Freeze would be a great choice for another standalone film given the obvious tragic element he carries. I could see a Heart of Ice adaption (widely accepted as the best BTAS episode), with alterations to satisfy its own individuality, winning acclaim similarly to JOKER, even if it didn’t have the same cultural impact. Freeze is a severely underrated villain, and while he has enjoyed quality interpretations over the years (BTAS, Arkham games) Arnold’s performance casts a long shadow in the negative sense. An actor of a similar calibre of Joaquin Phoenix would help change that.
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I’m ways dubious of We Got This Covered, their tone always seems like the bullied school boy wanting attention
BUT
give Joker’s success, Mr Freeze, especially the version Paul Dini created, seems like the character who can hold his own film.
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It is frustrating that an original story line cannot get the greenlight - but a comic book character, as a pretested brand, can.
That exact thought created Joker. Todd Phillips lamented the lack of films like The King of Comedy, so pitched a film based around a Batman villain that has an almost identical plot, but with Robert De Niro as the chat show host, rather than the obsessed stalker.
Yeah, but if it worked once, will we now get a series of films about comic book villains, made as an auteur pastiche?
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Experience in the industry has told us both…yes, hell yes, the horse will be beaten long after death. I have no doubt one us will be asked for a crazy quilt pitch.
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There’s reportedly a Lex Luthor movie in the works too:
This does feel like the natural evolution of DC films over recent years; no one seems to have a clue of what to do with Superman so may as well pretend he doesn’t exist.
Are villain films the future? Because I have a feeling this is going to get old quickly.
Horrible.
Is Luthor even a character people are interested in?
I think the DC people would probably have more success with restarting their franchise if they aimed for a crossover Superman/Spider-Man vs Luthor/Octopus. It would no doubt cost a pretty penny but might help establish the crucial balance between drama and fun that the superhero genre needs.
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The difference between Luthor and the Joker is that there hasn’t been a truly iconic portrayal of Lex Luthor on the big screen. Hackman was remembered as a real estate huckster, Spacey was basically Hackman and Eisenberg was quite possibly one of the worst comic book villains of recent years. The only live action Luthor people seem to like is Smallville’s Michael Rosenbaum.
And given how hard it’s been for Marvel and Sony to share Spider-Man I don’t see an DC crossover in anyone’s future.
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Jon Cryer got quite a lot of Kudos for his performance on Supergirl, but, again, TV. Film has lacked a strong iteration of the character, Hackman did well in spite of the script.
I love Hackman as Luthor. And the first SUPERMAN still is the best comic book film.
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WO JIM…that’s a bad outFIT
Hackman does make the villain threatening, despite the film’s best efforts to make you laugh at them at every turn. The script just wants him to be an eye rolling straight man to Ned Beaty’s slapstick humour. The film (accidentally) proves that you don’t need a good script to make a good film.
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Always hated that phrase, since when is format a genre? It’s like saying Whinnie The Pooh and The Godfather are the same genre as “book films”
Let’s say Superhero movie… I watched on the big screen with the kids last January, they were enthralled in a way they weren’t with any of the recent Marvel outlay with the exceptions of Thor Ragnarok and Black Panther.
Terrible script but extraordinary heart
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I disagree completely. I think the script is fantastic and it absolutely gets what Superman is all about (for me). As for Luthor - he is characterized wonderfully, and the fact that he keeps an entourage consisting of the fool and the eye candy (Miss Teschmacher whose human dimension betrays him and saves Superman) tells us a lot about his delusion of grandeur and inferiority complex. But there are also scenes in which he is gleefully frightening and brutal. Especially the moment when he hangs the kryptonite around Superman´s neck.
“The Godfather” is not a comic book. “Superman” is. I only know the cartoon version of “Winnie the Pooh”. But the term “Superhero Movie” might indeed be more precise.
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The Winnie The Pooh remark was intended more as a ludicrous comparison for The Godfather. Both are books, but comparing them would be ridiculous. In the same regard, Batman Begins and Superman shouldn’t be classed as comparable with A History of Violence and Road To Perdition just because they share being based on comic books.
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I see. Comparing movies simply on the basis of their effectiveness would be fine, however, because IMO the genre does not imply more or less quality.
In other words: SUPERMAN-THE MOVIE, for me, is not a worse movie than THE GODFATHER. (Hey, they share one writer…)
They do! And one with Bond (credited as creative consultant)
Doesn’t stop me thinking it’s an awful script pulled up by magnificent direction and even better performances across the board so you don’t notice.
Edit: Occured to me after typing, those brilliant performances are to Donner’s credit, as none of them kept that standard outside of him (Brando and Hackman ONLY filmed under Donner)
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Donner seems to have had a hand for that, working with difficult actors and getting fine material out of it.
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