HBO Max: Could it unify the DC Fandome?

Hi Guys, 

This week's editorial will be on the newly launched HBO Max service offered by AT&T.

HBO Max which is meant to be one of the biggest players in the market, rivaling the likes of Netflix, Hulu and Disney+ has stumbled out of the gate when it was launched earlier this year. Why is that? 

A number of different factors went into this initial failure of the streaming service. First of all the service is currently only available in the US unlike Netflix and Disney+. The service costs almost as double as the aforementioned streaming services and upon launch it had no exclusive content like Disney's the Mandalorian which drew in a lot of subscribers. 

HBO Max however could be a power house if a few mistakes are corrected and if it expands its streaming power overseas and especially if it manages to reach a deal with Roku and Amazon which control 70% of the market domestically. 

The point of this editorial, however, is to suggest a new purpose for this streaming service. Unlike Marvel fans who get to or will get to enjoy all Marvel has to offer with one subscription, DC fans find themselves having to pay for multiple subscriptions and not even get all DC content that is available out there. 

For example, if you are a fan of the Arrowverse you will need to subscribe to Netflix and HBO Max to enjoy all 6 shows that make up the Arrowverse. If you are a fan of the old Superman and Lois, Krypton TV shows then you will need to subscribe to DC universe for that and if you are like me and cant' get enough of Smallville then you have to subscribe to Hulu to enjoy that show. When it comes to the movies however most of them are only available on demand and some of them are rotating between Netflix, Hulu and HBO Max. 

The disorganization of HBO Max is to be expected considering the studio behind them which is notoriously famous for its lack of a strategy when it comes to its DC properties. If you don't know what I am talking about then you can look at the fact that they have had close to 10 actors portraying Batman/Bruce Wayne over the last 2/3 years. 

The recipe for success is simple over at HBO Max. DC Fans are loyal to the brand and like to consume content, therefore making HBO Max the house of all DC Content, from movies to TV shows should not be that difficult. Their subscriptions would undoubtedly increase simply by putting everything under one roof. 

I've always been a big believer in the DC Universe platform had they actually unified all DC content under that platform and bumped up the price to 15$ they would have seen it thrive in no time. 

Hopefully HBO Max will rectify that mistake and as soon as WB's contracts with other streaming platforms are up, we will have to pay only one subscription to watch all our favorites DC content. 

What are your thoughts on this? 

-Theheroblogger

The Batman: 5 things about the movie I don't like

 Hi Guys, 

The Batman trailer came out at DC Fandome and I must admit I was positively impressed by the majority of the shots I saw. Ever since they announced that Ben Affleck would be stepping away from directing and starring in this movie I have started losing interest in the project and the casting of Robert Pattinson as Batman/ Bruce Wayne definitely did not help with increasing my enthusiasm for the 2021 release. 

There are 5 things about this movie that I am not particularly fond of.. 

Here's the list in no particular order.

1. Isolated universe
While having Batman be in his own isolated universe makes sense from a storytelling point of view (Superman, Flash or Green Lantern could easily take down most of the low level criminals in Gotham like Scarecrow, Bane, Penguin etc.) it does limit us from seeing Batman interact with all the other members of the DC Universe. I have wanted to see Joker interact with Superman in live action for a while now but I guess that won't happen in the near future. 

2. Bat Family

Every director attached to Batman projects seems to hate the idea of introducing the Bat Family.
Is it because Shumacher failed so miserably at bringing Robin and "Batgirl" to life? Why is it that the likes of Barbara Gordon, Jason Todd, Tim Drake and Damian Wayne have never seen the light of day on the Silver screen? There could be so many stories they could take inspiration from if they wanted to introduce these characters, instead we are stuck with Carime Falcone, Jim Gordon and Lucius Fox who make an appearance in almost every iteration of the Caped Crusader. Why? 

3. The Joker problem

Is it really possible to introduce another Joker who would be the fourth in the last 5 years? Regardless of what you think about the other portrayals, introducing another Joker seems to be risky and that's why there's been no mention of a plan to bring this character into the fold. Most of the problem resides in last year's Joker movie. The movie that won WB an Oscar and made them over a billion dollars is also the movie of their damnation for the character. No actor will be as good (according to critics and random moviegoers) as Phoenix was, and in the meantime we have created a situation where Harley Quinn, Joker and Batman are in three separate universes never to be seen interact with one another.

4. Gotham spin off on HBO Max

It is no secret that HBO Max has not seen the financial numbers it was expecting but the recent announcement of the Gotham spin off sounds like a dumb idea. Exploring Batman year 1 from the point of view of the GCPD without being able to use Batman (most likely) or tackle any of the big villains that the movies want to use? 

