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.

First look at Jason Momoa's Aquaman

And he looks pretty badass.

Director Zack Snyder leaked the image via Twitter to tease what Momoa's portrayal of Aquaman will look like in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The costume is colorless (no surprise) and still displays the character's insignia on the belt. The trident is also pretty cool looking.
It is worth mentioning that although Aquaman is set to appear in the Justice League films, he will most likely only get a cameo in Dawn of Justice. There is no telling whether we will get any other teasers for other characters that have been cast already. Ezra Miller has been cast as The Flash while Ray Fisher has been selected for Cyborg. The "Unite the Seven" tagline could mean a couple different things; the seven seas since it is Aquaman or it could be the seven members of the Justice League.

We will see before too long. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is set to open March 26, 2016.

Jena Malone confirmed for Batman v Superman

The question is... who will she be appearing as?


Yesterday there were some rumors that Robin will be appearing in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and that it would be a female version of the sidekick. Naturally, as soon as people see confirmation of an "unspecified character" the masses automatically assume Jena Malone will be playing the female version of Robin. Before the confirmation there was already speculation that Malone had something to do with the film as she's been seen on set and recently shared a picture of herself (via Instagram) with red hair.

The red hair is the giveaway for a lot of people because in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns arc, the character of Carrie Kelley was a young redhead who becomes Robin after saving Batman's life. By young I suppose I should specify that Kelley was 13-years old, so unless Zack Snyder is going for an older version I don't think this soon to be 30-year old actress is ready to become Carrie Kelley.
With that said, another major and more plausible possibility is that Malone could be suiting up to play the Arkham Asylum psychiatrist, Dr. Harleen Quinzel (aka, Harley Quinn). With the announcement of the Suicide Squad movie set for 2016, a long awaited film appearance by Harley Quinn is very possible. She was a member of the Suicide Squad along with the Secret Six and Secret Society of Super Villains.

If you are somehow unfamiliar with Harley Quinn... she begins as Dr. Quinzel, a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. While interning she is assigned to analyze The Joker and she quickly becomes obsessed and falls in love with him. She aids him in escaping from Arkham multiple times, but after he returns badly wounded from a fight with Batman she quits her job and suits up as The Joker's jester-like sidekick. She quickly befriends fellow villain, Poison Ivy, who later injects her with a serum that makes her immune to toxins as well as giving her superhuman strength and agility.

The Joker and Harley Quinn is probably one of the most famous comic villain tag-teams. Given that fact, I would think it's a solid guarantee that if Jena Malone has been brought on to play Harley Quinn we will see a new version of The Joker in Zack Snyder's DC Universe. Most people consider The Joker untouchable after Heath Ledger, but I'm not so sure. I personally had Ezra Miller pegged for a future version of the character, but he was cast as The Flash so that isn't going to happen. I think Jena Malone would be a great candidate for Harley Quinn so I'm hoping that is the case rather than bringing her in as Carrie Kelley. She doesn't really seem like a Batman sidekick type of girl, but I could be wrong.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

First look at Ben Affleck as Batman

Images have been leaked of Ben Affleck in the new Batman suit as well as the new Batmobile. Initially teased by director Zack Snyder, we now have a full image.

This basically looks like a molded plastic suit with what appears to be the classic Batman colors. The bat ears are also the pointiest they've been since Adam West was in the suit back in the 1960's.
I will admit this looks better than I was anticipating, despite the very hard to distinguish logo, and I am interested to see it in color.

[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.

Casting news hits for Batman vs Superman

The release date changed, but WB is still moving forward with the untitled Batman vs Superman project. We got casting news today that the production has added Holly Hunter, Callan Mulvey, and Tao Okamoto. Prior to this, the last announcement we received was the addition of Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor.

There are no details about which characters these three will be playing, but there is word that they are new characters. Director Zack Snyder previously mentioned that casting is going off the script which is material fans don't know about, so having these three new spots goes along with that.
You might recognize the Oscar-winning Holly Hunter from films like The Incredibles, The Piano, Thirteen, and O Brother Where Art Thou and the television series Saving Grace. Callan Mulvey has most recently been seen in 300: Rise of an Empire and Tao Okamoto was opposite Hugh Jackman in The Wolverine.

Already cast in this project are Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Jesse Eisenberg, Gal Gadot, and Laurence Fishburne. The film is set to hit theaters on May 6, 2016. As it stands it is set to compete against a third Captain America film, so I won't be surprised if the release date changes at least once more.

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.

Batman vs. Superman pushed to 2016

It looks like we will have to wait another year to see Ben Affleck as Batman. Warner Bros. announced an inevitable schedule change for the Man of Steel sequel. The "untitled" Batman vs. Superman project has shifted from July 17, 2015 to May 6, 2016. In place of the DC Comics film, the new reboot of Peter Pan has now taken the July 17th spot.

Batman vs. Superman will now be released in the same year as X-Men: Apocalypse and an untitled Marvel project rumored to be Doctor Strange. It also moves it just a year apart from the planned Justice League movie and the same year as the announced Flash film. Whether this will shift more DC movies as a chain reaction is still unknown but it's possible. I won't be surprised if they move Flash to 2017 and delay Justice League to 2018. Reasoning for the delay was cited as a creative issue. In order for the filmmakers to fully capture their vision they needed more time. This also moves the budget to the second quarter of the fiscal year, so they now have more money to spend on it. There also is a rumor that Ben Affleck recently injured himself, but that hasn't been confirmed.

I personally don't mind this. It takes some of the heat out of the 2015 year which is already ridiculously overcrowded. 

