With all the internet buzz about Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman right now, one would think it was Warner Bros' DC Comics universe that had transformed Hollywood's approach to superhero movies over the past five years, rather than Disney-owned rival Marvel. This week, the big debates were over who should play the dark knight in the forthcoming Man of Steel sequel (aka Superman vs Batman), and whether it's finally time for a movie to introduce the other princess Diana to filmgoers prior to her turn in Warner's proposed Justice League film.
The latest name in the frame for Batman is little-known American actor Tyler Hoechlin, the 25-year-old star of TV shows Teen Wolf and 7th Heaven. Cosmic Book News has the scoop, but it hasn't yet been picked up by any of the US trades, so we should probably take it with a large pinch of salt. Just as unlikely to take the part is Ryan Gosling, named by bookies as one of the favourites to play billionaire businessman Bruce Wayne and his grim crime-fighting alter-ego. Since Gosling recently revealed that he'd quite like to take a step away from Hollywood, and has made increasingly leftfield career choices throughout his career, we can assume he's unlikely to make such a dramatic U-turn just because every right-minded cinephile would like him to.
Even more popular with bookies is Joseph Gordon Levitt, who was revealed as sort-of-Robin at the end of Christopher Nolan's final Batman movie, last year's The Dark Knight Rises. But everything we've heard from Warner Bros suggests that the British film-maker's trilogy is considered a standalone entity that will not feed into the rest of the DC universe. In any case, Man of Steel makes it pretty clear that Superman is the world's first superhero: if Batman had been plying his trade in Gotham for a number of years, we can assume someone at the Daily Planet might have heard about it.
One area where Cosmic Book News has it right is in its focus on little known faces. Any battle between Batman and Superman requires actors of equal stature to play each part. Casting well-known faces such as Michael Fassbender, Jake Gyllenhaal or Chris Pine (all favoured by bookmakers) would serve to unbalance Man of Steel 2 because the new Superman, Henry Cavill, remains a relative newcomer.
Personally I'd like to see an actor such as Taylor Kitsch, who's well known but hardly a household name, given the chance to shine as Batman/Wayne. It'll never happen after the preposterous monstering that critics gave John Carter, but Gosling's fellow Canadian has the steely confidence and rough-edged charm to make the part his own.
Moving on to the Wonder Woman movie. We'll be getting a Justice League film sometime after Man of Steel 2, probably in 2017. According to Warner's current plans that means Diana of Themyscira will either be mentioned in passing somewhere in Zack Snyder's sequel, or will have to arrive fully formed in the Justice League film, without fans having much idea of where she has come from in the DC universe. Forbes this week published a breakdown of why it believes Warner would be crazy not to put a standalone Wonder Woman movie into production first, citing the box office success of movies such as The Hunger Games and series such as Alien and Tomb Raider as evidence for the financial clout of femme-centric action fare. Wired Magazine, meanwhile, has drawn exactly the opposite conclusion, screaming: "We don't need to stinking Wonder Woman movie."
Wired is correct when it states that Wonder Woman is one of the single weirdest pop culture creations ever. But that's exactly why filmgoers will need a little context before the character is thrown into the deep end. Imagine The Avengers without the preceding Thor movie (in which director Kenneth Branagh intelligently made sense of the Norse god's barmy backstory): the sudden appearance of Odin's son would have been seriously bizarre and unsettling. These far-out comic book creations can lend themselves to fabulously satisfying fantasy film-making with a little care and attention, but we do need a little time to immerse ourselves in the madness.
Hence, I'm plumping for a Wonder Woman movie (with another unknown in the title role) to lead us into Justice League. The standalone movie would need to completely reinvent the character in the public mind, wiping out cheeseball 70s memories of Lynda Carter (a costume redesign might be a clever idea) and giving Diana the stature and relevance to stand tall with Bats and Supes. Warner has a very narrow window within which to get its DC universe right, and has made a decent start. Let's hope the studio now makes the right call.
