By George Robbins
Over this past weekend DC FanDome brought with it a ton of information about upcoming DC shows and movies. All of the information given at the event has given fans a lot to think about over the next couple of years or so and gives them an opportunity to get hyped for new content. DC FanDome has been seen as a huge successby many, especially Warner Media because it went off without a hitch. It brought information about their upcoming projects to the masses and it did so almost flawlessly. Given that this was the first year for the event and it was an entirely online event, it is no surprise that they are happy that the convention went well. An in-person convention would have made it all a lot easier to give fans information and is less likely to have technical problems.
Now that the event is over, they can say that they managed to put together a very strong event without any hiccups that could have ruined it for fans. Of all of the announcements made, many of them were geared towards movie releases that people have been looking forward to seeing something for over the past few months. Many films were put on hold due to the pandemic and now that they are being worked on again, there is new information for them. Those films have drawn a lot of attention because they are being made, as it seems, as a way for them to make up for some of their movies that have released over the past few years. Some films were not seen as being all that great and so there are now some very promising films that will release, one of them being ‘The Batman.’
‘The Batman’ is meant to be an upcoming standalone film about the titular hero just after he became the Caped Crusader. Although, the film will not cover his first year donning the hood or his starting quest to take down crime and corruption throughout Gotham. It will actually take place during his second year as the character and will act as a way for him to be able to be ‘The Bat’ already without going through some origin story first. Though surely he will be dealing with the trauma that made him into the character he is and provide us more context from his perspective going into things. We will also see the infamous Riddler character being the main villain for the film and overall the film is looking like it will be a very interesting take on the character.
The most previous adaptation of the character has been played by actor Ben Affleck and it saw Batman as a much more jaded and grizzled character. That adaptation was done by director Zack Snyder and it gave us a look at just what Batman could become after donning the hood for so long. This adaptation will see the character learning just what it means to go up against a dangerous foe and be ‘The Batman.’ Snyder admitted that this new film has him excited, not just as a film-maker, but also as a DC fan. He focused on the gritty aesthetics of the trailer and the dark tone the movie seems to be taking as being reasons for why he is looking forward to it. The movie is going to take place outside of the DCEU so no other parts of the DCEU will interfere with the story. It is still being filmed and it is set to release in October of 2021, so we have a date to look forward to.
By George Robbins
This previous weekend was a big weekend for DC in general given that it was the first time ever that DC FanDome has taken place. Overall, DC FanDome was a massive success and they didn’t really have any issues when it came to how the convention ran. This means that they successfully managed to put together an entirely online event without any massive issues that would normally plague an all-online event of such a scale. Movies that have been shown off this past weekend were all films that people were looking forward to seeing something for. Among the movies that were shown was one that had mixed feelings before anything had been shown for it and that was ‘The Suicide Squad.’
This upcoming movie is also known as ‘Suicide Squad 2’ so that it can be more easily distinguished from its predecessor, but it is meant to be an entirely different film. Director James Gunn has said that this choice of title was one made by an executive that liked the title ‘The Suicide Squad’ when Gunn made the title as a joke. Thus we now have ‘The Suicide Squad’ instead of simply ‘Suicide Squad 2’ but it is easily distinguishable based off what we’ve seen of it recently. The first film was torn apart by fans and critics alike even before its release due to the trailer for the first film. The issue with it was the fact that the studio apparently interfered and changed much of the movie after it was already done.
Now it would seem that this upcoming film will be one that is wholly different from the first film and this is something that was made clear when Gunn was revealed to be the director. Gunn is well known for his work on ‘Guardians of the Galaxy‘ and its sequel which are both well-regarded films that are also very stylish. It became much more apparent that this upcoming sequel will be an interesting change when the trailer dropped for the new sequel this past weekend. Gunn’s film won’t directly continue Ayer’s storyline but will feature some of the same characters and Ayer has been supportive of Gunn’s upcoming version of the film. Ayer did not want to return to direct a sequel and thus Gunn took his place and made it known that his version of the film would not have any interference. To show support, Ayer said on social media that he thought the trailer for the new film looked good and the film itself looks good as well.
