Do You Want to See a Live Action Superman and Batman Movie?
Will superhero fans ever get to see a live action film of the 'World's Finest' -- Batman and Superman -- together at last? Shock Till You Drop asked 'Season of the Witch' producer Charles Roven just that in an interview yesterday. Roven is currently working on Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight Rises' and Zack Snyder's 'Superman,' so it only made sense to find out if a Batman/Superman pairing would be happening any time soon.
Plans to unite the DC icons have failed twice before -- once with 'Troy's' Wolfgang Petersen and a second time with 'Mad Max' director George Miller at the helm -- but much to the chagrin of comic fans, the crossover isn't on Roven's mind at the moment. "Right now the Batman lives in his world and the Superman lives in his world. Those stories are those stories and we haven't thought beyond each individual picture," he told Shock.
This will be Nolan's last Batman film, so chances are a crossover feature would not involve the director or Bale as the Dark Knight. Superman's filmic reputation precedes him as the formulaic good guy. If the movie was based on the comic universe and steers clear of another Superman origin/love story -- instead allowing the Son of Krypton to get his hands dirty and do battle in a sci-fi universe -- the uniting of the two superheroes would feel pretty perfect. Batman and Superman are each great foils for the other -- and the yin and yang balance of their personalities would almost assuredly make for compelling viewing on the big screen.
Warner/DC has been keeping their eye on the Marvel universe ever since 'Iron Man' hit and Disney bought the company -- restructuring their approach in an attempt to remain competitive with their arch rivals. Ideally, there'd be a scene in the third 'Batman' movie where the Man of Steel is introduced à la Captain America's shield or Thor's Hammer in 'Iron Man/Iron Man 2.' The chances of that happening are slim to none given Rosen's assertion that each character exists in his own universe. This is one thing that Marvel does so well -- creating synergy between all their different characters through cameos and clever in-jokes. DC might be well advised to start mimicking that approach.
While the absence of Nolan/Bale might dissuade some fans from watching a 'World's Finest' film, there's still bend to the comic story that the movies have barely touched on. The characters have always been larger than the directors and actors who've brought them to the screen, and passing on an opportunity to unite two of the biggest names in the DC universe feels like a gigantic missed opportunity. While some feel (with a definite degree of validity) that the characters are just too big to combine in one universe and that a film featuring both Superman and Batman would shortchange both characters, it's hard not to be intrigued by the idea. Superhero films are all about larger than life spectacle, and what could be larger than seeing the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight taking on a global menace that pushes both of them to the limit of their abilities?
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