The Rock Confirmed To Play Black Adam In DC's "SHAZAM" Movie - Page 19

~~Leo656~~ · 10-25-2022, 05:05 AM

Yeah I was gonna say I wish they hadn't flipped either her or Hawkman, but I ended up liking the actors enough to not care incredibly much, and Cyclone is such a deep cut character I was able to shrug that one off easier. They did an okay job, I liked how they did it. She was one of my favorite things in the movie, actually. Especially the way they played with color during her action scenes.

I liked the little "...And we're the rookies!" deal they had going on with her and Atom Smasher, it wasn't overbearing to me and they were both at the least competent. Atom Smasher was a bit of a clumsy noob but I've seen him kinda be like that in the comics, too.

I actually liked everyone pretty much, the kid annoyed me but more so in the beginning and I guess I got used to him after a while, but definitely the weakest part of the movie. But as far as the main cast and particularly Adam and the JSA, I thought they did good. Rock obviously sort of whiffed on it, but for some reason I don't blame him, I feel like it wasn't entirely his fault. Like I'm sure there are other takes of those scenes where he maybe played it darker or more menacing, like there are times you can see a much better performance juuuuust beneath the one you are seeing. I hope he grows into the role a little bit, I'm sure he will, it'll come more natural to him as he gets used to it. I actually got a kick out of the Clint Eastwood bit.

I wasn't a huge fan of Hawkman's retractable wings, but I almost get it, I'unno. I mean, you CAN do that, and it's realistic, it's just I'unno I wouldn't have bothered. He looked weird every time he would be standing there with just the helmet on and no wings, like the wings complete the whole thing, man. When he was at "full mast" and everything he looked cool, but I think his outfit is too plain. Needed to be at least a bit more comics accurate. But I liked him, I liked the mace and everything. They did pretty good, I wanted to see the Claw of Horus but I guess you can't have everything.

I liked the movie, it's fun but I think the more you see it some more of the rough stuff will stick out.

*CyberCubed* · 10-25-2022, 06:28 AM

Honestly the whole jet and the mansion with the two young teen superheroes reminded me of the X-men more than anything else. I half expected Prof. Xavier to make a cameo.

*oldmanwinters* · 10-25-2022, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leo656

That whole reveal is easily, EASILY the worst thing in the entire movie, because it's so clunky, poorly done and very ill-timed; they give you this big exposition dump and then jump to a big action scene, and you can barely focus on the action scene because you're still going "Wait, so WHAT was that about with his kid, now?" Quit trying to outsmart the audience; Keep It Simple, Stupid. . . .

It also would have furthered the Adam/Superman parallels, because people being afraid of his power and how it may corrupt him has been Superman's entire arc since Man of Steel.

The way I see it, EITHER backstory could have worked for a single BA movie. The one they settled on reveals BA to be a brokenhearted dad, thus the emotional anchor of the plot has to do with him becoming a surrogate father of sorts to the new kid/kids. Doesn't make it a great film, but it WORKS for a one-off tale. Now the question is... how much is Warners committed to that portrayal going forward with a franchise (because this business is all about "What's Next?"). Does anybody really want to see Amon as a major factor in the DCEU going forward? And if the franchise soon shoves Amon and Professor Adrianna into obscurity, what's the point then? And then they can always kill 'em off to force BA into another traumatic, rage state, but I thought "Fridging" characters had long fallen out of favor.

Yes, I think going with the "Power Corrupted Superman/Shazam" angle makes a lot more sense long-term, and it could have worked perfectly well for a debut movie too. If Warners ever gets around to the Apocalyptic Injustice-style future foreshadowed since BvS, then having an established Black Adam gets even more interesting. Maybe BA ends up influencing Superman on the lure of revenge over lost love?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xav

Cyclone also wasn't black in the comics, but I guess becuase they aren't super well known charaters their casting isn't gonna make news.

I hate to admit, but my first thought after seeing both was "where those characters [her and Hawkman] originally redheads in the comics?"

Sure enough, Cyclone was, but at least they tried to throw a bone with the actress having read highlights. As for Katar Hol/Carter Hall... eh, my lazy Google searches suggest he's been traditionally black or brown haired. Maybe Hawkgirl in the JLU cartoons being so prominently red-headed made me expect we'd have another instance of Hollywood race-changing a traditional red-headed character.

