What if the DC Cinematic Universe was as Successful as Marvel's: Fixing Batman V Superman

This is part 3 of a 3 part series on the DC cinematic universe. You can check out parts 1 and 2 in the links right here.

Part 1: Green Lantern
Part 2: Man of Steel

Whether you love or hate what DC has done with their cinematic universe you have to admit it's been a tough year. People came out of Man of Steel with mixed feelings but most were excited for Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad. And while most people agree Suicide Squad has been the best movie they've released so far, Batman V Superman has really divided fans. Most people absolutely hated it and a few brave fans have been relentlessly defending it.

Wether you like it or hate it it's pretty clear that there's a large very vocal group of detractors, on top of that most critics didn't like it either. So with Batman v Superman hated, people kinda meh on Suicide Squad and then people's outrage at the animated version of "The Killing Joke" A brilliant comic, no matter what the writer thinks about it now, pissing off comic book fans and leaving them feeling betrayed. All in all, DC has not had a great 2016. But hey, maybe Lego Batman 3 will be as much fun as the first two....

Personally I'm a bit conflicted myself. There were things that I thought were mighty awesome.

And there were things that I absolutely hated.

Many, Many things that I absolutely hated.

Now before you try to go off on how I didn't understand the film or that I didn't get how deep it was, let me tell you, I get the deeper meanings they were going for. I've thought about this movie much more than any human probably should and I think they were aiming at a really interesting movie, but they just got too bogged down in trying to make the movie look cool.

I see what direction they were running but I just think they fumbled the ball. It's as if someone who had no understanding of these characters just really wanted them to fight like they did in the dark knight returns while not understanding that the reason people love that comic is for many reasons and the fight with Superman was just the whipped cream on the sunday. And that's just what the fight in this movie seemed like, empty calories with no substance. Which I suspect is the reason the reviews are so bad.

The last film I did won best picture....

But I can see the film they were trying to go for deep down. Just a fair warning for all the people who care enough about this movie to not want it spoiled and yet for some reason haven't seen it yet even though it's already available on Blu Ray. Spoilers Ahead.



So Batman v Superman is the story of an old jaded Batman feeling threatened by the presence of Superman. As is baby billionaire Lex Luthor hates God or even the concept of him. Blaming God for now protecting him from his own abusive father. He hatches a plan to take down the Superman. Superman, doing everything he can to help people is becoming disillusioned with his own mission as he realizes that even at full power he still can't save everyone. Lex comes up with a completely implausible and possibly impossible plan with dozens of variables that he has no power over. The plan puts Superman and Batman at odds because he clearly already knows who both of them are. While feeding into Batman's paranoia, and building up Superman's distrust of Batman he brings things to a head by kidnapping Superman's mom and threatening to kill her if he doesn't kill Batman just at the moment that Batman makes up his mind to murder Superman and has set up all of his traps to do it. They wrestle for a while but become "friends" when they find out their mom has the same name and that Batman himself has become the villain of this story. They team up to save Superman's mom and stop Lex who seemed to assume his entire overly complex Batman v Superman plan wouldn't pan out so he's already created Doomsday by the time they find him.

 They team up with Wonder Woman who has been just kinda here the whole time.

But in order to make the final blow Superman has to sacrifice himself to save the world. Batman seemingly has been changed by all this, he no longer wants to kill but instead wants to team up with others. Lex states that we've set of a beacon and more enemies will come for us. Also Superman clearly isn't dead.



Now what deeper meanings was Zack Snyder trying to get across.

Batman having lost faith in humanity, doesn't trust any being with that much power. Batman is still shaken by the loss of Robin, who we can assume was murdered by the Joker as he was in the comics. This left him feeling helpless and hopeless. His methods, again a they did in the comics became more cruel and harsh. He blames Superman for the death of his friend and this also adds to his sense of hopelessness. He then becomes fixated on Superman, obsessed really. He feels that his killing him is the one thing he can do with his life that will have real meaning. A way of repenting for all of the people he's failed to save over the years. Alfred tries to talk some sense into him but it doesn't seem to help very much. Over the course of the film Batman realizes he was wrong. That moment coming when he realizes that Superman was just trying to save his mother, and Batman was preventing that. In his quest to save lives by punishing the guilty he realized that he was now the one in the way of saving lives. You can see this in the way he tosses the spear away like a kid who just struck out during the big game. Afterward you can further see that he's changed in the fact that he doesn't use the Bat-Brand (a indirect means of execution) on Lex Luthor. He instead smashes a wall. A sign that maybe he's decided to revert from his killing ways.

Superman's arc was his frustration with people and his inability to save everyone. In Man of Steel he wanted to stay hidden because people may fear him. In this one he's going all out trying to save people but still many still get hurt. We saw that in the conflict in Africa in the opening. I assume he was so busy sweeping Lois off her feet he didn't hear everyone getting shot. We also see it when Lex sets of a bomb during the court hearings. As much as some people see him as a savior others see him as a threat. It really pushes the Jesus allegory as many Superman films are guilty of doing. At the same time he is growing more concerned with the Batman because of his extreme methods. Batman feels order has to come from fear of punishment. Superman believes people can be enlightened by hope and love. And much like any religious figure, the only people who seem to appreciate him are the people who need him the most. People who had power before he came onto the scene see him only as a threat. Lex, Government, Batman etc. Superman in a dream sequence with his father realizes that he will never be able to save everyone, and that he'll never have the trust of everyone either. But he decides in that minute that it doesn't matter. He's still Superman, he's still the world's saviour and he has to keep trying, even if the job is impossible. He believes this so much after Lex creates Doomsday, he immediately saves Lex's life when Doomsday tries to squash him.  He proves this when he sacrifices his life to save the Planet from an unkillable killing machine.


While I think these are really interesting themes to explore with these characters.Problem is the movie is bogged down with slow motion shots, a rehash of Batman's parents deaths, dream sequences, a straight up advertisement for the Justice League movie, and the stupid Superman and Batman fight.

