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July 2018 BOF Mailbag

Bill "Jett" Ramey

Welcome to the July 2018 edition of the Batman On Film Mailbag! Now, on to your questions!

JETT SAYS: Man, I’m not good at fan-casting.  Give me a damn good — even great — actor first and foremost.  I don’t know…how about Nicholas Hoult?  And I don’t care what some folks, say, I’d take Armie Hammer as a younger Batman in a second.  Dude’s a fine actor.  Who do you like?  Answer down in the comments section Tristan!

We don’t know if Catwoman is in the new movie or not, but if she is would you want Anne Hathaway to return, or a new actress?

JETT SAYS: Well Glenn, since this is a different continuity than THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY, I don’t see Anne Hathaway returning to the role.  So give me someone new, of course.

JETT SAYS: No idea man. Something really good and cool, I’m sure. I’d LOVE for him to do a BOND film at some point.

Thoughts on who could play a new Gordon?

JETT SAYS: Again, not good at this, but I’ll give it a go.  Kurt Russell or Bryan Cranston.  BUT, since this Batman is likely going to be younger — like between 25 and 29 — I figure Gordon is about 10 to 15 years older than Bruce Wayne.  If that’s the case, someone in late 30s to early 40s.  How about Idris Elba?

 

Although I couldn’t disagree more with Rick Shew’s opinion of how to make Robin work in live action, we’ll get another take on the character with TITANS. How does DC/Warner’s feel about the character? Is there a passion for his story or are they using him due to the Batman connection?

JETT SAYS: I’m sure the folks at DC Comics love Robin.  TITANS, however, is not really a Warner Bros. thing, so I’m not sure it matters how they feel about the character.  I don’t know if I agree with all the points Rick made in his op-ed, but I do agree with him that Robin is a tricky character to pull off in a live-action major motion picture.

Batman and Robin by Lee Bermejo (DC Comics)

JETT SAYS:  No, not concerned about Batman/Bruce Wayne being “younger” in Matt Reeves’ film at all.  As far as this being “another new Batman” — in regards to the film and the actor in the lead role — this has been happening for nearly 30 years.  The mainstream audience is used to different actors in the role and they don’t care too much about continuity.  It’s all good dude.

Knowing that you’re a big Captain Marvel fan, and the movie is post-production, let’s say there is going to be a cameo by an established DC character in the SHAZAM! movie– who, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman (which Zachary Levi said is his choice), Henry Cavill as Superman, Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam, or Affleck/someone else as Batman?

JETT SAYS: Mike, how about “none of the above or any other DC character?”  I’ve been pretty clear how I feel about this SHAZAM! movie — I think it should’ve been it’s own thing in it’s own world and DC characters should’ve been fictional, as they are in our’s.  But if I must choose from the choices you gave me, the answer is obvious: Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam.  Why?  Because he’s a Shazam/Captain Marvel character and belongs in that universe!  In fact, if SHAZAM! is a hit and we get a sequel, that’s who should be the next villain.

I posted this on your page already but I’ll ask it here for the mailbag. Was GREEN LANTERN supposed to start the DC Cinematic Universe? If so, were there any Easter eggs that fans may have missed?

JETT SAYS: GREEN LANTERN was supposed to be the DC movie equivalent of IRON MAN for Marvel. Whether or not it would’ve spawned a DC on film universe, we’ll never know.  The character of Amanda Waller was in it, so it’s assumed she could’ve been the WB/DC version of Nick Fury.  As far as Easter eggs, I can’t think of any — but frankly, I’ve only seen the film twice and I wasn’t looking for ’em anyway.

Yellow oval or no yellow oval?

JETT SAYS: Jeez, I like both.  But I prefer no yellow oval.

When are we going to get a SDCC DC trailer discussion podcast?

JETT SAYS: Dude, we’ve already dropped a VLOG and a PODCAST.  Hit the links to watch/listen.

Are you at all concerned about this new Joker film? Telling his origin aside, isn’t it a movie that hasn’t really been asked for by the public?

JETT SAYS: Nope, not at all.  As I said in this op-ed, fans are thinking “comic book,” while the filmmakers are thinking “film.”  I guarantee you it’s going to end up being nothing like most fans imagine.

Bill, you the most awesome dude on the planet! Thanks for allowing me to do nothing for BOF sir!

JETT SAYS: You’re welcome Rick Shew!

What’s one thing about TDKTrilogy you would change?

JETT SAYS: I’m not sure I’d change anything per se, but I would’ve had Oswald Cobblepott be one of the mob bosses in THE DARK KNIGHT.  Hell, The Penguin could’ve been used instead of Maroni.

Why do you think superhero franchises , when rebooting, always abandon aesthetics such as music and design elements, while franchises of other genres hold onto these things (but merely update and tweak them).

JETT SAYS: I’d say mainly because it’s a different continuity and world — and essentially a new character — and they (i.e. filmmakers) want to do something different.

ALSO READ: “Batfleck” Can Live on…in the Periphery by Bill “Jett” Ramey

Which previously announced or rumored DC property do you think has the best shot of entering active production next (aside from The Batman, Birds of Prey, Joker) and why?

JETT SAYS: BLACKHAWK because it’s Spielberg.

Bill, it’s pretty well accepted, and I believe even reported on the site, that the JUSTICE LEAGUE re-shoots ended up costing about $50 million in total, on top of what was already a very expensive film. That along with the Snyder/Whedon substitution, however you feel about it, suggests that they were trying very hard to save it and the franchise going forward.

But it’s also generally accepted that WB ultimately just wanted to dump JUSTICE LEAGUE, knowing it was going to be a box office disappointment, and move on from it as quickly as possible. This certainly seemed to be the case in the months leading up to release.

How can we reconcile those two notions, that WB spent that much time, money, and effort (and controversy) to salvage a film that they just wanted to dump and forget about? Both things seem to be true, and yet I can’t make the logic work in my head.

JETT SAYS: From what I know, the original cut of the film that was shown to WB execs in late 2016/early 2018 was bad.  Like unwatchable bad.  Thus, the decision was made to hire Joss Whedon to rewrite a good chunk of the film and direct $50 million worth of re-shoots.

Believe it or not, they got the to “it’s just OK” and that’s damn near a miracle.

Prior to release, WB knew that had a disaster on their hands — not totally due to the quality of the film, but because there was very little mainstream interest in this movie.  By the time the film was about to be released, they were ready for it to come and go and move the hell on from not only it, but from the BATMAN v SUPERMAN stuff as well.  In it’s wake, tons of changes have been made in regards to DC on film going forward in about every aspect you can think of.

So, it’s not really having to reconcile them doing two seemingly contradictory things, but simply understanding what went down and why.

Thanks everyone for the questions!  See y’all next month for the August 2018 BOF Mailbag! – Bill “Jett” Ramey 

 

 

 

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