With Suicide Squad, DC is Offering Up Everything Fans Want

By: Jesse Merkel

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Last October, Warner Bros. finally released the tentative schedule for their shared movie universe. The schedule laid out 10 movies between now and 2020. This schedule included a number of popular characters in the DC universe, including The Flash, Green Lantern, Cyborg, Shazam, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman.

There were also three team up movies announced, two of which, Justice League Part One and Justice League Part Two, were not much of a surprise. What did surprise people, however, was the announcement of a Suicide Squad movie.

After the popular portrayals given by Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckart in The Dark Knight, haven’t we all deep down been waiting for a movie focused solely on villains?

If you’re a true DC die hard, this probably caught your attention almost immediately. If you’re new to the fold, strap yourself in. There are several reasons as to why this movie might just be the ultimate fan experience.

Setting Up the Rest of the Universe

As I wrote in my previous article, DC is approaching their cinematic universe differently than Marvel. Whereas Marvel has taken a more episodic approach, DC is laying out a more serial form of storytelling.

Suicide Squad will be the key. This movie will introduce a number of villains that will probably end up appearing in future movies. The benefit to this is that the foundation for these characters will be well established, saving time in future installments, while avoiding Marvel’s precedent of hollow, non-threatening villains that pop up mid way through the movie. (Malekith, anyone?)

We’re going to be dropped into a universe where the majority of the big villains have been active for years. Most will already be in jail. Instead of watching the birth of a baddie in the movie, this will be more akin to seeing Hannibal Lecter or Darth Vader when they first appeared on screen. You’ll have no trouble understanding why everyone is afraid of these people.

Fantastic Villains, Fantastic Casting

There are two things that Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Boomerang, Enchantress, Rick Flagg and Amanda Waller all have in common. Each of them has a rich history, and none of them have been featured in a live-action movie. Characters like the Joker and Lex Luthor have been seen before, but have plenty more to draw from.

What’s truly amazing is that this one movie has been able to round up such an impressive roster. Oscar nominees and winners are scattered left and right. Jared Leto gets into character like few of his contemporaries. Viola Davis and Jesse Eisenberg both have shown an incredible amount of dramatic range. Will Smith has shown an impressive ability to be intense and physically imposing, while Margot Robbie raked in impressive reviews for her performances in The Wolf of Wall Street and Focus.

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Perhaps more important is the fact that you can visualize each of these actors taking on the role. Anyone else think that Robbie looks exactly like Harley Quinn, or that Leto’s smile is a dead ringer for the Jokers?

Imagine a Joker, based off of the one seen in The Dark Knight Returns, screwing with an angry Amanda Waller during an interrogation, or bantering playfully with Harley Quinn. Feel that? Those are chills.

The Right Director and Story

If this movie had been given another director, it probably wouldn’t work. Thankfully, we’ve got David Ayers at the helm. The Training Day and Fury director is known for his gritty and violent style. He knows how to balance character development, intense action and story without letting any one part drag down the entire work.

Now, you can’t put this many villains together without some laughs. That being said, it’s doubtful that we will see a scene where it sounds like everyone has a stand up comedian feeding them lines. That works fine for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but has no place with this cast of characters. DC is clearly going for subtly over silliness.

Right now, rumors are swirling that Amanda Waller will assemble the Suicide Squad to retrieve the Joker. Others believe it may have something to do with Waller’s intense need to reign in the Batman. Both stories are on a smaller scale than the majority of super hero movies, which will allow for even more character development. Sometimes it’s easier to focus on people when the entire world isn’t at stake.

Suicide Squad will come screaming into theaters only a few months after Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016. Between now and then, we’ll only have rumor and conjecture to go on. Still, if half of what we’ve heard turns out to be true, we’re all in for one hell of a ride.

Pick up your copy of Suicide Squad

FIRST LOOK: Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

For this and more check out ew.com

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​The mark of a good villain is how he knows to stop monologuing before he gives away too much of his plan. That’s also the mark of a good superhero-franchise director.

Details on Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (due March 25, 2016) have been scarcer than kryptonite. We know that a cameo by Aquaman sets up 2017’s Justice Leagueand that Wonder Woman has a sizable role. And now we have our first glimpse of Jesse Eisenberg as one of comics’ greatest bad guys: Lex Luthor.

“He’s not any of the Lexes that you’ve seen, that’s for sure,” says Snyder, “other than him being a captain of industry and one person to the world and another person to himself. And bald, of course.”

Eisenberg might not be the first person you’d think of to play the supervillain, but he did have experience portraying a morally challenged billionaire in The Social Network. And this edition of the follicularly challenged megalomaniac taps into a similar hyperintelligence mixed with malignant straight shooting. “Our Lex is disarming and he’s not fake,” says Snyder. “He says what he believes and he says what’s on his mind. If you can unravel the string and decipher what he means, it’s all there.”

Now excuse us while we try to unravel that string and decipher what Snyder is secretly trying to tell us.

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PlayStation 4 Finally Getting Promised Suspend/Resume Feature Tomorrow

From GameInformer.com

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Sony has announced that PlayStation 4 firmware update 2.5 (codenamed “Yukimura”), will arrive tomorrow, March 26. The update includes a number of anticipated features, chief among them the long awaited “suspend/resume.”

Suspend/resume allows players to pick up exactly where they stopped in most PlayStation 4 games when waking the system from rest mode. The update also allows players to back up their entire hard drive to a USB-connected external storage device.

