I'll be pasting a recent interview I just read :
An interview with Mr. David Goyer (architect of the DCU movie-verse) thanks to the fine folks over at IGN (via Latino Review).
IGN: You’ve talked about how Marvel and DC’s cinematic universes sort of took an opposite trajectory from the world of the comics, where DC is now sort of the more grounded, more relatable universe.
Goyer: It is odd.
IGN: It’s fascinated me, watching that happen. Do you find that it’s becoming more challenging as you start to tap into characters that in the comic world were considered more boy scouts?
Goyer: Sure. You mean Superman?
IGN: Sure.
Goyer: Yes. Also, and he’s alien. Yeah, I think it’s a lot easier to make Batman relatable than it is to make Superman relatable. I mean, writing the script for Man of Steel was a lot more challenging for that very reason.
IGN: Is there any part of you moving forward that — and I think I know the answer to this, but I want to ask.
Goyer: I probably can’t say, but go ahead.[Laughs]
IGN: Would you ever consider any course correction of sorts on Zod and Superman being a killer?
Goyer: [Pause] Yeah… [Laughs] Sorry!
IGN: [Laughs] Fair enough. In very general terms, looking ahead, I’m wondering, in terms of working in television, DC’s certainly got a huge presence in TV right now. What are the conversations about how these shows in development are going to tie into the movies? Is that something you think about?
Goyer: I mean, it’s too early. I know that Warner Bros. would love to make their universe more cohesive. There have been a lot of general conversations about that, but it’s really, really early. I’m not sure. Marvel has had enormous success, but I’m not sure that everybody should try to emulate them either. It’s just been vague conversations so far.
IGN: So it’s not prohibitive to have Flash showing up on The CW and then perhaps in a Justice League movie – or something – as well?
Goyer: I don’t think so. You know, Smallville was running while Bryan Singer’s Superman came out, and no one had a heart attack over that. I don’t know.
IGN: Sure. Well…some fans are likely to have a heart attack.
Goyer: Fans have a heart attacks — yeah. There was a poll when they released some stills from Season 2 of Da Vinci with long hair about whether they preferred Tom with long hair or short hair, and 50 percent of the people said “long hair” and 50 percent of the people said “short hair.” So you can’t win.
IGN: I like the long hair for that storyline.
Goyer: I like it.
IGN: You said that it’s not necessarily that everyone should emulate Marvel, and not everyone is. Fox is certainly taking their own route right now, and Sony’s starting to take theirs, which is even more unusual in a way, with a focus on the villains. How closely do you look how these things are unfolding and think about how that could impact your approach?
Goyer: I mean, I know this is going to sound cheap, but I don’t really. There’s just our approach to how we want to tell a story, and hopefully we can convince Warner Bros. or whatnot of that. We don’t sit in a room with cigars and say, “Look at what these guys are doing!” It doesn’t work that way. I don’t know.
IGN: As a fan do you look at it and observe it, or take an interest?
Goyer: I’m a fan. I see all these movies. Some are great, some aren’t great. I never thought I’d see the day when there’d be a Guardians of the Galaxy movie or an Ant-Man movie. I mean, that’s nuts — in an amazing way. I just never in my wildest dreams imagined that that would be happening.
IGN: Yeah, for me, it’s truly fascinating to watch how Marvel’s become more and more outlandish, more and more galactic and out there.
Goyer: You have to admire what Marvel’s done. It’s really hard to create a brand, I mean, where people will follow your brand. Pixar’s done it, and now Marvel has done it. It’s really, really hard to do, because there’s not a lot of brand loyalty anymore. They’ve created a cohesive universe, so I really admire what they’ve done.
IGN: Is there a pressure for you to do the same?
Goyer: I mean, yes and no. Look, we’ve been pretty lucky with the films we’ve done so far. I think right now it’s just kind of, “More of the same, please.” I’m trying to branch off with Sandman.
IGN: I love Sandman. How are you planning to crack that?
Goyer: We’ll see. It’s tricky. There’s a reason why it hasn’t been adapted for 15, 16 years. It’s really dense and wonderful. Neil is a genius and cerebral. We’re just getting into that right now. We’ll see.