Batman vs. Superman budget set; more details revealed

Production is moving smoothly for Zack Snyder's sequel to Man of Steel. We have new behind the scenes details on the film including budget, filming location, and when filming is set to wrap up.

Michelle Grinnell, public relations for the Michigan Film Office, has stated that this film with have the state's biggest production since Oz The Great and Powerful. The budget has been set at $131 million and that's only for the Michigan location. That doesn't include other locations or post-production, so I am betting in the end the budget will surpass $131 million.
In addition to the budget, we learned that filming will take all seven sound studios at Michigan Motion Picture Studios and will utilize other locations in the state. The other location we know of right now is Yorkville, IL where production is building the Kent Farm. Filming is set to wrap in August.


Sources: #1 #2

Joaquin Phoenix to be in Batman vs. Superman?

Rumor has it that Joaquin Phoenix is being sought after for a villain role in Batman vs. Superman. Warner Bros. and Zack Snyder are setting the bar pretty high by chasing another Oscar nominated actor for a lead antagonist role.

Now... along with this there is already a lot of speculation that Phoenix could be Lex Luthor. Just throwing that out there. Recently Jason Momoa and Callan Mulvey have been considered for antagonist roles, but apparently neither of them would be playing a major villain such as Luthor. The easter eggs in Man of Steel do suggest that Luthor is a part of this new DC Universe so this is very plausible. However, I don't know if I would necessarily pick Phoenix for Lex Luthor.
Even with that said, there is no guarantee that even if the offer is extended that he will bite. Phoenix has been more focused on character driven roles recently such as the roles in The Master and Her. He got an Oscar nomination for The Master and many are speculating that he could get another one for Her. Previously he's been nominated for Walk the Line and Gladiator. He has also been nominated for Golden Globes, BAFTA's, and even won a Grammy award. The point is, why would he consider starring in a comic book movie?

Money could play a factor and the mostly positive feedback from Man of Steel, but in the end I think this is a long shot. He's too high caliber for something like this, imo. Not to mention the fact that Warner Bros. doesn't know what the hell they're doing with this DC Universe.

What do you think? Is this your Lex Luthor?

Jason Momoa in talks for Batman vs. Superman

Jason Momoa nearly joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as he was considered for the role of Drax the Destroyer. He was ultimately not cast as the role went to Dave Bautista, but now the DC Universe has its eye on Momoa for Batman vs. Superman.

Rumor has is that Zack Snyder is eyeing Momoa for the film's big villain which has yet to be announced. However, the role as of right now is considered unannounced but the internet is quick to come to the conclusion that he could be playing Doomsday. Another theory being supported by the internets is that he could be playing Martian Manhunter.
If you have never seen Momoa in anything, he is most recognized for the reboot of Conan the Barbarian. You know, the reboot that basically failed to go anywhere. I think it's a bit too soon to start speculating villains or heroes at this point. I feel like including Martian Manhunter would be a waste unless they are planning on including him in Justice League. With Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman being in Batman vs. Superman I feel like adding another hero would be a bit too much.

Gal Gadot cast as Wonder Woman

I'm a little late to the party, but it has been announced that Gal Gadot has been cast to play Wonder Woman in Batman vs. Superman. This confirms that Wonder Woman will be introduced in some way prior to Justice League in 2017 and somewhat backs up the theory that she will not be receiving her own movie.

Gadot is an Israeli born actress who is most recognizable from her work as Gisele in the Fast and Furious films. She also competed as Miss Israel in the 2004 Miss Universe pageant and served two years in the Israeli military. This will be her first major starring role and will no doubt be a recurring role. She beat out actresses such as Olga Kurylenko and Elodie Yung for the role of Wonder Woman.
Many are wondering the motivation behind casting Gadot as Wonder Woman and are hoping she isn't treated like Black Widow was in The Avengers. In other words, the basic consensus seems to be that people don't want her to just be a pretty face with minor support to the main heroes, Batman and Superman. She will also be sharing the screen with Amy Adams who was pretty lame in Man of Steel.

I personally think Wonder Woman is one of those comic heroes that is impossible to cast and/or portray correctly. I don't have much hope for this character at all so this doesn't bug me.

Possible official titles for Batman vs. Superman

Everyone has been referring to the Man of Steel sequel simply as Batman vs Superman. It's to the point and self explanatory. However, it isn't an official title. Warner Bros. has yet to release an official title for this project and everyone has just settled on the Batman vs. Superman name. However, there is word that WB has registered 8 potential titles for the project.

Fusible claims that the studio has gone to MarkMonitor, an internet brand protection company, to register these 8 titles just in case they want to use one of them. That doesn't guarantee one of them will be used, though. Some studios do it to prevent others from marketing on their brand. Also bear in mind that most of these titles make no sense.

Man of Steel: Battle the Knight
Man of Steel: Beyond Darkness
Man of Steel: Black of Knight
Man of Steel: Darkness Falls
Man of Steel: Knight Falls
Man of Steel: Shadow of the Knight
Man of Steel: The Blackest Hour
Man of Steel: The Darkness Within


Out of the given registries, I think the best ones are Knight Falls and Shadow of the Knight. All the other ones sound gimmicky and stupid. It is also worth mentioning that including any Dark Knight reference might be frowned upon in the end because it could create confusion with Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. A trilogy WB has said the Man of Steel arc will have nothing to do with and will not follow. Due to that, my guesses are on any of the other titles, like The Blackest Hour, to make the final cut.

I'm still hoping for The World's Finest, but that might just be me. Whatever the title winds up being, the Man of Steel sequel is set for release on July 17, 2015.