James Gunn's Broken Promise: Supergirl Script Disaster
45sHigh controversy over Gunn's promise of rock-solid scripts being broken by Supergirl's poor reception.
▶ Play Clip"Title accurately reflects the content: a discussion on DC Studios' state post-Supergirl, with analysis and future outlook."
The video discusses the mixed reception of the 'Supergirl' film, the second movie in the DC Studios era under James Gunn and Peter Safran, and its implications for the future of the franchise. The hosts analyze the film's low Rotten Tomatoes score, box office projections, and the broader discourse around DC Studios' strategy and leadership.
The film opened with a 59% Rotten Tomatoes score, later hovering between 50-60%, indicating mixed critical reception.
Opening weekend projected at $47 million domestic and $90 million global, lower than earlier estimates of $70-80 million.
Variety critic Owen Gleiberman criticized the script, calling it 'the worst script I can remember' and noting James Gunn's broken promise of 'rock solid' scripts.
Initially announced as inspired by Tom King's 'Woman of Tomorrow' graphic novel, the filmmakers later admitted they didn't closely follow it, with director Craig Gillespie saying he didn't even read it.
Despite script issues, Milly Alcock's performance as Supergirl was praised for her innate star quality and coolness.
Rumors suggest James Gunn and the studio may have taken the film away from director Craig Gillespie for a re-edit, as the editing feels odd and reassembled.
Warner Bros. reportedly used paid social media clipping to amplify positive hype for the film, a common industry practice.
Executive producer Lars P. Winther confirmed 'Man of Tomorrow' (summer 2027) and another DCU movie in 2028 featuring Supergirl, with David Ellison supportive of the slate.
The film's strengths lie in its DC mythology elements, such as flashbacks to Krypton and Argo City, and interactions with Superman.
The success of non-Gunn projects like 'Clayface' and 'Lanterns' will be crucial tests for whether DC Studios can thrive without Gunn as writer-director.
The hosts argue the film had an 'easy win' by adapting the acclaimed 'Woman of Tomorrow' graphic novel but chose to deviate, resulting in a weaker script.
The hosts emphasize the importance of hiring screenwriters with deep affection for the source material, as seen in successful adaptations like 'Lord of the Rings'.
Matt Reeves' 'The Batman' franchise remains a strong asset for DC, providing a financial and creative buffer against other projects' underperformance.
While 'Supergirl' underperformed critically and commercially, it is not seen as a fatal blow to DC Studios. The franchise's future hinges on upcoming projects like 'Lanterns', 'Clayface', and 'Man of Tomorrow', with Batman remaining a reliable anchor.
What was Supergirl's opening weekend Rotten Tomatoes score?
59%
00:12
What was the projected domestic opening weekend box office for Supergirl?
$47 million
00:37
Which critic called Supergirl's script 'the worst script I can remember'?
Owen Gleiberman of Variety
03:41
What graphic novel was Supergirl initially said to be inspired by?
Tom King's 'Woman of Tomorrow'
05:53
What did director Craig Gillespie say about the source material?
He didn't read it; he only looked at the script and then flipped through the comics for images.
06:22
What is the release date for 'Man of Tomorrow'?
Summer 2027 (July 7, 2027)
13:19
Which upcoming projects are considered key tests for DC Studios' success without James Gunn?
Clayface and Lanterns
26:56
What is the release date for 'Lanterns' on HBO?
August 16th
14:14
What is the release date for 'Clayface'?
October 26th
14:17
What is the release date for 'The Batman' sequel?
October 1st, 2027
14:22
Owen Gleiberman's Critique
Highlights the disconnect between Gunn's promise of 'rock solid' scripts and the actual reception.
03:41Departure from Source Material
Reveals a key creative decision that likely contributed to the film's mixed reception.
05:53Key Tests for DC Studios
Identifies the critical juncture for the franchise's future beyond Gunn's direct involvement.
26:56Need for Passionate Adaptors
Articulates a fundamental principle for successful IP adaptation.
40:23Batman as a Safety Net
Explains why Batman's enduring popularity provides a buffer for DC Studios.
44:54[00:00] Can a project at DC Studios take off
[00:02] without James Gunn being the writer
[00:04] director of it? James Gunn, you promised
[00:06] us we would be getting rocksolid
[00:07] scripts, and this script is not rock
[00:10] solid. [music] Immediately 59% on Rotten
[00:12] Tomatoes. Peter Saffron and James Gun
[00:14] were like, "This is going to be inspired
[00:15] by Tom Kings and Billy. Evelyn's Woman
[00:17] of Tomorrow comic story line in Junkits.
[00:19] They were like, um, just kidding.
[00:20] Actually, [music] we didn't." It feels
[00:22] like the people who worked on this movie
[00:23] and Warner Brothers knew that there were
[00:25] issues with this. I don't think we
[00:27] should be immediately putting James Gun
[00:29] to like the highest standard of
[00:30] screenwriting. I don't think he's like
[00:32] the greatest screenwriter of all time.
[00:33] >> I honestly think like James Gun is still
[00:35] like a valuable asset to the Ellison no
[00:38] matter what. Matt Reeves the Batman is
[00:40] going to cook. The question will be this
[00:42] other DCU movie that they want Supergirl
[00:45] to be a part of in 2028. If if you're
[00:47] trying to write this type of franchise
[00:48] film, your movie has to be a hit. You
[00:51] had a win. You had an easy win. And for
[00:53] whatever reason, they chose to like make
[00:55] it hard [music] for themselves. Welcome
[00:56] back to New Rockstars. Supergirl is now
[00:58] in theaters. It's the second film of the
[01:00] DC Studios era under the leadership of
[01:02] James Gunn and Peter Saffron. And the
[01:04] reception for the film in its opening
[01:06] weekend has been mixed. As we look ahead
[01:08] to the future of this franchise, it's
[01:10] really time to talk about the state of
[01:12] DC Studios.
[01:14] >> Yes, this is the sneak peek, the weekly
[01:15] show here at New Rockstars, where we
[01:17] look ahead to the future of fandom with
[01:18] your host Jessica Clemens and Eric Voss.
[01:20] >> Hello Jessica. Yes, it's time to talk
[01:21] about the state of DC. Our breakdown of
[01:24] the full Supergirl film for all the
[01:26] Easter eggs and comic book references is
[01:28] on the channel. It came out on Friday.
[01:30] Uh here we're just kind of like checking
[01:32] in with like this insane discourse that
[01:34] we've been in throughout this weekend.
[01:36] Obviously, it's a turbulent time at
[01:37] Warner Brothers as a studio with the
[01:40] Paramount Sky Dance Company run by the
[01:42] Ellison's David Ellison CEO is planning
[01:44] to acquire this company. The Justiceart
[01:47] Department approved that merger. It's
[01:48] probably going to be happening at the
[01:50] end of this year. Um, uh, so a lot
[01:52] there's been a lot of talk like, uhoh,
[01:54] if Supergirl underperforms, is James
[01:56] Gunn going to get fired? No, that's not
[01:59] >> a crazy catch. That'd be a crazy
[02:01] contract deal, one movie.
[02:03] >> Yeah. And it wouldn't be based off of
[02:04] this one movie. It's going to take a few
[02:06] more failures for that to happen. Um, or
[02:09] James Gunn, I think, would just choose
[02:11] to leave. But I I think there's like a
[02:13] few other movies that are going to be
[02:14] coming out either way, including
[02:16] Clayface, Man of Tomorrow, the the
[02:19] Batman by Matt Reeves, and then a
[02:20] follow-up to Man of Tomorrow, The
[02:22] Lantern series is coming out. Uh but we
[02:24] should take a little snapshot of where
[02:26] we're at right now. So, um Supergirl is
[02:29] still currently in theaters. By the time
[02:30] you're watching this video, you may know
[02:31] what the opening weekend box office is.
[02:33] We're recording it a few days early, but
[02:35] it it's currently projected to make 70
[02:37] or 47 million in the opening weekend.
[02:40] 47. Now, that's way lower than some of
[02:42] the projections you saw in the weeks
[02:43] leading up to it. 70 million, 80 million
[02:46] domestic, something like that. We're
[02:47] going to talk about why you may have
[02:49] seen some of those high ball
[02:50] projections. Uh, and it's projected to
[02:53] make somewhere around 90 million global.
[02:56] U, but the Rotten Tomato score, it it
[02:59] came out immediately 59% on Rotten
[03:01] Tomatoes. And then over the past week
[03:03] with all different kinds of critics
[03:05] reviews coming in, it's been kind of
[03:06] hovering from the 50s to the 60s. Uh, by
[03:09] the time we started recording this
[03:11] podcast, it was at 57%, but that number
[03:13] may have changed by the time you're
[03:15] watching this. Um, in particular, you
[03:17] may have seen going around a review from
[03:19] the Variety critic Owen Gberman, a
[03:21] critic I highly highly respect. I grew
[03:24] up reading his reviews in Entertainment
[03:25] Weekly, and I generally agree with his
[03:27] takes, even if he's a little grouchy
[03:29] about like superhero cinema in general.
[03:31] He's he's like the closest I think we
[03:33] have to Roger Eert. He's very fair, and
[03:36] he writes really great reviews. And in
[03:38] this case, he gave a scathing review of
[03:39] the film. And I'm going to read this
[03:41] quote that he gave. I think this is
[03:43] really the the crux of his frustration
[03:45] with this film. He writes, "James Gun,
[03:47] along with Peter Saffron, knew that he
[03:49] was launching DC Studios right into the
[03:51] teeth of superhero fatigue. Gun got
[03:53] asked a lot about how he was going to
[03:55] avoid that, and the key thing he said
[03:57] was, "We're not going into production on
[04:00] any movie until the script we have is
[04:02] rock solid." For that was the overriding
[04:04] problem with the superhero overkill era.
[04:07] The films had lousy scripts which were
[04:09] used as grids on which to layer the
[04:11] visual effects. Gun was right to want to
[04:14] take the comic book genre back to well
[04:16] ststructured screenwriting basics. So
[04:18] what has he done in his second DC
[04:20] outing? He's given us a comic book movie
[04:22] with the worst script I can remember.
[04:24] End quote. From Owen Gleberman from
[04:26] Variety. Um so as we talk about this
[04:29] movie, I have seen it. Jessica, you have
[04:32] not seen it yet?
[04:32] >> I have not seen it. I see it tonight.
[04:34] >> Okay. Jessica's seen it tonight. So,
[04:35] we're not really going to be getting
[04:36] into a review of the movie. We're just
[04:38] going to be talking about the discourse
[04:39] and what we've heard about this movie
[04:40] and the current state of DC Studios.
[04:42] But, I can just say I I had issues and
[04:46] frustrations with this film. You can go
[04:47] to my letter box. I gave it a three out
[04:49] of 10 on my letter box. I know it's
[04:50] really harsh on the film, but I'm still
[04:53] I really like the casting of Millie Alco
[04:55] in general. I like the I I still have a
[04:57] lot of confidence in the state and the
[04:59] future of DC Studios. It's just this
[05:01] script does underserve the character. Is
[05:04] it the worst comic book movie script I
[05:06] can remember? Owen Gleberman, you got to
[05:07] stretch your memory muscles. We can you
[05:09] not remember Morbius?
[05:10] >> I think I mean, yeah, he's not including
[05:12] Morbius. He's not including Ghost Rider
[05:14] 2. He's not he's not keeping in mind
[05:16] like the the Fantastic 4 movie that
[05:18] never came out. Like he's he's just like
[05:21] of recent years.
