Why You Should Be Glad Booster Gold Isn’t In the DC Extended Universe

Fans hoping to see Henry Cavill’s stone-faced Superman playing off of Michael Jon Carter, the superhero known as Booster Gold, were destined for disappointment.

No, not because they [spoilers] killed Superman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Key art for Justice League has already shown that will be short-lived. Instead, it’s the fact that Booster Gold producer Greg Berlanti said during a recent interview that the film will not take place in the DC Extended Universe, but will be a stand-alone film.

There’s obviously a little disappointment in the fact that Booster won’t be kicking it with his old pals in the Justice League, but there’s actually quite a bit of upside to Booster staying in his own little corner of the universe.

That’s what we’re going to talk about here…!

THE COMPANY LINE

What will likely be the official reason Booster Gold isn’t tied to any of the existing film properties?

Well, we’re in luck, in that we have a few years’ worth of answers about why Arrow and The Flash aren’t tied into the movies to guide us on DC’s thinking.

“We’re so talent driven,” DC Entertainment chief Diane Nelson has said, adding that focusing on keeping everything in a single continuity “could end up handcuffing our creators into trying to work with the same storyline or force them to hold back characters or introduce certain characters. Ultimately it hinders the ability for someone like (showrunner) Bruno Heller to come in and create Gotham.”

There’s certainly a kernel of truth to that, even if fans want to resist it. Despite Marvel’s supposed “it’s all connected” philosophy, the TV and film properties are tenuously connected at best, and recently, The Jungle Book‘s Giancarlo Esposito told ComicBook.com that actors are now being told outright that their characters are unlikely to make the move from TV to film.

“I know the Marvel world exists on the Disney lot. I love those guys at Marvel. We’ve been trying to figure out how to collaborate on something,” Esposito said. “I’m hoping that it is something. They came to me with something for their television department, then I realized if I did that, I’d never be able to have that same character be in that film department. Once you’re in a Marvel character in the television version, you have to stay in the particular character. They can’t carry that over to film.”

So — the company line, in a nutshell, is that “people can make better content if they aren’t forced to play by somebody else’s rules.” If you believe that — and some fans do and some don’t, we know — that’s actually a reason to celebrate this move.

CROSSOVER POTENTIAL

We discussed this at some length earlier, so we’ll keep it short for now.

With Berlanti and The Flash writer Zack Stentz working on the film, it seems plausible (not likely, mind you, but plausible) that Booster Gold could have a stealth tie into the “Berlantiverse,” the DC TV Universe that includes, among other things, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.

You know — that show that stars features Booster’s son, Rip Hunter?

Hmm…!

ELABORATE MYTHOLOGY

If there’s a character in the DC Universe who NEEDS his own origin film, it’s probably Booster Gold.

If there isn’t time spent going into his motives, explaining why he’s not just a jerk who’s in it for the money, and providing insight to the impact of moving back to the past on Michael Jon Carter, then the character will be unlikable and the film will likely fail.

One of the things that we’ve lost in shared-universe filmmaking is attention to detail in anything beyond worldbuilding. Yes, we can tell you all about how Superman’s death and Captain America’s defiance shaped the world around them, but in many ways we can’t give you a particularly good reason why they made those decisions in the way that they did.

Giving Booster some breathing room could allow them to make, essentially, an extra-long, high-quality pilot episode that would then set up potential sequels where he could get more integrated into DC’s lore.

A good example is screenwriter Zack Stentz’s own X-Men: First Class, which felt like a weird, standalone movie divorced not only from the then-young Marvel Cinematic Universe but from the X-Men movies that came before it. It was a satisfying stand-alone experience, though, which set the stage for a lot of cool things to come after it.

SUPPORTING PLAYERS

You’re probably never going to see most of the characters most associated with Booster Gold in a DC Extended Universe film.

We’ve seen Black Canary, Maxwell Lord, and Martian Manhunter on TV, but it doesn’t seem like anybody is looking to create a dark, gritty, “real-world” take on Oberon or Fire and Ice anytime soon.

By keeping Booster in his own little corner with his own feel, continuity, and the like, it allows DC to introduce pretty much anybody they want from his JLI days, from the S.T.A.R. Labs days of Booster Gold Volume 1, or from the library of DC’s time-travelers without having to worry about whether or not a character or concept “works” in the DCEU. 

Since Booster is a character whose personality is shaped largely by those around him during his formative years as a character, this one is important to note. Do you really want to see a Booster Gold/Blue Beetle movie where Ted Kord is a pill-popping preppy who got into the business to avenge Superman’s death?

…Which leads us to our final point.

TONAL DISSONANCE

[Up front: This is an observation made by a writer who really really digs the DC Extended Universe. Bear in mind that saying it’s “grounded and realistic” isn’t inherently an insult, even if it’s often used that way in re: the Zack Snyder films.]

While we’re looking forward to seeing how Justice League changes the game, right now it doesn’t seem like a Booster Gold movie would fit in with the tone and tenor of the current DC Extended Universe.

If they’re going for the Giffen/DeMatteis-style Booster, the “bwa-ha-ha” superhero with a moneymaking scheme up each sleeve, the dark and grounded world of Batman V Superman, where superheroes are scrutinized and their geopolitical impact is the most important part of their persona, would be difficult to exist in. 

(It’s possible, sure, but it would be difficult and probably not fun.)

If you want to do the Dan Jurgens/Geoff Johns-style Booster, it’s kind of high-concept sci-fi with lots of time travel…and it just feels like that’s not quite as grounded as the movies have been up to this point, either.

We’d rather see a Booster Gold movie done right, than a movie that kinda-sorta-not-really feels like a Booster Gold movie…but hey! Wonder Woman has a cameo.