By George Robbins
Horror genre films have become a staple in the movie industry and will continue to be important to the industry until the end of time. The horror genre in general has had an interesting lifespan and it is a genre that is constantly changing as time goes on. Many horror movies that we all know and love today were made between the 1970’s and the 1990’s. Over the year, they started to stagnate and many of the movies that came afterward were considered failures overall. Many horror film franchises ended up becoming parodies of themselves and the genre started heading towards decline. This was eventually rectified when a new age of horror movie started peaking its head out from under the bed and we got movies that actually scared people again.
Many horror films have been made over the years and they have all brought their own brand of horror with them. It is because of the new brand type of horror movies that we ended up with new horror films that were pretty good. Unlike some other genres, horror movies have to revamp themselves in order to stay in people’s minds and stay relevant which, in turn, makes them popular. Whether it is slasher films, creature features, or even body-horror films, horror movies try and set themselves apart. The suspense in horror films is what makes those types of films what they are and there is really no one better at building up these types of films than John Carpenter.
Carpenter is known for a multitude of movies and shows that he has had some hand in making over the years. Among the movies he has made is not just horror movies, but also action and, in some ways, comedy films. Movies that he is notable for include, but are not limited to ‘Halloween,’ ‘The Fog,’ Escape from L.A.,’ ‘They Live,’ and the topic of this article, ‘The Thing.’ Needless to say, Carpenter has had a strong hand in the creation of many beloved films and even some of the best horror movies of all time. ‘The Thing’ was an adaptation of an old short story ‘The Thing from Another World’ and it brought with it to the table both body-horror and straight up paranoia that is there both on and off of the screen.
In 2011, we ended up with what was being called at the time a reboot of ‘The Thing’ in which Carpenter had no hand in making and many people were disappointed with. What actually happened with that film is that it was actually supposed to be a prequel to the 1982 version made by Carpenter. It is meant to show just what happened at the destroyed outpost when they first arrive on base at the beginning of the 1982 film. At the time of the original film’s release, many critics gave the film bad reviews but that was pretty much customary for horror movies at the time because it was a different era in cinema history. It is an era that we all not kind of take for granted because it allows us to make and watch movies that have crazy horror situations in them.
Now that studios are getting back to work during this pandemic, many other projects can start getting back underway and new ones can begin. According to reports, Carpenter is developing a new reboot for the movie which he first commented on at the Fantasia International Film Festival over the weekend. No one knows if he would be returning to direct the film, but if he did then it would be his first time directing in over a decade. Collaboration for a reboot would be between Carpenter and Blumhouse Productions which is the studio that has produced the best selling horror movies over the past decade or so. This could mean that we would see a good horror director and a good horror movie-making studio working together to reboot a film that the former directed himself. Needless to say, this is going to be exciting one way or another.
By George Robbins
DC FanDome was a huge event for the DC brand as a whole because it allowed them the opportunity to show people all of their upcoming projects. These upcoming projects that were announced are meant to give people a reason to get hyped about all of the films and other works currently being produced. A number of different announcements were made that made it possible for DC to draw more attention to themselves and this was the point of the Con. This convention was the first one of its kind and due to the unique circumstances this year, it was held entirely online. This gave people all over the opportunity to see what DC was working on, and the free admission allowed their news to spread to the masses.
Plenty of different projects were announced that people have been looking forward to seeing something for. Now that some of those projects have had details released, we now know what we should be looking forward to as time goes on. Although a couple of those projects are still a ways off, they all look a lot better than we originally expected them to. Although many of those projects are still in the middle of development, they are already looking great and are doing a lot to get people excited for their releases in the long term. Among those projects was one of the bigger surprises, ‘The Batman,’ which ended up looking a lot better than people expected it to just like all of the other projects being worked on.
‘The Batman’ is an upcoming film that will not really be a part of the DC Extended Universe, or DCEU. The movie will be a standalone story that will show the titular Caped Crusader at an early point in his career as The Dark Knight. Director Matt Reeves admitted that the film was not an original take on the character and that the film takes inspiration from a comic story. The film will not take place during Bruce Wayne’s first year as the titular Bat, but it will take place at a point very early on in the grand scheme of things. Without Batman around, the city was becoming a place ruled by crime and, early on, he hadn’t really inspired the fear in people that he has later which keeps more crime from happening.