In order to really fix that movie it would take some major changes and one of the biggest ones is it's major premise. Batman fighting Superman. That was the storyline that was weakest to the film. I know, there are tons of 12 year olds who are dying to see the two of them battle it out, but contextually it made no sense. I would love to really rant about this but plenty of people have brought up why that fight they had in the warehouse was one of the most contrived climaxes I've ever seen outside of a really poorly written romantic comedy. If this movie is to be helped they need to drop that storyline. But not entirely, Batman still doesn't trust Superman so he wants to get some Kryptonite just in case. And that is key. He want's it just in case Superman goes bad. He doesn't know that's going to happen so he doesn't want to just kill the guy.

Batman was always mean but not this cruel. Never sadistic enough to taunt a man before he murders him. 

 My main problem with the way it is in the film now is that Batman is fine killing a guy just because he's an alien. If you're a fan of the comics you know that Batman runs into non-human creatures all the time. The thought of him completely disregarding killing one is troubling.


Mind you I'm not saying that they need to make them friends from the start. They should totally not trust each other but why waste an entire film building to a fight when we know going in that they're just going to team up. In fact we got to see it in the damn promos. This film had zero stakes. That entire part of the story should have been dropped because we already know that they aren't going to actually kill each other. So what we're doing is just wasting time.

Instead the film should have focused on those storylines and their distrust of each other but really Lex's master plan. In the end they may squabble briefly like they did in the Superman animated series of the 90's but eventually they realize that they make a better team.

So how do we deflate this whole fight between them. Change the title of the damn movie. Seriously, by titling it Batman v Superman they promised a contrived fight. Instead call it Batman and Superman. Or since Wonder Woman was crowbarred in why not call it The World's Finest, after the comic. Drop the dream sequences and drop Batman's plan to kill Superman. Just say that he want's an insurance policy in case this guy goes crazy as most people do.

Now can a Batman v Superman movie actually work? Absolutely, but not when the two are strangers. This movie reeks of studio interference pushing for a huge fight between these two. And I want to vomit anytime someone compares this movie to The Dark Knight Returns because they actually had motivation in that story. Batman needed to fake his death and teach Superman a lesson, Superman was trying to save Batman's life because he knew the government was going to kill him. Batman v Superman should have been the last movie with these two, not the first. That way since everyone knows that this is the last film in the franchize that the stakes are real. One of them could really die, or they could end up hating each other. The stakes would actually be real.

Then we really need to drop the entire scene where Wonder Woman advertises the Justice League looking from character to character. Why not just show the logos briefly, or maybe small images of the footage on screen for superfans to blow up and show on youtube clips about easter eggs. To sit there and watch each one felt so goddamn hamfisted. There was an almost audible cringe from the whole audience.

This is still the best iteration of the Justice League outside of the comics for my money

So this film needs to do a few things.
1. Change the title so people aren't there waiting for some epic fight.
2. Keep Batman as being crazy, paranoid, and jaded but on a mission to stop Superman, not kill him.
3. Tell Lex to tone it down just a tad though I don't think his performance was as bad as most people made him out to be.
4. Have the Batman v Superman fight a bit more about Batman telling him to back off and not a plan to kill him.
5. Make Batman's repentance a bit clearer.
6.  Redo that shitty CGI on Doomsday.
7. And be a little more subtle with you Justice League easter eggs. Can we even call those easter eggs?
8. Get rid of those dream sequences.
9. Let Superman smile damnit.

So we start by changing the title from Batman v Superman to Dawn of Justice, Batman and Superman, or The World's Finest (after the comic book)

Now how do we structure this film? Fortunately the film has so many elements and so many random threads you can eliminate the whole Batman Superman fight and still have it make sense.

Firstly let's keep the first scene shot for shot. Everyone running away from the explosions and Bruce Wayne running into the smoke. He still finds a little girl orphaned by the incident paralleling himself and mirroring Batman loosing his parents.

The film should emphasize that Bruce has changed since Jason was killed and that he's meaner and harsher.

Let Superman be Superman and actually happy to be saving folks instead of being so damn somber all the time.

Batman doesn't trust him and investigates ways to stop or  even kill him. While Alfred gets more and more worried about his paranoia and his solitude.

Lex Luthor sets on his plan to spread distrust of Superman and find a way to stop him. First by getting the Kryptonite which he plans to get out to criminals through KGBeast and distribute. Batman stops this but instead of destroying the Kryptonite as Alfred suggests he keeps it. Lex non plussed about this because he still has some. He again uses it to go onto the Kryptonian ship to create doomsday.

While working with Wonder Woman Batman finds the same files about other heroes, but instead of watching them all we see them all playing at once on different screens. Something for people to take and decipher later.

Lex knowing that Batman took the Kryptonite decides to play them against each other. Sending the photos and other stuff.
Superman wants Batman to stop because he believes he's gone to far with the Bat-Brand. He reminds him of what the symbol of the Bat meant but Batman isn't having any of it.

Alfred wants him again he's on a destructive path and Bruce tells him that his weakness before was what let Robin get killed.

They need to reshoot the scene where they kidnap Superman's mom. Superman has super hearing and would hear her screaming. So they need to either shoot her with a tranquilizer or chloroform her so there's no struggle.

Lex tells Superman that he needs to turn himself and the Batman in to the police. Not that he wants him to kill him. I know it's Superman's mom but these heroes would never kill each other. However Lex telling Supes that he needs to get them to turn in their resignation to the police or else his mom dies is sufficient.

When Superman comes to him Batman while he's in the Bat-Wing sees it as him coming to attack. So Batman fires on him. Superman flies up and yanks batman out of the ship while it's still flying. He say's "I don't have time for this." "Batman says "Neither do I" as he uses his Kryptonite gas on him.

This makes the two fall and land in the warehouse. Superman makes clear efforts to try and talk to Batman but he has so many gadgets that go off and break his concentration. This shows off just how crafty Batman can be, even for a fight he wasn't prepared for.

He says probably the most awesome line from this movie. "My Parents taught me a lesson dying in  the gutter for no reason. This world only makes sense when you force it to."

 Superman replies "I didn't come to fight I came to make you listen." Superman puts up his hands signaling that he isn't going to fight anymore. Batman takes this as an opening and he brings out the Kryptonite which he uses to beat Superman's face in and Superman does not block the hits and just takes it.