[05:22] >> Yeah, there have been quite a few really
[05:23] really bad ones. And I think the script
[05:25] has a lot of problems with it. It's not
[05:27] the worst, but it's also not
[05:29] particularly great. And I and I share
[05:31] his frustration. James Gun, you promised
[05:33] us we would be getting rocksolid
[05:35] scripts, and this script is not rock
[05:37] solid. It has major issues. Now, I I
[05:39] think most people will like it more than
[05:41] my three out of 10 review. Um, so I I
[05:44] I've made peace with that. Um, but uh
[05:47] there are just a lot of issues with it.
[05:49] And I think we should track like what we
[05:51] know about this movie. When it was first
[05:53] announced, it was called Supergirl Woman
[05:54] of Tomorrow. That was going to be the
[05:56] title of the movie, but then at some
[05:57] point later, it was just revised to just
[05:58] Supergirl. But still, Peter Saffron and
[06:00] James Gun were like, "This is going to
[06:01] be inspired by Tom Kings and Billy Eve's
[06:04] Woman of Tomorrow's comic storyline."
[06:06] But just in the weeks before the
[06:07] release, when Anna Aguero and um and
[06:10] Craig Gillespie got in front of people
[06:12] asking them questions in the press tour
[06:15] in Junkits, they were like, "Um, I'm
[06:16] just kidding. Actually, we didn't really
[06:18] pull pull it from the graphic novel
[06:20] storyline." Um Craig Gillespie is like,
[06:22] "I didn't even read it. I just looked at
[06:24] Andra's script and got my shot list from
[06:26] that." And then after I got my shot
[06:28] list, I flipped through the comics and I
[06:30] found some images that I kind of liked.
[06:32] Like it was clear that these two
[06:33] creatives really wanted nothing to do
[06:35] with this source material. And you could
[06:37] take issue with Tom King. A lot of
[06:38] people are like, "Good. I don't like Tom
[06:40] King as a writer. That's that's a take
[06:42] that like, okay, fine, we could talk
[06:43] about that." But like, specifically,
[06:45] whatever your issues are with Tom King
[06:47] as a writer in general, this particular
[06:49] graphic novel storyline is praised. It
[06:52] is really wellliked and it's the reason
[06:54] why I think James Gun was excited to
[06:55] greenlight this.
[06:56] >> This script just zigs in so many ways
[06:58] that that comic story line zags. And
[07:00] again, we're not going to review
[07:02] >> we're not going to review the movie
[07:03] here, but one thing that uh Jessica and
[07:05] I did see at SinCon, you remember seeing
[07:07] the panel for Supergirl with with
[07:11] >> uh
[07:11] >> Oh my god. Oh my god.
[07:14] >> That's James Gun calling right now.
[07:15] Don't don't tell them. Don't talk.
[07:17] >> We're not friends.
[07:18] >> We ain't friends. James Gun was not
[07:20] there at Vegas and we didn't want to
[07:22] read too much into that. We knew he was
[07:23] busy with pre-production for Man of
[07:25] Tomorrow, but Peter Saffron was there
[07:27] chatting with Craig Gillespie, Millie
[07:28] AOK, and Jason Mamoa. And it was really
[07:30] kind of like the lowest energy
[07:32] presentation we saw the full week at
[07:34] Cineacon.
[07:35] >> Yeah.
[07:36] >> Yeah. And it's almost it feels like the
[07:38] people who worked on this movie and
[07:40] Warner Brothers knew that there were
[07:41] issues with this.
[07:43] >> Possibly. I think Millie I've been
[07:44] watching a lot of interviews with Millie
[07:46] and she does seem low energy though in
[07:47] other interviews. like it seemed like
[07:49] across the board this is how she acts in
[07:51] interviews which is I'm not saying it's
[07:53] fair it's more so that I haven't had a
[07:55] chance to see her in anything else
[07:57] really except for House of the Dragon in
[07:59] which she wasn't supposed to be as in
[08:00] there as long as she was so we don't
[08:02] really get a lot of time talking to
[08:03] actual Millie Alox and she might just be
[08:05] one of those interviewers that doesn't
[08:07] want to be there she's young too so it's
[08:10] like she hasn't had to deal with it for
[08:11] like 20 years like everyone else has
[08:13] she's like oh this is just disruptive
[08:16] like and I don't care I'm just an actor
[08:17] that acts.
[08:18] >> Yeah. And I I really don't blame her at
[08:20] all. I don't think she is the problem at
[08:22] all with this movie. In fact, she's
[08:23] she's really well cast in this. She just
[08:26] has this innate coolness that like movie
[08:28] stars just kind of magically have. The
[08:30] fact that like she went from House of
[08:32] the Dragon playing young Rainer
[08:33] Targaryen really well, speaking multiple
[08:36] languages to just being like a natural
[08:38] star on the big screen. I'm like, damn,
[08:40] it's cool how some people can just do
[08:42] that. And she does in this movie. It's
[08:44] just the story around her
[08:46] >> is I had issues with it. Um, and I think
[08:49] she was really great in Superman. I
[08:50] think she'll be really great in Mana
[08:52] tomorrow. I think they really cast her
[08:53] well. I don't have a problem with
[08:55] someone's low energy on a press junket.
[08:57] That's it's not all on her to promote
[08:59] this movie. Um, but I have heard some
[09:02] rumors, I don't know if they're true,
[09:04] that like there was an issue with this
[09:07] movie in early 2025 where James Gun
[09:10] working with other people at the studio
[09:11] might have taken it away from Craig
[09:13] Gillespie to do kind of like a death
[09:15] saving throw re-edit of the movie.
[09:17] >> When you watch this movie, you'll see
[09:18] the editing in many sequences is like,
[09:21] whoa, this is an odd
[09:23] >> this is odd. The the movie just feels
[09:25] kind of reassembled in a lot of ways.
[09:27] Um, I haven't seen a single review out
[09:29] there praising the editing of this
[09:31] movie. Interesting.
[09:31] >> Um, I don't know if that's true. That's
[09:33] just a rumor that I've heard. Um, and
[09:36] um, another thing we can report here, if
[09:38] you listen to the Town podcast, they
[09:40] talk about how a lot of PR firms, and
[09:44] you know this, you've worked in PR,
[09:46] they're they're doing paid social media
[09:48] clipping. And this is not necessarily
[09:50] new. They've been doing it for the past
[09:51] few years. Justin Baldon's legal and PR
[09:53] team did this. Um, uh, even like there
[09:57] were like Zack Snyder and when Justice
[10:00] League came out, that was like, you
[10:02] know, 8 years ago, they were doing this
[10:03] back then, too. But clipping refers to
[10:06] um when people will write organic tweets
[10:09] or or post organic um Tik Tok reactions,
[10:12] they'll pay to promote those things
[10:15] through like whole teams of people and
[10:18] bots that are basically reposting that
[10:20] with some of the same talking points.
[10:21] And this I'm probably talking to you and
[10:23] you're like, "Yeah, I know. I've seen
[10:24] that. I've seen where people are just
[10:25] saying the same thing on my TikTok and
[10:27] reals and it's just a person, but
[10:29] they're literally saying the same
[10:30] talking points. Specifically, Warner
[10:33] Brothers has been doing that. I'm not
[10:34] talking about like paid reviews and
[10:36] shills. We'll talk about that in a
[10:38] second, but I'm just talking about like
[10:39] when people are talking about like their
[10:40] hype for this movie. Wow, the hype is
[10:42] crazy. Wow, this movie is going to make
[10:44] $100 million domestic. that might have
[10:46] been originally an or organic tweet that
[10:48] someone or an aggregator wrote, but the
[10:50] reason you're seeing it so much is
[10:53] because that Warner Brothers knows that
[10:55] that is a divisive take that's going to
[10:57] get a lot of engagement. So, they paid
[10:58] for that thing to be amplified. So, that
[11:01] has been happening a lot and it's not
[11:03] new, but it's been happening a lot with
[11:04] Supergirl and it's happening a lot with
[11:06] House of the Dragons new season.
[11:08] [clears throat] Um, now a lot of you are
[11:10] like, "Yeah, well also influencers were
[11:12] paid there. This happens with every
[11:15] movie, every major movie. They do media
[11:17] events, they do meet and greets with the
[11:19] cast, they do set visits, they do um
[11:23] these little uh like um parties or
[11:26] whatever where like certain press or
[11:28] certain Tik Tockers are invited. Uh they
[11:30] do media screenings at film theaters
[11:32] around the LA area. Um that happens.
[11:35] That's not new for Supergirl. They
[11:37] Disney does that. Universal does that.
[11:38] Sony does that. They all do it. They all
[11:40] do it. And it happened again. So, we're
[11:42] not saying like, oh, this was like a ma
[11:44] a matter of desperation, but what I can
[11:46] say is like um talking with the people I
[11:48] talked to at Warner Brothers, they um
[11:51] >> they they seem like more understanding
[11:53] that this movie is going to have a mixed
[11:56] response and they're okay with that. I
[11:58] think they went into this movie knowing
[11:59] that.
[12:00] >> Yeah.
[12:00] >> And they're not trying to like change
[12:02] that narrative. They just want people
[12:04] talking about it at all.
[12:05] >> Yeah. I think naturally you're going to
[12:07] with a Supergirl.
[12:08] >> Yeah. I think they knew that already.
[12:10] And then on top of that, this script
[12:12] also, despite it being written by a
[12:15] woman, despite it having a character
[12:16] like Millie Alak, despite someone who
[12:19] has a an agenda of trying to write
[12:21] strong female characters like James Gun
[12:22] did, I think they I think they missed
[12:24] the mark with this one despite all that.
[12:26] >> Yeah,
[12:27] >> it's it's a shame. I think a lot of us
[12:28] went into wanting to see this. And I
[12:30] think if you're watching this now, maybe
[12:31] you are one of the people who are like,
[12:32] "What are they talking about?" I I love
[12:34] this movie. And I hope there are a lot
[12:36] of you out there. Um, I hope that like
[12:38] Hollywood doesn't learn the wrong
[12:39] lessons from this, but I do think, uh,
[12:42] just to kind of give you guys a sense of
[12:44] where we're at right now, um, in the
[12:47] opening weekend, uh, or it was like the
[12:49] the release, uh, at the red carpet, um,
[12:52] we had an executive producer on this
[12:54] movie who confirmed that Man of Tomorrow
[12:58] is shooting right now in Atlanta and
[12:59] that Millie Alco will return as
[13:01] Supergirl in Man of Tomorrow. And he
[13:03] also said um uh the way this movie ends,
[13:06] you're going to see where she ends up.
[13:07] If you've seen the movie now, you kind
[13:09] of get a bit of a sense um of like where
[13:12] we'll see her next, but they said that
[13:13] there's going to be another DCU movie
[13:15] after Man of Tomorrow that Supergirl
[13:17] will be a big part of as well. So, Man
[13:19] of Tomorrow, summer 2027. They're saying
[13:21] in summer 2028, there's going to be
[13:23] another DCU Supergirl movie that she's
[13:26] going to be part of it.
[13:27] >> Um and uh they said this is Lars P.
[13:30] Winther. He's an executive producer on
[13:31] this movie at DC Studios. And he said
[13:33] that he and James Gunn and Peter Saffron
[13:35] actually met with David Ellison. He said
[13:37] that David Ellison came to Trill Studios
[13:38] in Atlanta. That's where they shoot all
[13:40] their movies that James directs. Uh and
[13:42] he says David Ellison came to Atlanta.
[13:44] We showed him everything and we're
[13:45] having discussions with him. He said,
[13:46] quote, "He's pretty open to what we're
[13:48] doing. We do have a slate and a lot of
[13:51] it obviously Clayface is already coming
[13:53] out. We already have the Lanterns TV
[13:54] show on those things. The trains left
[13:56] the station so we're good." but he's a
[13:59] big fan and he's been great with us.
