
5 Movies DC Could Make Instead of a Joker Origin Story
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Warner brothers recently announced that they are developing a Joker origin movie, with Martin Scorsese attached to produce. After Jared I’m-a-serious-actor-and-giving-my-colleagues-used-condoms-is-my-process Leto’s work in Suicide Squad, a gritty ’80s reboot of a Joker movie is a little troubling to me. The reports of the film being “super dark and real” don’t ease my concerns that the film will be a glorification of violent masculinity. However, The Hollywood Reporter noted the choice to begin development on this out-of-continuity DC film. The company may be moving away from a shared universe model, and into the creation of self-contained stories. DC comics has a long history of stories told outside of their main universe, and here are some we would love to see on the silver screen:
One of the drawbacks of shared superhero universes like the MCU is that they can’t take huge ideological risks. They threaten not just one film but whole franchises. A film based on The New Frontier could explore the politics of its characters with more experimentation. Hopefully, though, John Henry could have a bigger role in the film than the motivational death function he occupies in the comic.
Like The New Frontier, Bombshells builds a DC universe which reimagines the role superheroes played in the mid nineteenth century. This super world is filled with with ’40s versions of the superheroines of the DC universe, male heroes largely absent. Batwoman Kate Kane, the greatest and most underrated superhero of all time, is one of the stories’ main heroes. Superhero interventions in major American wars have been successful fodder for films. Bombshells goes a lot further in its inherent criticisms of American politics than, say, Captain America: The First Avenger. For example, Bombshells treats internment camps as a threat to the American soul. This long-running comic would make a great model for a nuanced superhero war film.
Rioters love the four part mini-series Supergirl: Being Super. Set on a Superman-less world, a teenage Kara Danvers grapples with grief, frustration, and her alien identity. There’s a lot to love. Elements of classic Superman and Supergirl stories jumble together in new combinations, grounded in breathtakingly naturalistic language. In a scene in which Kara and her friend struggle to communicate their grief over a loved one’s death, Kara texts: “???,” AKA: eye donut give a crap. In some ways this universe is less alternative than others, but it is deeply important to the story that Kara is the lone superhero of her world. The story gets at the loneliness of Supergirl that has been around since her ’60s beginnings, when she was Linda Lee Danvers, the superpowered teenager forced to hide her existence from the world.
So many great alternative earth DC stories to choose from instead of making a Joker movie!