 He shouts, "I told you to stay out of my city! What are you doing here? What do you want?" Groggily Superman says "He's going to kill my mother." This causes Batman to pause. "My mom, Luthor kidnapped her and said he'll kill her within the hour if you and I both didn't turn ourselves in." Lois comes and she and Superman have a moment. Again humanizing him. Batman drops his Kryptonite. (He does not throw it melodramatically) From here things go in the same way they do in the movie. Batman saves Martha, Superman confronts Lex. But Lex should reveal the whole thing with Batman was just a distraction as he knew neither of them were killers at heart. He however has brought doomsday to life who immediately tries to kill Lex but Superman jumps in and saves Lex, telling him to run as he stops it's fist. Superman takes a Nuke to the face and Wonder Woman comes in to battle the monster.

When he revives he comes down and they battle together for an amazing three way fight. Wonder Woman keeps cutting it with her magical sword but the parts seem to grow back. Superman realizes what he must do and now Lois has the Kryptonite. He asks for it and says it's too dangerous, that it will weaken him and maybe kill him. He says he has to, because the monster is his to fight. It was made to stop him and he can't let anyone else get hurt on his account. And this is key, after they embrace and before he flies off he smiles at her. Superman picks up the kryptonite with his bare hand and with a bloody fist he flies into Doomsday and smashes it into the monster's chest. Doomsday kills Superman at the same time and they both fall over (seemingly) dead.

After this the movie progresses as it did theatrically except there should be more scenes of Superman's biggest detractors being either booed or having trouble talking publicly because people chant Su Per Man during their tv shows. This is all to show that in death Superman has finally reached that beloved status that we know him for.

The movie continues on with Batman visiting Lex in prison, having the same conversation. But instead of just being a crazy asshole. Lex mentions that he'll never stay in prison, because the world is going to need minds like his. The Bell has been rung and when something worse comes along, without Superman, the world will have to come to him and his brilliance for protection. Batman again smashes the Bat Brand into the wall.

In the funeral scene batman tosses the brand away, showing that he's done with that side of himself. He's no longer a killer.

And for the love of God put the floating rocks in the after the credit sequence.

So that's it. Just a few ways to help the DC movie series as it stands so far. I know that no one is listening really and that most likely no one at the movie studios is watching, but I really hope that we can have a great franchize out of DC as I truly love those characters.

Batman and Superman are my favorite comic characters ever and at the end of the day there's nothing I want more than to see them done right on the silver screen.

What if the DC Cinematic Universe Was as Good as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Part 2): Man of Steel

Man of Steel really divided lots of fans. Lots of people loved it, and a number of people hated it. I was somewhere in between. I thought that Man of Steel was a good movie, but there was a truly great movie hidden in there if they could just fix a couple of missteps. So today, let's talk about what it would be like if the DC cinematic universe was just as good or better than the Marvel Cinematic universe. If you haven't seen it already be sure to check out Part 1 where we talk about Green Lantern. 

But now lets take a look at Man of Steel and how it could be done better. Whether you love or hate the film you must realize that it alienated long time fans of the character. Let's see if we can take this new take on Superman and not piss off people who have been fans of his for years.
While some choices may have been mistakes, they still got so much about that movie right. So first we should look at all the things Man of Steel did great. 

Krypton: Everything on Krypton was awesome. It really reminds you that Superman is in fact from an alien planet.... And alien planet where they speak english... but that's just how comic books work. I really liked the way Zod was introduced. You get to see just how deadly he is from the beginning, and I like that they hint that he and Zor-El were friends. I think that seeing the technology of the land of the Kryptonians really reminds us of why Superman's nickname was "The Man of Tomorrow" in the golden era. 

Not so Secret Identity: The fact that just about everyone knows that Superman is Clark actually works pretty well in the movie. The fact is, Superman was created in a different era. One where you could get away with a character disguising his identity with glasses. I know that seems silly but let's not forget that many characters still disguise their identity with a domino mask. 

What, How did you know it was me? I kept my cheekbones hidden. 

Today we have facial recognition technology and camera phones in the hands of literally over 90% of the adult population.   But putting Supes into a realistic world gave the writers limited options. They could have given Superman a Mask. But most people would agree that hiding Superman behind a mask defeats the purpose of Superman. He needs to be seen and to smile. That's why he's the Superhero that most people trust. Superman doesn't wear a mask because he's one of the only heros powerful enough to not need one. The other option is to disguise Clark Kent. Possibly giving him a fake goatee or something to hide his face. They've already said in the comics that Clark padds his suits so he looks more portly than buff. Instead they went with option 3 where anyone close to him, including pretty much the entire town of smallville, knows that Superman and Clark Kent are one in the same. 

Zod and Faora were phenomenal villains. They were an unstoppable force and through the movie the Audience really worried about how in the hell Superman could actually stop these guys. Sure he's been on earth longer, but he really has no advantages. They outnumber him, they're trained fighters while he isn't, they have technology and access to ships and weapons, and lastly they don't care how much collateral damage they do to the planet. 

Lastly I loved the tiny easter eggs of the larger universe. Having a Wayne Tech Satellite and a Lex Corp building were great ways to show that there's so much more happening in this universe. 

While the movie did so much good there were a few missteps. However while there were relatively few, they were some pretty fucking BIG missteps. 

Pa Kent - You never once get the loving side of Pa Kent in this film. Superman always said he got his values from his family and farm living. Yet in this movie Clark gets yelled at for saving a school bus full of kids. Let me repeat that He saves a busload of school children and Pa Kent get's mad! When he asks, what was I supposed to do, let them die, Pa replies "maybe". What the fuck! Look, I love the idea that Pa warns him not to let his powers become public because people aren't ready. But that line of dialogue was unforgivable. There's no way our here's mentor should have told him to let a bus load of kids drown in a river. So they can keep some of those elements, but they also needed a scene of Pa showing compassion or trying to help people. The way he's portrayed in the movie, he seems to only care about his own kid and doesn't give to shits about saving anyone else. Pretty much the same values as ....

