In email, zzzzthunk asks:
So a long time ago you talked about how a Flash movie shouldn’t be about the origin of the Flash but instead be about the final adventure of Barry Allen. But who signs on to be Barry Allen in that movie when they’re just going to be cut from the franchise?
Firstly, go ask Liam Neeson why he signed on to play Qui-Gon Jinn. Hint: the answer is “it’s fun and you get to make a lot of money.” But the real answer is that if I was going to plot out a trilogy of Flash movies (as trilogies are the hot thing these days, assuming the first one goes off properly), whoever played Barry would be key in all three. But, since I am not a hack, each movie itself would also have to be a self-contained work within a larger theme.
So what is the Flash’s theme? “Runs real fast” is not an answer, and Geoff Johns’ thing where he tries to turn Barry Allen into Batman isn’t the answer either. Barry Allen works best when he’s just a decent sort who gets superpowers and does good because he can, which is not that fascinating, which means his conflict should be external rather than internal. Wally’s can be internal, though – and the fact that I am mentioning Wally should key off that a Flash movie and/or trilogy should ultimately be about family. The Flash has always been best when the generational aspect of the costume raises its head: after all, the Flash was basically always just a dude who ran fast, and what ultimately distinguished him from other superheroes was really the fact that at a certain point someone took over for the previous guy, and then again, and then again.
So:
The Flash: Barry Allen’s last adventure. Jay and Wally and Linda are introduced as well: Jay is quite explicitly the “older Flash,” and Wally is the former sidekick, grown up, with Linda as his lady. And he’s got cancer, which is of course killing him because every time he uses his speed powers his metabolism clocks up to deadly o’clock. Professor Zoom is the villain, perhaps with Savitar as his assistant, and Zoom wants to command the Speed Force itself to do Bad Things. (NOTE: Do not ever call it the Speed Force in the movies. Say it out loud and you will quickly understand why. Call it “the lightning,” which sounds properly ominous, and you are fine.)
But Zoom gets killed by the end, and the end is Barry Allen running himself into relativity/the Speed Force to save the world from the Speed Force, turning into pure Speed Lightning, traveling through Wally (and curing him in the process by retro-aging the cancer into nonexistence) and eventually going back through time to become the lightning bolt that gives him his superpowers in the first place. (This can actually work as a nice twist on the superhero movie genre as a whole, by having the movie resolutely refuse to explain WHY Barry has speed powers throughout the entire movie – until it does right at the end.) Your conclusion is Wally putting on Barry’s uniform and declaring that the Flash lives again.
There is nothing terribly original in this – the originality would be in putting several disparate elements and tying them together into a satisfying whole. But then we turn to the second movie:
The Return of Barry Allen: Exactly what you think it is. Take Mark Waid’s classic Flash story and use it for the midway point of the trilogy. Any actor warned of this in advance would kill to play Barry Allen now, because he gets to play both the noble hero and a psychotic villain in what is essentially the same role. (This is of course why you need Zoom to be the baddie in the first movie.) And this is as straight an adaptation as can be: maybe you remove Johnny Quick (because he’s mostly extraneous to the plot), but you keep Max Mercury around because you’ll need him to explain the Speed Force a little more than Jay can – particularly how it’s sort of like Heaven – and because he’ll come in handy for movie number three, to be the Magical Speedster who doles out less-than-helpful advice as necessary.
The Fastest Man Alive: The capper of the trilogy only features maybe a brief appearance from Barry within the Speed Force, because at this point it’s become clear that although a trilogy of Flash movies is about family and generational responsibility, it’s also about man’s relationship with what he perceives to be Heaven and what Heaven even is. The third movie is a combination of “The Quick and the Dead” and “Dead Heat” (the Flash stories, not the movies of the same names) and features Savitar as the villain, trying to ascend to his idea of Heaven, even if it destroys the world – and Wally then has to choose, at the same time, ascension to bliss or return to Earth – and Linda. You can place a lot of callbacks in this movie to the first of the trilogy, and show how Wally’s different choices and different personality mean that things end differently for him.
