BREAKING: Seth Grahame-Smith Will Direct and Write The Flash Movie!

AP Images/Invision

This news just broke: THR is reporting that Seth Grahame-Smith is going to direct the stand-alone Flash Movie that takes place in the DCEU:

Seth Grahame-Smith is in negotiations to direct and write The Flash, Warner Bros.’ comic book movie based on the iconic DC Entertainment scarlet speedster super hero, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.

The movie project has a treatment from Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the Lego Movie duo that were also eyeing it as a possible directing vehicle.

This is very interesting news and it seems like he will also write the screenplay as well.

Seth Grahame-Smith have written the novels Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter andPride and Prejudice and Zombies.

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//Markus Mattila

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Report: Booster Gold/Blue Beetle Team-Up Movie In The Works?

There are reports emerging that there is a Booster Gold/Blue Beetle movie in the works over at Warner Bros. This is what Tracking-board.com has to say:

Booster Gold and Blue Beetle, two DC Comics superheros that have long been rumored to appear in either an upcoming film or TV show, are now being groomed for a team-up feature from Warner Bros. Sources exclusive to The Tracking Board can now confirm that Greg Berlanti, the force behind the successful DC comics TV seriesArrow and The Flash, will be heavily involved with this one, set to direct and executive produce. Sarah Schechter will also executive produce, while Julia Spiro will oversee for the studio.

In a massively different approach from Warner’s current slate, the film will team the two heroes together in what’s being pitched as a superhero buddy cop movie. Comedy is the emphasis here, which is a stark contrast to the other titles in DC’s Cinematic Universe, breaking the mold of the uber serious and grounded Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

There has been rumors and whispers for a while that something will happen with Booster Gold and Blue Beetle on the big screen. This could be a good thing for DC to blend their more dark and gritty movies like BvS and Man of Steel with more lighthearted movies like this team-up movie.

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//Markus Mattila 

Editorial: Why I Think Naruto Is a Bad Move By Lionsgate

In case you have missed it, Lionsgate have anounced that they are going to make a live action-version of the anime/manga Naruto. Many have questioned this, calling it a bad move by Lionsgate; they have cited the risk that this movie becomes another Dragon Ball Evolution or Last Airbender. Honestly, I agree. Still, I don’t, like some other, think that the problem is the sheer scope of the material that they would have to work with

The problem is, rather, the tone and style of the series. Naruto takes place in a fairly stereotypically japanese ”world”, such as that which can be seen in many asian movies. That means, for one thing, that many asian actors would be required to fill out the roles. Other than this, the style of the anime is such, taking the behavior, philosophy and more, that a regular ”american” production may not work out entirely. An live action Naruto done right, should be something in the vein of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, which i highly doubt Lionsgate will do. For this reason, I would rather see a Japanese studios take on the task than Lionsgate.

Acording to John Campea from Colider, Warner Brothers have long considered adapting the anime/manga series Akira. To make it take place in the USA but still remain faithful to the original, they have decided that San Fransisco is to be ”New Tokyo”. You can propably guess what I fear that Lionsgate will do to Naruto just to cut the budget somewhat, and to put it mildly, it wouldn’t be optimal.

Would something like this work in western grounded in reality movie culture?

Still, just because Naruto may not work out as a live action-adaption, it doesn’t mean that animes in general couldn’t work that way. For example, Edge of Tommorrow came out last year, based upon a manga called All you need is kill. This manga is a bit more ”ethnically neutral” in its style, for example considering the characters, the world it took place in and so on (This is what I have heard anyway. If I am misinformed, I would be grateful for some comments).

Japanese architecture as i said

So what mangas or animes would worke better on the big screen? One series that comes to my mind is Full Metal Alchemist. The reason for this is just what I wrote about above; the overall tone, characters and the world the film takes place in is simply more fitting.

The series takes place in what architectonically looks like 19^th century European style. The behavior of the characters, the philosophy and simply everything that makes
Naruto unfitting for a ”western” film production is simply not there. Instead, it would work well with a more ”western” type of film production and direction. It could work out in the same way that League of Extraordinary Gentlemen did if it was made right (A sidetrack: If you can get hold of the comic book, I warmly recommend reading it).