Those guys are saps, cuz they fight for people that ain't family. - Sonny Corleone

Then there's the issue of the his death. Where his dad tells him not to save him because no one can know his secret. And Superman listens. No, no NOPE. Tell me this if your Mom or Dad said no son, don't try and save me, protect yourself would you listen??? No, no you wouldn't you'd save them anyway. I always loved the way Pa Kent dies in the comics, of the heart attack. Superboy, with all his strength and powers, can't do anything to save him. A huge lesson on his limitations and he learns that he can't save everyone. 

Then there's the fact that Superman has almost no charm in this movie. Henry Cavil is a charming guy, but in this movie he never has a funny moment with Lois or his Mom. He's just somber, through the whole film. I get that this is a broody Superman, but he acts more like Batman than anything else for most of this film. I hate to say it but I really missed that Christopher Reeves smile 

The last problem is the overblown fight at the loss of human life. Yes the fight has really cool moments, but there seemed to be a lack of stakes on the side of the Kryptonians. They never showed signs of being hurt, so it just looked like a wrestling match in a china shop. The two guys are just having fun while everything around them topples over and breaks. 

Now I personally understand why superman couldn't save more people in Metropolis. He was getting his ass kicked. But they could have made an effort to show that Superman was avoiding killing anyone. Or even tried to draw Zod away from places where people where. 

So I think that Man of Steel could be a great movie with just a few changes to circumvent the missteps and biggest complaints that lots of DC fans had with the movie. 

Let Pa Kent show some compassion for people outside of his family. Two of the best moments of young Superman's story was where his Dat tells him that "you are my son" when Clark finds out that he's an alien. And the scene where Superman is freaking out at school and his mother helps him find a center. They just need to cut the line where Pa considers that his son should have let a busload of kids die. 

Cut the Pa Kent death scene. This was something they really should have gone back to the comics for. Having Pa's heart just give out one day. Maybe because of something Clark did, maybe not but Clark has to pick him up and run him to the hospital. The Doctor or Nurse comes out to tell him theres nothing that can be done. And clark won't accept it, he says "I can do things, Tell me what we need, I have to save him" The doctor has to tell him, " I know you can Clark, we all do.. but you can't save everyone, sometimes it's just someone's time." I think this is a huge message about Superman and what sort of Man he wants to become. Also since he's a teenager here, this would be a great moment for them to introduce a young Lana Lang. Maybe Superman just has a thing for women with the initials LL. 

Have the Kryptonians released by humans, instead of them finding earth on their own.  While I really liked how smart and powerful the Kryptonians escaping on their own was, it undercut the seriousness of the Phantom Zone. They never really explained it in this version but somehow Zod and the rest of his crew escapes on their own. Now either they can be released, or we need to find some way to explain how while they were able to escape once, they were never able to do it again. Once they get out they escape into space in their ship, but return when they realize that Kal-El, the last hope for rebuilding Krypton is still on the earth. Also they need to change their plan. Turning the Earth into Krypton is a stupid, stupid, STUPID plan. Seriously you find a planet that basically makes you invincible and your response is "boy I hate being an unstoppable machine that can fly, let's make ourselves weak and vulnerable again." To make Zod and his plans a larger threat he should hae said he was going to create a Kryptonian Army. Once they have control over all of Earth, they'll move on to planet to planet naming them all in the name of Zod's empire and the new Krypton. Imagine an entire race of Supermen, all of them that strong. They'd be unstoppable. 

Another thing we need is blood. Now don't get me wrong I'm not looking for Mortal Kombat levels of gore or anything but Superman needs to bleed. While it makes sense that his skin is harder than diamonds and can't be penetrated by bullets, the Kryptonians are at his level of strength. Faora may event taunt Clark, telling him that he's never known true pain because nothing has been strong enough to hurt him. "I am well versed in pain. Any real solider is." She can tell him as she breaks his arm or a few ribs. Then tells him if she can break his bones, then surely she can sever his spine, this is his final offer to submit to the rule of Zod. This ups the stakes because now we know that as powerful as Supes is, these things could possibly beat him to death. In the current film, with no blood I found myself wondering if any of this even hurt. It just looks like kids popping through lego buildings. We need to show that Superman is in  real danger. Of course there can be a scene with him above the clouds in the sunlight where he heals his broken arm and ribs. This scene would also be important because it drives one of the themes of the movie. Superman feeling like he doesn't belong. Faora telling him that he should join them because he's one of them, of the same blood, and reminding him that he's not human and will always  be an outsider. That humankind isn't his kind and that he needs to join the Kryptonians. That makes his choices at the end of the movie that much more impactful.

In the battle for Metropolis since this is a crossover movie I honestly think they should consider having the Green Lantern's show up. Since it's already established that they live in the universe, and that John Stewart and Hal Jordan are in charge of alien related crimes it would be pretty strange if they don't show up to an alien invasion. You could even have a great moment when they're batting at Zod, with 3 story tall baseball bats and Superman says the line "I'm really glad those two are on my side." A repeat of the line the Green Lanterns said about him when he appeared in their film. 

The climax get's pivotal and it's the place I would like to make the most changes. 

Zod is going to take Metropolis because he sees it as Earth's greatest city. He wants to make it the capital of New Krypton. Plus he's pissed at Superman for not joining him. He's got a machine that's destroying the city so he can build that creepy baby making thing they had back on Krypton. 

Superman, who Zod thought was taken out by his minions, slams into his ship landing in the middle. Zod says, "How did you..." "I had a little help." Superman replies, referencing the Green Lanterns who are fighting off Zod's crew. Superman gets ready to heat vision the whole ship but Zod says "Wait! If you destroy this ship you destroy Krypton." and just like in the original film Superman stops to think. Then Zod turns on the hologram of Zor-El. Then Zod continues " You father's memory is on this ship. You have so much to learn from him. If you destroy it, you kill your father... again." Superman looks, concerned possibly with tears in his eyes.  

He shouldn't go this big with it but that look in his eyes just before he screams is great. 

Superman looks back up and says "Krypton had it's chance. Earth is my home now." Then he lazers the shit out of the ship before Zod can get to him. Effectively killing his second father again. He blamed himself for his earth fathers death and now he's lost his Kryptonian father as well, and this time it's by his own hand.