IGN: Sandman always felt like it would make sense as a TV series. Was that an approach you considered?
Goyer: I think people have tried before. Honestly, it just happened that Warner Bros. asked me if I’d take a crack at it, and I was not sure. We’re just getting into it now…
The two cents from the reporter :
Well, the guy is honest. But this interview kind of gives us all a glimpse at what’s happening behind closed doors. Listen, Marvel is different (obviously) and they set out to become THEIR OWN PRODUCTION COMPANY. With a 500 million dollar investment from Merril Lynch, Marvel set the stage for their success by branching off of the studio system and doing it their way. That was a huge gamble and, as we all know, paid off in spades.
Marvel has the final say on what properties they make into movies. And they say it’s all connected. They were and still are, at heart, an independent studio that is in full control of their properties. This to me is why they are so successful.
Now, DC on the other hand has always been owned by mega studio Warner Bros. So they don’t have the same luxury as Marvel. They have to adhere to Warner Bros. Who has to check with TIME WARNER. So there are a lot of roadblocks to telling the kind of DC Universe stories we want. Playing devil’s advocate here… It’s not a question of Marvel vs DC: it’s facts – DC has upper level management calling the shots and it’s the movie geeks who love DC properties that lose.
After reading this interview, it hit me – DC is in a precarious, unenviable position. They seem to be shooting from the hip for a reason – bottom lines. Time Warner dictates that. So yeah, we got a hell of a Batman story with Nolan’s DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY but even that took a lot of time to get off the ground. Same with Supes. One semi-sequel that failed and then, the polarizing MAN OF STEEL. So I bet DC creatives are pulling out their hair right now wanting to connect all the dots… But I fear studio politics and upper echelons of business are keeping them from doing just that
My thoughts : this is so sad lol , I'm glad I'm not a DC fan , I'm only a Batman fan (fave hero & fave universe) & after what Nolan did , they're not gonna screw him up again with the new movies they have plan, But other than that , man ......it's gotta be hard to be a DC fan right now , knowing this people have no idea what they're doing with the universe .
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An interview with Mr. David Goyer (architect of the DCU movie-verse) thanks to the fine folks over at IGN (via Latino Review).
IGN: You’ve talked about how Marvel and DC’s cinematic universes sort of took an opposite trajectory from the world of the comics, where DC is now sort of the more grounded, more relatable universe.
Goyer: It is odd.
IGN: It’s fascinated me, watching that happen. Do you find that it’s becoming more challenging as you start to tap into characters that in the comic world were considered more boy scouts?
Goyer: Sure. You mean Superman?
IGN: Sure.
Goyer: Yes. Also, and he’s alien. Yeah, I think it’s a lot easier to make Batman relatable than it is to make Superman relatable. I mean, writing the script for Man of Steel was a lot more challenging for that very reason.
IGN: Is there any part of you moving forward that — and I think I know the answer to this, but I want to ask.
Goyer: I probably can’t say, but go ahead.[Laughs]
IGN: Would you ever consider any course correction of sorts on Zod and Superman being a killer?
Goyer: [Pause] Yeah… [Laughs] Sorry!
IGN: [Laughs] Fair enough. In very general terms, looking ahead, I’m wondering, in terms of working in television, DC’s certainly got a huge presence in TV right now. What are the conversations about how these shows in development are going to tie into the movies? Is that something you think about?
Goyer: I mean, it’s too early. I know that Warner Bros. would love to make their universe more cohesive. There have been a lot of general conversations about that, but it’s really, really early. I’m not sure. Marvel has had enormous success, but I’m not sure that everybody should try to emulate them either. It’s just been vague conversations so far.
IGN: So it’s not prohibitive to have Flash showing up on The CW and then perhaps in a Justice League movie – or something – as well?
Goyer: I don’t think so. You know, Smallville was running while Bryan Singer’s Superman came out, and no one had a heart attack over that. I don’t know.
IGN: Sure. Well…some fans are likely to have a heart attack.