Seems to me that it will be an even worse version that Agents of the Shield who got downgraded to cleaning up after the Avengers. 

5. Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne
I admit that I could be wrong about this and if so I will admit it when the movie comes out but I got a bad feeling from the trailer regarding the portrayal of Bruce Wayne. While I was positively impressed by the portrayal of Batman I couldn't help to feel underwhelmed by the scenes where Pattinson was not wearing the cowl. It's not a question of size, although he could have bulked up for the role, but more of facial expressions. Bruce Wayne is the mask of Batman. The character's true mask is when he's not wearing one and by acting as an eccentric billionaire is able to hide away his feeling. Not too sure I dig Emo Batman.

There you have it, my list of 5 things about The Batman that I don't like. 

What are your thoughts about this list? Let me know in the comment section below. 

-theheroblogger

 

Is the DCEU dead or can it be revived?

 Hi Guys, 

It's been a while since I've used this platform to voice my opinion on comic book related content. 

Needless to say that after the release of the theatrical cut of Justice League back in 2017 and everything that followed I lost my interest in the DCEU for which I had had a lot of passion and love up until that point. The face-deformed Superman, the "thirsty" joke and everything that Joss and Geoff forced into the movie made me really upset and angry. I've been campaigning for the release of the Snyder Cut since day one knowing there was a whole movie locked away somewhere at WB that needed to see the light of day.

Since then every other release of DC movies has been met by myself with utter disinterest (Birds of Prey and Joker), pure disgust (Shazam) and a great surprise (Aquaman). Among the releases of these movies over the last three years I've realized that Whedon and Johns had won, their wish of seeing the DCEU turn into a Marvel duplicate had been realized. 

Even Walter Hamada, head of DC Films, repeatedly said that WB had no interest in pursuing a shared universe considering the under performance of Justice League. Once again WB proved that they had no idea what they were doing. They are in the business of making money and fail to realize how profitable a shared universe can be and won't pursue it because Justice League, a movie they heavily interfered with, failed their expectations at the box office. 

My enthusiasm and faith in WB, however, drastically changed in January 2020 when Ezra Miller popped up in Crisis on Infinite Earths Hour IV and I knew at that point that the power structure at WB had shifted and there could be hope for a shared universe/ multiverse down the line. 

Then the snydercut announcment, then Ben Affleck announcing his return as Batman in the Flash movie, so now the question is: Can the DCEU be revived or is it too late? 

Technically yes, the actors are still there under contract for their individual movies and it wouldn't be difficult to bring back all of them for a Justice League sequel and to tie in their individual movies. Zack himself gave us a hint in the Reel in Motion live stream a week ago that a Justice League 2 is not completely off the table and he seemed to be hopeful about a possibility of that happening. 

I guess it will all come down to reception of the Snydercut or rather how much profit it can generate. At this point, AT&T and WB should know that Snyder is a polarizing director. People seem to be drawn to his movies simply to profoundly hate on them therefore the Snydercut will definitely not be a critical success however if it can be a financial success then by slightly lowering the budget for a sequel they could green light a project that most DC Fans would love to see and most importantly for WB pay money to see. 

If enough people show support and interest in a sequel then WB will follow the money trail and allow for the DCEU to live again and for Snyder to complete his 5 movie arc vision. 

What are your thoughts on the DCEU potentially coming back? Would you love to see Zack's 5 movie arc completed? 

-theheroblogger

 
   #Hallelujah #Snydercut #Ben Affleck 

Top 5 moments that I want to see from the DCEU

Hi all,

I have recently stumbled across a very interesting video on youtube that discusses the fundamental flaws of the DCEU arguing that it lives on moments and not on scenes. I will put a link to the video down below in the comments if you want to check it out.

Now althoguh I see the point of view of the author and I don't necessairly agree with him however the video got me thinking about the moments that I would like to see from the DCEU over the next few years.

So here's my personal list:

1. Jason Todd's death
This has been teased in last year's Suicide Squad and Batman v Superman where it was confirmed that it was in fact Jason Todd the robin that had died and whose costume we saw in the batcave. In Suicide Squad it was also teased that Harley Quinn was an accomplice in the murder of Jason Todd  along with the Joker. That scene, that moment is precisely what I want to see in the next Batman movie, with Batman not being able to get there in time. I want to see the classic scene of Joker hitting Jason with the crowbar and Harley laughing in the backgroun. DC please gives us this iconic moment.