Old european architecture as  i said

Alchemy written right, could be done as technology

Again, for you who consider the scope of the material to be a problem: remember such book-based movies as Hunger Games and Harry Potter.

In conclusion: The problem with Lionsgate’s adaption of Naruto will not be the scope of the material, but rather the tone of the series in itself. Despite this, I can understand if they wish to go for it, since the series is so popular. The only thing we can do now is to hope for an okay adaption. Considering such films as Dragon Ball Evolution, The Last Airbender and Avi Arad (a producer, who accoring to many has gone quite mad in recent years), I do not have much hope.

Source – http://variety.com/2015/film/news/lionsgate-naruto-movie-micahel-gracey-1201554281/

Spoiler-free Review: Ant-Man (2015)

The story is quite well-written, and uses the character of Ant-man in many amusing ways. For you who do not know anything about Ant-man, the character foremostly has the ability to shrink himself to the size of an ant. With such an ability, it is possible to create intresting and creatively written scenarios. This creativity is something that is noticeable during the whole movie. The majority of the characters in the movie are well-written and suit their respective roles in the story very well. There were, however, a few that could have used some tweaking.

One of them was the antagonist (played by Corey Stoll), who felt somewhat one-dimensional. The other character who could have used some better writing (played by Michael Peña) is written in such a way that I can easily understand if people of the same etnicity as the charater take offence. Ant-man as a character lead to a lot of laughs in the theatre (although often at his own expense), but it can be discussed wether such a character is suitable for a film that is supposed to be family-friendly. If this had been a movie supposed to be watched by the same audience as Neighbours, The Dictator of The Pineapple Express, the question would be an easy one.

The majority of the actors did very well, with the possible exception of Corey Stoll. That might also be because the character as such is not very well written.

Ant-man is a film I recommend to those who are into superhero moies, no matter what publisher. Furthermore, I recommend this movie to those who would like to see a new twist on classical heist movies (such as Ocean Eleven or Tower Heist). In conclusion, I was very content with this move and will gladly watch it again.

//Isak Wolff

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Review: Man of Steel (2013)

What is there to say abut his movie that haven’t been said? Man of Steel to me is a Superman-movie done right. I did enjoy Superman Returns from 2006 but it lacked something that made it less enjoyable than it could have been. Bryan Singer tried to hard to replicate the spirit and feeling from Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980) and it confused many moviegoers – was it a reboot or was it a continuation of Superman II (no i don’t count the third and the fourth movie)?

Man of Steel avoided this thanks to it being a complete reboot to the Superman franchise just like Batman Begins was a reboot of the Batman franchise as a reaction to the disaster called Batman & Robin (1997).

Man of Steel is a wonderful retelling of Superman’s origin and it also expands the lore and ecology of planet Krypton where the movie takes place the first 15 minutes, and we also get a much younger Kent-couple than in the original Donner-films. The screenwriters where very smart when they constructed the narrative around Superman’s upbringing in Smallville by using flashbacks like in Batman Begins instead of linear storytelling. A more time efficient way to tell origin stories.

The acting in is top-notch and i think Henry Cavill really embodies the spirit of Superman which are very true to the comics and he also have the body for the character. He buffed up a lot for his role. Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne, Kevin Costner, Michael Shannon – everybody brought their A-game.

The SFX and soundtrack where simply spectacular and i was blown away with all the fights (Finally we got a Superman than can throw a punch!) and the overall look to this movie, you can tell it’s a Zack Snyder movie with some hints of Christopher Nolan (Who was an executive producer). The soundtrack of this was fantastic, i think Hans Zimmer have outdone himself with this soundtrack. I have played it on repeat the last 2 years and it still holds up. Fantastic scoring by Hans Zimmer!

With all the praising done i should now talk about some downsides to this movie and there are some minor gripes that i have to address: Some of the fights can be very drawn out and it sometimes feels that the movie is ending but quickly transitions to a fight scene. That’s really my only negatives about the movie.

I really think that Man of Steel is a fantastic movie in it’s own right and shouldn’t be compared to Superman II all the time.

