As the Inquisitr reported, Warner Bros. invited journalists to the set of Justice League in an attempt to create a general positive buzz about the latest production. Fans are still willing to bet this was to tame the disappointment over Batman v Superman , which was meant to launch the DC universe over at Warner Bros. in a big way.
As we know, Batman v Superman failed to impress critics and fans. In the wake of barely breaking even at the box office and a steep drop off in the film’s second weekend out, Warner Bros. decided to make a few changes internally. Some hoped that this meant even though Justice League was being driven by Zack Snyder, the director of the aforementioned BvS , Warner Bros. had a tighter leash behind the production.
While we won’t know what Justice League looks like until it hits theaters, we do know that it seems that Warner Bros. is trying to right the ship in terms of tone. One of the key complaints in Batman v Superman was the dark tone of the film. Although the DC Universe is typically darker with mythological heroes, some audiences wanted Warner Bros. to capture a bit of the humor that Marvel has in its films.
Ben Affleck teases the humorous dynamic between Batman and #TheFlash in ‘Justice League’. https://t.co/iOLMZu6LIB pic.twitter.com/GIndjCvJBB
— Collider News (@ColliderNews) June 23, 2016
The Guardian writes, “Ben Affleck may make a strong fist of his role as the screen’s grouchiest Batman but Snyder (who is no Christopher Nolan) mistakes ‘murkiness’ for ‘darkness’, leaving his stodgy antiheroes stomping around in a Stygian quagmire of quasi-religious imagery, superficial set pieces, and – most damagingly – incoherent storytelling.”
While specifics of the recent set visit to London have been scant, there’s a hint that Justice League might be a bit lighter in terms of its storytelling. According to Collider , Justice League will be a lot lighter than Batman V Superman , but we just don’t know by how much.
Star and executive producer Ben Affleck expanded on this a bit for the journalists who visited the set.
“There’s definitely room for more humor. It’s not going to be—DC movies, I think, by their nature are a little more mythic than some comic book movies are. But [Batman v Superman] was very dark and heavy because it was really rooted in The Dark Knight Returns, which is a heavy, dark book. And this is not that. This is a step in evolution to bring together all of these characters who have had their origins.”
Everything you need to know about the Justice League movie https://t.co/ceF4r4qmDU pic.twitter.com/W0UzUnagQs
— Total Film (@totalfilm) June 24, 2016
Affleck continued, “It’s about multilateralism, and it’s about hope and about working together and the kind of conflicts of trying to work together with others. It’s a world where superheroes exist, so there’s comedy in that necessarily, trying to work with other people and people trying to accomplish goals together is the root of all great comedy in my view.”
As for why people responded to Batman v Superman in the way that they did, producer Deborah Snyder blames it on the way people like to watch their superheroes. Many fans didn’t like to see Batman kill in Batman v Superman , and some had complaints about Batman using a gun at all in the film.
Of the response, Snyder said, “I think the main thing we learned is that people don’t like to see their heroes deconstructed. [laughs] I think that’s hard because it’s people we’ve grown up with and that we care about. They like seeing them in all their glory.”
[Image via Warner Bros.]