Editor’s Note: Paul Levitz returns to Blog@Newsarama to talk about the release of The Dark Knight this week.
by Paul Levitz
Let’s talk movies, for a moment. I came into the saga of movies based on DC comics at a propitious time…don’t count the warm-ups, like watching Mario Puzo wander through the office doing his research while I sat in my assistant editor’s cubicle, or being introduced to Chris Reeve when he was still a skinny young guy freshly cast for the role of his lifetime…the fun really began standing on New York’s West 57th Street, watching Dick Donner hoist Chris up in a crane to pluck a burglar off the curved wall of one of our neighborhood’s more distinctive office towers. And I’ve been lucky enough to be able to recapture the feeling of wonder I had as a twenty-something, whether it was standing in the rain and mud in front of Thomas and Martha’s gravesites at Wayne Manor, or watching Chris Nolan wrestle a giant IMAX camera set-up with his pal Wally Pfister as they hurtled down a Chicago street, tracking Heath Ledger and his fellow clown-masked menaces. I’m one of the very few to have walked the offices of the Daily Planet in New York and Sydney (and a television version too). I admit my luck is outrageous…
…but in a way, I think yours is too.
The combination of the astounding technology available to bring comics to life on the big screen, and the passion of a generation of directors who grew up respecting both comics and film, have brought us to what can only be described as the first Golden Age of comic book movies. With a well-earned nod to the creative and commercial successes of our competitors in this field, DC has much to be proud of in my professional lifetime, from Donner’s SUPERMAN through Tim Burton’s BATMAN, on to the eclectic mix since we put the DC logo in front of our films, including James McTiegue’s V FOR VENDETTA, Francis Lawrence’s CONTSTANTINE, and Bryan Singer’s SUPERMAN RETURNS. I admit a personal bias towards Nolan’s BATMAN BEGINS, if a prejudiced one because of the warm welcome Chris and his producer-partner wife, Emma Thomas, have always given to me and both my office family and real family (if youngest son Garret ends up being a film director, I think it’ll be because of the time Chris bent over the monitors with Garret, showing him how he was setting up a Batmobile chase through a Chicago parking garage).
…but BATMAN BEGINS just slipped to second place.
I had the fun of watching THE DARK KNIGHT come together, from conversations to script to set visits, to seeing the little pieces that flow through our hands to make tie-in books and merchandise possible, but one of the images I’ll treasure most is the look on the faces of a group of my comic book colleagues last week as the lights came up at the end of an IMAX screening of the film. “This changes everything,” muttered the most coherent of them. The bar is simply set higher.
…but I envy you, seeing it with fresh eyes this week. The cool thing about my job is that I get to be involved in all this, and have memories of how it came to be, as well as friendships with some amazingly talented people. But the cool thing about being you is you get to walk into the movie, ready to be surprised by everything. No spoiler warnings here, and no spoilers. If you’re reading this blog, I know you have your date set to see the film, and I don’t have to sell you. But just for a minute, I wish I were there, watching you, watching this.
Oh, and while we’re on the subject of movies, I’m not allowed to talk about some other footage I was looking at last week, but do offer to mortgage your collection to bribe your way into San Diego Comic-Con’s Hall H on Friday the 25th at 11:55. And if you can’t, console yourself by going into the exhibit hall and admiring the five-ton…oh, sorry, they’re making me stop now.
July 15th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Man, my expectations for this have gotten higher with each article I read. Time to break out the caffeine for the midnight showing.
July 15th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Yay! I can’t wait to watch The Dark Knight this Thursday at midnight.
I think there should be a DC movie that’s this big for *every* summer. And I wish there was another DC movie to feel excited about next year (not counting the Green Arrow movie as it may not be released as planned, per usual for most of DC’s movies nowadays, unfortunately).
July 15th, 2008 at 10:58 am
damn. i’d freak out if i could go to the Wayne’s grave and the Daily Planet. that’d be so surreal. he must be talking about the Watchmen at the end there right? nice blog.
July 15th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Although Batman Begins may well be my favorite movie ever, of any genre, and I loved V for Vendetta too, I have little doubt that TDK will be new favorite after I get to see it on Thursday night.
One question, Paul… With all the hype and enthusiasm surrounding TDK, why is DC publishing a Batman crossover event (”RIP”) that’s so completely unfriendly to potential new readers? Add the equally convoluted Final Crisis (I’m not even trying that one out) to the mix and it sure seems like a wasted opportunity to attract new readers to Batman, DC, and comics in genral.
Batman Begins is what brought me back to comics after more than a decade away, so I’m sure TDK has that same potential for others. But I don’t think Morrison’s current run on Batman (which has been mixed, at best) is going to bring new readers in.
