What did Christian Bale think of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ ending?

Photo courtesy of Batman-News.com

While out promoting his new film Exodus Gods and Kings, the Batman himself, Christian Bale gave his two cents about what he thought happened at the end of The Dark Knight Rises.

For those who need a quick refresher, in the film, Batman flies a nuclear bomb miles away from Gotham City and it detonates, leaving everyone to think The Dark Knight sacrificed his life to save the city. In a montage, we slowly start to realize that that assumption may not be true, though.

The clip below will fill you in if you need a further memory jolt.

The scene where Alfred gives a hat tip to someone in a cafe and then its revealed to be Bruce, has left fans online to speculate whether that was a dream or real, a la the spinning top in Christopher Nolan’s other film, Inception.

Now having buried the lede long enough, according to Entertainment Weekly, it seems Bale believes the two characters really did meet for real. Though audience members can interpret it however they like.

https://soundcloud.com/ewradio/christian-bale-interprets-the-ending-of-the-dark-knight-rises

I always believed the two characters actually meet. For one, Anne Hathaway’s Selina Kyle turns her head for the audience to see. Alfred only met her once as a thief in Wayne manor and there’s no evidence to believe he knew that she and Bruce were romantically involved.

Secondly, death by nuclear bomb is not the way you kill Batman. Nolan is smarter than that. As the world’s greatest detective and a master escape artist, Batman fixed the broken auto pilot function on the Bat, and escaped in time before the bomb went off.

Finally, while it makes for an interesting interpretation of the ending, having Alfred dream of seeing Bruce is a lazy ending. We wouldn’t be having this conversation had Inception not been Nolan’s previous film. With that movie still fresh on people’s minds, they started looking for things that weren’t there in TDKR.

What do you believe? Did Alfred dream that scene or did it actually happen? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

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-Eric

Spoiler Rumor: Major character may be dead before ‘Batman v. Superman’

Image courtesy of Warner Bros.

Treat the following as a RUMOR until otherwise confirmed.

Our friends at Badass Digest [via ComicBookMovie] are back with some scintillating details about the which character may already be dead before the events of Batman v. Superman Dawn of Justice even begin. And it may not be who you’re thinking.

Remember- possible major spoiler. You’ve been warned.

Okay, for the curious: in this continuity James Gordon has, at some point in the past, bitten the dust. How and at whose hands I cannot tell you – all that’s noted in the script is that there’s a memorial plaque to James Gordon. This explains why the role wasn’t cast for the film, at least.

We’ve already heared whispers of a dead Robin in the film, but this is definitely a shake up. Without Gordon, a Batman solo film after Justice League will look very different from the classic comic stories. Will Batman still meet with someone at the Batsignal on top of the police station? Who killed Gordon? The Joker? That would fuel and already epic showdown between The Dark Knight and the Clown Prince of Crime.

To be honest though, I’m torn with how I feel about this. On the one hand, it seems like a stunt death simply to shake things up. While it may be interesting to see how Batman has reacted to Gordon’s death, killing a Robin at the hands of The Joker will accomplish that very task.  On the other hand though, this would provide some fresh material to mine that hasn’t really been explored too heavily. My only concern are the Batman solo films. Without Gordon, Batman has lost his long trusted ally in the commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department, who he can lean on for information to catch supervillains. It would be difficult to accept someone else in the role, but we’ll see.

Maybe Barbara Gordon will take over where her father left off? Maybe she’s in a wheel chair too? That would be pretty stellar. A nice nod to her Oracle roots in the comics, and an interesting way to pass  the torch from father to daughter. Plus her time as Batgirl would allow her understand what Batman needs and how they can work together.

At this point, all we know for sure though is that nobody has been cast as Gordon. Until anything is confirmed, that’s all we can go on.

What do you think? Do you think killing off Gordon is a smart move? Are the future solo Batman films put in jeopardy now, or is it offering a fresh perspective on the tales of the seasoned Caped Crusader? Leave your thoughts in the comment section.

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-Eric

Report: ‘Wonder Woman’ lassoes ‘Pan’ screenwriter

Image courtesy of NY Post

The new Wonder Woman film has found its screenwriter!

The Hollywood Reporter [via ComicBookMovie] is reporting that Pan scribe Jason Fuchs is set to take on the property for Warner Bros.

Jason Fuchs, who is behind Warner Bros’ upcoming Pan movie, is on his way to Paradise Island via invisible jet.

The scribe is in negotiations to write the screenplay for Wonder Woman, one of the most important installments of Warners’ cinematic universe based on the DC Entertainment characters and one of the most iconic characters in comic book history.