[14:01] He's giving us kind of what we want. So
[14:04] far, everything's good. So, despite
[14:06] whatever your takes are on Supergirl,
[14:08] the movies and shows that have already
[14:10] been shot or are in production,
[14:12] >> that includes Lanterns coming out in
[14:14] August, August [clears throat] 16th on
[14:15] HBO, Clayface coming October 26th to
[14:18] theaters, Man of Tomorrow coming July
[14:20] 7th, 2027 next summer. Uh, the Batman
[14:23] coming October 1st, 2027. And then and
[14:27] then that's like everything that's for
[14:29] sure coming out. The question will be
[14:32] this other DCU movie that they want
[14:34] Supergirl to be a part of in 2028
[14:36] >> up in the air and then all the other
[14:38] titles that they've announced before,
[14:39] including the Authority,
[14:41] um, a Wonder Woman movie.
[14:43] >> Oh, well, I think Creature Commando
[14:45] season 2, I think the animated ones are
[14:47] still moving forward. Creature Commandos
[14:48] and Dynamic Duo are still coming. But
[14:50] it's like if this movie really
[14:52] underperforms, you may you're gonna see
[14:54] a lot of discourse that like I know
[14:56] Grace [snorts] Randolph was already said
[14:57] like DC Studios needs to take Wonder
[14:59] Woman away from Anna Aguera. I think
[15:01] that's premature.
[15:02] >> Um I but I can understand there are
[15:04] major script problems in this. I think
[15:06] like this isn't the immediate success
[15:09] that uh the studio and the fans are
[15:11] going to be that excited to see the
[15:12] screenwriter be kind of like James Gun's
[15:14] main go-to screenwriter other than
[15:16] himself. Yeah, it's unfortunate that you
[15:18] like because I don't agree with Grace
[15:21] Randolph, but I also don't disagree in
[15:23] the terms of like Wonder Woman and
[15:25] Supergirl are two top like tiers for
[15:29] what it seems like they were already
[15:30] structuring it around Superman, Batman,
[15:33] Supergirl, and Wonder Woman. So, I'm
[15:35] like, okay, of these four, if the same
[15:37] girl that did Supergirl is going to do
[15:39] Wonder Woman, we need to talk about it.
[15:41] Or at least maybe she learns from the
[15:43] situation. I don't know. It's hard
[15:44] because it's like I haven't seen the
[15:45] movie yet. But I'm also like
[15:48] I feel like being like James Gunn the
[15:52] script sucked and you said you looked at
[15:54] it. I don't think we should be
[15:56] immediately putting James Gun to like
[15:58] the highest standard of screenwriting. I
[16:00] don't think he's like the greatest
[16:01] screenwriter of all time. And so I could
[16:03] see him seeing the script and being like
[16:04] this could be adjusted. This should be
[16:06] adjusted. And it's still being not a
[16:08] great script.
[16:08] >> Yeah, it's his he wears a lot of hats as
[16:11] the head of DC Studios. It's his job to
[16:13] manage the franchise. the creative
[16:15] direction of the franchise and like that
[16:18] includes a lot of things. It includes
[16:20] like managing fan expectation. It
[16:22] includes like in his the way he's carved
[16:24] out his job to direct his own films and
[16:26] write his own films. Sometimes he's even
[16:28] talked a lot. I think that's why Owen
[16:30] Gberman's like uh indictment is kind of
[16:33] valid because James Gunn has put himself
[16:34] out there a lot saying like I give notes
[16:36] on everything. We're doing things
[16:38] different here at DC Studios than the
[16:40] way Marvel did them. You're not going to
[16:41] see the same superhero fatigue in the
[16:43] way we do it. So, like when this script
[16:45] does get a mixed reception from critics,
[16:46] it's like he does have the answer for
[16:48] >> I'm confused because I'm like, did we
[16:50] think that he was the greatest person of
[16:52] all time?
[16:52] >> I guess that's I guess that's what I'm
[16:54] confused with. It's just cuz I'm like
[16:55] James Gunner has great movies 100%. But
[16:57] I also love his movies that are like
[17:00] they're they're great movies, but I
[17:02] would never be like, you know what, this
[17:03] is the greatest script I've ever seen in
[17:05] my entire life. And so that's why I'm
[17:07] like, why are we holding him to the
[17:09] standard that he is the gold standard of
[17:11] screenwriting? And I'm like I think
[17:13] that's the only part where I'm confused.
[17:15] Like I don't think anyone's going to get
[17:16] to uh be best for everybody. Even like
[17:19] Christopher Nolan writes [ __ ] that you
[17:20] guys hate. But it's like
[17:22] >> I I we're all going to have grievances
[17:24] with someone. And I do think that my
[17:26] personality my personally with James
[17:27] Gunn I'm like yeah I love watching your
[17:29] movies. They are so fun. I can rewatch
[17:31] them all the time. But I never looked at
[17:32] it as I look at Logan.
[17:34] >> So I'm like
[17:36] >> referring to the 2017 Logan film.
[17:38] >> What what Logan do you think I'm talking
[17:39] about?
[17:39] >> My son.
[17:40] >> Your son. Well, nothing can nothing can
[17:42] be like Logan Voss. Nothing is going to
[17:44] be like that. That is the best thing in
[17:47] the world. [laughter]
[17:48] >> No one can come up with that.
[17:48] >> But no, no, I hear what you're saying. I
[17:50] think um we we should be very careful
[17:51] holding him to too high of a superlative
[17:53] status. I do think James Gunn is like up
[17:56] there with the best like franchise
[17:58] worldbuilders,
[17:59] >> franchise world building.
[18:00] >> And and I think that is something where
[18:02] the Supergirl movie struggles. I don't
[18:03] think it's outrightly bad. And one big
[18:05] thing I disagree with Owen Gberman on,
[18:06] he's like really critical of like the
[18:08] the puppetry of this movie, the
[18:10] practical puppetry. He was saying like I
[18:12] disagree with the takes that uh cinema
[18:14] changed in a negative way when Star Wars
[18:17] and ET and these other and Jaws came
[18:19] out. Um because he's but he's like I do
[18:21] kind of agree that too many movies are
[18:23] trying to do the mostly Cantina scene
[18:25] and that might have had an adverse
[18:27] impact on the industry. I think really
[18:29] he's throwing shade at the Mandalorian
[18:30] and Grou a little bit when he says that.
[18:32] I think old man Gleberman's like, I
[18:34] hated having to sit through all these
[18:35] puppetry. I love practical puppetry in
[18:37] movies.
[18:37] >> Yeah, same.
[18:38] >> I was born in 1988. It's the only world
[18:40] that I know and I'm I'm grateful for it.
[18:43] And I like that part of Supergirl. I I
[18:45] like that preferred to the CGI [ __ ]
[18:48] that we've seen too much of. But uh but
[18:49] I think what he's saying is that um in
[18:51] terms of franchise world building um
[18:54] like the tone of this movie does not
[18:56] have the same kind of open-ended feel
[18:58] that Guardians of the Galaxy did.
[19:00] instead. Like I think critics are really
[19:02] struggling for an analog and they keep
[19:04] reaching out to Mad Max in terms of like
[19:06] the the dirt and the soot and the um the
[19:10] punk feel of it, the leather of it all.
[19:13] And I don't even think Mad Max is an
[19:14] accurate description for it. Maybe Heavy
[19:16] Metal Heavy Metal might the animated
[19:18] heavy metal uh movie from the 80s might
[19:20] be a good Oh, you should watch it. It's
[19:22] insane. [laughter] It's an insane movie.
[19:24] >> Even that I'm like even if we were like,
[19:26] "Oh, you're used to doing these." I'm
[19:27] like, "Yeah, but then you hired Anna."
[19:28] So, it's like you're going to have Anna
[19:30] write a Guardians movie or you're going
[19:31] to have Anna write this kind of movie.
[19:32] Anna's going to write her own type of
[19:34] movie. We can get mad at how Anna wrote,
[19:36] but it's like you guys put faith in her.
[19:38] So, what the hell's going on here?
[19:39] [laughter]
[19:40] What the hell's going on here?
[19:41] >> I I I think there um like there's going
[19:44] to be forces at Warner Brothers who put
[19:46] pressure on James Gunn and Peter Saffron
[19:47] to be like, get a new writer in here
[19:49] because she's unproven. And this is just
[19:52] something I know from like follow I used
[19:54] to try to be a screenwriter myself. I
[19:55] listened to every episode of Script
[19:57] Notes for a while. I was on an episode
[19:58] of Script Notes and listening to Craig
[20:00] and John talk, they show that like if if
[20:02] you're trying to write this type of
[20:04] franchise
[20:05] >> um franchise film, your movie has to be
[20:08] a hit. Your movie like it doesn't matter
[20:11] if like the director botched it. Like,
[20:13] and this happens all the time. There
[20:14] happens where like the script is subpar,
[20:16] but like the movie made a [ __ ] ton of
[20:19] money. Aquaman 2018 Aquaman, that script
[20:22] isn't that great. But because like James
[20:24] Juan made a billion dollar movie with
[20:26] it, all the screenwriters are gonna get
[20:28] work afterwards.
[20:28] >> That's the shitty thing though is like
[20:29] which I mean I'm sure she already takes
[20:31] this into consideration. She has a lot
[20:33] more hurdles and obstacles than Aquaman
[20:35] does. I will also say Aquaman was a very
[20:38] low bar [laughter] for the for the DC.
[20:40] It was like, okay, I'm I'm hating
[20:42] everything that's coming out. And then
[20:43] Aquaman was just fun. Aquaman was so
[20:45] much fun. It was so much fun. Um and
[20:47] also, oh my god, that merch. That merch
[20:49] immediately. Yes, 100%. But Supergirl
[20:52] already has so many limitations and they
[20:54] already didn't like package a lot of
[20:55] their press stuff that great. So it's
[20:57] like what am I excited for? And I don't
[20:59] know what's happening. So I'm like damn
[21:01] girl. But you are right where it's like
[21:03] unfortunately these movies do have to be
[21:04] a hit. I don't care if it's like bad and
[21:06] like great for families but it has to be
[21:08] a hit. And if it's not I I feel like
[21:11] with Supergirl you weren't going to
[21:12] really appease for a family. Like
[21:14] families aren't going to see Supergirl
[21:16] unfortunately. But like you need to
[21:17] appease to something. you need to you
[21:19] need to have something that's I don't
[21:20] know I don't know again I have not seen
[21:22] this movie um I will also say I think
[21:24] Owen's take is very valid and great
[21:27] >> and I always go back to what Joe says um
[21:29] from the house of our podcast of the
[21:31] ring
[21:31] >> Joanna Robinson
[21:32] >> Joanna Robinson that's like it's up to
[21:34] you to find the critics that really
[21:36] resonate with you and if this person's
[21:38] entire scathing review is like to you
[21:40] the viewer audience person listening
[21:42] right now is like I would never feel
[21:44] this way about like this than this guy
[21:46] that's completely okay that is 100% %
[21:48] okay like that there there's a reason
[21:50] why you probably don't you listen to him
[21:51] but you would listen to Grace Randolph
[21:52] or you would go somewhere else like
[21:54] that's the whole point of being like a
[21:55] very a lot of critics uh Robert I think
[21:59] kind of feeds into like a lot of
[22:00] people's consensus but I think going to
[22:02] find the person that writes reviews for
[22:05] movies like this in ways that you like
[22:06] you can find it um and they probably
[22:08] will be like I don't think it's as bad
[22:10] you know how many reviews I read from
[22:12] other black people that were like
[22:13] sinners is a mockery
[22:14] >> like there was a lot of people that were
[22:16] black that hated sinners and there's a
[22:17] black people that love sinners. It's
[22:18] like it it takes you having to figure
[22:20] out who you're who who you who you ride
[22:22] with.
[22:23] >> Totally. And I I do have to defend Owen
[22:25] Gberman. There were some incorrect quote
[22:27] tweets and takes saying that he was the
[22:28] person at Variety who [ __ ] on sinners
[22:31] and said it was going to underperform.
