As if there weren't enough comic book movies in the works, DC have just announced that they're adding another in the shape of a Booster Gold/Blue Beetle team-up movie. The comedy - apparently a buddy cop movie of sorts - will be directed by Greg Berlanti, according to Tracking Board and written by Zak Penn, according to Heroic Hollywood. This confirmation comes after years of speculation that both characters would end up on the DC screen slate in some form, and while the presence of Arrow and The Flash's supremo might suggest they're on their way to the small screen (he did script a pilot for SyFy once after all), the plan is apparently for a feature. That should excite fans, given how popular the characters are (and the unshakable parallel between Booster Gold and Tony Stark), with the irresistible suggestion that this could be an Iron Man Meets Batman comedy. Tracking Board say the plan is to ultimately have the pair team up with the rest of the Justice League in a future sequel - consider them Phase 2 (only with a DC-ized name that doesn't stand on too many Marvel toes), That's a brave move considering how easy it would have been to simply drop them into Legends Of Tomorrow. The question is, how exactly will a comedy fit into the impenetrably bleak cinematic universe being built under Zack Snyder's leadership? Man Of Steel wasn't exactly a barrel of laughs, and it's not like Snyder's vision lends itself to a more pulpy, comedic bent. The same was true of Christopher Nolan's trilogy, which sagged horribly when it tried to shoe-horn in lols. Of course, there is some reason behind that po-faced approach: Joel Schumacher killed the campness of Batman on screen by turning it up too high and pushing the limits to bursting. Nolan's antithetical tone was inevitable, and now the franchise seems too deeply rooted in the grim, gritty agenda that the idea of characters like Booster Gold and Blue Beetle operating side-by-side with angry gruff Bats and emo Superman is wildly inappropriate. It's hard to imagine that Batman or Bruce Wayne would tolerate annoying sidekicks. After all, there's no room for Robin in the modern Batman film. It's a difficult picture to imagine, but at least Warner Bros are diversifying their slate. Too many super serious adaptations could be as detrimental to DC's plans for longevity as Schumacher's silliness, and the adoption of a more light-hearted and fundamentally comic tone could be what Aquaman needs to feel less like the Justice League's unfortunate idiot brother. DC fans might also suggest that comedy worked for Marvel with Guardians Of The Galaxy, despite the MCU's more willingness to flirt with comedic elements before that. And they'd be right: it was a departure for Marvel that worked wonderfully, and it's exactly the kind of gamble that DC need to be seen to be making to cement confidence ahead of Batman V Superman. And of course, if Groot and Captain America are potentially going to stand side by side in a future Marvel movie, anything is possible.