I think Hodge & Swindell did a perfectly fine job in the movie (I don't care to see a movie with them as leads), but that's just the cynical old man I am when it comes to these things.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Honestly the whole jet and the mansion with the two young teen superheroes reminded me of the X-men more than anything else. I half expected Prof. Xavier to make a cameo.

VERY X-Men-ish.

I did appreciate seeing the name Task Force X on screen, so now we have both a Suicide Squad, TFX, and Justice Society rolling around under Waller's supervision. PLUS, she's got Superman on speed dial? I think Cavill had ALMOST as much dialogue in this movie as he did in all of BvS.

*Andrew NDB* · 11-03-2022, 01:13 AM

So it's not looking good for Black Adam. Weekend #2 is over with now and it's just sitting at 115 domestic and 139 international. It seems set to end at Shazam! numbers (which are 140 domestic and 223 international), which would be fine except Shazam!'s budget was 85 million... and Black Adam's budget is 200 million. Honestly, the best hope Black Adam has at this point is somehow clawing its way to baaaarely break even over the next two weekends, then it's all over.

~~Leo656~~ · 11-03-2022, 03:08 AM

Supposedly it releases in China on November 11th and they're expecting it to do around $200 million over there.

*Andrew NDB* · 11-03-2022, 03:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leo656

Supposedly it releases in China on November 11th and they're expecting it to do around $200 million over there.

That could move the meter a bit, sure.

So I'm not saying giving him hair or actual Black Adam ears would have helped or hurt, but why weren't they there?

*Turo602* · 11-03-2022, 04:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

So I'm not saying giving him hair or actual Black Adam ears would have helped or hurt, but why weren't they there?

I think they avoided the hair and pointy ears because The Rock is far more well known and recognizable than Black Adam, and the selling point of this whole project from day one was seeing The Rock as a Superman level being kicking ass and one day crossing paths with Superman. Black Adam himself was never the point and a casual audience who recognizes The Rock would likely be distracted by The Rock with a Black Adam cut and silly pointed ears. The internet would have just ended up mocking it like they do everything because casuals aren't actually invested enough in Black Adam to see a Black Adam film, they're there to see The Rock.

~~Leo656~~ · 11-03-2022, 05:01 AM

I agree with that. I think giving him a goofy-looking hairpiece would have been a distraction and just one more thing for the critics to rip apart, and they're already being way more brutal than usual for some reason.

Like, I'm generally all about fidelity, and I prefer the characters look as close to the comics as possible. But let's be honest, if you want someone to "disappear into a role" and fully embody their character... you don't call The Rock. You call The Rock when you want everyone to go see your new The Rock movie starring The Rock that has The Rock in it.

Would've been "nice" if he had the hairpiece, but people just would've made fun of it and it's such an innocuous thing. For me it's like Cavill's spitcurl as Superman, it's cute when they bother to do it but when they don't do it I don't actually care.

Stuff like that shouldn't be a big deal. Like, the spitcurl was such a priority for Superman Returns that they had a special clip-on spitcurl for Brandon Routh to wear, since his hair just plain refused to cooperate no matter how much gel they used.

And it looks so dumb I wish they didn't even bother, and knowing the lengths they went to just to say, "SEE! He has a spitcurl!" just illustrates how off those peoples' priorities were. Did it help anything about the movie? Nah. Did it look dumb and kinda fake (since it WAS fake)? Yeah. Would it have made any difference at all if they just said "F*ck it" and let his hair do whatever it wanted? Newp.

Sometimes you can't get hung up on the minutiae. That's for meth-heads like Bryan Singer to do.

*Andrew NDB* · 11-05-2022, 04:49 AM

So... there's a lot of articles about it won't open in China because Pierce Brosnan wore a Taiwan thing somewhere in the press for the movie.

Though also... the ears. China? Is there a John Cena-like thing going on there? Ehhhh...

~~Leo656~~ · 11-05-2022, 10:11 AM

Well, that's a bummer.

Sets a terrible precedent, too, since now every DC movie is gonna be extra super-duper "safe" to avoid pissing off China, on account of how bad they need their money.