That’s your Flash trilogy right there: a commentary on the superhero as mortal man, and on the superhero as godly ascended being. You can fit in a lot of commentary on man’s relationship with religion as you see fit, but it will all be in the entertaining context of somebody being a superhero by running really, really fast. And, in case any of the movies bomb, each one has its own satisfying ending (Barry ascends and Wally takes his place/Wally finally comes out of Barry’s shadow/Wally makes his final choice). I think that works.
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I would watch the hell out of that trilogy, but I think you’d lose the average non-comics-reading person about 10 minutes into the first movie. “Wait, there’s 3 of them? Why are they all fast? How did they get their powers? Who’s that guy? And THAT guy?” You’re throwing a LOT of the mythology at the audience in that first film, and expecting them to wait until the end of the movie (or the next movie) to get an explanation.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a great plot, and it’s based on some of my favorite Flash stories, but I think actually packaging that story for the average audience could result in something like Green Lantern or Daredevil: two superhero movies that tried to do way too much all at once.
But, that all depends on how it’s structured, I suppose. Either way, as I said, I would certainly enjoy them.
Iiiii would watch these. And this would be nice, because with the exception of Batman I feel like DC has never been able to find any kind of footing to make their properties into film. I don’t know why this should be, I really don’t: there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the idea of, say, a Green Lantern movie or a Superman move. But they just can’t seem to pull it off.
I see your concern and answer it with four words:
“Flash Museum tour sequence.”
Maybe it’s, like, Flash Appreciation Day or something, and Jay and Barry show up to take their bows, but Wally doesn’t and Barry is all “hey, where’s Wally?” and then we cut to Wally at home who is coughing up cancer blood because he has cancer.
You can get the exposition out of the way in five minutes. It is really quite easy if you aren’t spoonfeeding the audience an origin story in tiny chunks one bit at a time.
The Incredibles was easily able to establish a pre-existing world of superheroes without alienating the general public. I don’t think that the Flash family is unworkable. Concerns about differentiation between family members wouldn’t really be an issue here because MERCHANDISING.
I have to agree with MGK, it always bothers me when everyone, movie execs included, assume that a superhero movie has to start from square one, in a world exactly like ours, and then labouriously explain the hero and villain’s origin. I don’t think any non-superhero audience has ever been turned off the idea of simply being dropped into a superhero world in progress–see The Incredibles for example. Even the “legacy” structure has already been done to great success with The Mask of Zorro, so there’s precedent there.
Seriously, this has been a pet peeve of mine for a while, because it’s ONLY superhero nerds who believe that their pet genre is so complex that they have to constantly dumb it down for newcomers. The actual newcomers have no problems following it if the stories are well-told; the problem, of course, is that the stories usually AREN’T well-told. This is infecting comics right now in the form of the New 52; by wiping away the continuity they’ve created a boring, simplistic DC Universe, and the storytelling flaws that many superhero writers suffer from are still present, which is why new readers aren’t going to stick around. It’s literally the worst of both worlds.
All-Star Superman really is the model superhero comics should be aspiring to: just MAKE UP YOUR OWN CONTINUITY. Especially in the DC Universe; the Marvel U at least hasn’t gone in for too many reboots and elaborate time-rewrites, other than Brand New Day (and hey, THAT sure was a brilliant idea, wasn’t it? “DC is doing so well with its continuity since Crisis on Infinite Earths! Let’s get in on that action!”)
Ahem. Anyway, good post, MGK. The only thing I’d personally change would be to have Wally discover his powers in the course of the story and have Barry be his Yoda. That way we’ve got the elaborate backstory to be discovered, but we’ve also got a POV character who we can relate to.