Man of Steel is one of the greatest superhero-flicks to date. One you shouldn’t miss out on and it’s a great starting point for the DC Cinematic Universe.

//Markus Mattila

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SDCC: In-Depth Analysis of the Batman v Superman Comic-Con Trailer

There is no surprise that i’m very very enthusiastic about Batman v Superman and that we have covered it a lot here on Capes and Heroes (probably more than we should have) but it is to many people the most anticipated movie of the decade next to Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens.

There is a funny story about how i came across the trailer, i was at my friends birthday and i scrolled through my Twitter-feed and all of a sudden i got a message on Facebook from my friend who also runs this blog and he simply said: “The Batman v Superman trailer” and a link to the Trailer, and i almost screamed to my friend to start the trailer on his home-theater with surround sound and we watched it. And o’boy did i scream like a schoolgirl or what? The trailer was amazing, flatout amazing!

So here is my favorite bits in the trailer:

Superman stands outside the congress and there is group of protesters that are against Superman. This how people in the real world would react if someone like Superman would appear. Real heavy stuff.

Bruce Wayne was in Metropolis during the Superman vs General Zod fight at the end of Man of Steel and he seems to be on the phone with someone who possibly were in the building that collapsed when Zod used his heatvision for the first time. But who was it? My guess is that it was someone close to Bruce. Maybe Lucius Fox?

I think that this scene won over a lot people who previously have bashed Warner Bros and DC for casting Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman. This really shows his heroics in a way that Christian Bale never would do. Just an amazing shot and bring up memories from the 9/11 attacks in New York.

The destruction of Metropolis and the Wayne Finances tower will be one of many driving forces for Bruce Wayne to put on his Batman-suit once again after years of retirement as the Caped Crusader.

This must be a very rundown Wayne Manor and it may also be a small reference to the Flashpoint storyline where Thomas Wayne was Batman and the Wayne Manor was rundown and the Batcave was intact and in use. This confirms that Batman hasn’t lived there for quite some time.

Here is our first look at the Batcave and it looks very much like in the comics but less cave-like and more of an elaborate basement. And it seems to have water in it so does that mean he have a Bat-boat?

This is an interesting shot, who sent him this Newspaper article? Some people are speculation that it is the Joker, but this means that he would know that Bruce Wayne is Batman. I’m actually thinking it’s Jason Todd aka Robin aka The Red Hood. Why i think that is because he know for a fact that Bruce Wayne is Batman and that he used a red marker to write the message. Maybe i’m over-analyzing this but it’s an interesting theory.

There seems to be a training montage in the movie where Bruce is getting in shape to take on Superman.

Here is our first glimpse of Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth. They seem to take a more younger approach and he maybe like the incarnation in the Graphic Novel Batman: Earth One where Alfred is an ex British Special Forces or Secret Service Agent. I like it.

First look of the batarangs in action.

Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor looks like a combination of Curt Kobain and the Lex Luthor from the graphic novel Superman: Birthright where he also have long hair.

This seems to be Lex Luthor’s assistant Mercy Graves who also appeared in the animated Superman TV-series by Bruce Timm.

The corpse of General Zod! This indicates that Lexcorp is conducting experiments with either Zods DNA or his body as a whole. Maybe they are making a mechsuit of Zod’s armor or are they making him Doomsday?

This is our confirmation that Robin or even multiple Robins have existed in this DC Extended Universe, and i believe it actually is Jason Todd and not Dick Grayson who some people believe is killed by The Joker. And The Joker have also spraypainted on Robins suit to remind Batman of his failure. A nice nod to the Death in the Family storyarc.

Here is our first look at Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman in motion! She looks absolutely stunning as Diana Prince, she seems to be attending a fundraiser or a party for the more upper class.

Bruce having a flashbacks to the day his parents got murdered? It seems like it.

Geoffrey Dean Morgan confirmed as Thomas Wayne. He is rocking that mustache. He also played ‘The Comedian’ in Watchmen.

Young Bruce Wayne witnessing his parents murder. Maybe Batman is talking to Superman about his motives as a crimefighter?