I mean, reviving BAT-MITE? Honestly? Ugh. That’s turned ME off from wanting to buy any more Batman books, but I’m resolved to see “RIP” though to the end. I’m just worried that Jason Todd (who needed to STAY DEAD) will show up before it’s over.
July 15th, 2008 at 11:33 am
I really didn’t think there was something else to make me even more excited for this movie. Paul Levitz just made me realize that wasn’t true. I cannot waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait !!!
July 15th, 2008 at 11:42 am
“And if you can’t, console yourself by going into the exhibit hall and admiring the five-ton…”
… Owlship? Invisible Jet? A crowd of about 20 of your average-sized comics fans?
July 15th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Levitz isn’t pitching with this entry. He is spot on. I saw it on Sunday in IMAX in Chicago. Lets just say we’re all going to need neck braces to spend any time looking up at the bar now.
Thanks DC and Warners for trusting this this director so much. GIVE ME MORE!
July 15th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
I’ll never forget the disappointment I felt walking out of the theater after seeing Tim Burton’s BATMAN in 1989. Damn that was a kick in the nuts. THE DARK KNIGHT looks much, much better–but I’m still trying to ignore the hype.
July 15th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
To caats19: Yep, accoridng to Rotten Tomatoes there will be a Watchmen trailer (not a teaser, mind you, an actual trailer) running with TDK.
I’m assuming there’ll be a trailer for Harry Potter 6 with TDK as well, so this is going to be like Xmas (albeit an extremely geeky one) for me!
July 15th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
I’ve just seen it!! And when I read this, I can totally understand everything you’re saying. It’s an amazing experience. I hope DC continues to make films with this quality.
Guys, beleive me, it’s not just hype. Knowing the internet, you would have heard of bad reviews by now. I’m gonna be watching it again more than 3 times.
July 15th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
If this movie is as good as the hype says it is, I’m going to cry.
July 15th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
So, when will Dan Buckley be invited to come plug his company? Oh wait, this is Newsarama - in DC’s back pocket.
July 15th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
“Cup O’ Joe”?
July 15th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Which would be where, exactly? Not on a site run by Matt Brady and Benjamin Kean.
July 15th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Heh. “Cup O’ Joe” appeared (virtually) every Friday on Newsarama for … ages.
July 15th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Only because Quesada pulled the column and put it on Marvel’s MySpace page, Dave.
July 15th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Just when you thought the cries of bias couldn’t get more ridiculous…
July 15th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
@ theblast:
Here is negative review of TDK
http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/07/13/the-first-negative-review-of-the-dark-knight/
July 15th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
And why would he pull it - because the publisher of DC Comics is given free rein to plug his company on this website. And, one of the sites “reporters” is allowed make racist jokes about a character in a Marvel book - and keeps his job (I haven’t read anything by Kean since, btw - not that you’d see an interview with a Marvel writer on the site anyway). If Brady came right out and said that the site was in some way a promotional tool for DC Comics, I’d be fine and could ignore it the same way I ignore half a dozen other comic websites.
July 15th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Joe Quesada stopped doing his weekly Q&A at Newsarama before Paul Levitz ever blogged with us.
Joe addressed why he left Newsarama for MySpace in his first column in the new forum:
“To start with, let me take this moment to thank Newsarama in general and Matt Brady in particular. We had a great run, and it was a blast to do. I think everyone got a lot out of it, from the fans of Newsarama to fans of Marvel, to even me. Matt has always been great to work with, and he’s one of the good guys. So everyone go check out Newsarama.com if you get the chance.
“Now, for those who want to believe that there was some sort of rift between myself and Newsarama, sorry, but that’s not what happened. The story is much simpler and considerably less scandalous.
“Marvel has been working behind the scenes on doing some stuff with MySpace in a very significant way. The reason for this is that the audience that MySpace reaches is huge and very mainstream, and MySpace has been getting more and more into comics as we become more and more mainstream as well. It just seemed like a perfect match, for a huge community like MySpace to join forces with the biggest and best comics company in the world. What’s not to like? Anyway, several months ago, I had to bow out of doing my weekly Joe Fridays column on Newsarama because I was just inundated with drawing and working on “One More Day,” the Spider-Man story. I just couldn’t devote the time that the column needed, so I took a leave of absence. At that time, my intentions were to return to Joe Fridays. But during my absence, the pieces of the deal with MySpace were starting to fall into place. Once I was free and clear to come back, it was just more prudent to relaunch on MySpace. So in no way is this a slight against Newsarama. It’s simply a move based upon reaching the widest possible audience, which is what MySpace offers us. As most people know, while I love shilling our Marvel books, my ultimate desire is to bring comics to the masses, whether it’s Marvel or otherwise, and in my world, coming to MySpace offers an even greater opportunity to do that.”
