Reporting For Duty
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Categories
Batgirl the movie
so Joss Whedon is going to do a batgirl film..
I have to ask everyone who should play Batgirl? Who should be the Villain? Etc
I have to ask everyone who should play Batgirl? Who should be the Villain? Etc
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
Alexandre Daddario would be perfect casting for Batgirl IMO
I'd watch that.
It was always a longshot, but I so badly wanted something substantial to come from her cameo in BvS.
Agreed. Or even as Carrie Kelly, possibly one day becoming Robin. Shame her appearance was limited.
Absolutely. Batgirl, Carrie Kelly/Robin, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy... or just any small cameo role in BvS, that would lead to a substantial appearance in a later DCEU film.
https://www.mi6community.com/discussion/3725/dc-comics-cinematic-universe-2013-present
If it can't, I must say that when I heard Jena Malone was going to appear in BvS, I was hoping Snyder was teasing Barbara Gordon's involvement in the DCEU. A shame that she turned out to be playing a random scientist and not who so many were hoping.
She's got the perfect look and physique for Barbara, and is used to the blockbuster style of film a Batgirl film would be.
Shout out to @MajorDSmythe on this one. Maybe they can forget about Malone's involvement in BvS (since she's only in the extended cut) and put her in as Barbara too? She looks unrecognizable in that part anyway, so why not?
I approve these messages. I've only seen her in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D, but she'd fill the suit.
Please don't let it be Emma Stone.
@MajorDSmythe, well, hiring more of an unknown would be a nice cost effective measure for Warner to take to avoid losing more money than they need to on these ballooned productions, and I think Jena has the stuff and the right fire (in hair and spirit) to bring out that sense of life in Barbara. We'll see a lot of dream castings that favor "hot" girls that aren't as skilled as performers as much as they look good in the suit, and we should avoid that kind of thinking. Barbara shouldn't be a sexualized character, and the story should focus on her choice to rise to the occasion to do what is right. She can be beautiful, as she is, but that shouldn't be all she is. In the past years we've seen enough of Barbara sexualized in relationships with Batman and in compromising positions, and it always feels awkward and wrong. Give her a strong story and go from there.
I guess we just have to hope Joss will find a woman who fits the material of this film, and hope that the material is worthy of having a film made around it. He's been taken to task for his portrayal of women in the past, so hopefully he's learned a lot and has a good team to support him. But right now he's got to cobble together Justice League and make it into an actual cohesive film, which must have him pulling his hair out with two months to go and reshoots to be done. Yikes.
If you thought this was a bad year for the box office and Batman vs. Superman couldn't generate that much interest, keep releasing things like this and see where it goes.
They're our modern myths, and we all grew up with them, so of course. I'd much rather see more of these films than the worse genre films we've been getting alongside them, from comedies to sci-fi. This year has been great for me from a superhero perspective, and when we can still get a Logan or a Wonder Woman that have important things to say with strong characters, bring it on.
This year delivered us the kinds of superhero films people wanted to see, that didn't end in the city destruction that has made some of them tired. The Spider-Man film was stripped down and stayed in the neighborhood rather than the big city, Logan was a mesh of old genres that told a simple and powerful story that took kiddie gloves off, and Wonder Woman changed the history of the medium for what it did for women in film, on top of being a smart, funny and relevant movie that succeeded in the genre and impacted the social sphere. People wanted experimentation in these movies, and they're getting it. That's not even to discount movies like Winter Soldier that came before that again were able to be strong genre films and strong films with meaning on top of that.
Outside the early Superman films and Burton's Batman films (which are flawed, but that I respect from an atmospheric and aesthetic standpoint) I can't name any superhero films that really made waves and were truly special in the old days.
I count myself lucky to have been witness to Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films and Nolan's work with Batman for just two examples, movies that that transcended genre conventions to be something more. I wish people knew these great characters from the comics, but the superhero comics industry itself was saved because of these movies, the wealth they generated and the buzz they got out of the public that boosted comics sales and merchandising. Without them who knows where DC and Marvel would be right now (near bankruptcy, perhaps) and so I prefer having them around than not. I also think we get some great films in the genre that frequently hit cords with audiences in the way that only two or three films of their kind did before 2000, a time where there was no consistency or strong market that was dependable and sound. I think it's all in a fine place and, though they may not be for everyone, I'm happy they keep coming. Life is shitty and kids need heroes.