I like your Flash Museum tour sequence device; it’s a technique we’ve seen used to great effect in Watchmen and Up, and I think it would work fine here too, at least as far as the backstory for the various speedsters are concerned. (And think Chris W. overestimates the desire of the average moviegoer to have this stuff explained.) As for the Speed Force, it’s probably best to keep that as vaguely defined as possible, and you only need one word to explain that: midichlorians.
The bigger problem, I think, is in the speed effects. I don’t think there’s ever been a truly satisfying depiction of super-speed in a live-action film or TV show, and without that, the movie wouldn’t work.
I need to win the lottery right now so I can bankroll this thing.
You had me until “Savitar.” Flash has too many great rogues to waste the final movie on a walking plot device.
Okay, for the first movie, I’d go with a few of the other suggestions. Start with the tour of the Flash Museum, then segue into Wally’s origin. (I’d use elements from Born to Run, but have him at college age.) Barry would train him as his sidekick through the course of the movie, with pretty much the same ending you propose. (I’d lose the cancer angle, though. A nice nod to the comic book continuity, but the origin arc should be plenty. No need to overload it.)
I agree with your choice to focus on superspeed villains, but the whole trilogy should still be peppered with cameos from the entire Rogue’s Gallery (up to and including recreating the bar scene from Justice League Unlimited; bonus points for casting Mark Hammil as The Trickster).
I think a first film that deals with the passing of the mantle from Barry to Wally is a great idea. But it shows you just how much I’ve drunk the Kool-Aid when I start throwing up red flags at the idea of doing away with the origin story.
I’m going to second the idea that maybe Savitar isn’t the best villian to showcase in a third film, but I could be convinced.
I think a great villian for the third film would be the Hunter Zolomon Zoom who could be a supporting character in the first two films (maimed in the first film by Thawne, brainy manpower in the second). That way his inclusion in the third movie would be an interesting counterpoint to the whole Flash concept of family and legacy.
The Flash Museum, of course! *smacks head*
That really does handle the job rather well.
*cedes floor*
The Flash Museum idea really is great, and I think these ideas are about as solid as you could hope for for a Flash franchise.
One extra suggestion: consider taking a page from the Teen Titans cartoon and always refer to Zoom as Thawne. It’s a much cooler sounding name to begin with and reduces confusion if his realname ever comes up.
I’m with Elasticlad in replacing Savitar with Zolomon. Hunter has his own problems as a character (in that he like one big meta-statement on the Johns method of storytelling) but he would work much better than Savitar (so maybe also take some parts of “Blitz” and ” Rogues War” and work them into the final movie.)
I do think you’ve got a great idea there though and I understand why Professor Zoom has to be the big bad in the movies even though I totally fucking hate Professor Zoom.
No love for Capt. Cold, eh?
Yeah if its one franchise that doesn’t need to start with square one, its the goddamn Flash.
Ive always envisioned a Flash movie/franchise starring Wally and pretty much following the comic to an extent.
Dedicate the first 10-15 minutes of the movie to the last adventure of The Flash (barry) and Kid Flash (wally), kill Barry off (rogues are cause of it), flash to the present wherein a retired Wally has completed college (parents alive but widowed Iris as the only person who knew of his past, no parents and widowed aunt=too much like spider man) and decides its time to run again.
Wally runs as Flash again, squeeze Linda in there along with the vengeful Rogues getting out of prison (shit maybe even have a mystery villain behind that) and once you iron out the details I think theres a worthit movie.
Somehow
“And he’s got cancer, which is of course killing him because every time he uses his speed powers his metabolism clocks up to deadly o’clock.”
Spoken as if there is some underlying biological possibility of superspeed that would have normal, natural consequences for one’s metabolism.
“…and curing him in the process by retro-aging the cancer into nonexistence”
Naturally, that’s just science! Hope he swears off the superspeed, though!