[22:32] No, Owenberman. Owen Gberman loved
[22:35] Sinners and he was one of the people at
[22:37] Variety who sang its praises and was
[22:38] championing the work that Ryan Cougler
[22:40] did. Um, it was some box office
[22:42] reporting, but it was someone else, but
[22:44] it was a variety.
[22:45] >> It was a variety box office reporter who
[22:48] underpredicted the success of the movie
[22:50] and and she just got it wrong. She
[22:52] clocked it wrong. But I think a lot of
[22:54] people were surprised at how well that
[22:55] movie did and we're all happy that it
[22:57] did well. U but yes, uh Owen was not one
[23:00] of the people and also Owen was one of
[23:01] the people who loved Superman. He he
[23:03] didn't think it was a perfect film, but
[23:04] I think he said James Gun what he
[23:06] cringed at. And I again I disagree with
[23:08] this take as well from Owen's review
[23:09] that um that the whole scene with Clark
[23:13] and Lois the the 11minute argument
[23:16] scene.
[23:16] >> I love that scene is my favorite scene
[23:18] in the in the apartment when they're
[23:19] going back and forth.
[23:20] >> He said that he loved the scene as well,
[23:21] but he cringed when he when they started
[23:22] talking about what punk rock means.
[23:25] >> They're cartoony.
[23:26] >> It's a it's a comic book movie, but it's
[23:27] an actual comic book made into a movie.
[23:29] I I love this.
[23:30] >> I didn't cringe. I I understood what
[23:31] James Gun was trying to do with it. And
[23:33] that's kind of his deeper theme of the
[23:34] movie. And I really love the way that
[23:36] came back in the final scene of the
[23:37] film. But I understand I understood the
[23:39] validity of of what Owen was trying to
[23:41] say and that like
[23:43] >> the he was trying to set up his argument
[23:44] for Supergirl and that Superman
[23:48] >> uh was like this nerdy boy scout trying
[23:50] to say like this is what punk rock means
[23:52] to me. But the moment you call something
[23:54] punk rock, you kind of kill the punk of
[23:56] it.
[23:56] >> Yeah, you kill the punk.
[23:57] >> Um he's not wrong about that either cuz
[23:59] like no way Sid Vicious would ever allow
[24:01] himself to be called punk rock. he's
[24:03] just doing something else with the Sex
[24:04] Pistols. Um, similarly,
[24:07] uh, the Supergirl movie, it kind of
[24:10] wears punk rock on its sleeve too much
[24:12] with all of its needle drops. I I do
[24:14] think, um, the the general strategy is
[24:17] still overall worth continuing at DC
[24:21] Studios. Craig Gillespie has talked
[24:22] about this in interviews, how James Gunn
[24:24] told him that um, every he wants every
[24:27] movie to feel like its own graphic novel
[24:29] as opposed to something that all has to
[24:31] interconnect. And so, like, if Supergirl
[24:33] doesn't work out as well as it did, but
[24:35] if Lantern still is like one of the
[24:37] coolest HBO mystery box series you've
[24:39] ever seen, the the health of the DC
[24:41] Studios slate is still intact. You know,
[24:44] >> I think they can afford to have some
[24:46] drops, especially this early in their
[24:48] career. Uh there's only been two movies,
[24:49] you guys. So, it's like, yeah, one is
[24:51] there's no way they're going to make 12
[24:53] movies and all of them are great.
[24:54] >> Yeah. I and and for anyone saying that
[24:56] it was a miscalculation to have a
[24:58] Supergirl movie second, no, I I I
[25:00] [clears throat] still think it was a
[25:02] smart overall strategic decision to
[25:04] follow up Superman with Supergirl. I
[25:06] mean, the way Millie Alcott comes into
[25:08] that movie at the end of Superman is is
[25:10] still really fun. It's just the and the
[25:12] casting of the character again and the
[25:14] whole idea of Krypto really cool. I I
[25:17] get the idea to follow it up. It's just
[25:19] like this particular story didn't work
[25:21] out. It's great. And uh and we'll we'll
[25:24] hear more about like the problems with
[25:26] the creative direction of this movie in
[25:28] the weeks ahead. But
[25:29] >> I I'd also argue that I don't think
[25:30] you'd forget her scene in Superman for
[25:32] sure. Like it was very great. It's very
[25:34] loud, very boisterous. But I also think
[25:36] like coming right after Superman makes
[25:38] more sense because of that. If it came
[25:40] out 2 years later, you'd be like, "Oh
[25:41] yeah, what was she doing? She was a
[25:43] drunk person that flew into like his his
[25:45] house. Like who was she again?" It it
[25:48] makes sense to come right after the
[25:49] other. That way we don't lose that same
[25:50] like heat that came off of Superman. And
[25:52] and it wasn't even like one year. It was
[25:55] only 11 months, right? Cuz Superman came
[25:58] out in July, like the first week of
[25:59] July.
[25:59] >> Yeah.
[26:00] >> So, yeah, it wasn't it wasn't a full
[26:01] year, but it it's still fresh in your
[26:02] memory where she was in Superman.
[26:04] >> The um the best parts of Supergirl in my
[26:07] opinion are the whole like DC mythology
[26:09] stuff we get into when we go back to
[26:11] Krypton, go back to Argo City, when
[26:13] she's interacting with her cousin Call.
[26:15] I'm like this. I love living in this
[26:17] world right now. this is this is like
[26:19] the exact DC Studios vision that I want.
[26:22] So that's why I'm kind of still
[26:23] optimistic about the state of DC
[26:24] Studios. I'm I'm willing to still um see
[26:28] what like Lanterns has cooking up for
[26:30] us. I think I'm really excited for Man
[26:31] of Tomorrow. I'm really excited for Matt
[26:33] Reeves the Batman. Um, but I do think
[26:36] like if if Clayface underperforms and if
[26:39] like and if James Gunn can't get because
[26:41] I think the the ultimate test for James
[26:43] Gun as a franchise studio head is can a
[26:47] project at DC Studios take off without
[26:49] James Gunn being the writer director of
[26:51] it. And so Clayface I think is is an
[26:53] important test and I think Lanterns is
[26:55] an important test.
[26:56] >> I think Supergirl was important in that
[26:57] regard.
[26:58] >> Yeah.
[26:59] >> Yeah. And so like if you have three
[27:01] strikes, if if if Clayface is like
[27:04] considered a misfire where they're like,
[27:05] "What were they thinking with this?" If
[27:07] Lanterns just feels like a really bad
[27:10] kind of like streaming series where it
[27:13] really just feels like it was re-shot,
[27:16] rewritten on the fly. And if you have
[27:19] like I think we'll know in October,
[27:21] early November, right around the time
[27:23] when the Paramount Warner Brothers deal
[27:24] is going to close. Like if all three of
[27:26] those are
[27:28] >> bad,
[27:28] >> considered bad by the general public.
[27:30] >> No, but he shouldn't be working on them.
[27:31] And not only because of his time,
[27:33] because he literally cannot do
[27:35] everything. Also because I think he
[27:37] benefits in the realm that he did like
[27:39] him doing Superman made sense. He was
[27:41] like, and he even talked about how it
[27:43] came from where he was with his dad. And
[27:45] we see that, we hear that. The the feel
[27:47] of this man was in Superman. But I don't
[27:50] need to see him doing a horror version
[27:53] of Clayface. I don't know if he can. I
[27:54] don't want to see him doing an all women
[27:57] the mascara. Like I don't know if he
[27:59] can. I don't need to see him do
[28:00] lanterns. I want to see two people that
[28:02] work with detective shows do lanterns.
[28:04] It's like I do think he would shoot
[28:05] himself in the foot if he takes on too
[28:06] many genres that he's not used to doing.
[28:08] >> Mhm.
[28:08] >> And that's why I'm like I don't even
[28:10] care if we get four strikes. You don't
[28:12] need to shove yourself into every
[28:13] project.
[28:14] >> Well, what the genre
[28:15] >> because the time
[28:16] >> James Gun has proven he can do comedy.
[28:19] He can do uh just kind of a general
[28:21] crowd-pleasing superhero film. He can do
[28:22] horror. He's done a couple different
[28:24] genres himself really well. But you're
[28:26] right, Paradise Lost L lost is going to
[28:28] be like a Game of Thrones type show or
[28:30] House of the Dragons type show in The
[28:31] Mascira, so that's still in development.
[28:33] >> I also think the horror he does is still
[28:35] different. There's 400 subg genres to
[28:37] horror and it looks like Clayfaces of
[28:38] like a man that can't identify himself.
[28:40] And I'm like, yeah, could you do that?
[28:42] Like he puts himself into everything he
[28:44] writes and I love that. That's what I
[28:45] loved about Superman so much. I don't
[28:47] have a relationship with my father, but
[28:49] I was like this I can see it and I and
[28:51] this is so sad and emotional, but I'm
[28:53] like do you have that same kind of
[28:55] emotion in you for like being invisible
[28:57] or just not being noticed or wanting to
[28:58] be noticed or not being who you are? Do
[29:01] you have imposter syndrome? Whatever. I
[29:03] bet he does. I bet I bet he does and he
[29:05] doesn't. I feel like he's gotten his ego
[29:06] stroked a lot with all of his projects
[29:08] recently, but I'm like
[29:09] >> I think the events of summer 2018
[29:12] they will never come back because he
[29:13] keeps making hits.
[29:14] >> Oh, sure, sure, sure. [laughter] I'm
[29:15] just saying like he's gone through those
[29:17] feelings of like too much celebrity
[29:18] >> attention.
[29:19] >> So he might do that but it's like I
[29:20] don't think he can cut his face off and
[29:22] be like I'm a different man. Um
[29:24] >> he did cut off his hair and say I have a
[29:25] different hair color.
[29:26] >> He's like I got white hair now. Um but
[29:29] with the mascara and like and also not
[29:31] to be this person it's like those
[29:32] projects I do I would want Supergirl
[29:34] written by a woman just so she could do
[29:36] she understands like this approach. But
[29:38] I also do think I don't know or
[29:40] Supergirl. I will say I have not seen
[29:42] Supergirl yet. But from what I heard
[29:43] about it or what I've seen about it, I
[29:45] was like, "Yeah, if this is a sad girl
[29:47] story, I kind of want to see it from a
[29:49] sad like I want a girl to write it. I
[29:50] want to know like cuz she'll be able to
[29:52] empathize in ways that he can't."
[29:54] >> Totally. Totally. And and I think you're
[29:56] you you are seeing some takes out there
[29:58] that like there's going to be some
[29:59] frantic calls to Matt Reeves into Greta
[30:01] Gerwig this weekend. Greta Gerwig is not
[30:04] going to be the person to come save the
[30:05] woman. You think they're going to do?
[30:06] Well, she would [ __ ] That's what
[30:07] they're saying. I think she would tear
[30:09] that [ __ ] up.
[30:10] >> Oh my god, dude. Put her on.
[30:12] >> But she's not the only female writer in
[30:13] Hollywood.
[30:14] >> 100%. But let me see how she does
[30:15] fantasy and the lion the witch in the
[30:17] wardrobe and then we'll talk. Or Narnia
[30:19] and then we'll talk.
[30:20] >> If Narnia is pristine, I would probably
[30:23] have a lot of faith in her doing Wonder
[30:25] Woman. Oh, and the mascara. Sorry. This
[30:28] is just Oh, that [ __ ] would eat it up.
[30:30] [laughter] She isn't the only woman
[30:31] writer though. She That is also true.
[30:33] Um, and hopefully the success of Barbie
[30:35] led will lead Warner Brothers and these
[30:38] other studios to say, "Hey, women can
[30:40] write good successful billion-dollar
[30:43] femaleled stories."
