Saturday Grab Bag Super-Saturnalia!

One thing I neglected to mention in my Christmas post earlier this week was how remarkably superhero-centric a Christmas it turned out to be. Of course I'm the big comicbook fan in the family, and it showed in my pile under the tree: movies (Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy on Blu-ray); comic book reprint collections (the Justice League of America Archive Editions volumes 1 and 2); prose books about comics (Marvel Comics: The Untold Story and Why Does Batman Carry Shark Repellant?); miscellany (a Green Lantern coffee mug). The little guy also got his own share, and only some of that can be blamed on me. I got him his own Captain America action figure and a set of Avengers bed linens (the latter he specifically asked for himself; the former was just for fun). He also received some learning-to-read books, one revolving around Marvel's Super Hero Squad and another devoted to Batman. (Edit: his great-grandmother got him a rad Iron Man hoodie, too. Kinda jealous!). And the little girl was not left out, either. My Little Bro got her a Wonder Woman board book as well as the Fisher Price Little People version of Wonder Woman and her Invisible Jet. Plus, as I alluded to previously, my dad/stepmom/Very, Very Little Sis/Very Little Bro have yet to bestow their Christmas gifts upon us, so who knows what the final tally will end up being. But it's already a little bit out of control.

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Speaking of superheroes, I heard some entertainment rumors this week to the effect that this summer's Man of Steel movie is going to lay some actual groundwork for an eventual Justice League movie, which would bring together the original line-up of that legendary team: Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter. I'd like to say that's exciting news, but I am extremely skeptical about it.

The justification, of course, is that Marvel managed to pull off a blockbuster movie about multiple heroes united as a single team, and that not only worked out well, it became a runaway smash that everyone went crazy for. But the difference is that Marvel took their sweet time. They did a couple of Iron Man movies, and a couple of Hulk movies, with only the barest hints at something bigger. Then they did a Thor movie and a Captain America movie which were more overtly conceived as preludes to the main event, and then finally The Avengers delivered on every set-up and then some. Six movies to bring about a seventh, over the course of four years. As opposed to two movies (Man of Steel and, apparently, Green Lantern) over two years to launch a third.

A Justice League movie would also have to recast Batman, who likely wouldn't resemble the Nolan version at all. Sure, the Avengers recast Bruce Banner, but at least the CGI Hulk was still basically the standard Hulk. And Hulk had some scene-stealing moments, but he's no Batman. Aquaman and Martian Manhunter would end up being the equivalent of Black Widow and Hawkeye, good characters who would only ever be supporting players and never get a movie to themselves due to their limited recognition and appeal. But, seriously? They'd go ahead and debut Wonder Woman and the Flash in a Justice League movie without properly introducing them via their own film franchises? Seems unwise to me.

Of course, just because a formula has worked before doesn't mean it always will, and just because an unorthodox approach hasn't been tried doesn't mean it can't work. But the way this whole Justice League movie concept crumbles every way I look at it, I think the rumors I heard may have been more wishful thinking than anything else.

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Hey by the way, the NFL playoffs start today, and as I was (kinda guiltily) hoping, neither the Giants nor the Steelers are present. Here's to a stress-free, rivalry-free (as soon as the Ravens, Bengals and Redskins get eliminated) post-season!