to this, there is also word that Justice League won't see the big screen until 2018 which is a year after the tentative 2017 date already announced. There is no confirmation if the superhero team will include the original group of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter.

Not like we didn't see this coming.


[Update] Some people are spreading around, specifically @Borys_kit, that Batman vs. Superman and Justice League will film back to back. If that is true then it would explain the high level of superhero presence in BvS and would also put Justice League back on track for 2017. That ups a possibility of Justice League opening opposite a third Avengers movie, unless The Avengers 3 is set for 2018. Either way, a likely announcement for anything regarding this entire situation is SDCC this summer.

Hans Zimmer to score Batman vs Superman project

There were a lot of mixed reviews on Man of Steel, but one consistent high point was the score composed by Hans Zimmer. Director Zack Snyder seems to want to recreate that magic as Zimmer has been confirmed to be composing the score for the upcoming Batman vs Superman project.

Previously, the theme to Superman belonged to the legendary John Williams. Zimmer was given the task to rewrite the theme and come up with a new score for Superman and he was pretty successful with his interesting take on Man of Steel. It was the second DC reinvention for Zimmer as he also scored Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. It also changed the pace for Snyder as he was a longtime collaborator with composer Tyler Bates.
There is no telling whether Zimmer will come up with a new Batman theme for this project or if he will carry over the Dark Knight musical elements. Either way this should prove to be very interesting.

Batman vs Superman is still in pre-production and Zimmer is currently composing Christopher Nolan's Interstellar. He also scored The Amazing Spider-Man 2 which you can see on May 2nd.

Jesse Eisenberg to play Lex Luthor in Batman vs. Superman

This is literally the funniest thing I have seen all week.

Jesse Eisenberg (or as I call him, Michael Cera 2.0) has been announced as the selection for Lex Luthor in Batman vs. Superman. Yes, the guy playing a wimpy virgin in just about every movie has been cast as one of the most iconic villains in the Superman arc and quite possibly in DC Comics history. In addition to Eisenberg's casting, we also learned that Jeremy Irons will be playing Bruce Wayne's trusted butler/guardian, Alfred.

There were a lot of rumors circling around Bryan Cranston for the role of Lex Luthor and I will admit it's just because he went bald for Breaking Bad and it just worked. However, given the age of Henry Cavill many are speculating that was reason enough to go for a younger Luthor as well. Jesse Eisenberg is in Cavill's age bracket and has somewhat proven himself to be cunning and scheming on screen. I am betting his roles in The Social Network and Now You See Me are the only reason he was even considered.
As for Jeremy Irons, director Zack Snyder explained the reasoning for getting an older actor is due to the fact that this is not a Batman origins story. At this point, Bruce Wayne is a seasoned veteran and is older so it makes sense to have his butler be older, too.


So what do you guys make of this? So far all I have seen online is my same reaction of laughter at seeing Eisenberg's picture next to Lex Luthor. I definitely did not see this one coming.

The untitled Batman vs. Superman project is slated to hit theaters on May 6, 2016.