[30:44] >> It does suck that Anna maybe [ __ ] up
[30:46] this project cuz I think that is
[30:47] unfortunately how Hollywood does work a
[30:49] lot. And they don't want to group you
[30:50] all together, but they will be like,
[30:52] "Well, she didn't do a good job on this
[30:54] one. Should we get someone that's more
[30:56] experienced for the next one?" Also, who
[30:58] has experience writing a superhero movie
[31:01] to this caliber? That That's Supergirl.
[31:02] We know who she is. Everybody knows who
[31:04] she is.
[31:04] >> Deborah Snider.
[31:06] >> Oh, I do love Sn Oh my god. I love
[31:07] That's my girl. That's my girl. She
[31:10] caught a villain. I love her. We met
[31:12] her. No, wait. Maybe that was me and
[31:14] Brandon. Me and Brandon met her. She's
[31:15] always walking around Burbank.
[31:16] >> Uh Patty Jenkins.
[31:18] >> Patty. Oh, my girl. I mean, she's Patty
[31:20] Jenkins.
[31:20] >> Wonder Woman 84 is what?
[31:22] >> Okay. No, shut up. That that there was
[31:23] too many hands in the pot for that
[31:24] movie. That movie was horrible. But let
[31:25] me tell you, the first one, I loved it.
[31:28] But I also don't think she had a great
[31:29] time coming back. remember because she
[31:31] came back to James Gunn about something.
[31:33] >> I don't remember.
[31:33] >> Remember remember when she was tweeting
[31:35] about it or something? She was like she
[31:36] came to pitch something and they were
[31:37] like, "Yeah, we just don't really see
[31:38] the vision." And I was like, "Patty,
[31:41] my girl, let's put Shondaanda Rimes in
[31:43] there." [laughter]
[31:44] >> Shondaanda will fix it.
[31:45] >> Shondaa will WRITE THE MOST DRAMATIC
[31:47] [ __ ] PIECE. [laughter] No one will
[31:50] understand it. It will just be a
[31:51] heart-wrenching love tale.
[31:54] >> Yeah.
[31:54] >> Nasa would be great. I want Nicasa to
[31:56] direct something for them. I would love
[31:57] her to do a hot girl.
[31:59] >> Yeah. Um, that would be great. Yeah,
[32:00] there is a lot of there is a lot of
[32:02] women, but I also I I don't know. I I'm
[32:04] maybe I'm just too nice today. I feel
[32:05] bad for Anna.
[32:07] >> I feel really bad. It sucks. It would
[32:09] suck. I would be like, "Don't show me
[32:11] the news."
[32:11] >> I just want to know. I kind of want to
[32:13] know what happened with this script.
[32:14] Like,
[32:15] >> you could probably look it up and find
[32:16] the script somewhere, right? Actually,
[32:17] maybe not.
[32:18] >> I don't know. I don't know. Well, I
[32:20] mean, the story will be told at some
[32:21] point, but it's just like whatever.
[32:24] Again, whatever you feel about Tom King,
[32:26] that woman of tomorrow graphic novel is
[32:28] like a really great blueprint. Like, you
[32:30] don't need to
[32:32] >> change it. I think this keeps happening
[32:34] where they get these screenwriters who
[32:36] don't really have a relationship with
[32:37] the source material, but the studio head
[32:39] has a relationship with the source
[32:40] material. And the writer's like, I just
[32:42] want work. Sure, I'll do whatever you
[32:44] say. And then they don't really give a
[32:45] [ __ ] about this graphic novel. And they
[32:47] just kind of read it and they're like,
[32:49] I'm going to do my own thing. It's like,
[32:50] no, no, no, no, no. your job is to just
[32:52] write a screenplay version of this.
[32:54] >> But there's no way you can make them, I
[32:55] guess, do that, I guess, right? You
[32:58] can't be like, I told you to read that
[33:00] source material and stick to it.
[33:01] >> I mean, there's certain things that Anna
[33:03] does with this script of like shortening
[33:05] the timeline of it. That's fine. Giving
[33:06] the movie a ticking clock of 3 days
[33:08] versus several months, totally fine.
[33:10] Even changing the exact resolution of
[33:12] how they deal with Creme at the end of
[33:14] the story due to, you know, if you're
[33:16] trying to have these characters come
[33:17] back in future titles, you can't really
[33:18] do that. But just the they [ __ ] up the
[33:22] character of Crim in this movie. It is
[33:25] awful. Like like he's unwatchable in the
[33:28] movie and it's it's part of the Matias's
[33:31] performance. The way the character is
[33:33] written is unwatchable. Um I even think
[33:36] like the character of Ruthie Marie Null
[33:39] is like underwritten in this final
[33:42] script and she has such great narration,
[33:45] this true grit narration that they just
[33:47] decided no, we don't need narration.
[33:48] It's like if you want to make this movie
[33:50] different, why not just have a young
[33:51] girl like Scout Finch in Tequila
[33:53] Mockingbird narrate over it? You could
[33:55] do that and it would feel different and
[33:57] it would be so cool and it would be true
[33:58] to the graphic novel
[33:59] >> and true to uh Haley Steinfeld in the
[34:02] True Grit movie. It would be great and
[34:05] they didn't do it and I just don't
[34:06] understand why. I I I don't know if I
[34:09] ever get five minutes with James Gun or
[34:11] Anna Agraa in any junket in the future.
[34:13] I kind of just want to spend the five
[34:14] minutes just be like, can I ask you some
[34:16] hard questions about why you wrote this
[34:18] this way?
[34:19] >> And I'll probably never get that chance,
[34:21] but like someone can one of these
[34:23] influencers or Tik Tockers who does get
[34:25] an interview with them, please, for the
[34:26] love of God, ask them some questions
[34:28] about why some unflattering questions
[34:30] about why they chose to write the
[34:31] script.
[34:32] >> They'll lose the opportunity.
[34:33] >> No, they'll never get a chance. Instead,
[34:34] they're going to be like, "Let's play
[34:36] this game of like
[34:37] >> who would you kiss?" Superman,
[34:38] [clears throat]
[34:39] your cousin. [laughter]
[34:41] >> Um, yeah,
[34:42] >> I'm being kind of hard on it, but it's
[34:43] just like you had a win. You had an easy
[34:46] win, and for whatever reason, they chose
[34:48] to like make it hard for themselves.
[34:50] >> Do you think it felt like one of those
[34:51] scripts that was like, I don't want to
[34:52] take from the source material cuz this
[34:54] is still like my project. I want to
[34:55] write my own kind of
[34:57] >> which is which is ego. If you're a work
[34:58] for hire for a major franchise, just get
[35:01] the project made and make it successful
[35:03] with the nerds who are going to watch
[35:04] it.
[35:04] >> What works what I guess what hits
[35:05] harder, hearing people be like, "This is
[35:07] a horrible script." Or hearing you just
[35:09] copied the comic.
[35:12] >> You just copied the comic has worked for
[35:14] Marvel Studios for 15 years.
[35:15] >> But this is not Marvel Studios. This is
[35:17] Anna. [laughter]
[35:18] >> So I I I guess it's not I know it can
[35:20] still be selfish 100%. I'm not
[35:21] disagreeing with you at all. Uh, it's
[35:23] just I guess going in there as a writer.
[35:25] Do you And this is like this is it's so
[35:28] funny because this is how I feel about
[35:28] Survivor people and people on Rupaul's
[35:30] Drag Race. I'm like you made it on the
[35:32] show. That was half the battle. If you
[35:33] leave first, you did you did it. Why are
[35:35] you crying that you're going home like
[35:37] as number five? And it's LIKE BECAUSE I
[35:39] WORKED HARD TO GET HERE. SO I'M LIKE A
[35:40] writer like her going in there and then
[35:43] being like I'm not going to take
[35:45] everything from that source. I want this
[35:46] movie to be my Supergirl movie. And I I
[35:49] am like yeah that is kind of selfish.
[35:50] I'm like I get I guess what I'm saying
[35:52] is I understand where she would be
[35:54] coming from in that regard, but this is
[35:55] also a movie that has to be a hit. Yeah.
[35:57] >> And you have to take those L's for those
[35:58] hits. And I don't think you would lose
[36:00] work making a hit that is just copying a
[36:02] comic. You can go back to doing whatever
[36:04] you want to do on the side that is just
[36:06] you. You could write your own piece and
[36:07] then fund it or do whatever the hell you
[36:09] want. But I do think for like something
[36:10] this big, maybe we just need that
[36:12] consensus that like when it's this big,
[36:14] you have to go from the comics. I don't
[36:15] give a [ __ ] Like you have to go back to
[36:17] what was good. You have to identify what
[36:19] the fans really really care about from
[36:21] the source material in this take on the
[36:22] character. And we're not just saying
[36:24] copy the comic. We're talking about
[36:25] adaptation. And you know, I should
[36:26] clarify what I just said. Marvel Studios
[36:28] actually has rarely copied a to a
[36:31] comics. They often make their the Russo
[36:33] brothers love making their own kind of
[36:34] story. But this is like the challenge
[36:36] with this is why they give Oscars for
[36:38] adapting a source material into a
[36:39] screenplay. The best I think the best
[36:42] example of this was uh Fran and Philippo
[36:44] scripts for the Lord of the Rings
[36:46] trilogy. um Peter Jackson with those two
[36:49] women are really true Tolken scholars
[36:51] who have read all the appendices.
[36:52] They've read the smearillion. So when
[36:54] they're making choices to adapt the
[36:57] volumes of Fellowship, Two Towers, and
[37:00] King into those three movies, they are
[37:03] when they're filling in gaps, they're
[37:04] filling in gaps from other things Tolken
[37:06] wrote over here or other themes that
[37:08] Tolken was developing in other places
[37:10] that Christopher Tolken was developing.
[37:12] So, like they clearly have a lifelong
[37:14] passion for the source material and
[37:16] that's what makes a really well- adapted
[37:18] screenplays win their Oscars. Yeah. And
[37:20] and I think you can't just have like
[37:22] it'd be one thing if an Aguero was like,
[37:23] you know, I didn't have an attachment to
[37:25] um
[37:26] >> to the Tom King script, but I did have
[37:28] the attachment to these other eras of
[37:30] Supergirl or what Helen Slater did or
[37:32] the CW.
[37:33] >> But I think it was like already too
[37:34] late, right? Cuz James and them were
[37:35] like we're taking from this.
[37:37] >> They I don't know what I don't I really
[37:39] don't know what her initial pitch was.
[37:41] Um, but like you even see that with
[37:43] James Gun. Like James Gun has been very
[37:45] clear with Superman. He's like, I I like
[37:47] Smallville. You're going to see
[37:49] Smallville DNA in my DCU. We have no
[37:51] problem with that because it's like,
[37:52] okay, well, you did have your gateway
[37:54] into Superman either through the Silver
[37:56] Age comics, either through Grant
[37:58] Morrison runs or whoever's runs, the
[38:01] All-Star Superman run obviously was big
[38:03] for him. Uh, even if it was Superman
[38:05] animated series, like I loved how uh
[38:07] Matt Reeves had said with the Batman,
[38:09] he's like, "I liked Batman the animated
[38:11] series in the '90s." It's like, "Fuck
[38:12] yeah, dude. I want to see your vision
[38:14] for this." You know?
[38:15] >> So, you're saying like it's maybe a part
[38:16] of Anna being like, "I don't actually
[38:18] like this Tom King run."
[38:20] >> You can't just have a good pitch is what
[38:21] I'm saying. You you have to have you you
[38:24] if you're going to be adapting this
[38:26] source material in which there are going
[38:28] to be scholars of it watching these
[38:30] films, judging it, you yourself have to
[38:32] be a scholar. And the reason I say that
[38:33] is we know of plenty of screenwriters,
[38:35] working screenwriters, who are scholars
[38:37] of this source material and are not
[38:39] getting this work. And I don't know why
[38:40] they're getting passed on for just some
[38:43] person who was in the original cast of
[38:45] Hamilton.
