Tom Welling to get the call-up for LIVE ACTION JLA movie?

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Live-action or not I would like to see a JLA movie for two reasons:
1.) to see how having that many heavy-hitters on screen in handled, especially for the fight scenes. Bryan Singer couldn’t do it with two tries at bat, Brett Ratner did a half-ass job. JLA might get it right. We should all get behind this movie, as a concept if nothing else. It will obviously exist outside of Nolan’s Batman continuity, and I hope show WB how Superman should have been handled, starting with choosing a new man of steel.

2.) This movie would be an EXCELLENY proving ground and showcase for the characters who WB and the other sutdios have been too timid to movie forward on -Wonder Woman, Green lantern, Green Arrow etc. This could also help DC’s comic book movies to finally vault themselves over Marvel’s.

But Tom Welling as Superman? I’m against that. Bryan Singer screwed up ROYALLY casting Routh as Superman, he was more like Superboy. You need a square-jawed, commanding-presence, alpha-male to play Superman -someone who feels more than human, like Christopher Reeves did. Bryan Singer wanted someone who struck him as “manly” but his sensibilities on that are all wrong.
And before anyone tries to use Hugh Jackman as proof-positive of Singer’s casting acumen, keep in mind Jackman was Singer’s second choice -Dougray Scott (an awful choice!) was Singer’s first choice for Wolverine, and Singer held off on principal photography for X-Men, in the hopes Scott would be avaliable. If Scott hadn’t been injured on Mission:Impossible 2 -not to mention if MI2’s shooting hadn’t gone WAY over schedule- Scott would have been Wolverine. Now is the time to recast Superman, put a MAN of Steel on the screen, instead of a metrosexual of Cotton.

Comment by JaySmack | August 25, 2007

Every day, this movie looks like more and more of a train wreck.

Tom Welling as Superman? Yeah, that won’t confuse people at all. Here’s how I put it on my blog:

“So here’s what you could be seeing: So there’s JUSTICE LEAGUE. And the Superman there is played by Tom Welling, who also plays Superman on SMALLVILE, but it’s not the same Superman, since on the show he’s supposed to be younger and he hasn’t put on the suit yet. Or maybe SMALLVILLE is just set before JUSTICE LEAGUE, which means either SMALLVILLE happens in the past or JUSTICE LEAGUE happens in the future, I guess. And no matter what, there’s actually a different Superman in the Bryan Singer SUPERMAN movies.

Dizzy yet?

Let’s try this though: the JUSTICE LEAGUE movie introduces live-action versions of Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Flash. So, do they use those actors for solo movies? Or do they cast them oblivious to the JL cast? Little bit of both maybe?”

And the LA Times story really sums it up nicely. This is a pre-strike, cash grab rush job.

I’m all for a JUSTICE LEAGUE movie. It could be the greatest super-hero movie ever if done properly. But that’s not what’s being done here. This is a half-assed, short-sighted panic movie. The Justice League fighting Maxwell Lord and the Omacs?!! My God, could you get more bland than a C-List Lex Luthor wannabe and a bunch of identical generic robots (brilliant! That’ll save loads of money on CGI!) What about Darkseid? The Injustice League? The Anti-Monitor? Gorilla Grodd? Eclipso?

Look, I understand the fanboy wank of seeing a bunch of iconic heroes on the screen at the same time. But it needs to be A GOOD MOVIE, and done properly. That means being in synch with the other superhero franchises, a real villain, and the time needed to make this fim right.

Comment by Scramble Network | August 26, 2007

We’ve seen so many prequels and sequels over the years -Jack Ryan has been played by no less than three different actors, with the latest incarnation (Ben Affleck) playing Ryan at the beginning of his career, in a story set in 2002, when The Hunt for Red October was set in 1986. Anyone get confused with the Ryan franchise? Nope, everyone seemed to come out of it without getting dizzy.
Did anyone get confused by George Reeve playing superman, then Christopher Reeve (same surname no less!) playing the lead twenty years later? Or Dean Cain, or Tom Welling?
Hannibal Lecter’s been played by four different actors in five different movies, none of which (with the exception of Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal) took place in chronilogical order. Did audiences get confused or dizzy? Not at all. They performed (Hannibal, SOTL) or failed (Hannibal Rising) based on their own merits.

I cite these numerous examples to show that multiple actors interpreting the same character in different continuities and at different times in the characters lives won’t confuse anyone. The mere assertion is a weak straw to grasp at, but only if one hopes any JLA movie fails?
Now why would anyone want that?

Look, I understand the fanboy wank of bashing anything that irks said-fanboy even a little -such things often being as picyaune as whether Superman’s suit is blue enough. But bad-mouthing a movie just on general principle, when that “principle” is so utterly subjective, isn’t helpful.

The JLA movie is going to happen -and it will fly or die based on it’s own merits. I for one hope they step on the toes and pre-pubescent balls of the naysayers and make a version of Justice League featuring a newly-cast Superman and Batman in a continuity having nothing to do with Nolan or Singer. I hope the story is strong, the director “gets” the JLA concept and tells a compelling and surprising tale.
And when this properly made movie is wildly successful and respected, I think it will put all talk of confusion to rest. I for one will reserve judgment of how good this movie may or may not be until after I learn more. So far there’s plenty of rumors, but real facts.

Comment by JaySmack | August 26, 2007

Strike that. I meant to write “So far there’s plenty of rumors, but NO real facts.”

Comment by JaySmack | August 26, 2007

I think there’s a difference between sequels/prequels/reboots and having two actors playing the same character in the same medium at the same time. Or in this case, two actors, when one also plays a younger version of the same character on television AT THE SAME TIME. That’s a little different than the Jack Ryan or James Bond examples.

Look, I want a great Justice League film as much as anyone. But everything I’ve heard about this film so far sounds awful it’s true. No Bale and Routh? OMACS and Max Lord? Tom Welling as Superman? The studio racing like hell to get it done ASAP so they have the big summer blockbuster in spite of the strike?

Sorry, but I have yet to hear anything good when it comes to this movie, with the possible exception of George Miller as director– which is not a bad choice at all, but it’s not like it makes the film a can’t miss- proposition.

Comment by Scramble Network | August 26, 2007

I hope the god that Tom Wellings says yes to play superman because I think Christopher Reeve would want him to carry on the legacy

Comment by Thomas E Smith Jr | April 6, 2008

pls.. tom welling is the best to portray d role as superman no one else cud be..

Comment by real | September 27, 2008

look this is stupid. bickering about timelines. wb messed up by making superman returns and then saying well it wasnt what we wanted so lets just ang lee it and start over. returns was not a bad movie. it did justice to chris reeve(and the sir name of george was reeves, idiot) but it wasnt what it should have been. the son was a bad move. neway the timeline will never be correct cuz they r going to start over and re cast. i dont want to see 4 different actors play superman. it would be like the first 4 batman movies all over again. thats stupid. wb should take smallvilles justice leauge concept and use that. why build up all these charactors and throw it all in the trash for the movie? make some of this dc universe actually coincide. tom welling is perfict for the new superman and chris reeve would want that. end smallville and let the man take his rightfull place as the last son of krypton!

Comment by superdan | September 30, 2008

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