How Warner Bros. Have Made Sure ‘Justice League’ Will Improve Upon ‘Suicide Squad’ And ‘Batman V Superman,’ According To Kevin Smith
Kevin Smith has insisted that Warner Bros. has learned from the mistakes of Suicide Squad and Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice with the upcoming blockbuster Justice League, which is due out in November 2017.
The first three installments to the DC Extended Universe — Man Of Steel, Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, and Suicide Squad — have been met negatively by critics, with moviegoers registering their disappointment in Man Of Steel and Batman V Superman’s serious and dark tones, especially when it came to the character of Superman.
But the first trailer for Justice League, which premiered at Comic-Con last month before then being released online, was full of jokes and suggested that the blockbuster will be much lighter in its tone.
Kevin Smith, a renowned comic book fan and film director in his own right that’s overseen the likes of Clerks, Dogma, and Chasing Amy, has also noticed this change in tone and believes that Warner Bros have noticeably made an alteration to the DC Extended Universe to appease movie fans.
KEVIN SMITH Thinks WARNER BROS. Is Getting The Message With ‘JUSTICE LEAGUE’ https://t.co/fOoKT4WEFV pic.twitter.com/6SZiHgj9oN
— ComicBook NOW! (@ComicBookNOW) August 21, 2016
Speaking to Canoe Kevin Smith explained, “The audience that pays to see these things are like, ‘There’s a certain set of standards that we want when we come see these superhero movies, and, yes, most of those standards have been set for us by Marvel… regardless, this is what we want in our superhero movies. We don’t want doom and gloom. We want them to like each other. We want them to have an interplay’.”
Smith continued, “It looks like (Warner Bros. and DC Comics) heard that loud and clear and everything that was missing or perceived to be missing from Batman V Superman seems like it’s in full display on Justice League, so I’m on board. I was already on board, but I’m very happy to see that they’re taking that direction.”
In comparison to Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice and Man Of Steel, Suicide Squad was much lighter and energetic. However, that didn’t impress the critics, though, as Suicide Squad left film reviewers cold and it only amassed a Rotten Tomatoes score of 29 percent.
Rumors have since emerged that Suicide Squad was so disjointed because Warner Bros. recut the film to suit the tone and style of the hugely popular trailers for the blockbuster, while director David Ayer had originally intended for it to be just as dark as Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. Ultimately, the released version of Suicide Squad was a mix of these versions.
In the same interview, Kevin Smith admitted that while he loved Suicide Squad, he can completely understand why it received such negative reviews. “When I saw the movie, I said, ‘Boy, I can see people not liking this.’ I didn’t read all the criticism but I certainly got the gist that people are like, ‘This ain’t for me.'”
#FlewAllNight #NeverMissHallH #JusticeLeaguehttps://t.co/PH2loOdHOY
— ZackSnyder (@ZackSnyder) July 23, 2016
“I can understand it that way, but this is in my genes. I was reading Ostrander and Yale’s Suicide Squad from the moment it hit the stands. My daughter’s named Harley Quinn. I’m half in the bag for this stuff already and I love David Ayer. I thought he did a great job.”
The DC Extended Universe will expand in 2017 with Wonder Woman and Justice League, while The Flash and Aquaman will come in 2018, Shazam and a Justice League sequel will arrive in 2019, and Cyborg and Green Lantern Corps will be released in 2020.
[Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images]
