DC cinematic universe

Listen. I know that the DC Cinematic Universe gets a lot of criticism for its dour visuals and themes, but let’s give credit where credit is due: Jason Momoa’s Aquaman is really shaping up like the sleeper hit of the whole endeavor. With a visual aesthetic stolen directly from an episode of Sons of Anarchy  —  and perhaps the most talented director of the Warner Bros. slate behind the camera  —  this is shaping up to be the best movie about people who talk to fish since Disney’s animated adaptation of The Little Mermaid.

Things are not looking good for Warner Bros.’ The Flash solo movie. The DC Film already lost its director this past April, and now his replacement has dropped out.

It’s been an amazing year for Wonder Woman fans. Following Gal Gadot‘s on-screen debut as Diana Prince in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the trailers for her solo movie, and confirmation of the the character’s bisexuality, Wonder Woman also turned 75th anniversary this week. To celebrate her long history on the page and screen, United Nations named Wonder Woman an Honorary Ambassador for the Empowerment of Women and Girls under their new global gender advocacy program. So while it’s been a bad week for women in real-life thanks to Wednesday night’s American Horror Story: The Presidential Debates, at the very least, we have a female superhero making strides.

The ages-old query of “So, who were your influences on the film?” still appears regularly in interviews following a big-name movie’s release. But in recent years, directors have started to name the films they drew from before the premiere as a way of drumming up anticipatory buzz. At the Star Wars Celebration in London earlier this year, Episode VIII director Rian Johnson name-checked Bridge on the River Kwai, Three Outlaw Samurai, Letter Never Sent, and 12 O’Clock High as points of reference for the next Star Wars picture. The initial public response went along the lines of “lol what the hell are you talking about,” but eventually cooled into “Alright, can’t front, that sounds pretty awesome.”

For those of you anxiously anticipating the next round of Wonder Woman trailers, I have some good news, and I have some bad news. The good news is that we have a brand new international trailer for you to enjoy, complete with a tweaked color scheme and a tighter sense of rhythm for the fight sequences. The bad news? It’s all footage you’ve seen before… and it’s in Russian.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was a tale of two heroes and a tale of two outcomes. The film made $873 million worldwide. But it was also a deeply polarizing film, satisfying many hardcore DC fans but putting off others with its dark tone and heroes that I would characterize as, how should I put this, kinda dumb. It will lead directly into the Wonder Woman and Justice League movies, along with an entire DC Extended Universe, but the film was so dark and dour, that it made a lot of viewers less excited than nervous about all the stuff to come.

We finally know what Ben Affleck‘s solo Batman movie will be called, and thank the superhero gods, it won’t have a colon or a subtitle.

Ever since the Wonder Woman trailer blew the doors off of Comic-Con International, fans have been ready for another round of footage or trailers. Everything about the character  lends hope to the idea that Wonder Woman will be the movie to right the sinking ship of the DC Cinematic Universe. And while it isn’t exactly the new trailer or huge photo spread we were hoping for, we do have a pair of new leaked photos to tide us over until the next official thing.

So far, the DC cinematic universe hasn’t had a great start. With reviews of Man of Steel, and this year’s Batman v. Superman and Suicide Squad leaning towards the negative, the folks in charge are trying anything they can think of to get their next few films in development back on track. Whether those fixes will actually work remains to be seen, but at least the movies’ lackluster performance is being noticed by those on the production side.

I’ve always enjoyed seeing movie costume designs that did not make the cut. So many of these first drafts at superhero costumes are completely different from the final product; sometimes I find I even enjoy the out-of-left-field designs for characters like Batman and Superman more than the ones that ended up in the movies. Either way, these designs shine a light on the revision process that takes places as the film crew hones in on the final look for these iconic characters.