======
C’mon, if the internets have taught us anything, it is that plenty of people (like me!) will devote a ton of time exploring the tiniest errors in science or continuity. This laughably implausible pseudo-biology is no improvement over purely “super” powers.
I see your concern and answer it with four words:
“Flash Museum tour sequence.”
Well, by that standard, there have already been several movies that “resolutely refuse” to explain the origin of superheroes. The Tim Burton Batman movies and Watchmen: all of them had exposition or a flashback or two to the origin of the main characters or of superheroes, but just briefly and well after the action had started and the existence of the superheroes was taken for granted overall.
It might be cool to see a movie with even less attention given to the origin than that, but I think it would require more of a shared universe. If you want to say that the existence of superheroes is nothing special, you kind of have to have a bunch of them, unrelated to each other. The problem with that is, neither Marvel nor DC would expend the licensing rights and all that of using multiple A-list characters in a movie when they aren’t the stars. Using B-list characters would be difficult at best, because for most of them there’s a reason they’re B-list. Having a Justice League movie with Wonder Woman, the Flash, Hawkman, Fire, Icemaiden, Nuklon, Obsidian, and Blue Devil is 75 percent campy joke characters and still gets in the way of a potential franchise or two.
Now that I’ve been thinking of it while writing this, you know what comic book character would be best for a shared universe movie? A character who’s really powerful and important in his setting, but most people don’t know it. Maybe he’d get some brief storyline helping some other costumed superhero with a problem of theirs that’s up his alley, but mainly he’s dealing with world-shattering problems so big the other heroes can’t even see the forest for the trees. Treating people in Spandex like a slightly bizarre side plot is OK if that’s what they actually are.
I believe someone suggested casting Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Strange, right?
He’s a great character, but “why doesn’t super-fast guy dodge the cold ray” would be the new “why didn’t they just fly to Mordor on eagles” and we all know it.
As a flailing screenwriter, I actually pitched something like this to a producer on the WB lot way back when Raimi’s Spider-Man had just started Warners thinking about maybe using some of the DC bench players. I crammed it all into one movie, so maybe not the greatest pitch, but I thought the generational passing of the torch and the idea of family was the strongest thing about the Flash as well.
Some time passed, and I heard back from the producer. Warner Bros. wasn’t interested. The problem: “They think it’s just about a guy who runs real fast.”
My personal take on the Flash would be to make Wally the star, set it immediately after Barry’s death and make it a Buffy-esque show about how Wally grows up. The Rogues play the role of the monster of the week, you can easily do about 5 seasons worth of Big Bad’s (Grodd, the Reverse Flash ala the Return of Barry Allen, and Rogue War already given you three season long plots.)
And I realize that’s mostly what you’ve posted. I still think it works better as a TV show pacing-wise (you get more time to develop the Rogues, for example.)
“highlyverbal said on January 10th, 2012 at 4:17 pm
“And he’s got cancer, which is of course killing him because every time he uses his speed powers his metabolism clocks up to deadly o’clock.”
Spoken as if there is some underlying biological possibility of superspeed that would have normal, natural consequences for one’s metabolism.”
—-
More spoken as there needs to be a narrative reason for Wally to be benched at the start, and real stakes for him stepping up and trying to use his abilities before Barry makes the ultimate sacrifice.
That said, I’m not so sure about cancer either, especially when Barry hits the magic reset button. Any reason not to go with the old pre-CoIE plot device of “getting Superspeed during puberty really effed up his metabolism”?
Regarding dodging the cold ray, just use the pseudo-science Johns came up with (creates a cold field which significantly slows down motion) and you’re gold. Johns upped Cold’s power level and ruthlessness considerably, often to the point of making the other Rogues look like chumps.
Weather Wizard would be AMAZING on the big screen. I’d pay money for that alone.
The problem to me is why does it have to be a trilogy? Why not just make a movie series? The trend to make three movies, and only three movies, makes no sense to me.
I actually thought of a way to introduce Wally as the main Flash.
