Just curious. Could Superman, Batman or Wonder Women etc. show in in the current "The Flash" TV series without the marketing universe exploding or will it be limited to 2nd or 3rd tier characters that will not be in any future movies?
Why wouldn’t it happen? Young Bruce Wayne has his own TV show, so DC obviously aren’t reserving him for movies. And there was a mention of Waynetech’s future merger with Queen consolidated. (Visible in the future newspaper, I think)
I don’t think it’s marketing confusion that will keep Batman and Superman out of the TV series. They’ve got kid Batman running around on Gotham at the same time they’re putting Batman v. Superman into theaters. I think audiences can handle the idea that these characters exist in different universes when they’re on different media.
But I’m pretty sure Batman’s right out. Arrow is basically Batman with a compound bow. (In fairness, that’s pretty much what Green Arrow’s always been.) He’s even inheriting Batman’s rogues gallery. Adding a grimdark Batman to the setting is going to be redundant - although it could be interesting if they rejected the modern Frank Miller/Christopher Nolan Batman in favor of a more bronze-age swashbuckling read on the character. Batman used to be able to crack a smile. They could bring that back.
Superman’s a possibility, depending on where the TV shows go, and how successful they are. I wouldn’t be surprised that they try to do a new Superman TV show in the next couple years, especially if they feel a need to rejuvenate a fading Arrow or The Flash. Likewise with Wonder Woman and… well, probably not Aquaman, because Aquaman.
I also wonder about the reverse. Is there going to be a Flash in a Justice League movie some day?
That’s already in the works for 2018; Ezra Miller as Barry Allen in a solo film, with Justice League Part Two the following year. There’s already a wiki page for DC Comics’ shared universe films, though of course the project schedule is subject to massive revision if it turns into a financial disaster.
I actually preferred GA before he became Batman-lite. Would have liked if it GA stayed more like he was after Dark Knight proved so popular.
I think that until the Superman movies truly fizzle, we won’t see ‘Superman’. And after far too many years of Smallville, it may be awhile before we get Clark Kent in any live action incarnation. Gotham is to Batman as Smallville was to Superman, only less so. That’s Jim Gordon’s story, not Bruce Wayne’s. Best part, though, is that any upcoming movies may not have to spend too much time on establishing the villains…or so I would hope.
I propose legislation that no superhero movie can spend more than five minutes on origins. If you can’t explain an origin in five minutes or less, get the fuck out of show business.
Having already seen the Supergirl pilot, Superman is seen in silhouette once and mentioned a bunch as ‘your cousin’ and ‘He.’
So, if he ever shows up on TV, it’s likely going to be there. Maybe the show lasts enough that being coy about it gets tiresome.
As Miller said, GA was Batman-lite from the beginning. He was created as a millionaire with a young ward and a secret life as a masked crimefighter who used his skills and improbable gadgets to battle supervillains. He had and Arrowcar, and an Arrowplane, and an Arrowcave to keep them in.
And as Batman said, “Good lord man, didn’t you ever have an original idea back then?”
Batman and Superman each are worth more in terms of films and licensing to WB than everything else in the DC Comics catalogue combined. I can see some wisdom in not diluting the brand too much. Marvel, by contrast, is pushing the “shared universe” concept pretty heavily in its movies, but not in its TV shows (yet). Shared universe was always more of a Marvel thing, and nobody wants another Challenge/Roast of the Superheroes mess.
Batman and GA were alike, but then Batman went dark while GA remained the same for a few years. Then he too became a ‘ninja’. Good stories, but I preferred that in-between period. I thought it was a good counter to Batman.