The Dark Knight Rises

[Hex]

Was watching a TV spot tonight...got me thinking. Obviously going out on a stretch here with this one, but it is Nolan after all. We hear Catwoman telling Batman "You don't owe these people any more! You've given them everything!". He replies with "Not everything, not yet". So I was sitting there thinking, is there even the slightest chance that the last thing he has to give to Gotham is his life? Killing off Bruce Wayne but possibly having someone else take over Batman at the end?

[Tyrath]

That idea has been discussed for a while. A lot of people think Bruce will die but Batman will live on as a symbol. Or even that Joseph Gordon levitt will become the next Batman.

I'm personally not one of these people. I don't know what will happen at the end, but I don't think Batman will die.

[Laugana]

Be a hell of a way to send him off though.

[arus2001]

While simultaneously inviting the rage of lots of nerds and probably casual fans alike.

I get the idea behind the sentiment, but it could also be seen as an FU from Nolan to any later director that decides to make a Batman movie since it'll basically require the reboot treatment without question.

[Tyrath]

Batman will probably get rebooted anyways. I don't think they are gonna let any other director make a Nolanverse batman.

[arus2001]

Perhaps, but I'd like to think we could skip the whole "Parents killed, blah blah" step we've seen at least twice in movies and once in the animated series.

And I'd maybe like to see a Batman Beyond sometime. :/

[Lysithea]

Or... Joseph Gordon Levitt dies... and they put a batman suit on him...

[Salodin]

Or... Joseph Gordon Levitt dies... and they put a batman suit on him...

Thanks for ruining the movie jack ass.

[Lysithea]

lol... yea, I thought of that. Then I thought to myself... He already did that in three other movies... and that would be disappointing if I could have come up with that on a whim. Basing it off of somebody else's post.

[Kurokikaze]

Ok I'm going dark for this movie... Every time I come into this thread I get pissed off.

[Serra]

Batman will probably get rebooted anyways. I don't think they are gonna let any other director make a Nolanverse batman.

Haven't we covered in this thread (and elsewhere -- Avengers and Justice league come to mind..) that they are rebooting Batman after this so that it will work with the Justice League project in the works?

[Tyrath]

Yeah, you're right.

But holy shit I just realized this is only 3 weeks away. WHERE DID THE TIME GO?! Fucking stoked. I already have 2 tickets purchased for it >_<

[Byrd]

Won't be as awesome because DC.

DC has the two most iconic characters in comic books, then a bunch of mediocre fluff. Beyond Batman and Superman, DC's roster plaes in comparisons to Marvel's far deeper, more interesting and recognizable body of characters. I'm not saying that Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, etc. couldn't make for good movies (although they certainly haven't so far), but they just don't seem to resonate the same way that Marvel's depth of characters do. Does anyone get excited about a Martin Manhunter or Aquaman movie? Hardly anyone got excited about the Green Lantern movie, although from what I understand the quality of that movie left something to be desired, which presumably didn't help. A better quality film might have given Green Lantern an Iron Man-like renaissance. Maybe that's what DC was hoping to do, and failed.

Regarding a Justice League movie specifically, it also doesn't help that Superman's near omnipotence makes any reasonable collaboration with a Nolan-esque Batman problematic at best and impossible at worst. I think the two big DC characters are best left as their own entities, with the own movies, "universes", stories and plot lines. Marvel works a lot better as an integrated comic book universe than DC does; it does so in the movies as well.

[Dantrag]

Green Lantern was a decent movie but pretty bad when compared to any Marvel movie. Batman is the only DC hero that has had any decent(recent) movies.

[Serra]

DC has the two most iconic characters in comic books, then a bunch of mediocre fluff. Beyond Batman and Superman, DC's roster plaes in comparisons to Marvel's far deeper, more interesting and recognizable body of characters. I'm not saying that Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, etc. couldn't make for good movies (although they certainly haven't so far), but they just don't seem to resonate the same way that Marvel's depth of characters do. Does anyone get excited about a Martin Manhunter or Aquaman movie? Hardly anyone got excited about the Green Lantern movie, although from what I understand the quality of that movie left something to be desired, which presumably didn't help. A better quality film might have given Green Lantern an Iron Man-like renaissance. Maybe that's what DC was hoping to do, and failed.