This scene is pivotal and in the movie, and the way it appears in Man of Steel now it's just a throw away line. But it really should have so much meaning and impact, it deserves a better reading. Superman spent his whole life wondering who or what he was. He's just found out who his parents are and what his history is, but in this moment, even though he's finally found people who are just like him, he chooses Earth and his adopted family over Krypton.

In the movie when this happens the ship crashes into multiple skyscrapers, which is a cool shot but a wasteful one. We need to show that Superman still sees' saving lives as his top priority. He uses X-ray vision and telescope vision to see that there are still innocents in that building that the ship is about to crash into. He zooms forward to the front of the burning crashing ship and begins pushing. The ship is big and powerful, it looks like theres now way he'll stop it in time. He turns around and puts his back up against the ship and pushes with all his might and he is able to divert it just enough to crash it into the ocean. This shows not only that he's trying to save people in the chaos, but also having spaceships land in the deep of the Atlantic ocean is a great way to lead into the future Aquaman movie, as Aquaman's primary gripe with humans is that we keep polluting his oceans. 

After that we cut to the Government who still distrusts superman but they are trying to get the machine that creates portals to the phantom zone to turn back on work. They have a team of the best minds in the US working on it led by Dr. Emil Hamilton, one of the workers being John Henry Irons. During the climax they radio in that they've finally gotten the phantom zone machine to work. General Swanwick tells them to get it ready to use on the Kryptonians. He clarifies by adding "All of them". 

Zod is pissed and want's revenge. Superman and Zod have their fight. Through the fight they show that Superman tries to lure Zod away from innocent people. Zod using this to his advantage putting people in danger when he needs to get the upper hand in the fight. 

The Green Lanterns are able to work with the humans to get the other Kryptonians into the Phantom Zone. Then they try to fly the phantom zone machine over to to Zod and Superman in the helicopter as the Lanterns begin helping people in the crumbling buildings. 

We come to the same climactic moment from the film. Superman, Zod, land in a train station and Lois is on her way. Zod rants that he is going to kill each and every human with his bare hands and he vows to make Superman watch. 

Just then the helicopter shows up with the phantom zone device. They want to point it at Zod but they'll trap Superman too. The General tells them to do it. Dr Hamilton has second thoughts, and doesn't want to. The General yells at him over the radio, to do it, if not for himself for the safety of his planet and that it's the only way. He fires the weapon but at the last second Zod sees it, he pulls himself and Superman out of the way. 

Both look at the wormhole they created. Zod tells him, "You see! They never trusted you. You will always be an outsider to them, they just tried to send us both into that hell. For everything you've done for them, they could give just get rid of you like that. " Superman is shaken and looks directly at Hamilton who looks down and won't make eye contact ashamed. 

Zod enraged shouts, "Now they'll all pay" He says. He tries to laser a helpless family but Superman shouts no and grabs his head, putting him into the same headlock that he did in the movie. This (the only slow motion shot in the movie) Superman looks at Zod, full of rage, he looks at the army guys and Hamilton, all afraid, He sees the family cowering in the corner. Then at that moment Lois has arrived. He looks at her, and in his eyes you can see he remembers how much cares about her and then he knows what he has to do. He looks at Lois and smiles slightly in that "everything is going to be okay" manner, she realizes what he's thinking and shouts "NO!", Superman hits Zod in the head temporarily stunning him. He wraps his arms around him, then he leaps backward into the portal into the Phantom Zone dragging Zod with him. On General Swanwick's order they close the portal trapping both Zod and Superman in the portal. 

The General says they'll be there in a few minutes, they need to see about destroying that machine so none of them have any way of getting out of the Phantom Zone. 

While he's on his way Lois talks to them telling them they have to let Superman out. Hamilton  replies that he has his orders. She gives an impassioned speech about everything Superman has done for them. How he's sacrificed himself to save the world. How the world needs him, it needs people like him, what he stands for. He tells them that if we can't even trust him then we don't deserve to have him. They reply that we can't, I can't. And she adds what would he be willing to risk if the roles were reversed. All the time we see that General Swanwick is getting closer and closer. His helicopter lands. Hamilton is thinking. He gets out and begins to run in, Hamilton is looking at the machine and hitting buttons, He gets to the door and just as he opens it a bring flash of light and Superman appears. Dizzy and drained. Lois runs up and holds him. " I never thought I was going to see you again." "Neither did I." He replies. 

The General comes in, looks pissed and when he turns to Hamilton he sees that he's already smashed the machine. 

Lois leans in to kiss Superman and just as their lips touch his senses come back and he jerks back. His eyes searching like he can hear something. He says "Lois, there's people, in the rubble... I ..." Lois nods, Superman jests away to help trapped people. Lois is looking up in the sky and whispers "Go get 'em Superman." Fades to white.  This again shows that saving lives is more important than making out with your girlfriend, and it also displays one of the central problems their relationship is going to have. Lois has to share Superman to the world and never really has him to herself because he constantly has to save people.

If the aftermath scenes, with the same voiceover from the original movie, you see that Superman helped not only pull folks out of the rubble but he helped rebuild the city. Hamilton talking to an angry General, it's clear from the motions that he's telling him that he cannot fix the Phantom Zone machine (until Lex Luthor get's his hands on it but thats a story for a much later movie). Clark getting ready for his new job at the Daily Plant. And the movie should end on that absolutely perfect final line of Lois Lane going "So, Mr. Kent, Welcome to the Planet"

Since everyone wants stingers in these post credits or mid the credits scenes. I would personally cut to a shot of deep space and a portal opening up and large spaceship comes through. The space ship begins sending radio signals: "Reporting disturbances from sector ------- of space. Local activity suggests a 96.3927% probability we have found subject -------. Then a voice replies through the radio " Subject --------. You've found the last Kryptonian! At what location!" "Planet ------- Locals refer to it as earth." There's a pause. Then the other voice says "Transmit coordinates and return to base." That really large ship rockets forward into the port for a massive death star sized ship. The ship seems to me made of shifting metal. On the sides of the ship the metal shifts to form this symbol

The Symbol of Brainiac. 