2. Wonder Woman and Superman in Athens.
I was actually torn about having this be my number one moment I would like to see out of the DCEU. This scene that I saw in JL Throne of Atlantis got to me because it represents exactly what DC characters are and stand for. I don't care if we see it as an alternate future or a different universe or timeline I want to see it.


3.Joker kills Lois Lane
This too was teased in Batman v Superman in the alternate future timeline shown by Barry Allen. We learn that Lois is dead  ( we don't know how). The reason that I like Jared Leto so much as the Jojer is because I feel the character he portrayed in Suicide Squad is exactly like most versions of the character we know and love from the comics. I could see him turning Superman from the boyscout that he is into a villain by killing a preagnant Lois Lane like we say in the Injustice storyline.




4. Barbara Gordon shot
Before n.3 happens and Superman ends up killing the joker we wanna see another famous moment from the comics which is Joker shooting Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl. This is such an iconic moment from the comics and Jared looks exactly like that Joker who put Batgirl on a wheelchair. We deserve to see that and the ramifications of it.













5. Flashpoint Batman shooting or stabbing the reverse flash
This is more of a whole movie thing rather than a single moment however the flashpoint storyline is such a great story that it deserves to be told on the big screen. I mean all the pieces are there, we do have our Thomas Wayne. The actor that plays him said it himself that he basically signed on just to play the role of Flashpoint Batman, and all the other major characters are there with one exception. We need a badass Professor Zoom as the story's villain.







Do you agree with my list? What are your top 5 moments you would like to see from the DCEU?

-theheroblogger

Critics and the superhero movie universe

Hey everyone,

Now that Guardians of the Galaxy Volume II has been out for a few weeks and has utterly destroyed the box office I wanted to discuss what I feel is a huge problem that the superhero movie universe as a whole has and most importantly its impact on the critics.

Sitting at 81% on rotten tomatoes this second installment part of the larger Marvel Universe is of no appeal to myself, being highly disappointed from the first one. I was completely let down by the first one especially by the very lighthearted ending which began with the dance-off.

This brings me to the issue with the critics and movie reviews. The following is the beginning of a review I found on rotten tomatoes that I think summarizes why I usually find myself not agreeing with movie critics.

Diego Patino writes:

"Near the end of Guardians of the Galaxy, the hero, Peter Quill distracted the villain who had evil designs upon the creation by dancing at him. This was a moment to be thankful for. At last, you felt, someone at Marvel was starting to heed the wise words of Vladimir Nabokov: "The difference between the comic side of things and their cosmic side of things depends upon one sibilant. "For the makes of superhero films, it's not enough to toss in a few sprinkles of light relief. The true challenge is to remind your audience that the very idea of saving the world-or an infinity of worlds or whatever-is in itself a joke and that its puffy grandeur is begging to be popped. Let's face the maniac and dance"

The above is the explanation as to why I think movies with heart,with deep philosophical meaning, with a serious tone and epic story get overlooked and often receive rotten scores on Rotten tomatoes as opposed to lighthearted movies which make fun of them selves and basically laugh at the audience by telling them: "look this is a made-up story, I am challenging this person to a dance off in this very crucial scene because you should have figured out by now that this is just for you to have a few giggles and leave the theater with a smile". You will probably forget what that movie was actually about the day after and it will probably have zero impact on you.

However from a Marketing prospective this is the best type of movie you can release in cinemas for a number of different reasons. First of all, it takes zero script writing skills as the script and the dialogue can easily get written by a 3rd grader; secondly it is the perfect movie for the family to go see, no big trauma for your kids who will never ever be scared of the villains or their favorite characters dying and a relaxing two hours for their parents.

As a comic book fan, I am disappointed by the way the MCU ridicules its characters and the entire comic book universe and gets celebrated for it. I would much rather watch and rewatch the Amazing Spiderman 2 (a movie full of plot holes but with a lot of heart) than watch any of the MCU movies which have no heart, no real stakes and that make even less sense that the Transformers movies.( Alright perhaps I exaggerated in my last statement, nothing makes less sense than those movies :).

I am curious to know what you thought of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol I and Vol II and to see if at least partially you share my point.

Let me know down below.

-theheroblogger

Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice movie review (Spoilers)

One of the most anticipated movie of all time is finally here and boy this movie was met with a lot of criticism. 29% on rotten tomatoes make it one of the worst superhero movies of the decade, with some critics even suggesting to just stay home and wait for the next Marvel movie. I think that is where the problem lies, critics were expecting the same formula of every single movie of the MCU to be rehashed by WB, but instead they saw a realistic, gritty, dark and mostly humorless movie with deep philosophical themes of good vs evil. An intense movie which gave us a view of our world from the point of views of the three main characters.
Superman, the alien understanding the burden of being a god and how one bad thing is enough to turn most of the world against you. The emblem of this ideology is when Superman says " I guess nobody stays good in this world" when he is met with the difficult choice of either killing batman or letting his mother die. This is how Superman should be portrayed, the weight of the world should always be on his shoulder and that is what makes him a layered and complex character.