It’d sort of be how in Watchmen, the Minutemen were introduced via a short montage. They could probably pull that off for a Wally movie, after the montage filled with things about World War II, Barry, Etc, it’d be like; “My name is Wally West. I am the Fastest Man Alive. I am the Flash. I used to be Kid Flash. I’ve got one hell of a Legacy to live up to.”
The next movie, would infact be the Prequel, explaining Barry and such. I believe it’s easier to work backwards in this kind of thing, because well, Barry is boring by himself. But when you explain just a bit of the Mythology in movie 1, and go deeper in a prequel…things will be good.
Yeah, this is way too longtime comics reader-centric and too trilogy-specific (on a side note, making three of something doesn’t automatically make it a trilogy). A nice take on the history of the character, but no more.
If you don’t start with Jay Garrick, you’re wasting the attempt to piggy back onto the retro fad that will get Hollywood onboard. A decade before Captain America I was saying do a PERIOD hero flick. I can see the pitch meeting…Listen guys, it’s Mad Men meets CSI. The catch is, it’s a flashback movie that starts with all 3 speedsters in the Flash museum (in costume of course so you can replace the actors without much hubbub).
I agree that the SF should remain mystical. I disagree with Zolomon over Savitar.
I had this image of the scene where Wally decides to test his powers with his friend … And the music playing is The Crystal Method’s “Born Too Slow”.
By the way, I also agree that you DON’T have to over-explain/justify things in comic movies. You end up failing hard.
“… “why doesn’t super-fast guy dodge the cold ray” would be the new “why didn’t they just fly to Mordor on eagles” and we all know it.”
You totally lost me here. Why wouldn’t he dodge it significantly and nerd-satisfyingly often?!
Does the cold ray only fire once or something? I failed my Flash lore check.
(SpiderMan doesn’t dodge everything either, and he even has a warning power telling him when to dodge. Nerd rage levels remain low.)
@highlyverbal:
Spider-Man has a danger sense. The Flash moves and reacts at the speed of speed. He can disassemble that freeze gun and shove all the parts into Cold’s mouth before the beam even leaves the barrel.
If Cold makes it in, he’s going to be a henchmen-turned-grudging ally. He’s a working-class guy, he couldn’t care less about the W
@highlyverbal:
Spider-Man has a danger sense. The Flash moves and reacts at the speed of speed. He can disassemble that freeze gun and shove all the parts into Cold’s mouth before the beam even leaves the barrel.
If Cold makes it in, I could see him and the other Rogues being a bit like the gangsters from The Rocketeer – initially hostile henchmen, but when they hear what the bad guy’s doing, they figure, “Destroy the world? I like the world. I live there”, then we get this cool scene of all the rogues leveling their freeze rays and weather wands and mind-control beams at the bad guy’s head, redeeming them while giving the bad guy a chance to prove he can beat them easily.
“The lightning”? How does that not sound at least as lame as “Speed Force”?
Other than that, I like it.
Ugh, I just had a thought however–you know if they ever did make Flash movies, they’d wind up exactly like the Spider-Man and original Batman franchise. Just fighting whichever villain they thought was coolest–Thawne first, then Captain Cold in 2, until by 3 or 4 it’s the Flash vs. Heat Wave, the Trickster, and Captain Boomerang. (God, I hate Heat Wave. HE’S JUST A GUY WHO OWNS A FLAMETHROWER. I mean, say what you will about Cold, at least he has an actual science fiction superweapon; I could go out tomorrow, buy a few hundred or maybe a few dozen dollars worth of equipment, and become Heat Wave immediately.)
Running with the “Minutemen montage,” the best way to feature the Rogues would be a nice four or five minute sequence with the actual good ones–i.e., Cold, Mirror Master, the Top, Weather Wizard (sorta–cool power, obnoxious character, but that’s not relevant here), and Abra Kadabra–getting beaten up by Barry. Mainly I just would love to see Mirror Master’s powers in a movie, but probably not a whole movie about Mirror Master as the villain.
