DC dropped something of a bombshell in September when they announced plans to create a brand new standalone Joker origin movie. With heavyweights Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio linked to the project, it would only be the veteran director who appears closest to signing on as a producer.
This news came with a mixture of smiles, groans and curious looks as Warner Brothers and DC Films venture away from their DCEU franchise model. One man who is very open to the concept is comic book creator, writer, filmmaker and actor Kevin Smith - an individual who knows a thing or two about the DC realm.
Goodfellas Meets Gotham An Exciting Prospect For KS
Speaking with Screen Rant, Smith outlined how much has changed in the superhero landscape since his early fandom days. All he ever wanted was more from the studios and now they are delivering on that, he does not have any room for complaints.
"I’m a forty-seven-year-old man, so I grew up in an era where there were no comic book movies," he recalled. "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."
As per the Scorsese chatter, Smith thinks the gangster concept meshed with a Gotham surrounds could be perfect.
"I gotta imagine, if Martin Scorsese jumps onto a Batman movie, we’re gonna see some s***. Not bad s***, the good s*** that we all dream about. Goodfellas in a DC universe movie? I’m there, take all my money."
Comic Books Are Just Templates To Try New Adaptations: Smith
While there might be a touch of conflict of interest given Smith's continued association with the CW property Supergirl, he has always been upfront about different title concepts spanning DC and Marvel. In that respect, he does not believe a Joker origin movie or any individual feature would take the gloss off the Justice League arm of the franchise.
"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.’ 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."
All that matters to Smith is quality, something that is never a given with superhero installments.
"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. 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."
Source: Screen Rant
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