The Four Color Media Monitor

I thought I'd write now about the difference between the successes had with Marvel and DC movie adaptations being put into motion. As some may know, there's already an Iron Man movie in the works, and it looks like there's going to be another Fantastic Four movie as well. Those adaptations are getting off the ground.

But what of DC adaptations? Wonder Woman has been shelved for now, as has even the Flash, with both Joss Whedon and David Goyer leaving the positions offered. And on the former adaptation, here's what I found out: as Whedon explained himself:

"I had a take on the film that, well, nobody liked," Whedon wrote. "Hey, not that complicated. Let me stress first that everybody at the studio and Silver Pictures were cool and professional. We just saw different movies, and at the price range this kind of movie hangs in, that's never gonna work. Non-sympatico. It happens all the time. I don't think any of us expected it to this time, but it did. Everybody knows how long I was taking, what a struggle that script was, and though I felt good about what I was coming up with, it was never gonna be a simple slam-dunk. I like to think it rolled around the rim a little bit, but others may have differing views."

And as the Movie Blog says:

Obviously I thought he would have done a great job. Perhaps the guys at WB saw his script and decided he wasnt. Maybe WB didnt like it but the fans might have. Who knows?

And that's saying something. Considering that there's contempt for women in the film industry that's doubtlessly existed long before it became a serious problem in the comics industry, one can only wonder if that was the reason why Whedon's take was not accepted. But also, as the blogmaster says, it appears that the script being used now takes place in WW2 (any script being proposed for the Flash movie now may be the same thing). And while it's always great to see nazis being smashed into the dust, that's still too easy an excuse for not confronting the problems of today, with modern-day terrorism looming out there.

Of course I don't know if that's what Whedon's own screenplay was going to feature, WW taking on modern-day terrorists similar to al Qaeda (the Kobra gang, maybe?). But at the same time, it's possible that his script was so flatteringly splendid in whatever plot it had that in all their dumbed-down view of how to do filmmaking, they rejected it.

Which may not be a good omen for whatever movie they do turn out, if they do make it. Of course, we probably will have to reserve full judgement for when it comes out, yet, I get the feeling that any impression it could have will be far from what a Whedon-scripted movie might've.

Labels: dc comics, Flash, Iron Man, marvel comics, terrorism, Wonder Woman