*Coola Yagami* · 11-05-2022, 10:30 AM

The moment AMERICAN productions relied on the Chinese box office is when we started losing. I remember the first time I heard whatever movie had to change this or that 'cause of China', I was like 'wtf? why? who gives a flying **** what China thinks'. Then I was told about the importance of China and how badly we need their money and I'm still like 'wtf? why?'

~~Leo656~~ · 11-05-2022, 10:41 AM

Movies are too expensive nowadays, that's all there is to it.

If your movie can't be a success without bending over for an evil totalitarian regime that unleashed a global manmade Death Plague, you need to stop insisting that movies need $300 million budgets and billion-dollar grosses. Go back to props and stop-motion and matte painted backgrounds if you have to. Common sense needs to prevail at some point.

*IMJ* · 11-05-2022, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leo656

Movies are too expensive nowadays, that's all there is to it.

If your movie can't be a success without bending over for an evil totalitarian regime that unleashed a global manmade Death Plague, you need to stop insisting that movies need $300 million budgets and billion-dollar grosses. Go back to props and stop-motion and matte painted backgrounds if you have to. Common sense needs to prevail at some point.

This is why every horror movie does well. All you need is two cameras, 6 actors and a horror gimmick to fall within a 10 million dollar producer's budget and you'll most likely make at least 40 million in theaters on it.

~~Leo656~~ · 11-05-2022, 04:00 PM

Yep. Halloween Ends had one of the biggest second-week dropoffs in HISTORY and yet still turned a huge profit because it cost nothing to make. The horrible reviews and word of mouth did no damage at all because it made its budget back many times over in two days.

Granted, that's apples and oranges compared to super-hero movies, but the basic idea is the same. "Gotta spend money to make money" DOES NOT apply to the movie business, all you do is dig yourself a hole.

*Andrew NDB* · 11-07-2022, 12:14 PM

*LeotheLateBloomer* · 11-07-2022, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leo656

Yep. Halloween Ends had one of the biggest second-week dropoffs in HISTORY and yet still turned a huge profit because it cost nothing to make. The horrible reviews and word of mouth did no damage at all because it made its budget back many times over in two days.

Granted, that's apples and oranges compared to super-hero movies, but the basic idea is the same. "Gotta spend money to make money" DOES NOT apply to the movie business, all you do is dig yourself a hole.

Audiences never learn, especially dumb teens who just want to see a rated R horror film, good or bad reviews aside.

*Andrew NDB* · 11-08-2022, 01:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeotheLateBloomer

Audiences never learn, especially dumb teens who just want to see a rated R horror film, good or bad reviews aside.

I've watched Halloween Ends twice now. Once with the wife and once with the daughter. I really don't think we could've gotten much more than this. A root exploration of what causes "evil" at the same time as we get a Michael Meyers final run of it. Definitively. This wasn't a retread.

If anything, like the last one, I just wanted more of that funny black kid from the 2018 movie.

*Andrew NDB* · 11-19-2022, 04:05 PM

Looks like that's it for Black Adam. 153 million domestic plus 201 international and no China release happening. It's going to close slightly under what Shazam! did, though again, Shazam! had less than half of the budget of Black Adam and that was considered a modest success. After on demand and such Black Adam will barely, barely break even and that's a big "if." Imagine if the Cavill appearance hadn't have even leaked?

So yeah, forget about Black Adam 2. Maybe he'll show up again in some team-up movie or Shazam! 3 (also a big if, since Shazam! 2's success is hardly a given) or something, but that'll be it. The Rock lied... the hierarchy of the DCEU didn't change. It didn't even cause a ripple.

Also, it's pretty sad to look at the slate of previous DCEU movies. They haven't had a single movie that's made money since Shazam! itself, and that wasn't even like a big blockbuster. Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman 1984, The Suicide Squad, all big losers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

The moment AMERICAN productions relied on the Chinese box office is when we started losing. I remember the first time I heard whatever movie had to change this or that 'cause of China', I was like 'wtf? why? who gives a flying **** what China thinks'. Then I was told about the importance of China and how badly we need their money and I'm still like 'wtf? why?'

I don't have a problem with studios reediting movies for other countries, removing this or changing that, or adding stuff (like giving that Chinese guy a somewhat bigger part in the Chinese version of Iron Man 2)... but when the actual movie that arrives in US theaters is tainted or shaped by that... that's bullsh**.

*ZariusTwo* · 11-22-2022, 12:43 PM

Film's out on Digital VOD already. L taken.