Why all the changes.

The reason I made all of those changes to the ending is because of all of the criticisms that Man of Steel has gotten. Having Superman make saving folks his top priority can be shown by just a few minor alterations to a few scenes. And there's no way in hell Superman would be making out with his girlfriend while people suffocate under the rubble of the buildings. 

Also having Superman not kill Zod has multiple advantages. One he doesn't kill a dude, a line that Superman is way too powerful to cross. Two he again shows that he's ready to sacrifice himself in order save human lives. Three having Lois and other humans save him shows that people do have faith in what he's doing. That there are people who believe in him even if it means risking their career. It resolves the question that he and his Dad asked earlier in the film, will people love him or hate him, and the film would answer: BOTH. Some loved him enough to support him and save him from the phantom zone, and others still don't trust him like the General. 

At the end of the day, Man Of Steel did so much right. I have always hated that all of it's good is overshadowed by the missteps that the movie made. 

Anyhow that's Part 2. Next I guess would be Part 3: Batman v. Superman...... But, I'm gonna need a drink first. 

What if the DC Cinematic Universe Was as Good as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Part 1)

With the disappointment that was Batman V Superman igniting tons of douche bags with their constant Marvel vs. DC or Batman vs Superman discussions. I'm left wondering.... what if these movies were great! I mean what if they were really great.

Now I don't want to insult anyone who likes the current DC movies. I think that they may appeal to some newer audiences. Don't get me wrong, I am all for evolving the characters but they seem to have regressed some of my favorite superheroes. And you can't argue that people aren't kinda pissed about how the characters were treated in the new movie.

So, I just wonder if there is a way to keep parts of these interesting new interpretations while staying true to the original characters and not pissing off the fans. Rewatching Man of Steel and some of the other films I feel like there are a few small and a few big changes that can be made to uncover a really awesome movie.

So this is clearly too big a job for just one post so I'll spread it into a few post focusing on different movies in each one.

I think it would be good to start out with the first DC movie outside of the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight universe which is really it's own thing. So let's look at Green Lantern from 2011. Back when Marvel itself had only released 3 films in it's new continuity. Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man 2.

Green Lantern

Boy oh boy did this film have troubles. What's frustrating is that the Green Lantern Corps and universe is a fantastic place to start a new series. We'd open up with a space opera and it would be easy from there to introduce more of the more outlandish characters in the DC universe.

As it stands Green Lantern was kind of a mess of a movie. It overused CGI and even after spending millions on it, the effects looked terrible. We have a good intro to the character but we don't really get a sense of how powerful a Green Lantern can be. Also you never really get the bigger picture because the movie spends its entire runtime on earth, without spending any time developing the Corps or the fact that GL actually has to watch over a number of planets that just include Earth. Now I think they got a number of things right in this movie but they got a whole lot wrong. Here are a couple of things that they could have done to make Green Lantern not only a successful franchise but a start of the DC universe.

Choosing the Characters

A Green Lantern film needs a relatable character to introduce us to this universe. Remember most people don't know who Green Lantern is, nor that he's part of the DC universe. They currently went with Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan.


This may have been their first mistake. The original Green Lantern was Alan Scott but the character was reintroduced with Hal Jordan. Eventually Hal moved on and we got new Green Lanterns like Joh Stewart, Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardener, and Simon Baz. Because the comics decided to bring back the Hal Jordan character DC seemed to have sent out this Memo that this was the only Green Lantern we'd see in all media. That was a huge mistake.

Most people who grew up in the 90's had their first introduction to the Justice League through Bruce Timm's animated Universe. And in this Universe the Green Lantern they went with was John Stewart.


Bruce Timm stated on the DVD commentary that there was no way he was going to make a show about a bunch of white guys ruling over the planet. This prompted him to include the only African American Green Lantern as well as HawkGirl, as founding members of the Justice League.

As awesome as the Marvel extended universe is, the DC animated universe included 8 separate tv series and 4 movies. It's still the best example of world building I can think of

For the films, not only did they choose a character that most people were unfamiliar with, they alienated a good portion of the people that did know the character by excluding John Stewart. Lots of people who watched that show, never got into the comics and consequently they only know John Stewart as the Green Lantern. And this movie paid John Stewart with the ultimate disrespect of not even mentioning him at all.

Christ DC!!! What the fuck were you thinking?!?

 What's even worse is DC tried to do what the Walking Dead TV show did in seasons 1 - 3,  and just replace him with another black guy in hopes we didn't notice. I'm sorry but Cyborg and John Stewart are not equals. Cyborg is a cool character but he's just a kid and lacks the military bachground that John Stewart has, which gives him the strength to stand up to Superman and Batman.

I know what you're thinking, DC isn't going to risk their new franchise on an African American lead. I mean sure they're afraid the same reason Marvel is, because movies with black protagonists don't do so well overseas. But here's an option: why not include both? I know it will divide our attention to have both Hal Jordan and John Stewart in the same movie, but that would allow them and their vastly different character types to play off each other in a buddy cop sort of way. Hal Jordan is a cocky, handsome, quick witted, but incredibly talented and brave pilot. John Stewart is dutiful, resolute, brave, and a born strategist and leader.

Lot's of chances for drama here

Since both are with the military we can place them both in the air force. John, being the meticulous and seasoned military man, will undoubtedly butt heads with Hal who may be excessively tardy and a showboat. As they're trained by Kilowag and Sinestro they eventually grow a mutual respect that becomes a friendship.

Also Ryan Reynolds as charming as he is, may not have been the best choice for Hal. I looove Ryan Reynolds, and he was a perfect Deadpool. But our Hal should be a bit younger. Perhaps an actor like Chris Pine, who has already shown he can portray that sort of character brilliantly in the Star Trek reboot. John Stewart could be played by a number of people. I personally thing that Idris Elba would have played it well. Especially considering back in the late 2000's he was saying that he'd like to play a superhero.

If nothing else a move like having John Stewart as the central character would already put them a huge step ahead of Marvel in the sense that they'd already have a film with an African American lead. Something Marvel still hasn't done and doesn't plan to do until the Black Panther movie, which will be 18 movies and 3 phases in. I mean think about that, something Marvel has failed to do for the first two and a half phases and ten years. DC could have done this right out the gate back in 2011.