@Birdleson, I don't think you're bitching. You're not the only one with this stance.
The thread you linked more has to do with general films and not superhero films, so I don't know how relevant it is to this discussion. But I think what is true of films of old is true for films now, like the Bond films. They all have things in them that reflect their time of creation, and that make them stick out (sometimes in bad ways). The old superhero films had to have actors flying around on visible wires to simulate flight, and now we have green screens, just like the Bond films went from heavy back projection (that doesn't hold up) to more green screen and effects driven things as the technology developed.
I know many peoples' criticisms with these movies lie with the effects, but in comparison to what we had I think we've come far and, when the effects are done right, they can really astound and show how far SFX groups have come to cleverly realize these gigantic films. When the effects debate is brought up I'm then quite puzzled, as I think we're in a better place to realize these films than we've ever been. Some effects can be shaky at times, but where the medium is at now is a great place to really make the comics jump off the page, which we've seen.
I know that old fashioned film fans (a viewpoint which I connect to as well, I just appreciate modern stuff too) want more traditional filmmaking to come back, but the techniques of that time were sometimes as choppy, obvious and messy in presentation as CGI is called now by some.
Where you'll not get disagreement with me is on the change in filmmaking since the 70s, and how neutered and innocuous things have gotten. We don't get a strong frequency of special films anymore, and TV is actually taking the power that films used to have and, through serialized storytelling, get audiences to connect with stories and characters that develop over time. In comparison to what TV we have and the artistry and talent that are in so many across so many services and channels now, there is little difference between watching two one hour episodes of a solid show and going to the cinema to watch a film of a similar length. For me it's more interesting a medium and something I look more forward to than movies, because certain shows give me the feeling that I get from my favorite films from the 40s, 50,s 60,s 70s, etc.
That's not to say good films don't come out anymore, but we're also not in a climate that puts out ten strong heavy hitters a year like there used to be, with creators who pushed the envelope. The way studios have shifted, how budgets are used, how directors are screwed over and the way that audiences are targeted has resulted in a very shallow and dull industry that markets slop and leaves little room for the voices of the creatives to say anything of importance.
I was arguing the relevancy because I didn't really know what you were trying to say by posting that link. It's a thread where people shared their favorite 70s films, so I didn't know what to take away from it, and the viewpoint you're expressing wasn't evident to me from the look I got at it. I needed the context to know what argument you were setting forth.
I would still hold that, from my perspective, superhero films have been rich and deep past that period, as they touch on important values, comment on society and use symbology and the modern myths of the heroes to say something about a time and place in a way that can transcend film itself. The Raimi Spider-Man films had themes of responsibility, sacrifice, love, forgiveness, and endurance, of how a hero could be anyone, much in the same way that Nolan was able to use Batman to comment on society, law and order, right and wrong, and the same concepts of sacrifice, the power of symbols and the common idea that anyone can rise to the occasion and be a hero in a very adult and reverberant way. The Captain America films have also had a lot to say, using a character out of his own time to teach lessons and build a story around a relatable figure that touches on regret and shows how old fashioned values can survive modernity and flourish.
And just this year we've seen movies in the genre that were smart, well made and wonderfully packed with the meaning that I mentioned above, that pushed certain boundaries and that were more than just effects. Logan took western and apocalyptic film conventions and spun it to tell its own story about the human condition, of how nasty humans can be while also showing the strength that can come in numbers. In the film the people of the world are so hopeless that they look to comic books to have faith that things will be better, a very meta statement about the way that we use stories to get ourselves through patches. In the same token, one of the characters in the movie who had no idea how to be compassionate looks at a movie playing on the TV and from the message she sees in the characters and their story she is able to learn the value of love and sacrifice in a way that she couldn't have learned any other way, again showing us the power that not only literature/comics can have, but films too. Logan was a very smart film that took a mature stance and showed how reluctant heroism can be something more in the end, with the kinds of strong performances from the cast that make the medium brilliant for how the talent was able to replicate human grief, reluctance, love and bravery even in a dark time.
In the same way Wonder Woman was able to make a film more in touch with the old Hollywood of yesteryear with a focus on character, smart humor and the age old themes of sacrifice in war, strong but star crossed love and the compassion of humanity during conflict that we see light up the best films of the past, including Casablanca. It look a heavy female cast and, instead of shoving a message of radical feminism down our throats, just told a strong story that just so happened to have women in it. It shows the growth of the medium, from misogynistic storytelling surrounding women from the old days to films where we can now have credible stories being made that reach into the wealth of the character on screen, no matter their gender, where their status as man or woman has no bearing.
