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Way to Prep #2: Marvel’s The Avengers (2012)

You must live under a rock if you haven’t seen or heard of this film. Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America assemble after several solo features and take on Loki together to prevent the end of the world. It was a monster box office success and is the ultimate comic book movie. It rewarded Marvel fans after years of DC fanboy torment and justified Disney’s purchase of the company. It was karma and it was heaven. There are several reasons you should watch Avengers. You should always want to check out the competition, so you should watch Marvel’s team-up before watching DC’s Justice League. Also, it was directed by Joss Whedon. He did such a great job that when Warner Bros found themselves in trouble after Snyder had to remove himself from the Justice League production (the result of a very unfortunate family tragedy), Whedon was hired to switch teams and help DC complete their vision. While some see it as Whedon stabbing Marvel in the back, others see it as DC’s way of quietly stating they screwed up and needed Marvel/Whedon’s help. Reports say Whedon can be felt in about 15-20% of Justice League so watching Avengers might also help you notice which parts were done by him. The rest and, sadly, the majority will still reek of Snyder. I wish I could say DC didn’t know what they were getting into when they hired him but that’s not the case. Let’s not forget this isn’t the first time that Snyder has adapted a DC comic property.

Way to Prep #3: Watchmen (2009)

After Snyder had his big breakout in 2006 bringing 300 to the big screen, he was hired to update another classic graphic novel. This time, he was going to tackle the award winning DC story, Watchmen. Despite the film only earning a 64%, it’s about as good as any single three-hour movie adaptation of the brilliant novel could be and was a feast for the eyes. It showcased how Snyder can make anything look good, but Batman and Superman aren’t one-off stories. They are constantly updated in new ways. If Snyder has proven anything in his career, it’s that his version of new (Sucker Punch) is nothing to get excited about. Snyder took a legendary graphic novel and barely broke $100 million at the box office after angering fans by changing the original ending. DC then decided to reward this lackluster performance by giving him Man of Steel, Batman v Superman and Justice League. Since Snyder couldn’t handle the literal translation of Watchmen, I wouldn’t trust him to do much better with the creativity the DC universe requires.

Way to Prep #4: Superman Returns (2006)

I can’t stress enough that I am a fan of Marvel AND a fan of DC. Movies from both sides of the track are always welcome at a movie theater near me and I will ALWAYS see them on opening weekend, no matter what the reviews say. What I don’t like is that DC can’t handle being the loser for a few minutes and now Marvel’s executives are spanking their fans. Like, WTF?!?! Suck it up, DC, and get your act together. Stop crying and break up with Warner Bros, because they aren’t doing you any favors. Christopher Nolan was responsible for Dark Knight’s success, not Warner Bros. Tim Burton was responsible for the original Batman classics, not Warner Bros. At what point will you understand that simply having your characters on-screen is not enough? You need talent guiding those characters towards a great movie. Unless, of course, you try to steal that talent from Marvel. After Bryan Singer directed the amazing X-Men 1 & 2 for Marvel, he was stolen away from X-Men 3 to direct a reboot of Clark Kent in Superman Returns. It was actually quite entertaining but it didn’t revitalize the character the way Batman Begins did for Bruce Wayne. Though the reviews are actually overall positive at 74%, it still left a black mark on DC’s record. I’m sure by next week Justice League will be begging for that level of acclaim.

Way to Prep #5: X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

In the absence of the original X-Men director, 20th Century Fox was in search for a new ringmaster. After the success of the Rush Hour films, Brett Ratner was hired to complete the X-Men trilogy. What we got was a dumbed-down version of the Dark Phoenix storyline and the pointless deaths of too many key characters. I’d like to say it was a bad film but I fear producers might flee to the internet to demand fans be less harsh. If I can’t be mean to DC then I’m definitely not taking punches at Marvel. Unless, of course, we can grow up and accept when we make mistakes. The Last Stand was the failings of 20th Century Fox and a director now famous for being a sexual deviant, not Marvel. The current state of the DC universe is not entirely their own fault. DC can recover if they take more control over their product, like Marvel, so that fans can be the ones uniting instead of the heroes in the (hopefully entertaining) Justice League.

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