Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - Ultimate Edition

[AcidDragon]

Compiled all the sub-topics into one big Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice super-thread.

Jump to main thread.

[Caleb]

Uh...okay, WB.

A few weeks ago, WB announced that they were "very eager" to find a way to make Wonder Woman work in either a feature film or a TV series (that last one looks like wishful thinking; the CW's Amazon has been in development hell since just after they announced it). And, if we're judging by yesterday's news, they might've "found" a way! How, you ask?

By cramming her into Man of Steel: Batman (Man of Steel 2, for those who prefer their movie news to not be snarky), of course! Duh! I mean, why not pinch Diana in there too, right? Man Of Steel: Batman: The Rise of Wonder Woman is still slated to hit theaters in 2015, directed by Zack Snyder from a script by Dave Goyer.

Any thoughts on this new development? Or who your dream Wonder Woman is? Or just wanna swear up and down that Jennifer Garner BETTER NOT get the part?

Personally, I hate this idea. Man of Steel wasn't really interested in developing Superman as much as having him hurl Nelson Van Alden through buildings, and they still SHOULD get there at some point in a sequel. The fact that they have to reintroduce Batman means they'll be taking time away from Big Blue already. Do we really need Diana helping turn this into Man Of Steel: Batman: The Rise of Wonder Woman: In Spider-Man 3 Part 2? I'd like to see a sequel that brings the story back around to Clark, and works to establish...well, why society looks up to him after he DESTROYS Metropolis. Not a lame attempt by WB to skip those annoying world building movies on their way to Justice League.

[AcidDragon]

Oh no... I hope this doesn't happen. When I finished watching Man of Steel at the theatre with my friend, we talked about it (we both actually really enjoyed it) but when we talked sequel, he suggested putting Batman into the sequel. I was pretty much against the idea. I felt like the second movie needed to focus more on Clark/Superman's character development and also deal with the aftermath of the crazy destruction/events that had occurred in Man of Steel.

I agree and while a piece of me is thrilled at the idea of shoehorning Batman into the film in the same way that I chose comics as a child (covers that had the most characters on them, ie: Secret Wars, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Mighty Mutanimals, you get the idea), I agree that the addition of Batman will likely take away a significant amount of focus from Supes. Adding Wonder Woman in there... would just be way too much to me.

Who's my Dream Wonder Woman? Catherine Zeta Jones in the 1990s... But since that can never happen, I really have no idea. I just hope it isn't a pro-wrestling girl or ex-MMA fighter Gina Carano from Haywire. If Wonder Woman starts doing armbars and triangle chokes, I'm going to walk out of the theatre.

[Caleb]

I was 50/50 on Man of Steel. It was certainly entertaining, albeit a little too Roland Emmerich-y for my tastes - I've said it before and I'll say it again; when Superman was fighting Doomsday, he was purposefully trying to keep the big lug contained to the middle of nowhere, as far away from innocent civilians as possible. In MOS he didn't even try to pitch Zod out of the city (or Faora out of Smallville, for that matter). Just kind of felt like GoyerSnyder really wanted to blow stuff up.

But, and I don't want this to turn into a debate about whether Superman should kill or not, there's grounds for improvement. Taking Zod's life, causing all that ribald chaos...it'll definitely lead to a more responsible, more familiar (to us nerds) Superman. And, while I don't think it's the best writing choice, I can live with it. The geek in me loves having Batman in there, but the writer in me really, really hates that they're going to take time away from the main character to focus energy on developing Batman. If they cram Diana in, it's gonna be X-Men 3 all over again. You know, where none of the characters had any worthwhile development?

I really wish DC would take their time with this thing. I used to love the superhero brawl comics quite a bit, so my inner child is really hoping Man of Steel: Batman: The Rise of Wonder Woman kicks a lot of ass. But I'm really, really skeptical. I loved The Avengers, but it was light on character development - but they had five movies to build those characters. Man of Steel 2 only has one.

But, if we must have Wonder Woman...huh, 90's Zeta-Jones would've been spot on (and super sexy). Like, from her Mask of Zorro days? Yeah, I can definitely buy that. Pre-Underworld Kate Beckinsale would've been all right looks-wise, too. But today? Jeez, I'm drawing a blank. I'm strongly against Carano - I know she can handle the role physically, but she's a so-so actress (she has more presence than talent). I don't hate the idea of Gemma Arterton (Prince of Persia) or Jamie Alexander playing her. Olivias Wilde and Munn get a lot of fan support, but I think that's based on Munn's nerdiness and Wilde's weirdly ethereal looks, not their actual talent.

