America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM.

Chapter 349 347. Want to drink Black Widow’s bath water

The so-called Justice League, a concept that debuted in the 60s, was the first large group of superheroes.

Because fans loved it and sales were good, Marvel followed suit and created the Avengers.

Looking at the names of these two teams, it is obvious that they are competing.

The Justice League was originally composed of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter, also known as the Big Seven.

However, as time went on, more and more comics were published and the screenwriters kept changing.

There are great screenwriters and there are lousy ones. And there are also many times when plots that cannot be justified are forced into writing just to increase sales, such as The Bat Who Laughs.

When they can’t continue writing, they keep creating parallel universes, and in the end no one can figure out what’s going on.

DC once wanted to sort out how many pits it had opened, so it hired a company to take inventory.

Guess what the result is?

It took the company more than two years to finish reading and sorting out all the DC comics.

It's been more than two years. You can imagine what a huge workload it is and what a big mess it is.

Originally DC wanted to do something big, but after seeing this situation, they chose to give up.

It was directly restarted by "Flashpoint Paradox" and entered the New 2011 era in 52.

Tired, destroy it!

But after many twists and turns, the New 2019 ended in 52 and the DC Universe was restarted again.

Even after two major reboots and decades of development and evolution, the Martian Manhunter among the Big Seven has never been more powerful.

It’s not that the setting and abilities are weak, but rather that the setting and abilities are too strong, yet the popularity is still not good enough.

The setting of Martian Manhunter is completely at the level of Superman, and he is even more omnipotent than Superman.

Then when he comes on stage, he will face a very embarrassing question: buddy, what is your positioning?
For warriors and tanks, we have Super, for intelligence and technology, we have the old bat, and for the heroine, we have the Protoss plus the female buff.

Flash can turn the tables in desperate situations, Aquaman can control the sea to play water battles, and Green Lantern Hal has the strongest willpower and can even develop outer space.

Zhakang is a dark magician and has a very distinctive personality.

What do you have Martian Manhunter?
Pat your ugly forehead and tell me, what else do you have besides the expensive special effects that waste money?
You deserve to be replaced by Cyborg in New 52. Cyborg is good at information warfare and is at least much more useful than you.

However, this is the only characteristic of Cyborg. He is not very popular and is not qualified to star in a movie on his own. To put it bluntly, he does not have enough commercial value.

It’s okay to play in a group with the big brother, you can get a medal and be exempted from military service.

Working alone, she has no appeal. For example, Marvel's Black Widow is a typical example of this type.

James Wan coughed a few times and said, "Regarding the question you raised, whether it's Martian Manhunter or Cyborg, we have no intention of giving up."

"We know that both characters have many fans, but for the sake of the overall layout, they are not suitable for independent films for the time being."

"But in other heroes' movies, there are all kinds of characters interspersed."

"For example, Constantine can't just be Constantine. Zatanna and Doctor Fate are both characters with crossover plots."

"The same is true for Cyborg and Martian Manhunter, who will appear in other heroes' movies and take on important tasks."

Reporters wrote down what he said, but it is hard to say what point of view they can interpret from it when it is released.

The Los Angeles Times reporter continued to ask: "James, how are the preparations for these projects going? Do you have a script? Are the actors confirmed? When can they be launched?"

James Wan stroked his specially dyed black hair: "I know everyone wants more information, but this is a big project, it's not that easy."

"Tell me about it. You must be prepared."

Eric smiled slightly, "Just say a few words, James, to let everyone know we're not kidding. Maybe it will help our stock price go up a few points."

Hahahaha...

There was immediate laughter at the scene.

"OK! Regarding the scripts, Superman, Wonder Woman, Constantine, and Aquaman have been basically completed."

"We referred to a lot of comics and tried to restore the settings in every detail. Some shots and lines are almost one-to-one restoration of the comic scenes."

“This process is complicated but joyful, and we are confident that both comic fans and non-comic fans will have fun.”