I am the audience for some of these movies, so maybe I'm just more in the corner of superhero films by instinct, but I think they don't get enough credit for presenting strong and rich messages that can stand up to some of the old films. I guess the idea of people in costumes sets some viewers off and immediately makes them treat these movies differently than they would if they were dressed like "normal" people, as if that holds them back from the ability to say anything profound, interesting or deep.
But take away those costumes and you'll have the same themes and struggles for the characters that the best of the film medium has presented in their decades of films. Take away the batmobile, suit and gadgets in Nolan's Batman films and you've got the classic story of a detective/enforcer trying to protect and uphold the law in a corrupt and chaotic time for his city that plays on the noir themes of nihilism, cold honesty and the flaws of humanity we see coming out beside their good. Remove the claws and superpowers from Wolverine in Logan and you'll get that old western tale not unlike Unforgiven or Shane where a bad man who did bad things in his life tries to make good on them before it's too late. And remove the gold tiara, sword and lasso from Wonder Woman and you'll find a story portraying a man and woman falling in love during what seems to be the end of the world itself as they lean on their compassion for people from all sides of the war to unite and strike back at oppression in a fashion that recalls Casablanca.
Because I connect to these films and see these things in them that recall old values in the industry, I don't rush to write off these films in particular, or argue that they're holding true filmmaking back. Not all superhero films are good, and with every Dark Knight there's a Suicide Squad that shows the strain of the genre. But not all the oldies were good either, and back then just as today, we can see films from all walks that do interesting things and have things to say that rise beyond their genre. I think the films above deserve their due for taking inspiration from old styles in the medium to tell their own stories that showed the limits of filmmaking instead of holding it back, doing so in a mature and rich way that makes them more than just genre tent poles and blockbusters.
(I'd argue for the importance and relevancy of the Bond films in a similar way too, but I've written my novel for the night)
I still see a lot of people outraged Star Wars lost to Annie Hall for Best Picture in '77 and just shake my head.
"He hits my hair!"
I will get shot for saying this but maybe Hilary Duff... Before people scream at me I don't know if we are talking the Stephanie Brown Batgirl she could pull it off, As steph was more of a blonde airheadish super hero....
I still am struggling with the villain of the piece to be honest... unlike Gotham City Sierns which if that film happened I could picture it as Dc's Mission impossible (reffering to the tv show over the film to be honest) with Poison Ivy Catwoman and Harley Quinn (the team) working for The Riddler (the Jim phelp styled character who should be played by Neal Patrick Harris) to Steal something of value from Penguin ( bring back Danny DeVito I say) and cause him to get arrested... I am thinking a mix of Mission impossible the series and Ocean's 11 in terms of tone... but Here uhm... the only Batman Villain I know of Batgirl taking on is Killer Moth and while I know she has her own run of comic books and has had it since I want to say the mid 90's with Casandra Cain (non comic book fans don't ask it's to hard to explain that there have been as many Batgirls as there has been members of a women's volleyball team) but utilizing one of her "villains" doesn't really work and using the Joker... yeah no
but I digress
here is Hilary Duff in a bikini to showcase her... talents ;)
She has the chameleon like ability to look different from film to film/character to character, so that leads me to believe that she could play any female role in Batman's.... world, for want of a better word. But it is Harley Quinn, that is the role I really wanted to see Jena cast in.
Going back to the post by @Fire_and_Ice_Returns, if I were in charge of casting, I would have cast Daddario as Wonder Woman.
I wouldn't be heavily opposed to Daddario or anyone getting the role at the start, as I've learned with Gal Gadot that a woman you don't expect to embody a character can be genius casting in the final product.
I don't know who they'd make as a villain for the film. Black Mask comes to mind, for a smaller scale villain, but I thought I read him being pinned as the villain for the Harley Quinn female-led film.
Some seem worried that Batgirl can hold her own film, but I think it can be done. Take a bit of the film to build her origin or tell her how she came to be, then spend the rest of the film showing her off doing her thing. I think the movie could get away with being just 2 hours, as I don't think we need a two and a half/near three hour film for this kind of story or character.
Love it! She's absolutely stunning and she has that innocent quality to her that I think is needed for Batgirl. If this doesn't happen I'll be disappointed.