[38:46] >> I was about to be meaner for a second
[38:48] there, [laughter] but like
[38:49] >> I think that's a very
[38:50] >> I think James Gun I think James Gun just
[38:52] gets wooed by people who are actors
[38:53] turned screenwriters because that's who
[38:55] what he was.
[38:57] >> I see it. I see it. Yeah. I also feel
[39:00] like I don't know. It might be hard. It
[39:02] might be hard getting those writers. You
[39:04] get like, "Okay, here's a bucket of a
[39:06] bunch of people we can hire from." And
[39:07] then you're like, "Oh, I like this a
[39:09] lot. Let's give it to her." Like, I feel
[39:11] like that's just usually how it goes.
[39:12] There's a bunch of great screenwriters
[39:14] 100%. But it's also like who you know,
[39:17] >> right? It is completely like whoever's
[39:20] agents got to send the like here's my
[39:22] person. Like I'm sure watch it have been
[39:24] like any there's probably someone that
[39:26] was like James Gun's longtime friend
[39:28] that's now working at CIA that's like
[39:30] hey actually I represent this person
[39:31] that's really good. You should have a
[39:32] meeting with them and then that person
[39:33] gets to write the next movie.
[39:34] >> And and I'm being really really critical
[39:37] and what I just said was probably the
[39:39] harshest thing I've ever said about
[39:40] James Gunn. Um but what we should
[39:43] acknowledge is that every movie when it
[39:45] does to come together and open is
[39:46] miraculous in a way. It it's it's
[39:48] miraculous that the right kind of team
[39:50] can come together to even make any
[39:52] adaptation. And the fact that we have a
[39:53] Supergirl movie coming out that like
[39:55] it's a well-cast Supergirl who's part of
[39:56] a cinematic universe that we're still
[39:58] excited about, that's miraculous in a
[40:00] way. And we should be we should be
[40:01] grateful that we can even have a movie
[40:03] like this where we can talk about and be
[40:04] this critical of. Um but what going
[40:07] forward I think what what's required for
[40:10] these movies to work is like adaptation
[40:13] is not a simple thing. And I'm begging
[40:15] Marvel Studios, DC Studios, anybody
[40:18] who's going to be adapting IP, like
[40:22] you,
[40:23] >> it's hard.
[40:23] >> You can find people out there who are
[40:25] working already on projects who have
[40:29] like a a bone deep affection for the IP,
[40:33] for the lore. Uh, and those people are
[40:37] chomping at the bit to get an
[40:39] opportunity to write a screenplay. And I
[40:42] think that's very very important for all
[40:44] future adaptations.
[40:45] >> Yeah. I just think it's hard.
[40:48] >> I'm not even playing devil's advocate.
[40:49] It's just I don't I would not under like
[40:51] there could be the greatest screenplay
[40:53] right now from someone at UCLA and I do
[40:55] not know how they would get that to
[40:56] Kevin Figy's door.
[40:56] >> Yeah.
[40:57] >> And I don't even know how Kevin Feige
[40:58] would trust to read this kid's
[40:59] screenplay. Like that's the hard part
[41:01] and this is what I hate about the
[41:03] mechanics of Hollywood in general and
[41:04] this is why who you know is really
[41:06] important. It's just like that's what
[41:08] gets you through the door. Like that's
[41:10] what gets people to read your script is
[41:11] if you have a good team of people that
[41:12] can promote you. Uh even getting back in
[41:15] the day it was like, "Oh, you won this
[41:17] weird writing competition. You can do
[41:19] this thing." They don't do that [ __ ]
[41:20] anymore. So it's just like who is your
[41:23] manager? Who represents you. Can they
[41:25] like rep you really well? And then on
[41:26] top of that, like show me, prove to me
[41:29] that you actually are good at this. And
[41:30] then after you pass all those tests, let
[41:32] me look into your background. If you
[41:33] have some weird racist tweet, I'm not
[41:35] hiring you. [laughter] If you have some
[41:37] weird [ __ ] like I can't hire you. if
[41:38] you have a problem with something or you
[41:40] said something or you did something, I
[41:41] also cannot hire you. Um, it's it's it's
[41:44] so I'm like I'm not playing I'm not
[41:46] playing devil's advocate because they
[41:47] should they should that I want them to
[41:48] bring new people in. That's how you get
[41:50] better ideas. That's how we got back
[41:51] rooms. But I'm just like I don't even
[41:54] know where to start. I wouldn't even
[41:55] know where to start. And if and I've
[41:56] been an assistant a million times. I'm
[41:58] like, [ __ ] I'm not reading all 500,
[41:59] >> right?
[42:00] >> 500 screenplays. I'm like, what? And
[42:01] then also after the fifth hundred, I'd
[42:03] be like, I don't know what's good
[42:04] anymore. [laughter]
[42:05] >> And we're commenting on the outside, you
[42:07] know? we have like a a position of
[42:09] privilege here where we can just like
[42:11] assume it's way easier than it is. And I
[42:13] I do think like Supergirl is not
[42:15] necessarily like the movie for which we
[42:18] should be being this critical of these
[42:20] franchises. The Mandalorian and Grou
[42:22] deserved this.
[42:22] >> People still like The Mandalorian Grou
[42:24] though. That's the problem is like and
[42:26] also as it's Mandalorian Grou is a
[42:28] [ __ ] spin-off to me. I'm like
[42:30] Supergirl is supposed to be one of the
[42:32] core for me. So, I'm like I'm not trying
[42:34] to put it on a bigger pedestal, but I'm
[42:35] like I expected more from Supergirl than
[42:37] I ever would from Mandalorian Grou, but
[42:39] I would expect more from a Star Wars
[42:40] Star Wars movie like the Rise of the
[42:43] Skywalker before I expect it from
[42:45] Supergirl. Yeah, if that makes sense.
[42:46] >> I I I'll say that I'm far more concerned
[42:48] about the the health and the future of
[42:50] the state of Star Wars after the
[42:52] Mandalorian and Grou than I am about the
[42:54] state of DC after Supergirl.
[42:56] >> They're still going. They don't care.
[42:57] Star Wars don't care. They they got all
[42:59] the money.
[42:59] >> Well, sure. They're always going to be
[43:00] commercially successful, but I think
[43:02] there is far more writing on Stariller
[43:04] in 2027 than there is on like Clayface
[43:07] Mana tomorrow.
[43:09] >> I think so. I think Well, yeah. Yes.
[43:10] Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
[43:11] >> I think if uh compared to the the DC
[43:13] ones, 100%. But I don't think it's like
[43:16] a lot is weighing on that movie.
[43:19] >> You think for theatrical Star Wars, it's
[43:20] all weighing on. Wouldn't they get rid
[43:21] of the TV before they get rid of the
[43:23] movies?
[43:23] >> No. If Stariller fails, you're going to
[43:26] see heads roll at Lucas. Really? Yeah.
[43:28] Yeah. Yeah. They need that movie to be
[43:30] super successful. Or we're going to face
[43:32] a future where like we might not have we
[43:35] might be like Star Trek where we don't
[43:36] have Star Wars for the next like few
[43:38] decades.
[43:39] >> I mean that's true. They already did
[43:40] that kind of or well it hasn't been that
[43:42] long since the last one but it's been
[43:44] long enough. It's been too long.
[43:46] >> It's just there or there will be very
[43:47] very small Star Wars movies that come
[43:49] out every now and then that are very
[43:51] lowbudget and then maybe but it's not
[43:52] going to be the big budget franchise
[43:54] ones that it's been for like the past
[43:56] like 20 years. They'll literally keep
[43:57] doing the series.
[43:58] >> Uh maybe, maybe. Yeah, they'll still do
[44:01] animated series
[44:02] >> because the animated ones are still
[44:03] going.
[44:04] >> Yeah. And they have like a welloiled
[44:05] machine. They can keep pumping those
[44:06] out. But live action series, I mean,
[44:08] they cost a lot of money to make those
[44:10] Ahsokas. And
[44:10] >> I just thought that was like where they
[44:12] wanted their money to go more than I
[44:13] guess the TV series still help the
[44:15] parks.
[44:15] >> There's not going to be any money coming
[44:16] in. I think the all that all that like
[44:19] they'll still pump money into parks.
[44:21] Like I think Star Wars will always be a
[44:22] forever brand that will do well in the
[44:24] parks, experiences, merchandise. Yeah.
[44:26] And they'll have animated shows that
[44:28] come out that keep that alive, but it's
[44:30] going to be it's going to take a while.
[44:32] You're going to have to take another
[44:33] generational talent the way J.J. Abrams
[44:35] pitched himself to be in 2014. Oh, yeah.
[44:38] >> Um, so, but yeah. So, but DC Studios, as
[44:41] Peter Saffron and James Gunn have said,
[44:42] they have a couple more movies and shows
[44:44] that are coming out that I think all of
[44:46] them would have to fail and lose a [ __ ]
[44:48] ton of money for them to go back to the
[44:50] wall. Because the thing is, no matter
[44:52] what, Matt Reeves the Batman is going to
[44:54] cook.
[44:54] >> It's going to cook. And Batman will
[44:56] always be a [sighs] hot hot brand more
[44:58] than Star Wars is currently. So I think
[45:00] no matter what, even if you consider the
[45:02] DC brand to still be fledgling and shaky
[45:06] after Supergirl, like damn, this is
[45:08] still the universe that has Batman in
[45:10] it.
[45:10] >> Yeah.
[45:11] >> And uh and I and I'm not too worried
[45:13] about e anyone's jobs right now. I I
[45:16] think, you know, yes, you can be
[45:18] concerned about Paramount's acquisition
[45:19] of Warner Brothers and what the
[45:20] Ellison's want to do with it, but the
[45:21] reason why they were most excited to
[45:23] acquire Warner Brothers is they're like,
[45:24] we want to have our names on a Batman
[45:26] movie,
[45:26] >> I think. And that's the that's your
[45:28] that's your gold ticket. I don't think
[45:29] Marvel technically has that anymore
[45:30] since Iron Man is gone. So, it's like,
[45:32] oh, our money maker isn't Batman. He is
[45:34] making money in the games. He's making
[45:36] money in the other things that have
[45:38] nothing to do with James Gun's DCU. And
[45:40] then they they're making their own DC's.
[45:41] Oh my god.
[45:42] >> And Marvel does have Spider-Man. They
[45:44] share They're sharing it with Sony.
[45:46] >> But but yeah. Yes, you're right. You're
[45:47] right. Um
[45:48] >> core core money is going straight to DC
[45:50] for B right. All of Matt Reeves' money
[45:52] goes straight to DC or War Brothers.
[45:54] >> Yeah.
[45:54] >> And then so what? We don't know.
[45:56] >> Not all of his money, but the money he
[45:57] makes on this movie. And then even if
[46:00] the money for Lego Batman goes somewhere
[46:02] else, a little bit still goes to like,
[46:04] oh yeah, we're adapting.
[46:05] >> Yeah. That that was full Warner Brothers
[46:07] profit there.
[46:07] >> They're getting And then same with the
[46:09] Penguin.
[46:10] >> They still spin spin-off, but like
[46:11] >> HBO series. Yeah. But they still the
[46:14] Batman universe makes money is what I'm
[46:16] saying. Ah damn.