The Villain

Parallax was a bad villain. I can't put that plainer. Between this, the Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and Ang Lee's Hulk, it's pretty clear audiences don't respond to giant clouds as villains. While I'm sure that Parallax can be done well, the filmmakers didn't do a good job of portraying it on screen. People aren't afraid of enemies that are just giant evil masses. What's frustrating is that they had a whole universe to pick from. Keeping more of the movie in space and dealing with interplanetary struggles would have allowed them to choose any of the Green Lantern Corps intergalactic enemies.

At the end of the day the villain just wasn't interesting. There are tons of different types of villains but there are 4 key attributes you can use when making your villain interesting. Just about all great villains pull from one or more of these things. 

• The Scary Villain ex. The Terminator, The Jew Hunter (Inglorious Bastards), Darth Vader, Shere Khan (the Jungle Book), The Huns (Mulan)
• The Charismatic Villain ex. Hans Gruber, Professor Moriarty, Loki, The Joker, Gustavo Fring
• The Sympathetic Villain ex. Frankenstien's Monster, King Kong, Magneto, Carrie White (Carrie), Roy Batty (Blade Runner)
• The Detested Villain ex. Iago (Othello), The Purple Man, King Joffrey, Scar, Nurse Ratched

A Scary Villain is what lots of filmmakers go for and then screw up. Making your villain intimidating can be done through good writing, but with bad writing it can seem cliche. The trick is building tension whenever they're around. In the opening scene to inglorious bastards, The Jew Hunter isn't making threats or waving a gun around. In fact he's being very cheerful and polite. However, the viewer knows the threat is there and is afraid for the moment when the bloodshed happens. Darth Vader killed relatively few people in Star Wars: A New Hope, yet everyone feared him. Unfortunately we never really get that sort of real fear from Parallax. We know it's dangerous but we never really feel the fear. 

A Charismatic Villain just makes you want to watch them. Any villain who is so interesting that you enjoy every scene with them just because you love the character. Everyone was charmed by Hans Gruber in Die Hard. And Loki was a great foil to the Avengers. And who didn't watch and rewatch every scene with Heath Ledger as the Joker in the Dark Knight. Occasionally the charismatic villain may even be the central point of the movie. Take a look at the Godfather part 2. It may be Michael's story but if you look at his actions, you can't argue that he isn't the villain in this story, and even still he's mesmerizing in the role. Needless to say, there wasn't anything even remotely charismatic about the villain in Green Lantern.

Most of the great villains are in fact Sympathetic Villains. You may not agree with their methods or what they become, but you really can see the story from their point of view. Most sympathetic villains will tend to fall into two categories. The person who has the right goals at heart but goes about them in the wrong way. Someone like Magneto, who most people will agree makes some good points, but his methods are just too extreme.

The other type are the tortured souls who become monsters. These are people like Carrie, Frankenstein's Monster or Andrew from Chronicle. These are people who get used, abused and basically turn into a reflection of what was done to them. I believe this is something they tried to do with Hector Hammond before he was consumed by Parallax. This may have worked but we didn't have enough time or good enough scenes to really form that bond with this character so that we really feel bad about what happens to him. There are other characters who exemplify this like Killer Croc who has some portions of his backstory written so tragically it's nearly brought me to tears. 

Lastly we have the hated or detested villains. These are characters so rotten, so awful, so grotesque that you keep watching or reading just to see them get their comeuppance. Characters like the Purple Man or as I like to call him "The Super Rapist". You keep watching because you just want something horrible to happen to these villians. King Joffrey on Game of Thrones was just as hated, we watched and waited for years for that little bastard to get what was coming to him. And if you've ever read the Walking Dead Comic book, I could not put the book down until I read about the Governor finally getting killed for what he'd done. It's easy to overdo it in this section of villain as well. I see all to often in comic books rape being used as a plot device just so that we hate the villain and want to see them taken down. It's a pretty fine line when creating a hated villain who isn't more of a cartoon character than a person. And most really good detestable villains take from multiple hats. There were times when Ben from Lost was a very charismatic villain before he became a hateable villain. However as the story progressed he turned out to be one of the most sympathetic villains I've ever seen. 

In the end I don't know what particular villain would work best but I'd argue that picking one that's a mixture of these things would have done the movie a whole lot of good. Our hero is only as good as the enemy he fights. Choosing a vague, difficult to understand villain for the first movie didn't do it any favors. 

The Story

There were a few things that really could have been done to fix this up. I really liked us getting to know Hal Jordan, and him showing that he's a cocky steely eyed missile man. He's also compassionate and a good friend as well. But in the movie he seems to get an afternoon of training with Sinestro and then he's back to earth. 

This does a couple of things to weaken the character and the movie overall. 

• Having him train for like 2 scenes undermines the years of training it takes to wield the green lantern ring like a pro. 
• Keeping Green Lantern on Earth and having him only work locally really makes him seem like any other superhero who watches over a single city when really he has an entire sector of space. 
• One of the key conflicts that Hal Jordan has is that he was trained by Sinestro and he is friends with him. So when Sinestro turns evil it's that much harder for Hal to fight him. Having these two guys interact maybe twice in the movie was a huge mistake. Especially since they already introduced Sinestro forging a yellow ring of fear. 

I know there are plenty of fan scripts but here is how I would restructure the plot from the movie:

Hal Jordan is one of the best pilots working in the Air force. While there he's really dreaming of joining a special task force team that works with experimental technology and cutting edge jets. A team lead by none other than John Stewart. The two have very different life views Hal being a young womanizer who loves the thrills. John being a lifelong military man and is dedicated to his only girlfriend Shayera Hol. 

Hal tries out for the team and while Stewart respects his skills he thinks he's still to young and headstrong to be part of the team. When John gives him a direct order and Hal disobeys telling him that he can do this HIS way, John cuts him. In one of their early missions the team is destroyed but some unidentified flying objects, John nearly getting killed himself being saved buy a ship that no one can recognize. This will give John proper motivation to join the corps to fight what did this to his team which he feels responsible for. 