In his second year stint as the Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne is trying to stop the plague of crime and corruption that has run rampant throughout Gotham City. The primary murderous antagonist in the film will be The Riddler who is being portrayed by Paul Dano. While previous versions of Gotham were portrayed in various ways based upon cities in the United States, Reeves admitted that this version of Gotham will be a more original take on the film. He has said that the city will, “feel like an American city you’d never been to.” This gives us a pretty good idea as to how much he wants it to be different from previous incarnations and it gives us a chance to see a brand new take on the classic cityscape.
By George Robbins
This past weekend was a big weekend for DC fans everywhere because it was the first ever installment of DC FanDome. For those unaware of what that is, it is essentially a Comic-Con style convention that focused on DC intellectual properties. Due to the current global pandemic, the event could not be held in person so they made it an online only event that anybody would be able to join in on. Everything from panels to the selling of merchandise took place online to allow people the opportunity to get in on the action available to them. The end result of the previous weekend was that it ended up being an overall success.
New and upcoming projects were shown off at length and it gave everybody some things to look forward to over the next couple of years at least. There is plenty going on with DC right now and it means that there is a lot of opportunity for the DC franchise to become better than it was before. Some of the movies that they have made over the past few years just haven’t really done that well compared to how well they expected them to do. Everything we were shown, though, makes it seem like we are in for a lot of interesting projects over the coming years. One project that people weren’t really expecting to hear anything about was a film that is being made for the ‘Static Shock’ character.
The ‘Static Shock‘ comic book series was originally created by Milestone Comics which was a part of Milestone Media. The company was founded by a group of African-Americans artists which included Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, and Derek T. Dingle in 1993. What they wanted to do was address the under-representation of racial minorities in superhero franchises and they succeeded with one series, ‘Static Shock.’ All of their comics were published and distributed by DC but the one that drew the most attention was the one featuring the titular character. The character of Static Shock became so popular that it even ended up becoming an animated kids show that was very popular during its time.
During DC FanDome this past weekend, there was a surprise panel where prolific filmmaker Reginald Hudlin revealed that there is a live-action ‘Static Shock’ movie in development. Back when the animated series was popular, there were plans for an animated movie that ended up being ultimately scrapped, but it seems like this may be a serious attempt to make the movie in the modern day. Hudlin revealed that while the movie is in development, it is still in the very early stages with no actors actually tied to the movie yet. With this aside though, it would be nice to eventually see this movie come to fruition given the significant impact the original series had on people growing up. Hopefully, more news about the movie will be coming in the near future.
By George Robbins
This past weekend was a huge weekend for DC fans everywhere as it allowed fans to get information on any upcoming DC projects. There are a decent number of upcoming projects that were talked about at length this past weekend and we now know more about each one of them. The details for everything that was shown off were scarce before the convention, so every bit of detail we could get was good. This is why many DC fans are content with the information they received over the previous weekend and are now so more than ever excited about upcoming projects. Learning all of this from wherever people were at made it easy for the information to spread very quickly.
One of the more prevalent movies to be shown during the event was the Snyder Cut of the ‘Justice League‘ movie. It was decided a couple of months ago that this version of the film would become available some time early next year on HBO Max. It was decided that it would be released after many fans petitioned for years because they believed that the version of the movie they got to see in theaters was not the one they should have ended up with. Thus, Snyder decided to work on his version of the film with a budget given by Warner Bros. to make the version complete. What was just revealed about the cut is that it will be more adult oriented and it will be longer than the original film.
In fact, it will be so much longer than the original film, that it will be split up on HBO Max into four one-hour long episodes that will be put up on the service. What some fans may not have wanted to hear recently though is that the new version of the film will not be considered canon moving forward, so whatever happens in the film is self-contained. We will not see this version having any long-lasting effects on the DCEU moving forward and this may end up being disappointing for many fans. That aside, everything we have heard so far about the movie has been relatively good news. This means that we have a lot to look forward to in the beginning of next year when the Snyder Cut actually releases to the public.
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