Also, if it’s gonna be Wally West choosing Linda over Heaven, end it on a down note with their relationship ending due to the regrets has has over giving up peace/paradise for love, which is a pretty lousy consolation prize and is bound to last not nearly as long. Bitterness and resentment: that’s what the kids want to see, damn it!
P.S.: I also like the idea of using the closed time loop origin from the Flash annual whatever-it-was.
@Mikoyan:
In defence of poor Heat Wave, his fire’s supposed to be hotter than ordinary flamethrower fire, thanks to various technological advancements. This isn’t too odd within the context of bizarre Flashverse science.
My idea of a Flash movie is kind of like this, but more stream-lined. Essentially, it’d absorb the premise of Starman: Movie starts with Barry having died saving the world, and Wally now has to pick up the mantle to tackle the rampaging Rogues (Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Heat Wave, and Weather Wizard, who respected Barry but see Wally as a unsatisfactory replacement for the real deal), with reformed villain the Shade as his mentor figure (hey, he started as a Flash villain in the first place). The climax would involve Wally and a grudging Captain Cold facing off a power-mad Weather Wizard, whose power set makes him easily the most dangerous of the Rogues.
The speed of speed? Droll.
Even if the neurons in his brain are not held to the speed of light as electrical impulses propagate (and setting aside what micro-relativistic effects should be happening in that case), he certainly can’t see objects to stuff in people’s mouths faster than the photons leave those objects and travel to his eyes.
So speed of light is pretty much his tactical speed limit, unless he plans very imaginatively. And isn’t ambushed. Or trapped in narrow corridors. Etc.
So the cold ray is a cold laser, viola, no nerdrage.
Also, I have again failed my Flash lore check — can he go from zero to 60 instantly? Or his is reality continuous, just like ours? His rate of acceleration would certainly affect all dodging.
==========
You misunderstood the comparison to Spidey. I wasn’t saying Spidey was the measure for what the Flash should be able to dodge; rather, he is the measure of how much nerdrage occurs when someone who should be quite good at dodging nonetheless _occasionally_ fails to dodge. I.e. not much.
Honestly, if you want to introduce the Rogues have them do some sort of crazy memorial for Barry at his funeral that shows off their powers and their respect for the Barry. I’m talking about them suddenly entering from a fountain with a huge flame lit ice sculpture of Barry with ominous storm clouds and immediately stating that there will be a week’s truce in memory of Barry.
Cripes. Three movies where the Flash fights bargain basement versions of himself? Howsabout we keep the mythos stuff but change some deets around: 1. The Rogues get serious and come after Barry, gimmicks blazing, improved by some mad scientist or something. It turns out he’s trying to harness ‘the Lightning’ to replicate the accidents that created Flash/Kid Flash. After a big slobberknocker against all his foes, Barry stops the scientist before he can unleash the uncontrolled Speed Force, harnessing it within his own super-powered body and sending it backwards (to his own origin) and forwards (through healing Wally) in time.
2. Return of Barry Allen, but conflate Max Mercury and Jay Garrick (don’t really need two ‘original’ Flashes), and have the mad scientist from the first movie be Eobard Thawne/his ancestor.
3. This one I’m not sure of. I like the bit about Wally having to choose between paradise with his super-speed brethren or life on Earth with Linda, but Savitar is such warmed over cheese.
Christopher Farnsworth up there had a point about WB execs thinking The Flash is about a guy who just runs really fast, because I guarantee a good portion of the audience is thinking the exact same thing.
The Flash? That’s the good who has super speed right?
Which makes a high-budget, blockbuster Flash film problematic because beyond “runs fast” there isn’t a lot to Barry Allen we haven’t seen before. No, being a good dude, isn’t unique amongst superhero types.
