AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR - Everything The DC Films Universe Could Learn From Marvel's Latest Movie
With Avengers: Infinity War in theaters and breaking records, we take a look at everything Warner Bros. can learn from Marvel's latest movie if they hope to rebound from the disastrous Justice League.
As of right now, Avengers: Infinity War is on track to earn $2 billion at the worldwide box office. That's an incredible achievement and one which cements Marvel Studios as the king of comic book movies. Warner Bros., meanwhile, is still struggling to get the DC Films Universe (or DC Extended Universe if you'd prefer) off the ground and Justice League showed just how hard the studio is finding it.
While it's true that Marvel had a decade to build to Avengers: Infinity War, Warner Bros. had the same amount of time between Man of Steel and Justice League as they did with Iron Man and The Avengers!
What we're looking at here then are all the things the rival studio could learn from Avengers: Infinity War, sometimes seriously but also with a tongue placed firmly in cheek. We're confident that you'll agree with many of the points made here and will find plenty to talk about so click on the "View List" button below to check out the entire article and then share your thoughts in the usual place.
A CGI Villain Doesn't Have To Look Awful
I appreciate that the vast majority of Steppenwolf's scenes were probably changed due to reshoots but that's no excuse and it doesn't explain why Doomsday and Ares also looked so awful. Marvel has been exceeding expectations in terms of special effects since Iron Man was released and The Hulk was truly groundbreaking in 2012. There's absolutely no reason why Warner Bros. can't do the same.
If you're going to use a CGI villain from start to finish, they need to look like they could exist in our world. Josh Brolin's Thanos is terrifyingly real but Steppenwolf looked like he'd just stepped out of a PS3 (no, not PS4) game and that's ridiculous in 2017. The Mad Titan was flawless and Warner Bros. needs to stop spending money on CGI backgrounds and start concentrating on what matters.
Your Patriotic Hero Can Have Facial Hair
It would have been so much easier to just have Superman return from the dead with a beard rather than that distracting and laughable CGI mouth (which could have been saved for one or two scenes as opposed to nearly the entire movie). Captain America ditching his classic look and growing an epic beard proved it can be done and that Warner Bros. shouldn't be scared to embrace that.
While it obviously would have been ideal to see the classic version of Superman from start to finish, those ridiculous contractual obligations Henry Cavill had to Mission: Impossible - Fallout made the entire situation really hard so the studio should have followed Marvel's example by changing things up, even if it was only temporary. The point is, a bearded Supes wouldn't have been all that bad!
Balancing Several Characters Isn't That Hard
Justice League really struggled when it came to balancing its relatively small cast, with some heroes not getting enough screentime and others receiving way too much. In Avengers: Infinity War, the Russo Brothers managed to split Earth's Mightiest Heroes and the Guardians of the Galaxy up into three or four teams and everyone in them got the right amount of coverage needed for that story.
Moving forward, Warner Bros. needs to look at how Marvel handles their characters in a superhero ensemble for tips on how a comic book adaptation like this should work, especially as we know for a fact that a huge amount of footage ended up on the cutting room floor; telling the origin stories of Aquaman, Cyborg, and The Flash in Justice League was a dumb move from the very start.
You Need To Lay The Groundwork First
Doing a Justice League movie before solo outings for each of the characters was always going to be tricky and Warner Bros. sadly failed to pull it off. Rather than introducing the likes of Barry Allen and Victor Stone through silly video files on Lex Luthor's computer, they should have been given minor roles in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in order to lay the groundwork for future appearances.
That way, moviegoers would have been invested in seeing more of Aquaman and The Flash as opposed to being introduced to them for the first time in Justice League and being expected to just go with it (something which Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon both struggled to overcome). The way Marvel laid the groundwork for Avengers: Infinity War was masterful and Warner Bros. could do the same.
Give The MacGuffins Meaning
While Marvel spent years introducing us to the Infinity Stones, they were never that well fleshed out and it wasn't really until Avengers: Infinity War that we got to see what the likes of the Reality Stone and Space Stone were capable of. The point is, it took no time at all for the epic superhero ensemble to make it clear that the Stones are powerful and that their use would have major ramifications.
Justice League, on the other hand, provided a meaningless backstory for the Mother Boxes and offered a generic explanation that their power being unleashed would destroy the world. That's the most generic outcome ever and moving forward, it's essential that DC Comics adaptations find more meaning for these MacGuffins. Man of Steel got it mostly right but it's all been downhill from there.
Surprise Your Audience
Aside from that ridiculous "Martha!" twist in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the method of Superman's return in Justice League, when was the last time we were really surprised by a DC Comics adaptation? They often play out exactly as expected and that's an issue which can be blamed on Warner Bros.' marketing department and the fact they gave way too much away in trailers.
Simply put, they just don't seem to know what they're doing. While Marvel cleverly misled us with that team shot in the Avengers: Infinity War trailers, Warner Bros. kept Superman's resurrection such a secret that the vast majority of moviegoers didn't even know he was coming back in the movie! The studio needs to find ways to surprise us while finding the right balance between secrecy and teases.
Put Some Thought Into Who's In Charge
This is a point we've covered at length in the past but Warner Bros. needs to find the right leadership for the DC Films Universe and random studio execs backed up by Geoff Johns isn't the way to go. Finding a Kevin Feige (i.e. someone with experience producing movies who just so happens to be a huge fan) can't be that hard and this would lead to huge improvements across the board.
So far, the studio's filmmaker led approach isn't paying off, hence why we're constantly hearing about creative differences and Zack Snyder was essentially fired from Justice League! While Marvel's habit of keeping a watchful eye on a production isn't for everyone - hence why Edgar Wright left Ant-Man - it's a method which has paid off for them and one Warner Bros. would be wise to adopt moving forward.
Reshoots Don't Mean Reshoot The Whole Movie
Reshoots have become commonplace for blockbusters but those are sometimes problematic as was the case with Justice League. However, it's not like this was the first time it's happened or a one-off because Suicide Squad's ending was also changed when the studio had a knee-jerk reaction to critics saying Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was too "dark" and didn't feature enough humour.
To reshoot nearly all of Superman's scenes in Justice League was ridiculous and the studio needs to start making sure they're happy with a movie before the cameras start rolling so only minor changes need to be made when those reshoots inevitably roll around. This will ultimately save Warner Bros. hundreds of millions of dollars and ensures that the quality of future adaptations increases.
Don't Just Ditch Storylines
These days, hardcore fans and regular moviegoers alike are used to serialised storytelling, hence why Netflix is so popular. With that in mind, Warner Bros. could do with bearing in mind that we all remember things like The Flash showing up in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice to warn Batman about an impending threat, something which had no payoff and now probably never, ever will.
This isn't the only storyline ditched by the studio in its DC Comics adaptations and Marvel can show them how to pick up on things properly, something Avengers: Infinity War did perfectly by touching on a variety of familiar storylines and even revealing where the Red Skull ended up following the events of Captain America: The First Avenger...a movie which was released in theaters seven years ago!
Give Moviegoers What They Want
The response to Man of Steel should have told Warner Bros. everything they needed to know about why moviegoers didn't want a darker take on Superman but the studio still allowed Zack Snyder to forge ahead with the grim and gritty Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. They even allowed the director to carry on with that in Justice League, later changing all of Superman's scenes with reshoots.
The point is, Warner Bros. needs to get in touch with what fans want from these movies just like Marvel delivered countless fan-pleasing moments in Avengers: Infinity War and offered team-ups and character interactions we've all been dreaming about seeing for years. If Superman and Black Adam don't show up in Shazam!, it just proves that the studio will probably never really get it.
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