Goyer: Fans have a heart attacks — yeah. There was a poll when they released some stills from Season 2 of Da Vinci with long hair about whether they preferred Tom with long hair or short hair, and 50 percent of the people said “long hair” and 50 percent of the people said “short hair.” So you can’t win.
IGN: I like the long hair for that storyline.
Goyer: I like it.
IGN: You said that it’s not necessarily that everyone should emulate Marvel, and not everyone is. Fox is certainly taking their own route right now, and Sony’s starting to take theirs, which is even more unusual in a way, with a focus on the villains. How closely do you look how these things are unfolding and think about how that could impact your approach?
Goyer: I mean, I know this is going to sound cheap, but I don’t really. There’s just our approach to how we want to tell a story, and hopefully we can convince Warner Bros. or whatnot of that. We don’t sit in a room with cigars and say, “Look at what these guys are doing!” It doesn’t work that way. I don’t know.
IGN: As a fan do you look at it and observe it, or take an interest?
Goyer: I’m a fan. I see all these movies. Some are great, some aren’t great. I never thought I’d see the day when there’d be a Guardians of the Galaxy movie or an Ant-Man movie. I mean, that’s nuts — in an amazing way. I just never in my wildest dreams imagined that that would be happening.
IGN: Yeah, for me, it’s truly fascinating to watch how Marvel’s become more and more outlandish, more and more galactic and out there.
Goyer: You have to admire what Marvel’s done. It’s really hard to create a brand, I mean, where people will follow your brand. Pixar’s done it, and now Marvel has done it. It’s really, really hard to do, because there’s not a lot of brand loyalty anymore. They’ve created a cohesive universe, so I really admire what they’ve done.
IGN: Is there a pressure for you to do the same?
Goyer: I mean, yes and no. Look, we’ve been pretty lucky with the films we’ve done so far. I think right now it’s just kind of, “More of the same, please.” I’m trying to branch off with Sandman.
IGN: I love Sandman. How are you planning to crack that?
Goyer: We’ll see. It’s tricky. There’s a reason why it hasn’t been adapted for 15, 16 years. It’s really dense and wonderful. Neil is a genius and cerebral. We’re just getting into that right now. We’ll see.
IGN: Sandman always felt like it would make sense as a TV series. Was that an approach you considered?
Goyer: I think people have tried before. Honestly, it just happened that Warner Bros. asked me if I’d take a crack at it, and I was not sure. We’re just getting into it now…
The two cents from the reporter :
Well, the guy is honest. But this interview kind of gives us all a glimpse at what’s happening behind closed doors. Listen, Marvel is different (obviously) and they set out to become THEIR OWN PRODUCTION COMPANY. With a 500 million dollar investment from Merril Lynch, Marvel set the stage for their success by branching off of the studio system and doing it their way. That was a huge gamble and, as we all know, paid off in spades.
Marvel has the final say on what properties they make into movies. And they say it’s all connected. They were and still are, at heart, an independent studio that is in full control of their properties. This to me is why they are so successful.
Now, DC on the other hand has always been owned by mega studio Warner Bros. So they don’t have the same luxury as Marvel. They have to adhere to Warner Bros. Who has to check with TIME WARNER. So there are a lot of roadblocks to telling the kind of DC Universe stories we want. Playing devil’s advocate here… It’s not a question of Marvel vs DC: it’s facts – DC has upper level management calling the shots and it’s the movie geeks who love DC properties that lose.
After reading this interview, it hit me – DC is in a precarious, unenviable position. They seem to be shooting from the hip for a reason – bottom lines. Time Warner dictates that. So yeah, we got a hell of a Batman story with Nolan’s DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY but even that took a lot of time to get off the ground. Same with Supes. One semi-sequel that failed and then, the polarizing MAN OF STEEL. So I bet DC creatives are pulling out their hair right now wanting to connect all the dots… But I fear studio politics and upper echelons of business are keeping them from doing just that
My thoughts : this is so sad lol , I'm glad I'm not a DC fan , I'm only a Batman fan (fave hero & fave universe) & after what Nolan did , they're not gonna screw him up again with the new movies they have plan, But other than that , man ......it's gotta be hard to be a DC fan right now , knowing this people have no idea what they're doing with the universe .
((