I’m not sure how I’d do it, but perhaps start with a brief Superman cameo in The Flash film with the two racing around the world since it’s by far the most popular trope when it comes to The Flash. You can skip the origin story and just get right down to the “runs really fast” part of it.
I don’t care how ridiculous it would be, how much disbelief it would require the audience to suspend – a Flash movie trilogy has no business not including Gorilla Grodd. If there’s a dude running around on the big screen in scarlet longjohns, he had damn well better get thwomped at some point by a megalomaniacal, psychic gorilla.
I’ve always felt that superhero films are missing out by being so focussed on origons. Because then you are extreamely limited in the number of unique villians you can have. But if you portray Central City as this city that has always had superpowers and gizmos then you can start straight away on actually telling a superhero story instead of mucking about trying to show us a mundane world turning into a superhero one.
T.Shock: You can skip the origin story and just get right down to the “runs really fast” part of it.
Nobody needed to explain to the audience that Superman could fly. It’s just known.
And even if Flash isn’t as well known as Superman, is anyone who walks into the theater to see a Flash movie NOT going to know it’s a film about a superhero who’s power is speed?
Superhero movies typically go too far overboard in explaining things that don’t really need to be explained.
highlyverbal : Even if the neurons in his brain are not held to the speed of light as electrical impulses propagate (and setting aside what micro-relativistic effects should be happening in that case), he certainly can’t see objects to stuff in people’s mouths faster than the photons leave those objects and travel to his eyes.
I get that it’s a fun comicnerd game to figure out how superpowers can really work. But did anyone in the audience for Fantastic Four really ask how Sue could see, or why being on fire would enable the Torch to fly in a controlled fashion, or at all?
Anyone bothered by Indy Jones not getting an origin story at all in his first movie?
As regards origin stories:
With the pace at which people are used to absorbing information on teevee and in theaters, you can tell most origin stories in sixty seconds, especially if you assume that your audience has seen a superhero movie before. The canonical Spider-Man origin is probably the longest one to get out of the way, and the only reason that would take longer than sixty seconds is because you have to wait the Official Time A Character Must Be Onscreen Before The Audience Cares You Killed Them. The only reason to spend more than 5 minutes on the origin is if you think that telling the origin story makes a better movie. And the only reason you should think that telling the origin story makes a better movie is if watching your hero kick ass is less interesting than watching your hero NOT kick ass.
Honestly, just release the origin story as the trailer, and never show it in the movie. And while you’re obeying my commands, Hollywood, skip the bullshit “Before the credits, the hero spends 8 minutes chasing and defeating a crappy villain.”
Also, I just want to point out that my first reaction to “The Flash” is not “isn’t that the guy who runs really fast?” but rather “isn’t that the guy whose wife was killed by Professor Zoom?”
There’s a serious problem to this proposal: It’s about Wally West, and the Flash Legacy. And WB/DC has no interest in that character and that concept, as shown by the last few years, which have seen Barry Allen brought back as the ONE TRUE FLASH, and Wally West shelved as inconsiderately as possible.
Which is unfortunate, because Wally and the Flash Legacy would make a stronger film or film series than just about any other Flash movie concept.
Origin stories in superhero movies are fine, as long as the origin itself is interesting and weighty enough to support a whole film. Barry? Doused with chemicals, gets powers. The fun stuff is what he does with his powers. Wally at least has something that can be made into a story longer than five minutes.
(Even if an origin story is great like Spider-Man’s, they have to try REALLY HARD to make me want to see it again.)
@ Sean D. Martin: “I get that it’s a fun comicnerd game to figure out how superpowers can really work.”
I am not sure whose side you think you are arguing on behalf of. I am the one saying “relax, don’t worry, if the Flash fails to dodge one or two things, it won’t be the eagles of Gondor.” Nerds will be cool.
MGK is the one saying that if the Flash fails to dodge _every_ single cold-ray, nerds will rage.
Sounds like you are coming down on the side of “won’t be a big deal”?