Batman and Lex Luthor give us two different perspectives of human beings in the presence of Superman. Batman sees Superman as a menace who needs to be stopped, a menace that caused so much destruction in Metropolis. He is full of rage for the death of his employees and that escalates when Superman fails to stop the bomb in court.
On the other hand Lex Luthor is driven mainly by the philosophical view that if God is all good he cannot be all powerful and if he is all powerful he cannot be all good. He is the mastermind behind everything that happens to Clark or Bruce and it is his genius mind that pushes them to clash and this to me is one of the best aspects of the movie. The two heroes don't necessarily want to fight each other but it is lex that makes them to.

The movie is extremely well shot, the visual are astonishing and everything is very well complemented by an amazing score.  No scene feels forced or out of place, it might seem like it is at first, but upon several viewing you simply realize that every scene has a purpose and a reason for being there and nothing feels out of place. The first act is the introduction of everybody, we get Batman's origin story, Clark Kent's new position in Metropolis and Lex Luthor. The first act also introduces us to the Flash who if you really think about it is the reason for why certain events went the way they did. He sets a lot of events in motion, including the formation of the Justice League and also the end of the battle between Batman and Superman when Bruce understand that Lois needs to be trusted and that Superman is not his enemy.
The inevitable battle between the  Man of Steel and The Dark Knight, although very short, is amazing with Batman beating Superman. Even though I am a Superman fan, I loved the outcome of the fight because it made perfect sense. The battle showed everybody how intelligent Batman is and why he deserves to be in the Justice League among Gods.

The Third act is simply awesome.  The trinity joins forces to defeat Doomsday and one of the best scenes of the movie was the introduction to Wonder Woman. The first shot of her saving Batman made everybody go crazy in the theater and everybody was cheering.
The movie is poetic with the way it handles Superman's death, it shows what a true here is, this movie is epic and majestic in its portrayal of the world's most famous heroes.
This movie is everything that I wanted, great villains which are intimidating and whose actions actually cause damage. If you are more interested in generic villains who make empty threats and always loose to the heroes then go watch any Disney Marvel movie because I believe it is offensive for Batman v Superman and to the DC Extended Universe to even be considered in the same movie genre as Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant Man or any other kid friendly Marvel movie. This movie is a serious take on the superhero genre and it is very unapologetic about what it is and about what it aims to be. It is truly one of the best comic book movies ever it gets better after each viewing, it is a great homage to us comic book fans with a lot of Easter Eggs that hint at future villains and heroes.

-theheroblogger

Arrow 4x01 Green Arrow episode review

Hey guys,

I guess it's too much to ask to have three great superhero episodes in a row but at least we got two. Gotham was great but this episode was even better. Arrow is back with a vengeance and with the city's name being changed and The Arrow becoming the Green Arrow we have finally seen, after three long years , the birth of the character we wanted to see all along.
I loved pretty much every single scene of this episode, even those scenes where Oliver was exchanging cooking tips. I thought they were funny and fit perfectly with the tone of the beginning.
Another thing that I loved was the introduction of the new costume, I thought that the speech given by Oliver as the Green Arrow was compelling enough in order for the citizens to be convinced that he was a totally different person. The only thing that bothered me was how visible Oliver's face was during the speech, they could have kept him a little bit more in the shadows.
I also think that the screenwriters have learnt from their mistakes, and I think that they are working on fixing the mistakes they made with Felicity so that is why they're trying to bring back the character they had created before season three with the plus of having her be with Oliver which I am all for.
Captain Lance twist close to the end of the episode was also perfect, I think that having him work for Damien is a much deserved improvement for his character. My theory is that somehow Damien Darkh has promised Captain Lance to either help him with the Green Arrow problem or with resurrecting Sarah.

My top 2 moments from this episode were:
The Green Lantern Easter Egg: seeing a pilot suit with the name Jordan on it was amazing and though it is unlikely that we'll see Green Lantern on the show, just the idea of seeing Hal is exciting

The final scene: Everyone is now wondering who is in the casket and my theory is that it is going to be Felicity. Stephen Amell has confirmed that he does not know who will die but my guess is that Felicity will die and that will change the dynamic of the show

Overall solid episode, let's hope they keep this up

-theheroblogger