~~Leo656~~ · 12-07-2022, 01:20 AM

Now that the dust is settled, it's official: WB is gonna lose between $100-200 million on "The Great Course-Correction Movie". The movie they went to great lengths to convince us would be "the saving grace of the DCEU" is perhaps its most high-profile failure. Consider that BoP and the Squad sequel did very badly, but nobody expected big returns on those movies. THIS was touted as the DC movie that was finally gonna win everyone over, establish brand confidence among critics and fans, and finally set a firm and stable course for the future, and... nope.

I've said it before and I'll say it a million times: As divisive as Snyder's movies were, at least they made Actual Profit. BvS may have a dismal RT score and may in fact be THE most "love it or hate it" movie in all of movies period, not just super-hero fare, but at least there's not $200 million of red ink stuck to it. It's actually one of the most financially-successful DC movies of all time, factoring in discs and such. So somebody liked it.

But lest we forget, the current state of the DCEU is ALL because WB demanded that BvS make about $1.1 billion and it "only" made a little under 900 mil. Still profitable, still plenty of toys sold, altogether a very successful piece of business for WB even if the reviews were scathing. BUT, "not good enough", they dumped both Baby and Bathwater and they've been floundering ever since. Wonder Woman and Aquaman did okay but that feels like forever ago, now, and more recently WB would KILL for one of their DCEU movies to "just" scrape under 900 mil. That "failure" that started all of their woes in the first place is a result they would do anything to replicate, now. When goddamn "Shazam!" with its honestly crummy box office take is considered a "success" as far as the DCEU, you really gotta wonder what the hell these people grade by. For the last 5 years it seems like they settle for, "Well, we barely made money (or lost a ton of it) BUT the reviews in Entertainment Weekly weren't so bad!"

I don't see Flash or Aquaman 2 doing huge business either, frankly. More and more, it's like "They REALLY should have just let Zack do his thing" seems like the best-case scenario. I mean even if it had failed, it'd all be over and done with by now and we'd be looking at the hard reboot and a clean slate. And if it had gotten over with people in the long run, then even better. As it is, pushing him out seems like a worse mistake every day because it's clear as a bell they really have no ultimate plan or vision for this sh*t. All WB knows how to do is react, and then OVER react.

All the hoopla about "James Gunn is gonna save the DCEU!", and so far we have a Blue Beetle poster and some more whispers about Spielberg doing Blackhawks. Yawn. It's still ultimately WB in charge, and it's still a giant f*cking mess of their own making over there.

10-25-2022, 05:05 AM	#361
~~Leo656~~ Banned Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: nWo Country Posts: 27,703	Yeah I was gonna say I wish they hadn't flipped either her or Hawkman, but I ended up liking the actors enough to not care incredibly much, and Cyclone is such a deep cut character I was able to shrug that one off easier. They did an okay job, I liked how they did it. She was one of my favorite things in the movie, actually. Especially the way they played with color during her action scenes. I liked the little "...And we're the rookies!" deal they had going on with her and Atom Smasher, it wasn't overbearing to me and they were both at the least competent. Atom Smasher was a bit of a clumsy noob but I've seen him kinda be like that in the comics, too. I actually liked everyone pretty much, the kid annoyed me but more so in the beginning and I guess I got used to him after a while, but definitely the weakest part of the movie. But as far as the main cast and particularly Adam and the JSA, I thought they did good. Rock obviously sort of whiffed on it, but for some reason I don't blame him, I feel like it wasn't entirely his fault. Like I'm sure there are other takes of those scenes where he maybe played it darker or more menacing, like there are times you can see a much better performance juuuuust beneath the one you are seeing. I hope he grows into the role a little bit, I'm sure he will, it'll come more natural to him as he gets used to it. I actually got a kick out of the Clint Eastwood bit. I wasn't a huge fan of Hawkman's retractable wings, but I almost get it, I'unno. I mean, you CAN do that, and it's realistic, it's just I'unno I wouldn't have bothered. He looked weird every time he would be standing there with just the helmet on and no wings, like the wings complete the whole thing, man. When he was at "full mast" and everything he looked cool, but I think his outfit is too plain. Needed to be at least a bit more comics accurate. But I liked him, I liked the mace and everything. They did pretty good, I wanted to see the Claw of Horus but I guess you can't have everything. I liked the movie, it's fun but I think the more you see it some more of the rough stuff will stick out. Last edited by Leo656; 10-25-2022 at 05:39 AM.

