Are We Headed For Superhero Over-Saturation?

So, an interesting tid-bit has emerged that involves DC and Warner Brothers and their plans to build their Cinematic Universe. The Schmoes Know broke the story yesterday, (which you can find here,) about The WB's upcoming slate of films and their potential release dates. Now, as the article states, this information hasn't been confirmed by anyone and should be taken with a grain of salt, as the source may be slightly questionable. Regardless, it makes for interesting speculation.

So, according to Nikki Finke, formerly of Deadline.com, at this years Comic-Con in San Diego, Warner Brothers and DC are set to announce the line-up of films that they have planned in regards to their Cinematic Universe. The list is as follows:

May 2016 - Batman v Superman
July 2016 - Shazam
December 2016 - Sandman
May 2017 - Justice League
July 2017 - Wonder Woman
December 2017 - Flash/Green Lantern Team Up
May 2018 - Man of Steel 2

All I can say is, holy ambitious, Batman!

First off, what strikes me about this list is the fact that DC and Warner Brothers look to be going balls to the wall in regards to this whole thing. For the foreseeable future, their plan is to release three movies a year. Apparently, they're hell-bent on making up for lost time. The report also goes on to state that the reason that BvS was pushed back a year was not, as speculated, because the WB wasn't ready to move forward with the film, but was in fact because they were still trying to get the members of the Justice League to sign on the bottom line. Apparently, the actors will be making cameo appearances in the films leading up to the big one and they wanted to make sure that everyone was on board. (I'm not exactly sure if Sandman fits into the DCU or not, as it doesn't seem like it would, but then, I don't really know a whole lot about the character and where he fits in the comic book universe, so I can't say for sure).

The second thing that stands out, is the inclusion of a Wonder Woman stand-alone film on this list. Rumour has always been that Warner Brothers was gun-shy in regards to a female-led superhero flick, even though that female superhero in question is iconic and extremely recognizable. I would love to see a Wonder Woman movie, and given how, recently, female-driven films seem to be killing it at the box office, I can understand the WB's about face in regards to this project. I still have my doubts about how well Gal Godot is going to be able to pull off this character, however. It would have been nice if they had hired an actual actress, instead of an underwear model, but whatever. I guess the jury's out on this one until we see what she does in Batman v Superman.

The inclusion of Shazam on this list is also very interesting. He's not an extremely well known character, although, speculation is that this could be the role that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has been hinting about, making it all the more intriguing. How they're going to pull this one off, I'm still not sure, but it will be interesting, to say the least. The fact that Shazam (or Captain Marvel as he was formerly known... although you can see where that could get really confusing, really fast!) spends half his time as 12-year-old Billy Batson (or 15-year-old, if you're going by the New 52 timeline), seems to be a waste of The Rock's talents. Another rumour has Johnson playing Black Adam, Shazam's arch-nemesis, turned member of the Justice League. Either way, it makes for an intriguing prospect.

I think the biggest surprise of this list is the exclusion of Batman. While the Caped Crusader will have a large part in Batman v Superman and will definitely be part of the Justice League, I am surprised that there are no plans for a stand-alone Batman movie, or franchise just yet. Either the WB thinks we're Batman'd out and doesn't want to compete with Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, or this has something to do with Ben Affleck's schedule. Either way, I find it interesting that there doesn't seem to be an immediate plan for one of their most iconic characters. This leads me to believe that Affleck's Batman will be the main character in the upcoming Batman v Superman film, his character arc needing to be relatively well developed for them to move forward.

But, overall, what does this mean for the Superhero genre as a whole? Now that both Fox and Sony have also thrown their hats into the Universe building ring, are all of these comic book adaptations going to flood the overall market? By the time that 2018 rolls around, will we be so sick and tired of Superhero movies that the bottom falls out of the whole genre? I mean, if all goes to plan, then we will be getting probably somewhere between six and seven comic book movies released every year. I guess it's possible that there could be some fatigue, although I do think it's highly unlikely. With the exception of The Amazing Spiderman 2 (let's hope that Sony has learned it's lesson, although it doesn't look like it, as there is a report out that says, while they're pushing TASM 3 back to 2017, it's only so that they can shoehorn their Sinister Six movie into its 2016 release date! Did they learn nothing with TASM2?), comic book movies just keep getting better and better. The studios are raising the bar with each subsequent release. The Winter Soldier and Days of Future Past are arguably the best Superhero releases to date... moving beyond just great genre films and into the realm of great films, period. If the studios continue to release great movies, I think that audiences will continue to flock to them. The idea of solid, strategic Universes, built around characters that we have come to know and love is very appealing. As long as the end product is entertaining, what difference does it make if it's based off a comic book or not? Besides, it's very cool to see the heroes that we grew up with on the big screen, in a manner that is fitting to their stature. It's nice to be a film fan at a time where, technologically, film makers are able to bring these larger than life characters to life on the big screen, without it looking hokey or fake. These days they are able to pull images directly from the page and transport them to a movie screen near you. It really is great to be a geek!