"As for the other works, they are still in the process of creation. We hope to keep improving and achieve the best results."

"That means four movies are about to enter the launch phase, right?"

James Wan nodded slightly: "That's understandable. We will formally form a team soon."

"What about the role? James, how is the casting going?"

James Wan looked at Zack Snyder and said, "You say it, Zack."

Zack Snyder continued with a slight accent: “We have already been in contact with some actors about this issue.”

"After discussion, we plan to invite Keanu Reeves to play Constantine."

“Henry Cavill as Superman and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.”

"There are also actors who have been confirmed for other roles. Of course, these are not the final decisions and still need to go through interviews."

"I would like to take this opportunity to say that if you think you are suitable for a certain role, then come and audition, and we will choose the most suitable one."

After talking about DC, the camera turns to Marvel.

Kevin Feige wore a hat that he often wore later: "Just like James and Zack said just now, our route is also to connect the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe with independent hero films."

"And obviously, Iron Man and Captain America are off to a great start."

"At the beginning of the year, we said we would prepare Ant-Man and Thor's solo movies as soon as possible."

"Now I can tell you that things are going very smoothly and the script has been completed."

"At the same time, preparations will also begin for personal movies featuring characters such as The Hulk, Spider-Man, and X-Men."

"The scale of Marvel's movie universe is no smaller than that of DC. With the experience of Iron Man and Captain America, we are confident that we can do better."

As soon as Kevin Feige finished speaking, a bunch of reporters couldn't help but ask questions.

The Russo brothers called a reporter from the Chicago Sun-Times.

The other party frowned and asked, "I don't quite understand what Kevin means. Marvel wants to develop the Spider-Man and X-Men series."

"But Sony just released Spider-Man 2 last year, and the third film is in preparation. Sam Raimi said in an interview that he would continue filming it."

"And Fox's X-Men 3 has already entered the post-production stage. I don't understand."

"I don't understand this situation. Does it mean that Marvel will co-produce sequels with Sony and Fox?"

"And Universal's The Hulk, will Marvel continue to film it?"

This question also puzzled all the reporters present. They had never seen two companies developing the same IP at the same time.

In this regard, Eric can only say that you have little experience. Before he traveled through time, a movie called "Ghost Blows Out the Light" caused too many disputes. Fortunately, Eric had already given a solution to the reporters' questions, so the Russell brothers explained slowly: "No, it's not like that."

“Instead of joint development, they will develop individually without interfering with each other.”

"Sony's Spider-Man belongs only to Sony, with Tobey Maguire playing Peter Parker."

"But Marvel's Spider-Man also belongs only to Marvel, and the actors and storyline will be completely different from the Sony version."

"In fact, apart from the superpowers and character names, everything else is brand new. These are characters that belong exclusively to the Marvel Cinematic Universe."

"The same goes for the X-Men, the Hulk, or any of the other characters."

“But if we do this, won’t the audience feel very conflicted?” the reporter asked.

"This question is very simple. Have you ever read comics?"

"Of course I have."

"Since you've read it, you should know that there is a multiverse in comics, and each universe has the same character, but the stories are completely different."

"For example, the Ultimate Universe subverts the origins of many characters."

"So Sony's Spider-Man is Peter Parker of the 212 universe, and Marvel's Spider-Man is Peter Parker of the 616 universe."

After hearing this explanation, the reporter was obviously stunned for a moment, and then suddenly gave a thumbs up: "Very reasonable!"

At the end of the press conference, Eric released another bombshell.

"Now that MGM and Warner Bros. have reached the same conclusion, we have a wealth of highly influential film and television IPs."

"So I think I will make better use of these IPs to bring more joy and value to people."

"I decided to set up a new company, focusing on amusement park projects."

"Here you can experience themes of various styles, including Star Wars, The Matrix, Harry Potter, Transformers, Superheroes, Frozen and so on."

"It's like going to Disneyland, except Star Wars will not be renewed with Disney when it expires in the future."

