Possible Flash (DC hero) movie.... (1 Viewer)

[todd s]

Over at aint-it-cool-news they have a transcript of a appearance by David Goyer. Who had the following to say regarding a Flash movie

 

[Jim Barg]

Neat. Get Geoff Johns or Mark Waid in on it too, and I'm there opening day.

Hell, who am I kidding? I'm there for the 12:01 am show on opening day regardless, being that the Flash is my favorite comic character period...

 

[Ray_R]

I'd love to see the adult version of Wally West, preferrably with Mark Waid and/or Geoff Johns behind the wheel. The super-hero of which I have the most comics are The Flash III/Wally West and 100% of the Mike Wieringo and Scott Kolins run of art. I also agree with Jim that if Warner gets the speed force "in tune" and do ALOT of research. I did quite enjoy the single season of The Flash TV show, although they merged both Barry Allen and Wally West's characters and supporting characters together...
I am so there, doods!

 

[Greg_S_H]

Creator of 'The Flash' dies at 88

 

[Chris Atkins]

Goyer, Johns and/or Waid would make a great creative team for this one. Cautiously excited...

 

[Jim Barg]

In truth, though, I think my favorite parts of the comic are probably going to get short shrift if the film gets made.

As someone who was a comics newbie when I started reading the title, I loved the fact that both Mark Waid and Geoff Johns were respectful and added to the legacy of the character. To me, a Flash franchise (sorry to call it that already) without at least a mention of the characters that have gone before would ring very hollow. There's no Wally West without Barry Allen (the 1950s-80s Flash), and no Barry Allen without Jay Garrick (the 1940s-era Flash). Granted, I have no idea how certain elements (the passing of the torch from Barry to Wally, for example) would work without a 'reimagining' of sorts, but it sure would be nice to see.

I also think Ray's right - we'd probably get to see an adult Wally West, which means the through-line of the comic for years - the growth and maturation of Mr. West from jerk to superhero - will probably be dropped. But hey, I'm a fan and for now anyway, I can dream.

One last thing: the more I think about it, Geoff Johns and Goyer would probably make a great team on this project. They wrote a couple issues of a DC title I cannot think of (Hawkman, maybe?) and Johns worked with Richard Donner for a time, so there's some verisimilitude for you.

 

[JustinCleveland]

Jim,

But that's the way this has to be because this is a movie, not the comics. It doesn't enjoy the luxury of time to develop complex characterizations and interpersonal relationships without ignoring the mainline of the story.

 

[Chris Atkins]

The title they worked on together was JSA, a title that is almost universally acclaimed by all of Comicdom.

Johns now writes the title by himself (along with FLASH, TEEN TITANS, and GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH)

 

[Jason Seaver]

Keep Johns away. I haven't really liked any of his comics, and he's got the annoying habit of leaning heavily on past continuity - I don't know if he'd even be capable of writing a story that would work as someone's first introduction to a character.

 

[Jim Barg]

Oh, I understand the crucial differences. Just some advance (and unnecessary) nitpicking, that's all. Certainly, there's no way to cram 60-plus years of history into two hours and still maintain an intriguing story for those unfamiliar with the character. (Though you could - taking the first two Superman and Spider-Man films as an example - write an outline spanning, say, three films and go from there. Unlikely, yes, but at least there would be some continuity between films for the new fans and enough nods to the comic for the longtime fans. Okay, I'm turning 'fanboy mode' off now. )

Seriously, if this gets made, I think I'm going to take the approach my brother did while awaiting the first X-Men (his favorite series) film - take the film at face value and try not to compare it to the film that's been showing inside my brain for the better part of four years. Otherwise, there's no way I'd be able to enjoy whatever WB decides to do here.

Thanks for the reminder, Chris. Those were quality comics...

 

[Chris Atkins]

So you are the reason I had to use the word "almost" in my post above!

 

[Jason Seaver]

Hey, I disliked the guy's work before he screwed up my favorite character. Still, you've got to admit that a self-contained story that can't rely on past continuity just wouldn't be his thing at all.

 

[Chris Atkins]

I don't know...has he ever tried?

His current TEEN TITANS is really good, but not too steeped in continuity. The current story arc is actually telling an alternate reality set ten years in the future, and based partially on an extrapolation of the events in IDENTITY CRISIS. It's really good storytelling, I think, and fairly original.

 

[JonZ]

"and he's got the annoying habit of leaning heavily on past continuity"

Why is this a bad thing? Im a real believer in everything working out in the end. I know some think its just a comic book and it doesnt matter, but I believe in continuity.


This was one of the reasons I quit the Marvel and DC type comicsinthe mid/early 80s,and started looking at the Independents. I couldnt standing the way they were screwing up whats already been established.

 

[Jason Seaver]

I don't like picking up a comic, and sticking with it for a few months, and still not feeling like I know enough to be reading it. I think I gave Johns's JSA five months before I realized that it wasn't for me, but for people who'd been reading comics for twenty years or at least liked to go hunting for back-issues.

That and he's very specific which continuity he wants to obsess over. I bailed on his Teen Titans because it seemed very clear that he wanted to write the Perez-era Titans, and in order to do so he basically destroyed the past ten years or so of continuity and made one of DC's more unique/fun characters (Impulse) into the terribly boring Kid Flash. Plus I gather than a year and a half later he STILL hasn't done anything with the Superboy/Luthor connection he brought up in the first issue (in order to make it look like something had happened).

And, I suppose that's OK, since in a lot of ways the superhero comcis audience is a very tight, obsessive audience, and Johns's continuity obsession plays well with the continuity-obsessed fanboys who make up much of the Marvel/DC audience. But I think it makes him spectacularly ill-equipped to have anything to do with a self-contained movie.

 

[Chris Atkins]

I've read all of the JSA run, and loved it all, despite my complete ignorance about the background of most of the characters. In fact, it's spurred me to pick up classics like ZERO HOUR to see just what the heck's going on in JSA.

 

[Grant H]

BIG NEWS FROM EW.COM:

Flash Forward
''Blade'' filmmaker will make The Flash movie. He'll write and direct a big-screen movie about the speedy superhero by Gary Susman

David S. Goyer feels the need for speed. The Blade: Trinity director, who wrote all three movies about the comic-book vampire hero, has his next comic book adaptation picked out. According to Variety, he'll write, produce, and direct a movie about DC Comics hero the Flash for Warner Bros. ''Flash is my favorite of the properties,'' said Goyer, who is one of the screenwriters who adapted DC's Batman into next year's Batman Begins for Warner Bros. The Flash is a hero of the same late-1930s vintage as Batman, a chemist who becomes the fastest man alive after exposure to irradiated water. ''I think the character of the Flash, who moves faster than the speed of light, opens itself up to rich cinematic and story ideas,'' Goyer said. Plus, the movie only needs to be seven minutes long.

(Posted:12/17/04)

 

[Robert Floto]

I understand that he plans to use the Jay Garrick FLASH. I don't know about this...

I also don't know about Goyer at this point. I saw BLADE TRINITY.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Nah, he's been saying Ryan Reynolds as Wally West lately. Someone at Variety just looked up the history of the character, found the origin of the first Flash, and assumed it was as stable an identity as Clark Kent, Peter Parker, or Bruce Wayne.

 

[Andy Sheets]

At least it wasn't Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD Seriously, nothing against Goyer, but I sometimes feel the quality of films he works on has more to do with who's directing than his scripts.