Trying to find survivors Hal actually finds the ship that saved John's that being Abin Sur. A dying Abin Sur passes on the green lantern ring to Hal who is shot up to meet the Guardians and the rest of the Corps. Sinestro among others is skeptical of a human being ready to take on the duties of a Green Lantern charging the human race with being warlike, and primitive.

While Hal begins his training he is told that Sinestro has found someone he deems much more worthy of the ring also from the planet earth. This earthling just happens to be... you guessed it, John Stewart. John and Hal see each other and can't believe that they're going to be working with one another.

John and Hal begin training with Kilowog and Sinestro trying to prove that they'd be the best green Lantern. Sinestro personally works with Hal, being extremely hard on him, clearly trying to get him to quit. John begins training with Katma Tui who he instantly likes and finds himself attracted to but won't do anything because he's already in a relationship. After some time the Guardians decide that because they are so different, they'd make a great team watching over that sector of space. 

While being trained they are taken out on patrols with other Green Lanterns learning the ropes. While at the same time the two begin to respect one another and also begin to suspect that a series of unrelated crimes are actually a larger conspiracy. 

While no one else at the Corps believes the two rookies about the conspiracy they go off on their own and expose a much more deadly threat (insert villain here) and they end up stopping a major operation with the help of the rest of the Green Lantern Corps. Sinestro calls out Hal and John for disobeying and order and Hal Responds "Hey you can't always follow the rules, can you?" Sinestro finally accepts that Hal is a worthy Green Lantern and the two become friends.

They chase the villain back to their larger evil plot and thankfully the rest of the Corps come to their aid and a gigantic space battle ensues. The enemy is forced to retreat into deeper space.

Realizing it's plan was disrupted by two earthlings it decides to send a small fleet earth as revenge. The John realizes what's happening and pleads to the Guardians to help himself and Hal save earth. The Guardians tell them that the primary target is still out here in deep space and they can't spare any other Lantern's to go to Earth.

John and Hal are on their own now, so they head back to Earth to try and stop the invasion without help. They head back to their hometown and Hal and John have to get the Air Force to support them in stopping the invaders. Hal and John were expecting a small force but it turns out as a last minute trick the villain actually sent a huge mass of his army to earth and no one to the other location where most of the Green Lantern Corps are headed. They fight valiantly and at one point all seems lost because they don't have the power to stop them. The Lanterns are about to be publicly executed by the invaders after they are defeated but at the last minute a green beam shoots out from the sky!!! It's Sinestro, Kilowog and Katma come to help them out. Hal ask them, but you were ordered to the other side of the galaxy. And Sinestro replies "You don't always do what you're told, do you Jordan?" with a laugh. They effectively fight off the forces, sending the Villain off world to hide. 

The world effectively saved and the entire planet introduced to both aliens and the Green Lantern Corps in one day. The Gaurdians praise their actions agreeing that they were the right choices to protect that sector of space. Hal and John, are now more than friends, they are trusted partners, take on the role as Green Lanterns together. 

Possible Cameos from other Superheros

I really think that one of Batman V Superman's biggest issues was they tried to introduce too many characters too quickly. Batman, Lex Luthor, Mercy, Jimmy Olson, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, the Flash, Aquaman all in one movie?!?! It's too much. I think they should drop a few easter eggs but outright cameos or hints at a new character should be one or two per movie. 

I personally think that they should introduce and Alien character next, and as cool as it would be if they hinted at the Martian Manhunter I think the obvious answer would be to hint at Superman. 

While most nerdy people know that Green Lantern shares a universe with Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. A good portion of people don't realize that this is the same world. Superman is easily the most recognizable superhero around the planet. 

Now if I'm really being picky I would have him introduced, not in an after the credits scene, but during the climax. While the action is happening and something is about to fall on John or Hal, Superman catch it and lift it over his head. To which Hal might say something like "who the hell are you supposed to be?" And Superman replies "Just a guy trying to lend a hand." After that he could assist the two in the final fight. He wouldn't save the day, but he would help hold off some of the forces. Hal or John warning him that they're dangerous while Superman cooly replies with a smile "Don't worry fellas, I've got this." Then he rockets into a swarm of them punching right through their defenses while lasering most of the other ships. Watching all this John says "I'm reaaally glad that guy is on our side."

When it's time to take down the main villain Superman is rendered useless because the ship has some sort of shielding that causes him incredible pain when he touches it. You could even have a line where one of the Lanterns catch Superman and say "You can't let those energy fields touch you. What sort of Armor are you wearing." And Superman just kinda chuckles and says "yeah... armor... Look I can't help with that thing, you two have got to deal with it on your own." As Superman is such and overpowered character, it will be good to introduce something that he cannot overcome that isn't just Kryptonite again.

 In the end he can even refuse to take any credit for helping in front of the Corps or the press, saying to John or Hal " This is your show, I just showed up to lend a hand." Before they can ask more questions he looks off in the distance, and the camera zooms in on his ear, you hear the audio for a bank robbery and gunfire. Superman looks at the Lanterns and smiles then says "If you'll excuse me." Then zooms off as quick as he came. 

There are few upsides to doing this. 

1. Establishes that this is the same universe as that of the Superman franchise. 
2. It could make Superman look awesome and get people excited for his movie. Assuming they can make his intro as cool as they did the Hulk's in Avengers. 
3. It shows that Superman has weaknesses other than Kryptonite.
4. Being and alien he has a direct connection to the Green Lantern Corps.
5. It can establish his character as friendly, charming, selfless and a leader. 

There is a big problem that could arise by having Superman show up in the climax. Depending on how cool his action sequence looks it could upstage our two heroes. So while his scenes should be amazing, there should be very little screen time devoted to the big blue boyscout. 

Overall I think this would put the DC universe at a much greater place than they found themselves in 2011. This would be a great start to a new franchise. You'd already introduce the fact that this is going to be a universe with crossovers from other Superheros. You'd establish a brand new character with his own sequels. You'd have put in phase 1, an african american actor as the titular character. And you'd open the door for the next movie in the universe Man of Steel.

Next blog I'll jump into all the things they could do to make Man Of Steel an even stronger film.