From here:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=92159514&blogID=368736709
So unless you’re calling Joe Quesada a liar, you’re completely wrong.
July 15th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
You’re still ignoring the fact that you’re giving Levitz free advertising. And you ignoring Benjamin Kean’s disgusting treatment of the Faiza Hussein character. Not to mention - looking at the front page of the site right now
-A plug for this very blog entry, and an interview with Gary Oldman for the Batman movie
-A plug for the Busiek DC book
-A plug for the Gotham Knight dvd
-Buried underneath all of that, a brief mention of the Animated Iron Man thing - which I saw this mornign on the Marvel website anyway
-And a plug for some Vertigo book underneath that.
Now - while I’m not saying that DC Comics outright owns this website (although I’d be nervy about Imaginova) - you cannot deny that there is a significant bias towards Levitz and his company. Is Brady more of a DC fan? who knows, or cares. But I don’t see any Marvel books getting the promotion that say, Trinity gets. Unless its being done by Benjamin Kean and he’s calling the characters terrorists.
July 15th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Captain America has a monthly write up. We recently spoke with the oncoming writer of Iron Fist, a Secret war Skrull update was posted on Monday, Sky Doll is published by Marvel, Mike Benson tells us about Moon Knight tomorrow, we had a feature interview with Kevin Feige, Secret Invasion #4 had a featured review last week, Joe Casey previewed/teased Last Defenders (which also saw a feature for each issue), Jeph Loeb discussed his Marvel projects and more in today’s Word Balloon, Adi Granov was featured in an article from WWC, the same week also saw a piece on the coming Wolverine special, as well as an article on Mike Choi’s X-Men work, another Skrull update, a Patsy Walker feature review, and an interview with Brian Reed about Secret Invasion Front Line. To round out the month of July, we also had and interview with Brian Bendis, an exclusive preview of The Stand, and a write up of every Marvel panel and news story from WWC. And of course, our Dark Knight/Gotham Knight coverage was kinda of matched by our Iron Man/Hulk coverage, but who’s counting?
The Ben issue - that’s an old one, and one I felt I fully explained back on the old site’s blog, though I am aware with issues such as that there will always be those individuals for whom no apology or explanation is ever enough, and will not be satisfied until the severest form of punishment is taken.
I really don’t know why I just did all that - you’re clearly angry, you’re only looking for things that prove that you’re right, and your mind is made up and locked tight. For those who may be reading along, please to enjoy.
July 15th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Oh, and even prior to this, each issue of Civil War had commentary questions answered on it by Mark Millar and Tom Brevoort; While each issue of World War Hulk had a Q&A with Greg Pak…which is something CBR, Wizard and IGN are all now doing in their own way for each issue of Secret Invasion. That field looked a little crowded and rather non-unique anymore, so we opted for wrapups instead, which have proven to be rather popular.
July 15th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Dave,
JK Parkin and Matt Brady were too polite to you. But it’s their site, so they sorta have to be polite. Give it up, Dave.
July 16th, 2008 at 6:09 am
to jlaking:
I’ve read the negative review of the Dark Knight. David Edelstein either just wants attention or just comes from a point of view of a ranting non-conformative person. I wouldn’t believe someone who made a positive review about Zohan. I’d rather believe Paul Levitz or Kevin Smith if I haven’t seen it myself.
Sure, there is a negative review, there always will be, but how many as compared to the positive? Here’s the negative review, but don’t read too much into it because it’s kinda spoilery… just watch the movie.
http://nymag.com/movies/reviews/48514/
July 16th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Y’know, I’m of the opinion that any movie, no matter how well made, should not be universally admired. ‘Cause if it were, then that would mean that everyone has something in common.
And that would just be weird.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:14 am
I had the pleasure of watching this film two days ago on a premiere that was held for charity and I as I sat there watching the film, I honestly couldn’t believe was actually there.
It was such a surreal experience because, even in the more disturbing scenes, I couldn’t stop smiling. The movie is just sheer brilliance and despite being hyped to no end, I found that I was being constantly shocked and surprised at almost every turn.
The movie’s a work of genius and words hardly do it justice.
I honestly have to say that I envy the people living in the States because here, in Puerto Rico, the movie’s being released July 24th, and I’m dying to see it again. It may two and a half hours long, but it doesn’t matter because it leaves you breathless and wanting more.
So, Mr. Levitz, I agree wholeheartedly: there’s really nothing like going in not knowing what you’re going to see. It’s the kind of movie that you absolutely have to experience, no matter what.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Can’t wait to see it. Mr. Levitz, you should be very proud of DC and may this film inspire more filmmakers to give the DCU the quality movies they deserve.