New social features are also included in the 2.5 update. You’ll be able to search for friends using their Facebook profiles, join friends from the “What’s New” section, and share automatically captured screenshots taken when you earn trophies.

Yukimura also includes accessibility options for those with visual impairments or limited dexterity. Controller functions can now be remapped, text-to-speech and larger text are available for the interface and messaging.

Those that use Share Play or Vita remote play will notice an improvement, as games that support 60 frames-per-second will now be streamed as such. Finally, Dailymotion users can now upload clips to that service.

The Vita and the PlayStation smartphone app will also be getting upgrades. Those will roll out tomorrow, also.

 

For this and more check out GameInformer.com 


X-Files Returning to Fox for 6 Episodes

From ew.com

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The truth is right here, and it’s amazing: After 13 years off the air, The X-Files is officially returning to Fox as a limited series. 

Stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are back on board, along with creator Chris Carter. 

“I think of it as a 13-year commercial break,” Carter said. “The good news is the world has only gotten that much stranger, a perfect time to tell these six stories.”

The only part of this huge news you might not like: There are only six episodes planned. 

“We had the privilege of working with Chris on all nine seasons of The X-Files – one of the most rewarding creative experiences of our careers – and we couldn’t be more excited to explore that incredible world with him again,” said Dana Walden and Gary Newman, Chairmen and CEOs of Fox Television Group. “The X-Files was not only a seminal show for both the studio and the network, it was a worldwide phenomenon that shaped pop culture – yet remained a true gem for the legions of fans who embraced it from the beginning. Few shows on television have drawn such dedicated fans as The X-Files, and we’re ecstatic to give them the next thrilling chapter of Mulder and Scully they’ve been waiting for.”

The sci-fi procedural classic first premiered in 1993. It became one of Fox’s first major breakout hits and a pop-culture sensation that went on to last nine seasons and spawn two feature films. The show also earned 16 Emmys and helped pave the way for other prime-time sci-fi shows like ABC’s Lost and Fox’s Fringe. Once again, the series will follow FBI special agents Scully (Anderson) and Mulder (Duchovny) as they investigate unexplained cases. 

Carter’s “six stories” comment seems to suggest the series will embrace the show’s original format of focusing on stand-alone mysteries rather than delving into the serialized alien conspiracy mythology that dominated some of the show’s episodes and its first feature film (at least, that’s what I want to believe). 

The move follows Fox reviving another one of its hits, 24, for a shortened run last year. The X-Files deal has been in the works since at least January when executives told reporters at the network’s press tour presentation that they were trying to revive the show.

The X-Files will start production this summer. There’s no premiere date yet, and no word if other cast members from the original series will return. 

Batmobile Evolution

Post originally found at ComicBookResources.com 

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After 75 years of omnipresence, one can make a very strong case that the Batmobile is the most iconic automobile in all of pop culture history. Since Batman's debut back in 1939's "Detective Comics" #27, the caped crusader has always relied on a car -- usually a stylish, feature-loaded one -- to get him from his cave to crime scenes. As a crucial part of the Bat-mythos, the Batmobile -- dubbed such in 1941's "Detective Comics" #48 -- has appeared in everything from comics and cartoons to films and video games. Wherever you see Batman, odds are the Batmobile is parked just a few blocks away. 

Zack Snyder Shares Partial Look at New Batmobile

With the Batmobile poised to make it's eighth big-screen appearance in 2016's "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," former CBR editor Steve Sunu set about researching the most intimidating car on DC Comics' streets. Did you know that the original Batmobile was red? Or that the "Batman '66" version had an "emergency bat-turn parachute"? Or that you could buy almost three "Dark Knight" tumblers for the cost one one Lamborghini Veneno Roadster? Graphic artist and COMICS SHOULD BE GOOD contributor Sonia Harris brought all these facts together in the three infographics below, designed to get you up to speed on the fiction's most notable car.

Peruse CBR's three Batmobile infographics and broaden your knowledge of comics' most famous car -- and feel free to share and discusses these infographics on social media with #CBRBatmobile!

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GAL GADOT TALKS WONDER WOMAN AUDITION AND ADRESSESS BODY CRITICISM

From IGN.com

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Gal Gadot has been talking about landing the role of Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, revealing that the music of Beyonce helped her through the audition, and stating that criticism of her appearance hasn’t really bothered her.

Speaking to Israeli website Ynet (which we were alerted to via a translation on Batman-News.com) Gadot explained that she was incredibly nervous before her first audition opposite Ben Affleck:

“When I got there they put me in a trailer and after all the hair and makeup I had to wait a few hours. Waiting is auditioner's biggest enemy. I called [my husband] Yaron and told him I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t calm down. He told me ‘Gal, put on Beyonce. Move around. Don’t sit there frozen.’ I put on Diva and started dancing. Just when the song ended, I was all flushed, there was knock on the door calling me in.”

As for claims that she doesn't have the right build for the role, Gadot said “When I was younger I could take criticism really hard. But now it mostly amuses me. The true Amazons had one boob so it won’t bother them in their archery. So it’s not going to be like real Amazons. We always try to make everyone happy but we can’t.”

As for the film’s take on the character, Gadot revealed “She has unbelievable endurance. She is exceptionally strong. She can jump really high and practically fly. She knows tons of martial arts styles. She is a strong and serious woman.”

For more of that Ynet translation head to the Batman-News, while Dawn of Justice hits in 2016 and a standalone Wonder Woman will be released in 2017.

For this and more check out IGN.com