Before we get started today I would like to take a moment to acknowledge that yes I have in fact sold out. I had the opportunity to monetize the blog by trying to bring in some ad money and I decided that it was a good opportunity. I assure you that it was not an easy decision for me to make, but I would hope that with enough support I might open some new doors that will benefit you, my dear reader, and me, your humble blogger. Bottom line is I do this because I love it, but if there is any chance I could pay the bills with it I would jump at the opportunity.
As you might have noticed I have written a couple columns in which I had add on information afterwards. My column on trilogies is no different. I apologize that a lot of my posts are at a late hour and sometime my thoughts are not complete at the time of publication. With the "Trilogies" post I neglected to factor in how fan expectations also contribute to the perceived failure of a third chapter. In all fairness to the writers, directors, actors, and crew sometimes we, as fans, set the bar unrealistically high. This was very evident with "The Dark Knight Rises" Director Christopher Nolan painted himself into a corner, and the fans helped to keep him there. "The Dark Knight" was the perfect Batman movie.
The problems that it made for the third chapter were numerous. One could consider any one of the following: the movie had a cliffhanger ending that left fans craving conclusion, Heath Ledger (who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar) died, and "The Dark Knight" was critically acclaimed, which at that time was relatively unheard of for a comic book movie. One can look to the fan reception to the series finales of "Lost", "Dexter", "Seinfeld", "Breaking Bad", and many other fan favorite shows to see what happens when expectations and reality intersect.
NEWS......
WB/DC took the opportunity today to announce that Jesse Eisenberg ("The Social Network", "Adventureland", "Zombieland") has been cast as Lex Luthor for the DC Cinematic Universe. They also announced that Jeremy Irons ("Lolita", "Die Hard: With a Vengeance") has been cast to play Alfred Pennyworth.
First, lets take a look at the good. Irons is a fantastic actor, and he is of a different age and body shape than previous cinematic Alfred's. My hope against hope would be that Irons will portray the ex-intelligence agent/military officer Pennyworth that was featured in Geoff Johns' "Batman: Earth One". Johns version was a fresh take on the character, and made him an even more capable partner to the Dark Knight than previous versions.
Next, lets take a look at the "could be good". We know Eisenberg can portray a rich douche from his time as Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg. Eisenberg is a decent actor, but can come off as a big budget Michael Cera. While I quite enjoyed Eisenberg in "Adventureland" and "Zombieland" I couldn't really say that he is a must see actor for me in anything else. On the plus side he is the same age as the DC Cinematic Universe's Superman Henry Cavill, so they both still have a lot of time left on the clock.
Finally, I have firmly embraced a "wait and see" approach for this movie/film universe. With each new news item that comes out I say to myself "It could be good". My gut feeling though is that if all of this casting is for one film it is going to be a bloated mess. I never in my life thought I would be more excited about an upcoming "Spider-man" movie than to see Batman and Superman on screen together. It is very troubling indeed, but I will try stay positive at least until we see the first trailer.
I hope that WB/DC can pull this off because more and more people are looking at their film choices and saying "Make mine a Marvel".
That is all for this week at The Comic Shop....join me next week for a new column I have tentatively titled "The Anti-Hero Dilemma". Thanks for Reading!
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