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Flash news from San Diego Comic-Con.
Flash stuff at Comic-Con
In the usual flood of news coming out of San Diego Comic-Con, there was one nugget that may be more significant than the coverage it got: what is happening with the solo Flash movie.
The film has an intriguing star (Ezra Miller) but has gone through multiple scripts, directors and concepts — including one as a buddy movie with Cyborg.
Now it has been reimagined (and perhaps repurposed?) as “Flashpoint,” one of the bestknown Flash story lines from the comics. It’s a time-paradox epic in which the speedster goes to the past to alter events, causing a ripple effect that essentially reboots the entire DC Comics continuity.
The question is, why play the possible reboot card already, so early in the DC Extended Universe? Why not save it for years from now, when contracts are running out or something? Even Ben Affleck said at SDCC he was “enthusiastic” about starring in “The Batman” in response to speculation he was looking for a way out after having quit the directing gig in favor of Matt Reeves (“War of the Planet of the Apes.”)
“I would be a (expletive) ape on the ground for Matt Reeves,” Affleck told the crowd at SDCC.
Back to the Flash movie, isn’t playing the “Flashpoint” trump card a bit premature? Fox’s “XMen” franchise similarly fired all its guns at once, and quickly, when it went all Dark Phoenix before ever letting Jean Grey be Phoenix in “The Last Stand.”
The epic saga never got to unfold; audiences never got the chance to invest in the characters. And it’s a blunder Fox appears to be repeating with the in-production “Dark Phoenix” with a rebooted X-cast.
Judging from Miller’s Flash lines in the “Justice League” trailers so far, perhaps “Flashpoint” will lean more to that “Back to the Future” vibe and skip all the continuity rebooting.
Roaring
“Wonder Woman” is now the DC Extended Universe’s top domestic entry, with $390 million and counting.
It’s not likely to catch “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” worldwide ($780 million at this writing to “Dawn’s” $873 million), and November’s “Justice League” probably will set standards for DCEU grosses.
But “Wonder” also has passed “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2” to beat all films in that franchise domestically. And it has topped “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” stateside — along with “Beauty and the Beast.” That makes 2017’s top-two domestic grossers thus far, female-driven films.
Trivia question
How many actors have played Batman in Warner Bros. theatrical features?
Fallen standards
Gerard Butler’s president-injeopardy action film “Olympus Has Fallen” got a 49 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and an even worse 41 on Metacritic. It made $170 million on a $70 million budget, though, so “London Has Fallen” was concocted.
That Butler action film got a 25 on RT and a 28 on Metacritic. Audiences gave it an RT user score of 51. It also was condemned in some corners, including Variety, as “effortlessly racist.” It made $206 million on a $60 million budget, though, so “Angel Has Fallen” will be the next to drop in the series. It will be directed by Ric Roman Waugh of the current “Shot Caller.”
Trivia answer
Six: Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck and Will Arnett (in the Lego movies). The 1966 “Batman” starring Adam West was a Fox release.