Dear Warner Brothers,

There are rumors going around that you guys are going to try a Justice League movie. I’m writing you to ask that this does NOT happen, at least not in the next four years. There are some things that are just better left not existing. A good example of this would be the Green Lantern movie. You guys remember that right? When Ryan Reynolds masqueraded around as Hal Jordan and ended the movie by punching the main antagonist into the sun? Yeah. We all remember that as well (unfortunately).

I know how you feel! The country went crazy with the first phase of the Marvel movies. Everybody loved The Avengers and the box office sales reflected that. You guys had a hit with two thirds of the Chris Nolan Batman trilogy! Don’t get me started about The Dark Knight Rises…you know what you did. Anyway, what I’m saying is just focus on what you have. I understand DC isn’t the best source material, but take those lemons and make…I don’t know, just don’t make a Justice League movie because it will just look like a blatant attempt to make your own version of The Avengers.

Speaking of The Avengers, remember when you guys canceled Joss Whedon’s Wonder Woman movie? Ouch. That was your chance! Now that the chance is gone just focus on what’s left. The new Superman movie looks…passable. You have Henry Cavill and Michael Shannon on board which is a definite step in the right direction. Please don’t let me down guys.

The thing is, at this point there’s nowhere to go but up. I’m all for a new slew of DC superhero movies, but just remember to know your role. DC characters aren’t like Marvel characters. I think the fact that DC has rebooted its comic franchise more than once is an indicator of this. The thing about the heroes you have to work with is that they’re all the strongest, fastest and smartest characters in their own universe. That’s why DC hero crossovers are usually underwhelming and leave more questions than they answer. So instead of falling into the pitfalls of the source material, set an example by keeping all of the universes separate. Batman, The Green Lantern, The Flash AND Superman all living on the same planet is a stretch. By keeping them separate you’ll be able to make clear cinematic motifs for each film.

I hate to keep directing you back to the phase one of Marvel movies but, there’s a lesson to be learned here! If you pay attention to each of the individual films, they were more than just superhero movies, they were genre exercises. Thor was a Shakespearian fantasy film, Captain America was a super equivalent of a war title. If you’re going to take anything from these films it’s that they did something that the superhero movie genre didn’t do before. They followed the source material just close enough to make everybody happy.

Comic book fans loved the phase one Marvel movies and so did people who didn’t know anything about these franchises. They escaped from the realm of just heroes in spandex using feats of strength to resolve the plot and went into something much more. They made these larger than life characters relatable and likable, this is the direction you need to go in.

Now that The Dark Knight trilogy is over, you guys have the chance to keep the momentum going and make something good! It may be the lack of sleep, but for some reason I have faith in you guys. READ THE COMICS! Anything written by: Grant Morrison, Gail Simone, Scott Snyder and Geoff Johns is a good place to start. Go for it guys, reach for the stars. Worst case scenario, you make another Superman Returns (Don’t do that. Please. Don’t.)
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