11-03-2022, 01:13 AM	#364
Andrew NDB Weed Whacker Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Auburn, WA Posts: 34,564	So it's not looking good for Black Adam. Weekend #2 is over with now and it's just sitting at 115 domestic and 139 international. It seems set to end at Shazam! numbers (which are 140 domestic and 223 international), which would be fine except Shazam!'s budget was 85 million... and Black Adam's budget is 200 million. Honestly, the best hope Black Adam has at this point is somehow clawing its way to baaaarely break even over the next two weekends, then it's all over. __________________ [ ODYSSEY \| ORIGIN \| THE IMAGE/VOL. 3 CONCLUSION \| THE SHELLSHOCKED PODCAST \| ON FACEBOOK ]

11-05-2022, 04:49 AM	#369
Andrew NDB Weed Whacker Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Auburn, WA Posts: 34,564	So... there's a lot of articles about it won't open in China because Pierce Brosnan wore a Taiwan thing somewhere in the press for the movie. Though also... the ears. China? Is there a John Cena-like thing going on there? Ehhhh... __________________ [ ODYSSEY \| ORIGIN \| THE IMAGE/VOL. 3 CONCLUSION \| THE SHELLSHOCKED PODCAST \| ON FACEBOOK ]

11-05-2022, 10:30 AM	#371
Coola Yagami Overlord Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 15,715	The moment AMERICAN productions relied on the Chinese box office is when we started losing. I remember the first time I heard whatever movie had to change this or that 'cause of China', I was like 'wtf? why? who gives a flying **** what China thinks'. Then I was told about the importance of China and how badly we need their money and I'm still like 'wtf? why?' __________________ "I was down with TMNT once, but then they changed what TMNT was. Now what I was down with is no longer TMNT and what TMNT now is seems weird and scary. And it'll happen to YOU." Check out my blog for Comic Reviews and other things. https://markepicblogofrandomness.blogspot.com/ I also started The AEW Crew, the All Elite Wrestling Fan Club! https://www.facebook.com/groups/637508120044168/

11-07-2022, 12:14 PM	#375
Andrew NDB Weed Whacker Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Auburn, WA Posts: 34,564	__________________ [ ODYSSEY \| ORIGIN \| THE IMAGE/VOL. 3 CONCLUSION \| THE SHELLSHOCKED PODCAST \| ON FACEBOOK ]

10-25-2022, 06:28 AM	#362
CyberCubed Overlord Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 43,883	Honestly the whole jet and the mansion with the two young teen superheroes reminded me of the X-men more than anything else. I half expected Prof. Xavier to make a cameo.

11-03-2022, 03:08 AM	#365
~~Leo656~~ Banned Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: nWo Country Posts: 27,703	Supposedly it releases in China on November 11th and they're expecting it to do around $200 million over there.

11-03-2022, 05:01 AM	#368
~~Leo656~~ Banned Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: nWo Country Posts: 27,703	I agree with that. I think giving him a goofy-looking hairpiece would have been a distraction and just one more thing for the critics to rip apart, and they're already being way more brutal than usual for some reason. Like, I'm generally all about fidelity, and I prefer the characters look as close to the comics as possible. But let's be honest, if you want someone to "disappear into a role" and fully embody their character... you don't call The Rock. You call The Rock when you want everyone to go see your new The Rock movie starring The Rock that has The Rock in it. Would've been "nice" if he had the hairpiece, but people just would've made fun of it and it's such an innocuous thing. For me it's like Cavill's spitcurl as Superman, it's cute when they bother to do it but when they don't do it I don't actually care. Stuff like that shouldn't be a big deal. Like, the spitcurl was such a priority for Superman Returns that they had a special clip-on spitcurl for Brandon Routh to wear, since his hair just plain refused to cooperate no matter how much gel they used. And it looks so dumb I wish they didn't even bother, and knowing the lengths they went to just to say, "SEE! He has a spitcurl!" just illustrates how off those peoples' priorities were. Did it help anything about the movie? Nah. Did it look dumb and kinda fake (since it WAS fake)? Yeah. Would it have made any difference at all if they just said "F*ck it" and let his hair do whatever it wanted? Newp. Sometimes you can't get hung up on the minutiae. That's for meth-heads like Bryan Singer to do.