Regarding a Justice League movie specifically, it also doesn't help that Superman's near omnipotence makes any reasonable collaboration with a Nolan-esque Batman problematic at best and impossible at worst. I think the two big DC characters are best left as their own entities, with the own movies, "universes", stories and plot lines. Marvel works a lot better as an integrated comic book universe than DC does; it does so in the movies as well.

To be fair, how much of the recognition of Marvel's characters is the result of the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Five to ten years ago, I'd say the three biggest comic book names for the average person are Superman, Batman, and Spiderman (with Hulk probably a distant fourth). Would Ironman have been anywhere near as successful without Downey? Maybe, but I doubt it. And without him, I doubt the Marvel Cinematic Universe would have taken off in the way it did. Admittedly, I'm biased in that I've done a better job of keeping up with DC (Batman and GL) comics than Marvel, but I think the success of a Justice League movie comes down to how well the precursor are, and how well they avoid copying the Avengers' formula.

One benefit of these being series movies is that so much of the character build up is earlier and doesn't have to occur in the movie. With Avengers, they didn't have to build up Stark's character -- we already knew he was a brilliant narcissist. Likewise, we knew Capt was a paragon of all that was good, Thor was noble but dealing with his own arrogance, and Hulk was.. well Hulk. The other thing they successfully did was build a supporting cast with Fury, Black Widow, and Coulson (Hawkeye's brief presence doesn't count for anything..). Can they do this with Justice League? There's certainly room for it, but like I said, they need to try really hard not to copy the Avengers. I think one of the big things is going to be not trying too hard to tie them together like Marvel did with the connections to Shield. As far as support, Justice League is different than the Avengers in that they are their own organization without something like Shield to build upon, so it comes down to the characters establishing those connections one way or another.

I've said from the start, I think the pilot episode of the Justice League series would make for a great introductory movie and they wouldn't need to introduce all the members of the Justice League earlier that way. Unfortunately, I think the ones that need to be introduced on their own are Batman, Superman, GL (which at this point, would probably have to be in line with the current series -- unless they're going to reboot it because of how bad it was..), and Flash, so that creates another comparison with Avengers having four separate heroes.. But, if they did it along those lines, the movie would introduce Martin Manhunter, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman (if they go that route, or another seventh member). And instead of having an underlying organization like Shield to build connections throughout the movies, I think the stories and characters would have to. If it were me, I'd establish the universe with the Batman reboot and Superman (is Man of Steel going to be part of Justice League?), then have a World's Finest-esque team-up between Batman and Superman, followed by GL and Flash movies (with some ties to Batman and Superman) to round things out before Justice League.

And that ended up being a lot longer than planned.. so TLDR: Justice League doesn't have to be bad, they just need to know their identity, go back to what created the Justice League, and not try too hard to emulate Avengers.

[Fhloston]

Green Lantern was a decent movie but pretty bad when compared to any Marvel movie. Batman is the only DC hero that has had any decent(recent) movies.

Watchmen was the shit. DC movies are so dark and gritty. Love it. (Didn't see Green Lantern, don't plan to.)

[Pirian]

So, do you guys think with the success of the Avengers that they're going to try and put together a Justice League movie over the next 10 years? If so, how long do you think they'll wait for a Batman reboot? lol

[Salodin]

Batman will be the last movie to be reboot, and even then every one will compare it to nolanverse and say it sucks

[Xno Kappa]

Pretty much. Justice League is already dead on arrival due to the simple fact Avengers was not only first but was also extremely successful at it. Might as well wait it out ten years or so.

Doesn't help either that the majority of DC characters have ridiculous origins that would be hard to adapt for a movie audience to relate to. No coincidence the Batman films have been and always be, the most successful films for them.

[Cichy]

Watchmen was the shit. DC movies are so dark and gritty. Love it. (Didn't see Green Lantern, don't plan to.)

Avoid GL movie at all cost. It was a complete turd.