Eric didn't hide it. Everyone could see that building an amusement park was aimed at the lifeblood of Disney.

Eric Cooper is clearly going to hit Mickey Mouse in the weak spot.

“I believe that the world film landscape will change in the next ten years.”

"The era of superheroes has arrived!"

The richness of the content and the high standards of this press conference exceeded many people's imagination.

Especially the Marvel and DC movie universes. After describing them, even if you are not a comic book fan, you can see that this will be an extremely grand plan.

Eric Cooper's final assertion, given that what he said generally came true, is that the age of superheroes may really be upon us.

The capital market naturally reacted most directly to this.

The stock prices of several affiliated companies indeed rose in response. Among them, the market value of Warner Bros. returned to the starting point after Eric completed the acquisition, falling back to more than 200 billion US dollars.

As he continued to adjust the company's structure, the stock price continued to fall.

This press conference was like a shot of adrenaline, and the stock price rebounded strongly, even overtaking the previous target.

In contrast, Disney’s stock price dropped nearly 5 percentage points immediately after the press conference.

Even if Eric was just talking, it would take at least two or three years for his theme park to be built, but it still had an impact on Disney.

Depending on the situation, when the day comes that it is accomplished, it is possible to cut the price by 30% to 40%.

Anyway, the general public welcomes this, and now Disney is the only dominant theme park in the United States.

It’s good to have competition, at least it can lower ticket prices, right?

And we can’t always go to Disneyland. It’s human nature to try something new and different.

This is also good news for Hollywood practitioners. You can tell with your butt that these movies are definitely big productions.

Although people say that Superman has been decided, there is also a candidate for Constantine.

But even if you can't get the leading role, you can still play supporting roles. A good supporting role in such a big production can add a highlight to your resume.

Without a doubt, the happiest people are the fans.

Whether they are Marvel or DC fans, major forums, chat rooms, offline gatherings, and social media are all hotly discussing this press conference.

For them, it was truly spring, and the dream moment that many people had envisioned had arrived.

However, many people expressed dissatisfaction after listening to what Zack Snyder said about the cast.

Henry Cavill?
Are you sure his pretty boyish style in Twilight will match that of Superman?

Isn't Keanu Reeves too handsome as Constantine?
Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman? Are her breasts too small?
The relevant discussions continued until about half a month later.

DC’s official website directly released a wave of promotional photos.

After using some makeup, Henry Cavill looks noticeably bigger.

Not only does his face have sharp edges, but his whole body has obvious muscles, giving people a feeling of overwhelming power.

Especially Superman's battle suit, which abandons the traditional underwear worn outside, one is pure black, and the other is dark blue with a red cape.

Not only handsome, but also very oppressive.

Keanu Reeves wore a yellow windbreaker and had the classic Zack Snyder skin.

He had a stubble on his face, a red cigarette in his mouth, and sat at the bar with his head slightly lowered.

Cigarettes, alcohol, windbreakers, that decadent feeling, coupled with Keanu Reeves' melancholy and charming appearance, it's hard to tell who will be confused.

Then there’s Gadot’s look, with her gold and red armor, which doesn’t feel plastic at all.

He holds a shield in one hand and a sword in the other, with a golden lasso of truth hanging around his waist and a divine crown on his forehead.

After several years of fitness training, obvious muscle lines can be seen outside the armor.

She was like a Valkyrie, slashing with a determined look on her face.

After these three makeup photos were released, the questioning voices were immediately silenced.

We can't say they are perfect, but their charm is enough to conquer most people.

And fans also noticed that the style of the clothes is completely different from the versions of the heroine played by Reeve Chao and Lynda Carter.

It seems more powerful and overbearing, which may mean that the style of the film is also not a slapstick comedy.

After DC released the promotional photos, Marvel also released the final makeup photos of Black Widow.

The tight leather jacket and sexy red lips immediately show Scarlett Johansson's sexy and charming side.

Someone has already announced online that he wants to drink Black Widow's bath water.

(End of this chapter)