Warners had no comment.

At first I thought this was for the god awfu live TV show on tonight and I wanted to jump off a building. Then I realized it’s the Hugh Jackman movie coming out next July that actually looks pretty interesting:

Fuchs seems to be a fan of the Peter Pan mythology and was able to play with audience expectations, especially between Peter and Captain Hook. That willingness to use the source material as a jumping off point could be very useful for a great Wonder Woman film. Adapting the character for the big screen will need some departures in order to be a faithful adaptation. At the same time, staying true to the essential elements of what makes that character are also important.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia. mythology and was able to shift audience assumptions in interesting ways, which offers interesting possibilities for Wonder Woman.

The rumor up until this point has been that after the character is introduced in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, she will then appear in her own solo film that is rumored to take place in during the 1920s. Following that, will be 2017’s Justice League, before heading back for a Wonder Woman sequel set during World War II.

None of this has been confirmed by Warner Bros other than the slated dates for Batman v. Superman, the solo Wonder Woman and Justice League. But if any or all of it turns out to be true, we could be in for some very interesting story telling. We’ll essentially be cross cutting back and forth between the present day story and the past story every time she appears on screen.

My biggest concern at this point is the casting of Gal Gadot. Right now she’s nothing more than a pretty face. Her work in the Fast and Furious films didn’t blow anyone’s hair back, so unless her talent level rises between now and when Batman v. Superman hits theaters, I’m going in with low expectations. I’m not saying she won’t be good; I’m simply saying I won’t be disappointed if she’s bad. Hopefully it will be a case like Dave Bautista in Guardians of the Galaxy, where the director takes a subpar actor and plays to his or her strengths in order to get a great performance.

Maybe Zack Snyder has an ace in the hole about how to tap into Gadot’s talent that he’s not sharing. Maybe Wonder Woman director Michelle MacLaren thinks she has an idea how to work with this girl. I’m praying things turn out well, but I’m not 100 percent on board.

What do you think, Pow! Nation? Does the Pan screenwriter sound like the right fit for the job? Or does Warner Bros have a ticking crocodile bomb on its hands ready to blow? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

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-Eric

Del Toro: ‘Dark Universe’ part of DC Cinematic Universe

Image courtesy of Forbes.

Guillermo del Toro chatted with the fine folks at Collider [via Screenrant] recently and gave an update on his Justice League Dark project titled Dark Universe.

Right now the only sort of shared universe project I’m working on is Dark Universe for Warners, you know, for DC, which is Swamp Thing, Demon, Deadman, Zatanna.  It’s a very different universe.  As to the plans to the other one, I wish I had an inside track right now.

Del Toro recently turned in his first draft of the script for executives at Warner Bros. to read this past weekend, but the project hasn’t been officially green lit just yet.

Image courtesy of NerdyNothings.com

There’s no word from his comments whether the Dark Universe characters will ever interact with the characters set to appear in Justice League, but you’d imagine WB would be hell bent to find ways to bring all of their film universe characters under one umbrella. Maybe not in the near future, but I’m putting money on the idea of one day seeing Swamp Thing or Zatanna enter into the world of Superman and Batman.

Which characters would you like to see appear from the different sections of the DC Cinematic Universe together? Do you think there will ever be crossovers? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

While you’re at it, feel free to click that follow button and become a subscriber to this blog. Then make sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter in order to stay up to date on all the latest from the world of superhero movie news!

-Eric

Leto still mum on ‘Suicide Squad’ Joker appearance

Image courtesy of The Wrap.

A little over a week after talking to MTV, Jared Leto once again deflected the ongoing rumor that he’s being considered to play the Joker in Suicide Squad.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Leto said he’s not allowed to say anything:

Of course, Leto hasn’t abandoned acting altogether and hints that he may have zeroed in on his next major role. Rumors on the Internet suggest it could be the Joker in a big-screen version of the DC comic Suicide Squad. “I’ve sworn to keep my mouth shut” is all he will say.

It’s fine that he keep quiet about it, because it just proves that there is something to the story, instead of it being a completely false rumor. Warner Bros. and Leto are probably still in active negotiations and so neither is allowed to say anything for legal reasons. Should the deal go through, hopefully WB will take a page from Marvel playbook and announce the lineup in a big way (not a stockholders conference call).

I’ve said it before, I’m completely down with Leto as the Ace of Knaves. He’s an incredibly talented actor and could give a fresh interpretation of the character that could rival Heath Ledger’s performance.