[46:17] >> And so that's why I think you're you
[46:18] might see greater calls for uh James
[46:21] Gunn to just make the Matt Reeves half
[46:23] of the universe. The Matt Reeves Patson
[46:25] Gotham the Gotham of the DCU. But we
[46:28] should be clear that there is still a
[46:29] plan for a Brave and the Bold movie to
[46:31] come out. They want to have their own
[46:32] Gotham. That's going to be the Gotham
[46:34] that we see in in uh Clayface. Now
[46:37] Clayface might be set a few years
[46:39] earlier than everything else. So,
[46:41] there's a world where it just is a
[46:43] separate Gotham, but I don't know. We've
[46:45] only seen a teaser for Clayface. That
[46:47] could be the Gotham of the Matt Reeves
[46:48] universe. But, I feel like that might be
[46:50] pressure that Ellison puts on him by
[46:52] just saying like
[46:53] >> because of more money.
[46:54] >> Either make all of these movies graphic
[46:56] novels and there's no connected
[46:57] cinematic universe or make it the same
[46:59] cinematic universe cuz we're just going
[47:01] to fund more of these patents in
[47:02] Batman's.
[47:03] >> I don't mind you splitting the universe,
[47:04] but I will say if they're both dark and
[47:06] dirty, it's going to be hard to
[47:07] differentiate. Like especially if uh
[47:10] Clayface is going to be bloody and gory,
[47:12] I'm going to be like, "Oh, so Penguin is
[47:14] the same place." Right. Right. These are
[47:16] the same worlds, both dirty and gritty.
[47:18] >> It it I think it's going to be a while
[47:20] before we hear any update about like a
[47:22] separate Batman movie that exists in the
[47:26] continuity of Superman. I think what you
[47:28] might see is if like Clayface [snorts]
[47:30] does okay, like if Clayface is just like
[47:32] kind of a mid-level performer. Um, and
[47:35] if Man of Tomorrow does well, and then
[47:37] if Matt Reeves the Batman is like the
[47:40] highest grossing of all of these movies,
[47:42] what you're going to see is pressure
[47:43] from the Ellison's to just say like, we
[47:46] we'll we'll give you money for a
[47:48] follow-up to that that Matt Reeves
[47:50] directs if we can get Patson back. We're
[47:52] not going to give you we're not going to
[47:53] give you $200 million for another Batman
[47:56] movie. [snorts] That's not that.
[47:57] >> That's not that. Well, yeah, the Batman
[48:00] will make more money than our new Batman
[48:02] would. Also again, but also I'm it's it
[48:05] cost them a pretty penny to make The
[48:07] Batman and Robert Patterson only is
[48:09] gonna ask for more and more money. And
[48:10] then when you put in Scarlett Johansson
[48:12] and a bunch of other people in it,
[48:13] Scarlett Johansson's rate is I want to
[48:15] know what she's making for that movie.
[48:17] >> Uh probably 15
[48:18] >> cuz she makes she made a [ __ ] ton for
[48:20] Jurassic World, but she could have asked
[48:21] for that for Jurassic World. But this
[48:22] one, I could see Matt Reeves being like,
[48:24] "Come on, it's still a good movie. It's
[48:26] out there what these A-listers rates are
[48:28] for like Leo DiCaprio will only do a
[48:30] movie for 20 million.
[48:32] >> Minimum 20 million.
[48:33] >> I just need a
[48:34] >> Tom Cruz is around that too. Um Downey
[48:36] is around that as well. But
[48:38] >> Tom Cruz could ask for more.
[48:39] >> Oh, he does. [laughter] He genuinely
[48:40] gets
[48:40] >> hired for all of it because he's acting
[48:42] as the stunt too.
[48:43] >> I'm saying they're minimums.
[48:44] >> Oh, they're minimums.
[48:45] >> And they get points on the back end
[48:46] generally as well. U Scarlett Johansson
[48:49] I think is the highest paid actress. Um
[48:52] she's higher than Charlies Theron. Um,
[48:54] Zenaia's up there, but I think I think
[48:56] ScarJo gets more than Zinda does.
[48:57] >> I agree.
[48:58] >> Um, so it's probably around 15 million,
[49:00] maybe 20 million for her, but I don't
[49:02] think it's probably not a guaranteed
[49:04] minimum. I bet there's some negotiation
[49:05] because
[49:05] >> there has to be.
[49:06] >> She's she's like hustling. She's not
[49:08] like where it's DiCaprio where he'll
[49:10] only do a movie when he really believes
[49:12] in it. Scarlett Johansson did Jurassic
[49:14] World Rebirth. She's doing this Batman
[49:16] movie and she's doing The Exorcist.
[49:18] >> Oh yeah, she's doing The Exorcist. So,
[49:19] like I think she's probably getting like
[49:21] a minimum of like 12 or 15 would be my
[49:24] guess for all of her movies.
[49:25] >> Okay.
[49:25] >> And it's she's worth it. She brings that
[49:27] much and more for like uh just her being
[49:30] on the
[49:30] >> Also, she's good at doing stunts, too.
[49:32] So, it's like you get the best of both
[49:33] worlds. Everyone recognized her. She's a
[49:34] good face. She's a good person. Not
[49:38] >> I almost said that and then I was like,
[49:39] wait, no, she's not.
[49:40] >> We don't know her. She's married to
[49:43] Colin.
[49:43] >> I know enough of her. I know she just
[49:46] took up for Woody Allen again. Oh,
[49:48] [laughter]
[49:48] well,
[49:50] >> she she she her her priorities are in a
[49:53] different baskets. And this is she would
[49:55] love that we go back to a time where we
[49:57] didn't care about what celebrities
[49:58] [laughter] said, unless they were on
[50:00] camera. She would be like, "Can you guys
[50:02] please just go back to the time where
[50:03] you didn't know [laughter] me?"
[50:05] >> All right. So, that's kind of the
[50:06] general state of the DC Studios universe
[50:09] right now. I think like it's the
[50:11] underperformance of Supergirl is not
[50:14] enough of an indication of the future
[50:16] for James Gunn and Peter Saffron's jobs.
[50:18] Uh but we'll look at Lanterns, we'll
[50:20] look at Clayface, and we'll look at
[50:22] tracking for Man of Tomorrow, and those
[50:24] will be more of an indicator. Uh but I
[50:27] honestly think like James Gunn is still
[50:28] like a valuable asset to the Ellison.
[50:31] >> Um and Craig Gillespie is still a you
[50:34] know, a good director who also made it
[50:36] and Carella and these other movies. It's
[50:38] just he also made this one. He also made
[50:40] Hey, not everyone's gonna win every
[50:41] movie. You know what I'm saying? Those
[50:42] movies might be winners. This one's
[50:44] gonna be bad. [laughter]
[50:46] >> Um, coming up this week on the New
[50:47] Rockstars channel, you will see our
[50:49] breakdown of episode two of season 3 of
[50:52] House of the Dragons coming to the
[50:53] channel tomorrow. Um, X-Men 97 premieres
[50:57] Wednesday, uh, July 1st. First three
[51:01] episodes of X-Men 97, you'll be able to
[51:03] see the new Rockstars Easter egg
[51:04] breakdown hosted and written by Gina
[51:06] Epilo. She is our resident X-Men
[51:09] animated series expert. So, you're
[51:10] really going to love her breakdown when
[51:12] that comes out to the New Rockstars
[51:13] channel. Um, and then we have our next
[51:16] episode of The Road to Doomsday where
[51:18] Jessica and I talk about Logan, the 2017
[51:20] Logan film. Uh, that's coming this
[51:23] Saturday, July 4th, on the 4th of July.
[51:26] All right, so let's end this episode
[51:28] with what we're watching. What else have
[51:30] you been consuming and watching this
[51:31] week?
[51:32] >> Um, I'm watching, which is actually
[51:34] really funny. I'm watching the Batman's
[51:35] all the way through again. not not
[51:37] watching what's his names Adam West. Um
[51:40] I have watched those. I don't need to
[51:41] watch them again, but I'm starting from
[51:44] the or uh like the 89 Michael Kitten.
[51:48] Yeah.
[51:48] >> Yeah. And we're going up.
[51:50] >> And I hate to say it.
[51:53] >> I still love the Val Kilmer one. That
[51:54] one is still my It's still my number one
[51:56] unfortunately. It is still
[51:57] >> That's your number one.
[51:58] >> It's my number one cuz it's so funny. I
[51:59] think it's Jim Carrey as the Riddler is
[52:01] so much fun for me that I really I
[52:04] really like Arnold Sorenhager is also
[52:06] very funny.
[52:07] >> That's in the fourth one.
[52:08] >> Yeah. Yeah. Well, no. I Well, I've
[52:10] watched them all, but I'm just watching
[52:11] from the beginning. I'm just naming like
[52:13] the villains are so much fun in that
[52:15] movie. Tommy Lee Jones. [laughter]
[52:17] >> He's like uh Sam
[52:19] >> and you can tell he's kind of really
[52:20] irritated with Jim Car.
[52:21] >> Oh, he [laughter] hates working with
[52:22] him.
[52:23] >> He He just He's so annoyed. The only
[52:25] part I don't like is just like why even
[52:27] put like Drew Barrymore and what's her
[52:29] name as Uma Thurman's Po Ivy in it for
[52:31] like a split second. But otherwise it is
[52:33] very fun.
[52:34] >> Drew Barrymore being in the third one is
[52:36] such an odd
[52:37] >> weird I don't understand. But I I really
[52:39] like I love Val Kilmer a lot. I love Val
[52:42] Kilmer a lot. Oh
[52:43] >> yeah. Miss him.
[52:44] >> I miss I do miss him. I loved Val Kilmer
[52:46] a lot. He was like the hottest man to be
[52:48] when Batman came out. I was like oo now
[52:51] that is a plastic man.
[52:52] >> Um what are you watching? Uh, last
[52:54] Sunday was Father's Day.
[52:57] >> Oh my god. Oh, so sorry. Added part that
[53:00] I'm watching Love Island.
[53:02] >> Oh, I hear it's just straight up porn
[53:04] now.
[53:05] >> Yeah, it is. And it makes me very
[53:06] uncomfortable. And I don't understand
[53:08] why we're okay with it. Maybe I'm
[53:09] getting really old. Is that me being I
[53:11] don't know. I Why are you
[53:12] >> I think we're all sex positive here, but
[53:14] like the show had a different mission.
[53:16] I'll tell you right now, I would like if
[53:18] I was on that show, which I would never
[53:19] be, but if I was, I'm not trying to open
[53:21] tongue every single person within 30
[53:23] seconds. And also, there's like
[53:25] challenges are like
[53:27] >> strip for this person, all five of these
[53:29] men. And I'm like, I don't want to do
[53:31] that. I don't want to do that. I don't
[53:33] mind doing this. Is the first season or
[53:34] not the first season, there's been a lot
[53:35] of season, but this is a season where
[53:37] there's a girl on there that's like very
[53:38] like, oh, um, I'm taking things slow.
[53:41] And she's actually being like
[53:43] villainized for it. Like some of the men
[53:45] are like, "This is crazy. Why is she
[53:47] waiting?" And I'm like, "Probably cuz
[53:48] there's cameras on you guys 24 [ __ ]
[53:49] seven." That same episode, there's a
[53:51] girl going down on a man in their room.
[53:53] And I'm like, "Why are we watching this?
[53:55] This is crazy." Do also, first off, do
[53:56] you guys not know that you're being
[53:57] recorded? Secondly, why am I watching
[53:59] this? Cuz now I'm just watching like a
[54:01] 24year-old giving head and I don't want
[54:04] to watch that. I don't want to watch
[54:06] that. I don't want to watch that. That's
[54:07] all it is. It is porn. It is 100% porn
[54:09] and I have my grievances with it because
[54:11] I don't I feel so uncomfortable. I'm
[54:13] like, I don't think I got consent to
[54:15] watch this.
[54:15] >> Yeah, they didn't warn me that
[54:17] >> they didn't they didn't tell Did they
[54:18] tell them? But I also I'm like I guess
[54:19] it's on it like ninth season. You know
[54:21] what the show's about?
