After months of speculating and rumors, DC Films recently set the record straight about the plans for its upcoming slate. And it sounds like fan-favorite director and DC Comics writer Kevin Smith is a fan.
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In a recent interview with ScreenRant, Smith was asked about the trajectory recently laid out by DC Entertainment’s various executives. The films will generally share the same continuity, while focusing on more creator-based stories than connecting to every film. And according to Smith, that’s a pretty fascinating way of going about it.
“I know they’re deviating from the Marvel template of, like, ‘We’ll make a bunch of characters, and then a reunion movie. Buncha characters, reunion movie.’” Smith explained. “Instead, Warner Brothers seem to be going with, ‘Well, we tried that, and we’re gonna keep doing it on the side, but we’re not gonna limit ourselves. We’re gonna do a bunch of other interesting things.’ They’re trying to forge their way in the superhero space. So I think it’s interesting, I’m not against that at all.”
As Smith put it, fans have almost become inundated with the shared universe concept in recent years, and that Warner Bros. shouldn’t feel obligated to do it in every movie.
“And then you have some people—I’m a purist, so I love when things are interconnected, as well, but I grew up in an era where there was a Batman movie, there was a Superman movie, and they didn’t really reference each other.” Smith revealed. “One time George Clooney was like, ‘This is why Superman works alone’ and we got our nipples hard, we were like, ‘Aaah, they know each other.’ So now we live in a world where these movies can cross over and stuff, I’m happy to get the ones that can, but if they don’t cross ’em over that’s totally okay with me. As long as they’re good, as long as they try.”
Creative Freedom
Smith also praised the creative potential within DC Films’ slate, particularly with films such as the in-development Joker origin movie.
“I’m a forty-seven-year-old man, so I grew up in an era where there were no comic book movies.” Smith explained. “And then every once in awhile you’d get one, and it was like water in a desert. You’d get Batman in 1989, or Blade or something like that. So now, we live in an era where they’re like, ‘Hey, we’re not even gonna do an interconnected DC universe. We’re just gonna let Martin Scorsese produce a flick where Leonardo DiCaprio might play the Joker.’ That’s exciting. So, to me, I’m like, the more the merrier.”
While those different creative outlooks might not land with every fan, Smith argued that’s very much like the comic book industry itself.
“And think about—some people get kinda crappy, like, ‘Come on, man, these cats, they don’t know comic books.’” Smith added. “Comic books and characters have been handed to so many creators over the years. You never know what you’re gonna get in the hands of any particular person. I still get crap for making Batman pee his pants in a Batman book once, which is, you know, kind of reducing it to something it wasn’t. But still, regardless, you gotta respect the fact that a creator can come on, maybe take that character [to] a place that you’ve never seen that character be taken. And I gotta imagine, if Martin Scorsese jumps onto a Batman movie, we’re gonna see some sh*t. Not bad sh*t, the good sh*t that we all dream about. Goodfellas in a DC universe movie? I’m there, take all my money.”
Before You Go
Justice League arrives in theaters on November 17, 2017.
