Ava DuVernay tapped to direct New Gods for DC/Warner Bros.

Ava DuVernay is the director of A Wrinkle In Time, but I’m not trying to hold that against her. There is some indication that she actually wishes to direct this particular superhero movie, which is good; and New Gods is of course Jack Kirby at his Kirby-ish.  If it’s walled off from the rest of the DCEU — if, indeed, it can even be said to be part of the DCEU, Steppenwolf or no — that may very well be for the best.  I have high hopes for the Aquaman movie, but we’re still trying to get a director who can really understand Superman as a concept. Or who can be allowed to show that concept, I suppose.

So I hope DuVernay can make it work. But — speaking as a DC comics kid — I really wish that DC had somebody like Kevin Feige directing traffic. It’s not so much that all of the MCU movies flow into each other; it’s that the Marvel movies are all being watched over by somebody who fundamentally cares about the source material. Then again, I have no idea who that might be, so what do I know? I guess that the best that we can hope for is the occasional good standalone. May this be one of them.

Could… could DC be planning to NOT screw up the live-action (Teen) Titans show?

Mayyyyybe:

EXCLUSIVE: Australian newcomer Teagan Croft has landed one of the leads, the series regular role of Raven, in the new live-action series Titans, from Greg Berlanti, Akiva Goldsman, Geoff Johns, Sarah Schechter and Warner Bros TV. The series is slated to premiere in 2018 as one of the first series that will launch a DC-branded direct-to-consumer digital service.

Here’s the thing: Teagan Croft is 13.  Which is compatible with a Teen Titans show, and it also suggests that we’re going to get something that’s, you know, family-friendly and whatnot. Because I don’t care if it’s direct-to-consumer, people are going to start screaming if they sexualize characters being portrayed by nigh-literal tweens.

Also, Teagan Croft’s facial features just kind of looks right for Raven. They’ll need to dye her hair, of course. But that’s easy enough.

In the Mail: Gotham by Gaslight.

No picture for it tonight: my wife’s reading it at the moment, and it’s her birthday so there you go.  Gotham by Gaslight was good, though. Batman generally comes close to a Victorian aesthetic anyway — it’s sort of implied by the word “Gotham” — so having the comic just drill down and embrace it fully works pretty well. Fair warning, though: it’s more of a mood piece than an action comic.

DC doing Gotham By Gaslight Batman animated flick.

It’s supposedly leaked, but I have to wonder whether I should be writing ‘leaked.’ After all, what is the downside of people learning a month and a half early that the upcoming Batman and Harley Quinn DVD is going to have a sneak peek at a hitherto-unannounced Gotham By Gaslight project?  The original title is popular,* and strategically revealing the feature on the DVD may spark both sales and interest.

I mean, I may now pick up B&HQ.  Because Gotham By Gaslight would be pretty cool, if they do it right. And if it works, they could do The Doom That Came To Gotham, which would also be pretty cool (and is exactly what you’d expect it to be, from the title).

Moe Lane

*For those who don’t know, it’s a Mignola/Augustyn Batman story that reimagines him in Victorian England, hunting Jack the Ripper.  The favorable reception of this caused DC to come up with their alternate DC history Elseworld series. So, pretty seminal, there.

Some helpful suggestions for DC, given the Wonder Woman thing.

The ‘thing’ being that the Wonder Woman movie is almost certainly going to be their best-grossing DCEU movie by the end of Fourth of July weekend.  In light of that, I feel that DC should review their character conceptions. Potentially drastically.  Here are some suggestions. Continue reading Some helpful suggestions for DC, given the Wonder Woman thing.

So. Apparently ‘Powerless’ went through a major rewrite.

Powerless used to be about an insurance agency dealing with Acts of Supers in the DC Universe; now it’sabout  the wacky hi-jinks of a R&D division of WayneTech.  Oops, sorry: “Wayne Security.” Anyway, it’s got Alan Tudyk in it!  That’s good, right?

…Please tell me that that’s good.

I mean, it might not suck. And DC is better at television than it is at movies. In fact, DC is good at television.  So who knows?

The fix is in!

I’d love to know how they came to THIS conclusion:

Actually, I can guess: lies, damned lies, and statistics. I imagine that a good analysis of the criteria they used to determine best mass transit system would prove interesting. Or at least informative.

DC Comics gets into the sitcom business with Powerless.

DC is doing a sitcom!  It’s called Powerless, and it honestly sounds kind of like a stand-up comedy sketch:

The single-camera workplace comedy is set at one of the worst insurance companies in America — with the twist being that it also takes place in the universe of DC Comics. The project is about the reality of working life for a normal, powerless person in a world of superheroes and villains.

…and I’ll be honest: theoretically that doesn’t sound so bad to me. It’s an interesting concept, because living in a superhero universe would be a highly surreal experience.  And ‘surreal’ is a short jump to ‘comedy.’  Of course, it’s the implementation that matters. For that matter: are we at saturation point yet when it comes to superheroes and TV?  I don’t actually have cable, remember, so I wouldn’t really know.  What’s next, though? Superhero soap operas?

…Well, maybe. After all, superhero webcomics are a thing, so the concept might transfer over.

Via @kennethhite.