I guess what remains to be seen is whether or not Finke's "scoop" is actually true or not. With just a little under five weeks until Comic-Con in San Diego, we don't have long to wait and see what comes of this whole thing. It will be interesting to see how on the money she was. And what else Comic-Con has in store for us. I can hardly wait!

And Marvel Comes Out Swinging...

So, word broke last night that, not only has ABC renewed Agents of SHIELD for a second season, but that they have also ordered to series, Marvel's Agent Carter. Apparently, the House of Mouse is taking their foray into TV seriously.

Marvel's Agent Carter will tell the story of Captain America's love, Peggy Carter, and her struggles to fit into a post-World War II world, where women who had stepped up, were expected to step back, now that the men were home. A founding member of the covert SSR (Strategic Scientific Reserve... Which goes on to become SHIELD) she must balance her administrative duties with the covert operations that she and Howard Stark continue on the side. An interesting premise, to be sure, and a bit of an unexpected one. There have been rumblings of this since sometime last year, and I am glad that Disney has followed through. I like the fact that the focus of this series is going to be on a female character, and that it is going to be a period piece. It will be very interesting to see how tightly it's tied to the MCU and Agents of SHIELD. As we follow SHIELD from it's humble origins, might we see the start of the infiltration of Hydra that has thrown the current MCU into a tailspin?

And speaking of Agents of SHIELD, I must admit that I am glad that it has been given a second season. Unlike a lot of viewers, I have stuck with it this entire season, and will admit that I have been rewarded with some great TV recently. I do, however, understand why some people jumped ship. It took SHIELD a while to find it's footing and get the audience invested. Disney, in my opinion, did two things wrong with this property. Firstly, they marketed it as a Joss Whedon show, which, it was not. Yes, Joss wrote and directed the pilot and it is a Mutant Enemy production, but the day to day show-running was actually done by Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tanchareon, Joss' brother and sister-in-law. People were expecting something along the lines of Buffy or Firefly, and were disappointed when it turned out a little differently. Their second mistake was thinking that the general public was going to be interested in the behind the scenes, day to day stuff of the non-superhero characters of their franchise. While I enjoy the in and outs and knew what I was getting in to, I think a lot of people were disappointed when the focus wasn't on the Iron Man's and the Thor's of the MCU. What exactly people were expecting, I don't know, but it definitely wasn't what they got. Although the ratings have dropped throughout the season, the show still puts up decent numbers, and a second season is justified. Especially now that it's core is directly tied to the MCU. I think it ups the stakes a little bit.

Of course, we can't talk Marvel and television, without bringing up The Defenders. Announced back in November, this joint venture with Netflix will see the characters of Daredevil, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage brought to the small screen. Set to air sometime in 2015, each character will get a set number of episodes to tell their story and then will come together for a mini-series event, The Defenders. The bonus of this format is that, with Netflix, all episodes are released simultaneously, so you can binge watch to your heart's content. According to Marvel, these will also tie in to the MCU, making the whole thing one big happy family.

I wrote earlier this week about how, even though DC's Cinematic Universe is a mess, they are still head and shoulders above Marvel when it comes to TV. I still believe that. While Marvel is trying, putting things out there, I worry that they are placing too much of the emphasis in their Cintematic Universe. By linking all of these properties, it is creating something huge... filling the canon and making things difficult to understand, if not lined up exactly right. It also forces viewers to at least keep up with all of the goings on in the various branches, whether they are avid watchers or not. This may alienate viewers, who don't have the time or inclination to catch everything that is produced. Warner Brothers, on the other hand, is spreading their properties around, leaving each incarnation as a seperate entity. What happens in one world, has no affect on anybody else's. With the trailer drop for "Gotham" and the news that both The Flash and Contstantine, at The CW and NBC respectively, have been ordered to series, DC/The WB are in good shape when it comes to TV. Now, if they could just get their crap together and get their movie properties in order...

I guess we'll see who actually wins this war once the ratings are in. With the arrival of the "comic book series" to television, the true winner is us, the fans. We no longer have to wait to see our old, or new, favourite characters on the big screen. Soon, they will be in living rooms everywhere.