What say you, good reader? Would you be down with a Leto Joker? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below. While your at it, click that follow button and become a subscriber to this blog. Then feel free to follow us on Facebook and Twitter, in order to stay up to date on all the latest from the world of superhero movie news!

-Eric

Del Toro turns in ‘Justice League Dark’ script

Image courtesy of Forbes.

Guillermo Del Toro is a busy man. As a prolific writer, producer and director of such films as Hellboy and Pacific Rim, Del Toro always has many irons in the fire- including finding the time to write the script for the DC Comics property Justice League Dark, now called Dark Universe.

Our friends at Forbes will explain:

Today, the completed screenplay for Dark Universe officially went to weekend reads at Warner Bros. The studio’s reactions to the script will be coming back in a few days, and the film could take another step toward production if Warner has a favorable opinion of what they see on the page. The director confirmed the script’s completion and status while I chatted with him about his FX horror series The Strain (watch for that article coming in a few days, dear readers!).

Obviously, WB wants to change the name from Justice League Dark to Dark Universe, so as not to confuse audiences with the 2016’s Justice League, featuring Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg and [probably] Green Lantern.

Del Toro is a wildly talented director, so I’m very excited to see what he has in store for this film. I’d like to see him take on a version of Swamp Thing and a better new version of Constantine. While this project still has yet to be green lit, my hope is that WB likes the script and lets Del Toro move forward with the production.

What are your thoughts? Do you see this project getting off the ground? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

Then feel free to click that follow button in order to become a subscriber to this blog. While you’re at it, be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter in order to stay up to date on all the latest from the world of superhero movie news!

-Eric

Report: Wonder Woman director signs deal

Image courtesy of NY Post

Almost two weeks to the day since we reported the news that the Wonder Woman director search had ended, the news has all but officially been confirmed.

The Hollywood Reporter [via IGN] reported that Breaking Bad executive producer and director Michelle MacLaren has signed the dotted line and is set to helm the DC Comics project for a 2017 release.

According to insiders, MacLaren will work with the project’s writers, who remain unnamed at this stage, to lasso together a script for the movie, which would star Gal Gadot. The actress will make her debut as the heroine in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Charles Roven, Zack Snyder and Deborah Snyder are among those producing the Wonder Woman movie, which is set for a 2017 release.

Warner Bros. still has yet to confirm the deal.

As I stated in my previous post, based on MacLaren’s resume, she has an impressive body of work ranging from Breaking Bad to Game of Thrones and seems like a good fit for Wonder Woman.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia.

I’m sure telling the story of a superhero with a magic lasso and bullet proof bracelets will require a interesting angle to help modern audiences accept her, but maybe some of the heavy lifting will be done for them once Batman v. Superman comes out the year before.

There still has been no word though about the recent report that Wonder Woman will take place during the 1920s. If that’s true, that sounds like a really interesting way to approach the character, because it allows the producers to pay tribute to her origin and show how she’s grown as a character over the decades.

What do you think about this report? Do you think MacLaren is a good fit for Wonder Woman? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

While you’re at it, feel free to click that follow button and become a subscriber to this blog. Then follow us on Facebook and Twitter in order to stay up to date on all the latest from the world of superhero movie news.

-Eric

Leto (pretty much) confirms the Joker

Image courtesy of The Wrap.

Almost a month ago, we reported the rumor that Academy Award winning actor Jared Leto was up for the role of The Joker in Suicide Squad. While that report is still unconfirmed by Warner Bros and Leto himself, it seems the story may be on to something.

MTV [via Cinema Blend] caught up with the ’30 Seconds to Mars’ lead singer and asked him flat out about the rumor. Check out the link for video.

“You know there’s a film called Fight Club, my friend. And you know the first rule is, don’t you? Enough said.”

For those unfamiliar, the first rule of Fight Club is you don’t talk about Fight Club. He’s dodging the question, obviously. But did go on to say that he has been reading scripts since accepting his Academy Award this year.

“It was a pretty incredible year,” he said. “There was this cool event called the Oscars. That basically changed my life. [I was]  in a wonderful film that I was proud to be a part of Dallas Buyers Club. So I’m not really ready to jump into another film unless it’s something that it’s just something that I absolutely can’t say no to. I want to make sure it’s special because the previous experiences were really, really special. Fortunately I have music and other things in my life to keep me really busy. And I’m grateful for that. I feel really, really fortunate and just thankful that there are people around the world that support these dreams and share this adventure with me.”

It makes sense that he wants to capitalize on his Oscar success and pick the best project for his career. Having said that, if The Joker role was a complete rumor, he could have easily said so and that would have been the end of it. The fact that he left the door open, suggests that he is actively talking to Warner Bros. and is looking at making a deal, but nothing has been finalized.