This is huge, this is our first look at Wonder Woman in action on the big screen and she looks amazing as the amazonian warrior and princess. I believe she will own this role.

This scene really intrigued me, it looks like Batman in the dessert and the wierd thing is that the ruins in the background looks very similar to the temples in Athens on Akropolis. So maybe this is Themyscira and Batman is looking for answers about Wonder Woman?

Here it alse seems that Batman is fighting the military group that seems to fight for Superman. But this got me thinking, maybe it’s just a dreamsequence where Batman is picturing the worst case scenario? His outfit looks very reminiscent of the “Gotham by Gaslight” Batman.

Someone or something have caused a lot of damage at Lexcorp, can it be Superman and Batman or is it something else? Maybe Doomsday?

Kryptonite confirmed and Lex Luthor have of course gotten his hands on it.

Batman and Superman fighting, here is Batman stomping on Superman so he is falling through a roofwindow!

Another beautiful shot of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. I now see what Zack Snyder saw when they cast her. The question is what or who is she fighting here? Because the trailer is edited so it looks like she is battling Superman but is actually Doomsday or Lex Luthor in his mechsuit that she is getting attacked by?

Superman getting ready to use his heat vision and the trailer is edited in a way that it looks like he is firing on Batman but he would have been killed instantly if the heat vision hit him.

This shot gave me goosebumps because of it being a homage to the cover of Frank Millers classic The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel. Nice touch Zack Snyder!

Another beautiful shot of Batman using his grapplegun that looks very similar to the one in the Arkham games.

An awesome shot of Superman walking towards the crashed Batmobile in slowmotion. Zack loves his slow-mo!

And the closing shot in the trailer, Superman rips of the doors from the Batmobile and Batman just rises from the seat and stands up against Superman. This scene gave me goosebumps of the ages!

So there you have it.

My In-depth analysis of the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Comic-Con Trailer. What did you think of it?

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theaters March 25, 2016

//Markus Mattila 

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SDCC: Batman v Superman Trailer #2 Releasing Tomorrow?

San Diego Comic-Con is now in full swing over in California and we may now have indications that a new trailer for Batman v Superman is coming, if it will be a Comic-Con only or released to the general public remains to be seen.

The Alberta Film Ratings have recently classified the next trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice as PG, and trailers often get rated the day or two before the it gets public. And it makes sense because of Warner Bros Hall H presentation tomorrow at 10.30 PST where they are going to spend alot of time on Batman v Superman.

Will we see the trailer online shortly after?

//Markus Mattila

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Reports: Ben Affleck Co-Writing Standalone Batman Movie With Geoff Johns

There are reports that states that comicbook-writer Geoff Johns is co-writing the script for a standalone Batman Movie with Ben Affleck. It is Deadline that broke the news and they stated:

My studio sources tell me that Affleck and Johns are well in synch and have more than found their rhythm. In fact, they are likely to turn in a script before the end of the summer, prior to Affleck going off to direct Live By Night in November.

This will mean that a standalone Batman-movie will be released in 2018 according to the article. Very interesting news indeed!

Geoff Johns have also been involved in Smallville, Arrow and Flash. He also had a great run with Green Lantern in the comics. He also had a good run with Batman: Earth One.

We will stay tuned for more information!

//Markus Mattila

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SDCC: Detailed Look At The Bat-Armor and Gadgets

With San Diego Comic-Con in full swing we are now seeing a lot of pictures from the DC-booth where they have the trinity’s suits on display – including the bat-armor which many speculated that it would be 100% CGI. They also have some gadgets that Ben Affleck’s version of Batman will use in the film.

Check them out below (click for hi-res):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

In Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theaters March 25, 2016

//Markus Mattila

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BREAKING: Marisa Tomei Cast As Aunt May in The New Spider-Man

(Photo by Bertrand Rindoff Petroff/Getty Images)

We may have found our new webslinger, but the question in everybodys minds (not really) have been: Who will play Aunt May?

Well, we now may have our answer because Variety is reporting that Marisa Tomei have been cast as Peter Parker’s aunt May! Either Sony or Marvel have confirmed this, but Variety is a credible source. So stay tuned!

//Markus Mattila

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