- Are we already seeing the long-term effects
of Joss Whedon's residence in the DCEU?
The former Avengers autor has yet to make a single film
for the distinguished competition,
and yet it already feels like his influence is starting
to reshape the company's cinematic universe.
For instance, we've known for some time now
that Whedon would be coming on board to oversee reshoots
for this November's Justice League.
It was generally assumed that those reshoots
would be pretty small.
In all likelihood, just some additional Whedonesque banter
to help bolster our affection for Batfleck and crew,
but now we have set pics supposedly from these reshoots,
and the are anything but small.
Take a look at this massive set constructed
just for Whedon's pick ups.
Obviously, that thing is pretty huge,
meaning we could have been vastly underestimating
the scope of Whedon's involvement,
but maybe, even more interesting is the structure's shape.
A number of fans have noted that the half-circle archway
highly resembles the design for the Hall Of Justice
which first appeared in the 1970s Super Friends show.
And while the Hall of Justice has made appearances
in other media since, it is primarily associated
with that show and its sunnier, kid-friendly take
on the DC heroes.
If Whedon is indeed bringing it into the DCEU,
then it's safe to assume that he's also bringing a sunnier,
or at least less neck snappy vibe than the one Zack Snyder
created when he kick started the DCEU with Man of Steel.
That slightly sunnier vibe may also be getting reinforced
by the film's newly installed composer,
the hardcore industrial rock provided by Junkie XL
for the BVS soundtrack will not be making an appearance
in Justice League.
Junkie Extra Large has been replaced with arguably
one of the most iconic superhero composers
of all time, Danny Elfman.
Like Whedon, Elfman is no stranger to changing alliances
in the world of comic book movies.
He created the scores for Tim Burton's classic Batman
and Batman Returns before jumping over to Marvel
to work with Sam Raimi on his Spider-Man trilogy.
And now with Justice League, he's back in the house of bat.
But regardless of which heroes he's working with,
Elfman's work in the genre tends to be fun,
dramatic, and epic.
He creates scores more classically superheroish
than the screeching electric guitars of BVS.
And if Warner Brothers wants him back on their team,
it's probably another good sign that the company
is trying to harken back to that classic aesthetic.
And if you had any doubt that that's what's happening,
you need only listen to the folks in charge
over at DC for confirmation.
In a recent interview with Variety,
Jon Berg and Geoff Johns, the two heads of the DCEU,
copped to some of the complaints
their earlier efforts have received.
Suicide Squad "didn't work narratively," said Berg.
"You had some great casting
"and some great characterizations,
"but where the story fell down was on plot.
"We could do better."
And then, adding "'Batman v. Superman' was tonally dark.
"People didn't respond to that."
Now, it's pretty encouraging that Berg and Johns
are so up front about what's not working in the DCEU,
and if they want to correct some of these mistakes,
handing over creative control to Whedon
seems like a no-brainer.
He's an expert at keeping the overall tone of a project
fun and positive,
even while wading into some pretty dark territory,
and he's good at managing massive plots.
His two Avengers films, especially the first one,
do a pretty impeccable job of juggling
multiple characters and storylines,
and the places they trip up seem like they have more to do
with studio interference than anything else.
Now, if DC really is dedicated to the idea
of letting him work with little to no leash,
then he may not only be able to right the ship,
he may even be able to outdo his own work for Marvel.
Of course, let us not forget that we may not even be having
this conversation had someone not already started
the process of saving the DCEU,
namely director Patty Jenkins.
Now, her Wonder Woman is a rare cinematic phenomenon,
a film that most of the world seems to love,
and it has delivered DC their first ever
unqualified critical hit,
and she did it by adhering to those ideals
of hope and positivity that, until now,
the DCEU had been lacking.
Sure, Whedon had been brought on board well before
Wonder Woman was released,
but the heads of DC probably wouldn't be so vocal
about their prior film's shortcomings
if Jenkins hadn't proved already
that there was a better way.
And in the same interview,
Johns explains that he's currently working on an outline
for Wonder Woman Two with Jenkins,
and obviously we are super excited about that.
Honestly, the rest of the DCEU could fall away
and we'd be happy with just a future of stand-alone
Wonder Woman movies, but since Warner Brothers
has to keep chugging forward with these films,
we really hope that they allow more input for the woman
who brought them their first big critical hit.
At this point, she's just as qualified as Whedon,
if not more so to help shape the future of the franchise
along with the other heads of the DCEU.
But what do you folks think?
Are we going to see more from Jenkins and Whedon
in the DCEU moving forward?
And if the Hall Of Justice is coming,
could the Wonder Twins be far behind?
I kind of think that's awesome.
- [Male] That would be awesome.
- Right?
Let's discuss.
(techno music)