[54:23] >> But I'm also but it's but it's so heavy
[54:25] to me that I'm like
[54:27] >> can I go to Fiji and tell the girl that
[54:28] I just saw her give this guy a head.
[54:29] Yeah. And also their parents are also
[54:31] watching the show. Everyone's families
[54:33] are back home being like, "I hope Carla
[54:34] finds love." And then Carla goes down on
[54:36] Gabriel and you're like,
[54:38] >> "That's not what I meant."
[54:39] >> YEAH, THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT. It's so
[54:41] funny because parents will be in like
[54:42] comments on Facebook being like, "I hope
[54:43] my son chooses a naya. What are you
[54:46] talking about? Get out of here. This is
[54:47] so weird of you, dude. Weird. Weird."
[54:51] And they also don't know how to find out
[54:52] that another girl got caught saying the
[54:54] n word and got kicked off the show in
[54:55] the middle of the night.
[54:56] >> Well,
[54:57] >> girls, why is it so fun to say the n
[54:59] word? I know why it's fun. I can say it,
[55:01] but [laughter]
[55:02] I'm allowed to say it because it's for
[55:04] me. It's my word. But why the [ __ ] are
[55:06] y'all saying it? This girl got caught
[55:08] literally being like, "Oh, this n-word
[55:10] keeps trying to talk to me." In 2022,
[55:13] 2022. And then crazy in the episode
[55:16] she's in,
[55:17] >> she doesn't she conveniently doesn't
[55:19] kiss any of the brown people.
[55:20] >> That's
[55:20] >> She doesn't kiss any of the brown
[55:22] people. She goes, "There's a pattern." I
[55:24] said, and I'm reading it and I'm reading
[55:26] it. [ __ ] you thought you were the
[55:27] Riddler, but I got it. [laughter] I got
[55:29] like walks like a duck, quacks like a
[55:31] duck. She got kicked off the show. I'm
[55:32] like, there's too many times people are
[55:33] getting kicked off THE SHOW. HOW THE
[55:34] [ __ ] is I'm not even trying to compare
[55:36] it to Survivor, but if they can find
[55:38] people on Survivor that aren't [ __ ]
[55:39] horrible people like that, what the [ __ ]
[55:42] are we doing? Like, what you guys have?
[55:43] It's Peacock. You have all the money in
[55:45] the world to be actually vetting a lot
[55:47] of these people and then somehow these
[55:49] people get on the show and then all of a
[55:50] sudden we find their Snapchats of them
[55:52] saying the n-word to every rap music
[55:53] video all of a sudden.
[55:55] >> Well, I think it's a show like Love
[55:56] Island. You really do have to It's
[55:59] harder to find people who are going to
[56:01] kind of put themselves on display like
[56:03] that. Whereas Survivor, you have a lot
[56:04] of people like, I want to make a million
[56:05] dollars. I'm just someone who grew up
[56:06] watching Survivor. And I True, you have
[56:08] a lot more wholesome game bots that come
[56:10] through, especially in the new era of
[56:11] Survivor, but Survivor went through
[56:13] this. There's quite a few people
[56:14] histories.
[56:15] >> Oh, there's problematic people that
[56:16] reveal themselves when they're on
[56:18] Survivor, and I go, "Oops."
[56:19] >> I go, "That's gross." I love My favorite
[56:21] part of Survivor is when Jeff's like,
[56:23] "You make me sick." [laughter]
[56:24] >> Yeah. When Jeff has to be Uncle Jeff and
[56:27] kind of sit everyone down and be like,
[56:28] "Let's talk about how to be people in
[56:30] civiliz."
[56:32] Okay. Sorry. That's Love Island. Insane.
[56:34] I'm not okay with what's happening.
[56:36] Yeah. Now you go. Sorry.
[56:37] >> Um it was Father's Day last Sunday.
[56:40] [laughter]
[56:40] So I was like trying to My wife was
[56:43] like, "You can watch any kind of dad
[56:45] coded thing you want." And I was like,
[56:47] "But what's something that would be
[56:48] really hard to get you to watch on any
[56:50] other Sunday?"
[56:50] >> So we're making a brisket.
[56:51] >> No. Well, that No, I I was thinking
[56:53] movies. So I was like, I put on Master
[56:55] and Command. Mastering Commander Far
[56:56] Side of the World. Um it's a Russell
[56:59] Crowe, Peter Weir movie from the early
[57:01] 2000. It was like the re team up of
[57:03] Russell Crowe and uh Paul Bettany in
[57:07] 2003.
[57:07] >> I didn't watch a lot of I didn't watch
[57:09] any Paul B.
[57:10] >> It's a good Patrick O'Brien ship movie.
[57:12] It's like it's a Napoleonic or
[57:14] >> No, you just said a dad movie. Why would
[57:15] I watch it?
[57:16] >> You don't need to watch it. Well, you do
[57:17] need to watch it. It's [laughter]
[57:18] excellent. It's same director of the
[57:19] Truman show.
[57:20] >> Okay. I like it.
[57:21] >> It's very very good. Uh it was like
[57:23] nominated for a whole bunch of awards
[57:24] and I was like, you know what? How have
[57:25] I avoided seeing this all this time? And
[57:27] it's always been on my list. I was like
[57:29] now this sun Sunday. Father's Day 2026.
[57:32] We're watching it and Kelly's like, "I
[57:34] love that." And I was like, "No." I kind
[57:36] of was like, "Oh man, I was hoping that
[57:37] you wouldn't like it." But
[57:38] >> did you like it?
[57:39] >> Oh, I loved it. I loved it. What I'm
[57:41] saying is like
[57:43] >> I I wanted this Father's Day to be
[57:45] something like cuz this is the only day
[57:47] and Get Away with it. But it just shows
[57:48] me how much I love my wife and how great
[57:50] of taste of movies she has. We have
[57:52] similar taste and she [laughter] if it's
[57:54] a good movie, she's going to like it.
[57:56] Um, but we had a wonderful Father's Day.
[57:58] I like that you chose a movie that you
[58:00] never saw and you like kind of put it in
[58:02] the dad category.
[58:03] >> That is like what if you research like
[58:04] the rewatchables, Jason Conpion was
[58:07] like, "This is definitely a dad movie."
[58:08] And I'm like, "Okay, noted." I was like,
[58:10] "Between that and uh oh, re-watching the
[58:13] pilot of Band of Brothers," cuz Kelly
[58:14] and I are going to rewatch Band of
[58:15] Brothers.
[58:16] >> We've already watched it again.
[58:17] >> I've never watched Band of Brothers, but
[58:19] I also don't know if I should
[58:20] >> this Fourth of July.
[58:21] >> I don't know if I should.
[58:22] >> You should watch Band of Brothers. I
[58:24] don't know. Maybe.
[58:24] >> It's very good.
[58:25] >> It's very, very [laughter] good.
[58:26] >> Maybe I will. Well, is it really sad at
[58:28] parts?
[58:29] >> It is, but
[58:29] >> cuz I started rewatching Sons of Anarchy
[58:31] and then I was like, "Oh, I don't think
[58:32] I can watch this now.
[58:34] >> It's too deep for me. It's too sad." Um,
[58:36] lots of people die in horrible ways.
[58:38] >> Jess, you're getting You're becoming a
[58:40] softy on us.
[58:40] >> I am a very big softy. Oh, I'm very I
[58:42] don't cry. That's why I watch horror
[58:44] movies cuz I don't cry in horror.
[58:45] >> But most horror movies are sad now.
[58:46] >> No, they're not sad. They're people just
[58:48] getting chopped up.
[58:48] >> Well, they're all tragic. They're all
[58:50] like
[58:50] >> No, horror movies is sad.
[58:54] >> I still haven't seen it.
[58:55] >> Really? I still haven't seen it. I'm so
[58:57] behind. You got to watch them while
[58:58] still in theaters. But like none of them
[59:00] are like sad like in the ways that like
[59:02] Wild Robot sad or Toy Story could be
[59:04] sad. Like those are things that I'm like
[59:06] this is emotionally like I can't wa I
[59:09] just can't feel this way right now. My
[59:10] Prozac will not allow me to watch this.
[59:12] [laughter] When I again I got kind of
[59:13] tricked into watching Project Mary. I
[59:15] did not know it was a sad movie. And the
[59:17] entire film I had tissues like this the
[59:19] entire time cuz I could not stop crying.
[59:21] And I I think it's also a we talked
[59:24] about this. It's like um what is it? My
[59:27] biological clock or whatever. When I see
[59:29] cute things that are small or just like
[59:31] need help, I I I react in a way that I
[59:34] can't. That's why I can't watch
[59:35] Gremlins. [laughter]
[59:36] >> Oh.
[59:37] >> And it was really hard for me to see
[59:38] Rocky get hurt.
[59:39] >> And I was just like and like any like
[59:42] Grou the same way. And so like movies
[59:44] that have that and they weaponize that
[59:45] on me, I'm like I can't watch it. I'm
[59:47] going
[59:48] >> Project Hail Mary the movie even toned
[59:51] down that part of from the book. God,
[59:53] >> there's like way more of like um Ryland
[59:56] kind of nursing wounded Rocky back to
[59:59] health. There's like a whole like two
[1:00:01] [snorts] chapters about it.
[1:00:02] >> And I've cried I've cried in books. Uh I
[1:00:04] remember watching me reading me, Earl,
[1:00:06] and the dying girl and there's still
[1:00:07] like if you go back to look at my hard
[1:00:09] cover of it, there's tear [laughter]
[1:00:10] drops. I [ __ ] up the pages. I was
[1:00:13] crying. So
[1:00:14] >> I mean,
[1:00:14] >> so I'll cry if I read I'm not going to
[1:00:16] do I would
[1:00:16] >> most books that I've read I've wept
[1:00:18] during I reading the the Roherim charge
[1:00:22] and from Tolken I was crying during that
[1:00:24] of Harry Potter this final Harry Potter
[1:00:26] book I was college Eric was weeping
[1:00:29] while reading Deathly Hallows for sure.
[1:00:31] >> Yeah, everybody's Harry Potter book is
[1:00:32] definitely wet.
[1:00:34] >> It's water damaged. [laughter]
[1:00:36] >> Oh man. Uh well let us know in the
[1:00:37] comments below what book or movie made
[1:00:39] you cry. Cry baby little Bonnie from Toy
[1:00:43] Story. I'll try to read it unless it's
[1:00:44] genuinely like the Sophie's choice. I'm
[1:00:47] not reading it.
[1:00:48] >> No. Uh, hey, this is great talking about
[1:00:50] the state of DC Studios with you, Jess.
[1:00:52] Follow Jess at Lulu Clements. You can
[1:00:55] follow me at EA Voss. A special thanks
[1:00:57] to one of our in our underground
[1:00:58] subscribers, Justin Shonenrock, for
[1:01:00] supporting us at the executive producer
[1:01:01] level. You can get all of our exclusive
[1:01:03] bonus content by clicking on the link in
[1:01:05] the description below or going to in our
[1:01:07] underground.supcast.com.
[1:01:09] [music] I'm over annunciating because
[1:01:11] I've realized in my recent videos I'm
[1:01:13] kind of mushmouthing things and I'm like
[1:01:15] I what's wrong with my body where I
[1:01:17] cannot annunciate anymore. Thanks to to
[1:01:19] Brian Kim who um tells us everything
[1:01:22] that we say every anything that comes
[1:01:23] out of our mouth. It came out of Brian's
[1:01:25] mouth first. Uh and to Joshua Steven and
[1:01:29] Abby Fel um and to all of our supporting
[1:01:32] editors Eric Gord who edits a lot of our
[1:01:34] podcasts. Big thanks to everyone at New
[1:01:37] Rockstars. Thanks for watching and we'll
[1:01:39] see you next week. Bye, sneaky peakers.
[1:01:41] >> Bye.
[1:01:44] [music]
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