Agreed, bro.
Which side do YOU think you are supporting?!
Which side do YOU think you are supporting?!
Hmm, though I was pretty clear. “But did anyone in the audience for Fantastic Four really ask how Sue could see, or why being on fire would enable the Torch to fly in a controlled fashion, or at all?”
I’m agreeing with those folks who say a lengthy origin and/or explanation of why a character has powers or how those powers work is unnecessary. People going to see a superhero movie already know they’re going to see a superhero movie. They’re already suspending disbelief and don’t need too much exposition.
“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” was perfect. Nobody asked how Jedi got Force powers or how Jabba’s sail barge managed to float. They just accepted that they did.
“The problem to me is why does it have to be a trilogy? Why not just make a movie series? The trend to make three movies, and only three movies, makes no sense to me.”
I think 3 films is about as long as you can expect to hold on to an actor and director. Each film is a 2-3 year commitment so you’re looking at 6-10 years of someone’s life.
Then you reboot with new folks.
Mikoyan said on January 11th, 2012 at 1:02 am
“The lightning”? How does that not sound at least as lame as “Speed Force”?
—
How about calling it The Quickening?
Admit it, your head exploded over the thought of an immortal scottish Barry Allen zipping around decapitating foes at hypersonic speeds.
I know mine did.
[…] a more expansive view, MGK outlines a cinematic Flash trilogy, adapting a few comics storylines pretty directly in order to…. It plays up the Flash legacy, obviously, but MGK also makes the salient points that you can’t […]
@ Sean D. Martin
That claim is not in dispute by me. Please read more carefully.
The problem with Captain Cold, for me, has always been that he moves at normal human speed so a guy who can exceed the speed of light should be able to beat him half to death with superspeed punches or nail him with a “superspeed tornado” or something before he could ever pull the trigger on his freeze ray pistol.
That, and since his costume is basically just stupid looking sunglasses and a bright blue parka, another issue is “Why don’t the cops just shoot him?” Is he wearing body armor under the coat or something?
I don’t like villains who should easily be defeated by a competent SWAT team. If your bad guy could be taken down by a sniper before the hero even shows up, he isn’t that great of a bad guy.
The cops on Flashpoint could defeat Captain Cold, for crying out loud.
@ highlyverbal
Nor by me. Please read more carefully.
@ Sean D. Martin
On the contrary, you are most explicitly disputing on that point. Even with my poor reading comprehension, I can clearly and easily identify which side of that issue you are taking.
I defer to your superior, uh, reasoning?
Aside from the embarrassingly, childishly, culpably obvious fact that you said comments in between the two quotes that would naturally affect what I can identify…
… you are still missing the point that the “sides” in the first quote are not the “sides” in the second quote. You understand that more than one issue exists in the universe, right?
I understand when I’ve lost interest and that I have no problem letting you have the last word if it makes you feel superior somehow. Enjoy.
.
Bye.
IIRC, Cold’s cold gun was designed to retard motion (with the cold beam acting as a visual representation/side effect of its actual function.)
Man for citing Savitar you earn my respect ! The Speed force Zealot deserves more love ! Although, I think instead of Reverse Flash, Zoom would be much more compelling, his accident can be more or less tweaked and have the same effects on Hunter …
Cold can work with a proper set up , & if the battle field is rigged to defeat Flash . Besides , it’d be more of a “catch if you can” sort of flick rather than ” defeat the baddie “
For a trilogy, make sure to leave the impression that these characters had lots of other adventures.
First movie: Barry Allen dies, OK, but a Barry Allen who’s had a long and storied career. Wally can take the mantle at the end.
Second movie: a Wally West story. Pick one, really.
Third movie: Jump into the future, I’m thinking Sela from the big Waid/Augustyn time-travel arc. Wally can be there time-traveling to tie it back to the first two.
Fourth movie, because we’re Douglas Adams: ?