3. The Beginnings Of A Larger Universe
Its about damn time, was the collective sigh heard around the world when Jeff Robinov made the inevitable announcement: Man of Steel is set to herald the arrival of the DC movie universe continuity. Seriously. Marvel movies have been wiping the floor with DC since 2008. The release of The Avengers last year solidified the success of the shared-universe model, and DC would be foolish not to try to emulate the same success. This is also where Man of Steel stands to trump The Dark Knight movies, primarily due to the potential of scale. The Dark Knight Rises tried to be epic, but it didn't quite work. It was overstuffed with characters and drowned Batman's personal journey in obnoxiously loud ideas about moral chaos and nihilism. It was the kind of movie fit for a Justice League, but in the absence of any other heros, we were given Batman leading an army. *cringe* But the epic scale Nolan sought to create is perfect for Superman, or indeed, a large group of heroes. If Man of Steels story and vision are designed from the outset to contain a large group of characters and conflicts of epic proportions, it wont feel like a cheat when those moments finally arrive. And let's face it, this is Superman. Were going to see aliens, were going to see other worlds and galaxies, and were going see Superman kicking Zods ass all over Metropolis. Its going to be epic. And just imagine how much more epic its going to be when we have, not just Superman fighting Zod, but the entire Justice League battling Darkseid. Im getting ahead of myself, but bottom line, the universe has the potential to grow and expand into truly epic proportions, in a much more natural way than TDK trilogy did. When Superman knocks Darkseid skyrocketing across the Apokolips skyline five movies from now, we want the moment to feel earned. We want to cheer Superman on. We dont want Batman leading an army. That was weird and forced, and basically just Nolan trying to be epic for the sake of being epic. Superman is always epic though, so he can feel free to lead an army. Because thats what Superman does. And the foundation for that will be right here, with Man of Steel. To be clear, Im not saying that Man of Steel will be better than The Dark Knight trilogy just because its going to be part of a larger universe. But if the seeds of that universe are planted in the first movie in the right way, other DC movies can grow naturally, giving us The Flash, Green Lantern (done right) Wonder Woman, and other heroes whose time it has finally come. Its up to Man of Steel to decide whether that tree will grow ripe into a fully formed Justice League, or turn into another Batmans army. *shivers*