Photo Credit: www.strangebeaver.com
By: Dave Clark
In the internet age, rumors are often reported as fact and more often than not we’re misled when it comes to news about our favorite films, and television shows. The emphasis has become about breaking a story, rather than reporting the facts. This leads to casting rumors being false, script plot lines being faked, and an overall over-exaggeration from the internet community. A lightening rod for these occurrences has been news about the Man of Steel sequel. I’m gonna run down the facts of the film and get your opinions on these facts and also ask how you feel about the speculating done by some of these movie sites.
Photo Credit: www.comicbookmovie.com
Well, off the bat (pun intended) we know this is a Man of Steel sequel. Why is this important? Its Superman’s movie. We know Batman will play a role in the film, but we have to keep in mind that this is still Superman’s world that he’s playing in. We have yet to be given an official title, though most people just call it Batman vs Superman, which I’d be just fine with. We have to assume that while the Bat will at some point, likely assist the Man of Steel, Superman will be the hero of the story. I can compare it to a Marvel film, Iron Man 3. Iron Man is the main character, its his movie. So when Pepper puts on the suit, or when Rhodes get his War Machine armor, they’re not suddenly the main focus, they aid Stark in his quest to win the day.
The casting of this film has led to some wild speculation. We know that Batman, Alfred, and Wonder Woman have been cast in the film. That does not necessarily mean they will have key roles. I highly doubt we’ll see a lot of Alfred in this film, but that his role will be to set up the world of Batman for future stand-alone films (again this is speculation, this is not news or fact). Also with Wonder Woman in the cast we have to believe its in an introductory role and she won’t play a large part in the ultimate battle so to speak. You may ask why, and I believe its because of the simple fact that having Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman (the Justice League Trinity) fighting a villain in the film would be overkill, especially if this film is to set up a Justice League feature.
Photo Credit: robot6.comicbookresources.com
We know that Lex Luthor has been cast and that Jesse Eisenberg will be portraying the billionaire mastermind. We have no idea what his back-story will be for this film, or how he fits into the storyline at all. He could be the main villain; he could be just a thorn in Superman’s side for the duration of this movie. We know he’ll be against the Son of Krypton, but we don’t know to what extent. We also don’t know for sure if he’ll have anything to do with Bruce Wayne, as many have speculated. While I like the idea of them knowing each other (makes sense, they’re both billionaires and run their own companies which we know to be fact from the Easter eggs hidden in Man of Steel of LexCorp and Wayne Enterprises) it does not mean we will see them squaring off in the board room. Personally (I know this will never happen) I'd like to see Stephen Amell leaving Lex's office after some sort of discussion about helping to rebuild Metropolis and bumping into Bruce giving him a nod saying, "Wayne." Bruce nodding back and saying, "Queen." And that's all. That would make me a happy geek.
I’m not trying to rain on anyone’s parade with this article. I’m hoping for the very best with this film, even though I have my doubts with the Affleck and Gadot casting. While I have my doubts I’m still going to give this film every chance to amaze me as I did the first Man of Steel movie. I wasn’t blown away by the story, I had my issues with it, but visually it was a stunning film and I can’t hate seeing Superman on film. While he’s not my favorite character, far from it, I did enjoy seeing him fly for the first time, seeing him learn to use his Super Hearing with his mother, and other moments as well. The point of this article was mostly to just warn everyone out there in our Geekdom community, to take a second and refer to the source before reacting to a “news” posting on the internet. We get emotional when we find out what actor or actress is playing our beloved characters because we are invested in their stories. We want the best possible performance and the best possible story to be seen by the masses because we know they deserve the treatment and we want others to care as much as we do. Remember that before you fill the message boards with hate after seeing a movie. Voice your opinions, but maybe take a step back or two and voice them intelligently.