By Atlee Greene |
I’ve wanted to see a Superman/Batman movie since before I could tie my own shoes. The confirmation of their silver screen duet, over the weekend at Comic-Con, has left fans drooling with anticipation. I geeked out so much over the announcement that I kept rereading the announcement over and over again to assure myself this is not a prank.
Summer of 2015 is only seven hundred days away, but who’s counting?
The pairing of Superman and Batman is the best decision Warner Bros could have made for the next installment of the DC Comics cinematic universe. I’ve always believed that this needed to happen before a Justice League movie because they are the heart and soul of the team.
I have a theory, though. I don’t think The Dark Knight’s inclusion into the Man of Steel sequel was done necessarily because it was the right thing to do. Even though the Man of Steel has raked in over $635,000,000 worldwide, the film has been met with an onslaught of criticism that is either very good or very bad, with nothing in between. If the next movie was a straight forward sequel, it runs a serious risk of losing money due to fans’ disapproval of the original. This incarnation of Superman needs help. So, how does DC help their second biggest cash cow? Team him up with their biggest cash cow, Batman.
You would be hard pressed to find someone who didn’t like The Avengers movie that made $207.4 million dollars on opening weekend. Iron Man 3, the first Marvel studios movie in a post-Avengers world, earned $175 million dollars on opening weekend. Zack Snyder’s second chapter with the Last Son of Krypton needs the Caped Crusader in order to produce a similar result or make even more money.
I could speculate all day as to what will happen in the movie, but before anything goes into production, the powers that be need to address an inconvenient truth.
The single biggest problem that needs to be fixed is how do you make Batman not look like some chump in a bat costume? In this grounded version of the DC Universe, Superman could kill Batman with a sneeze. If Zod can’t beat him, what chance does the Caped Crusader have? He does it with superior intelligence and lots and lots of gadgets. The catch is that it needs to be done in a way that is naturally believable. If you can pull that off, mark my words, DC Comics and Warner Bros. will need an armada of Brinks trucks to haul away all of the money they will make on this movie.
So, who will play Batman? For my money, Armie Hammer fits the bill.
His performances in The Social Network, J. Edgar and The Lone Ranger heavily suggest that he can be a great Batman and Bruce Wayne, which is a prerequisite for the role. Plus, he’s already been cast in the role, in George Miller’s aborted Justice League Mortal film. When hearing Hammer’s voice in my head, it’s easy for me to picture him standing over a beaten Superman and uttering the epic quote from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns that ushered the films announcement at Comic-Con.
“I want you to remember, Clark. In all the years to come. In all your most private moments. I want you to remember my hand at your throat. I want you to remember the one man who beat you.”
If that line finds its way into the script, die hard fans all over the world would experience a whirl wind of emotions as The World’s Finest finally takes center stage on the silver screen after taking center stage in our hearts and imagination for what seems like a lifetime.
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