You know who I'd choose, actually? Peggy Carter herself; Hayley Atwell.

[Tango X]

Good call on Hayley Atwell. She's pretty, a decent actress from the little I've seen of her and she's unfamiliar enough to most audiences so that it wouldn't be distracting, ie: Ben Affleck as Batman. No way would I want Munn or Wilde as Wonder Woman. You're right there. With Munn, it's definitely because she's a nerd and guys will give her a bias vote. Wilde, well I'm just not a fan of her acting. She had some moments on House but nothing else since for me.

[AcidDragon]

Jaimie Alexander - I say she definitely has the looks for Wonder Woman. Put her in a Wonder Woman costume and I'm pretty sure I'd buy that but I haven't really seen her in anything other than Kyle XY and Thor so I can't say much to her acting ability but she was decent in XY. I don't recall her being bad in Thor, it just wasn't super memorable. She was hot, though. Haha. So far, I like her best looks-wise.

Hayley Atwell - I liked her in Cap, I don't know for Wonder Woman, but who knows? Of all the above mentioned names, though, I'd say her and Jaimie are probably my favourites so far.

[Caleb]

I mean, at least everyone's over Meagan Fox at this point. God, that'd be awful.

You're right about Wilde, Tango. I mean, she's really, really easy on the eyes, but she's just never impressed me in anything outside of the few seasons of House she was on (made more impressive when godfawful Amber Tamblyn replaced her). Heck, she was downright terrible in Rush and she just seemed confused during Cowboys & Aliens. A lot of people are clamoring for Cobie Smulders to play Diana, which just seems kind of odd to me. I mean, I know she doesn't have the embellished Canadian accent they give her on How I Met Your Mother, but still...

A buddy of mine suggested Rachel McAdams. Blecch.

[Idiot Savant]

Alexandra Deddario would be a good pick for Wonder Woman; though she's much younger than Cavill or Affleck, she's supposed to be immortal and in her original debut she looked quite young...this may hit a nerve with some but Alexandra is a decent actress and can handle action scenes especially with enough time to train. She's a decent height as well, not to mention those amazing eyes would set her apart and give her that "immortal/god-inspired" appearance.

As soon as I saw MoS, I was 50/50 too. I've said this before, but it felt like Snyder directed the first 3/4 and Michael Bay finished it...story could've been SO much better and Costner's so-called performance of Jonathan Kent was horrible; he wanted Clark to hide and never use his powers while his mom was just kinda "meh" about it...that was very disappointing to me: his parents are where Clark gets his moral center from and if they would've taught that in the movie, they could've given him more of a chance to get the right out of Smallville and Metropolis...but I digress.

Immediately I thought that adding Bats would be a great idea for the sequel, but upon thinking and reading your collective thoughts, if they had to add Bats, then do it as a here and there and keep the focus on Supey. The only other thing Bats can do is (once they get the stupid, initial "bitch-fight" out of the way) is have Bats be a mentor of sorts to Supes and get it through his thick, Kryptonian skull that he shouldn't have to kill when he has all this power.

As far as WW goes, if they add her at all, I'd rather it be a good 5 or more minutes at the end of this movie; introduce her, have time for a discussion of why she just showed up (which would tie-in originally be put into the story as a myth earlier in the movie)

[AcidDragon]

WOOHOO!! My #1 pick, Jaimie Alexander might be appearing in Superman Vs. Batman after all. I mean if it's going to happen, I'm not exactly against her getting the role. That is, if that's even who she's playing in the film or if she's involved at all, but that's very interesting indeed.

Original article to bleedingcool.com article

[Caleb]

Ah, man. I was really hoping for Atwell, but I'm okay with Alexander. They'll have to shoot her pretty creatively, though, since she's a lot shorter than Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill, and Diana's supposed to be about the same size.

I'm still not sure if it's a wise decision to rush WW into this film as well, but whatever. Diana's been around long enough to deserve her own solo film, so hopefully this is just a quick cameo. It's WB, so I'm sure the more films they can cut on their way to that elusive Avengers payday (which I'd argue is the ONLY reason they're rushing Justice League so hardcore), the better.