11-05-2022, 10:11 AM	#370
~~Leo656~~ Banned Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: nWo Country Posts: 27,703	Well, that's a bummer. Sets a terrible precedent, too, since now every DC movie is gonna be extra super-duper "safe" to avoid pissing off China, on account of how bad they need their money.

11-05-2022, 10:41 AM	#372
~~Leo656~~ Banned Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: nWo Country Posts: 27,703	Movies are too expensive nowadays, that's all there is to it. If your movie can't be a success without bending over for an evil totalitarian regime that unleashed a global manmade Death Plague, you need to stop insisting that movies need $300 million budgets and billion-dollar grosses. Go back to props and stop-motion and matte painted backgrounds if you have to. Common sense needs to prevail at some point.

11-05-2022, 04:00 PM	#374
~~Leo656~~ Banned Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: nWo Country Posts: 27,703	Yep. Halloween Ends had one of the biggest second-week dropoffs in HISTORY and yet still turned a huge profit because it cost nothing to make. The horrible reviews and word of mouth did no damage at all because it made its budget back many times over in two days. Granted, that's apples and oranges compared to super-hero movies, but the basic idea is the same. "Gotta spend money to make money" DOES NOT apply to the movie business, all you do is dig yourself a hole.

11-22-2022, 12:43 PM	#379
ZariusTwo Overlord Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Britain, DINO THUNDER...POWER UP! Posts: 22,501	Film's out on Digital VOD already. L taken. __________________ Spider-Man: The Rescue Spider-Man: The Galloping Cat Spider-Man: Scarlet Mirror Doctor Who: Child of the Daleks

12-07-2022, 01:20 AM	#380
~~Leo656~~ Banned Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: nWo Country Posts: 27,703	Now that the dust is settled, it's official: WB is gonna lose between $100-200 million on "The Great Course-Correction Movie". The movie they went to great lengths to convince us would be "the saving grace of the DCEU" is perhaps its most high-profile failure. Consider that BoP and the Squad sequel did very badly, but nobody expected big returns on those movies. THIS was touted as the DC movie that was finally gonna win everyone over, establish brand confidence among critics and fans, and finally set a firm and stable course for the future, and... nope. I've said it before and I'll say it a million times: As divisive as Snyder's movies were, at least they made Actual Profit. BvS may have a dismal RT score and may in fact be THE most "love it or hate it" movie in all of movies period, not just super-hero fare, but at least there's not $200 million of red ink stuck to it. It's actually one of the most financially-successful DC movies of all time, factoring in discs and such. So somebody liked it. But lest we forget, the current state of the DCEU is ALL because WB demanded that BvS make about $1.1 billion and it "only" made a little under 900 mil. Still profitable, still plenty of toys sold, altogether a very successful piece of business for WB even if the reviews were scathing. BUT, "not good enough", they dumped both Baby and Bathwater and they've been floundering ever since. Wonder Woman and Aquaman did okay but that feels like forever ago, now, and more recently WB would KILL for one of their DCEU movies to "just" scrape under 900 mil. That "failure" that started all of their woes in the first place is a result they would do anything to replicate, now. When goddamn "Shazam!" with its honestly crummy box office take is considered a "success" as far as the DCEU, you really gotta wonder what the hell these people grade by. For the last 5 years it seems like they settle for, "Well, we barely made money (or lost a ton of it) BUT the reviews in Entertainment Weekly weren't so bad!" I don't see Flash or Aquaman 2 doing huge business either, frankly. More and more, it's like "They REALLY should have just let Zack do his thing" seems like the best-case scenario. I mean even if it had failed, it'd all be over and done with by now and we'd be looking at the hard reboot and a clean slate. And if it had gotten over with people in the long run, then even better. As it is, pushing him out seems like a worse mistake every day because it's clear as a bell they really have no ultimate plan or vision for this sht. All WB knows how to do is react, and then OVER react. All the hoopla about "James Gunn is gonna save the DCEU!", and so far we have a Blue Beetle poster and some more whispers about Spielberg doing Blackhawks. Yawn. It's still ultimately WB in charge, and it's still a giant fcking mess of their own making over there.