Photo courtesy of Empire Magazine.

Seriously, though? Who wouldn’t want to play The Joker? I get that some actors might be turned off by the idea of being compared to the late Heath Ledger’s Oscar winning performance as the character in The Dark Knight, but Leto already has that trophy on his mantle and this would be a different interpretation of the character. His take on The Joker could be dynamite and I would love to see his interaction with Ben Affleck’s older Batman, like in The Dark Knight Returns.

Image courtesy of Tumblr.

What do you think, dear readers? Is Leto just playing coy until the final announcement comes out? Is he still weighing his options? What are your thoughts on his comments at this point? Sound off below.

And as always, be sure to click that follow button and become a subscriber to this blog. While you’re at it, feel free to follow us on Facebook and Twitter in order to stay up to date on all the latest from the world of superhero movie news!

-Eric

RUMOR: Kerry Washington eyed for ‘Suicide Squad’?

Photo courtesy of Superheromovienews.com

TREAT THE FOLLOWING AS A RUMOR.

Have the producers of Suicide Squad found their Amanda Waller?

Canada’s Global News [via Superheromovienews.com] is reporting that actress Kerry Washington is being eyed for role in the Warner Bros./DC Comics flick.

Washington is known most for her starring role on the hit ABC series Scandal andhas appeared in such films as Django Unchained and the original Fantastic Four movies.

Photo courtesy of Solarmove.is.

For those unfamiliar with the character, Amanda Waller is often seen as a villian/hero in the DC Universe, and according to Wikipedia, was “a former congressional aide and government agent often placed in charge of the Suicide Squad, a semi-secret government-run group of former supervillains working in return for amnesty.”

Waller has most recently appeared on the CW’s Arrow, played by actress Cynthia Addai-Robinson, as well as 2011’s Green Lantern, starring Ryan Reynolds, where she was portrayed by actress Angela Bassett.

Washington as Waller would be perfect casting. Not only does she look the part, but she can play a strong woman you don’t mess with – see Scandal for examples. It will be interesting to see how much of a villainous role the character will be. In some cases she’s seen more as an antagonist that superheroes have to fight against, while other times she’s more willing to work with heroes for the greater good. I think Washington could play it either way, and it would be fun to see her show off her an evil side.

Time will tell if this rumor is true, but if it is, this film continues to impress me with the amount of star power WB seems eager to want to bring in. Recent reports suggest the studio is looking to bring in Margot Robbie to play Harley Quinn to Academy Award winner Jared Leto’s Joker. Also circling the film, according to recent reports, are actors Will Smith, Tom Hardy, and Jai Courtney,  who would play Digger Harkness a.k.a. Captain Boomerang, Rick Flag and Deadshot, respectively. Also linked to the film is Jesse Eisenberg, who will be reprising his role as Lex Luthor from Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Image courtesy of Facebook.

Nothing has been confirmed by Warner Bros. at this point, so treat all of this with a grain of salt until otherwise noted.

What do you think of this news? Would Washington make a good Waller? Would you prefer another actress to fill the role? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below. Then feel free to click that follow button to become a subscriber to this blog. And be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter in order to stay up to date on all the latest from the world of superhero movie news.

-Eric

‘Batman v. Superman’ wraps in Chicago

Image courtesy of Warner Bros.

That was fast.

It appears the cast and crew of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice have wrapped up shooting in Chicago and are making their way to New Mexico before principal photography finally comes to an end.

Our pals as HenryCavillnews.com found out that before leaving, the producers shot a quick scene at O’Hare Airport in Chicago. Then Wonder Woman herself, Gal Gadot, posted a photo on Instagram from Chicago.

Photo courtesy of HenryCavillnews.com

Doesn’t it feel like they’ve been making this movie forever?

Last month, The Hollywood Reporter posted a glimpse at work being done on the set in New Mexico. Some speculated this could serve as the set for Themyscira, aka Wonder Woman’s home.

Either way, it looks like the shots in Metropolis [Chicago] and Gotham City [Detroit] have been completed for now, that is until crews come back for Justice League.

Image courtesy of MoviePilot.

It’s starting to feel real that this movie is actually on the way. Sure we still have another year and change, but as filming at the last set location begins,  you have to wonder what they have planned for San Diego Comic-Con next year, and the inevitable trailer. You know it will be packed full of awesome.

Are you just as excited as me? Leave your thoughts in the comment section. Then feel free to click that follow button. Become a subscriber to this blog lets us know we’re doing a good job.

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-Eric