Vince Russo's The Brand

At the San Diego Comic-Con DC/Warner Brothers (WB) released a trailer for Justice League. The trailer itself is actually pretty good. It’s especially impressive given that the movie is still filming and over a year away from its release. It does a great job of playing up the humor the other films were completely devoid of. It raises a question though as DC/WB’s argument for using a different Flash was that it didn’t “fit the tone.” Apparently the tone didn’t fit, as it has seemingly changed.

Now, for as good as the trailer was and as excited it makes me for the movie, when coupled with the above image it simply proves that WB has no clue what DC is, what their heroes are or why people are fans of them. Say what you will about Superman Returns, but the costume was infinitely better (aside from the tiny ‘S’) than Man of Steel/Batman v Superman. I will give Batman v Superman the edge on the Batman costume. It’s phenomenal and as if it jumped right off the page onto the screen.

Let’s start with Flash. Oh, poor Flash. The 90’s Flash costume looked like the Flash costume. I don’t understand the dark red or leather look of the TV show costume, but I understand this one even less. Flash looks like a a car. Actually, he looks like he’s wearing a Transformer. Why is it plastic? Why is there black? How drunk was the person who approved this costume? I just don’t understand it. At least it’s bright red. That’s all I can say that’s positive.

Cyborg’s costume looks CGI in the trailer. Apparently they didn’t learn from Green Lantern. Instead of the sleek, smooth design from the comics it has these weird angular features. It also looks like a car, like a Batmobile. There’s a strange red glow coming out from under the ribs…I just can’t. You can see it.

The funniest part of the trailer is Bruce’s last line to Arthur (Aquaman). If anyone has a reason to have a shiny, metallic costume it’s him. So instead they give him a leather armor looking thing. Aside from the jacket I actually really like it. If the gold parts of the chest were gold armor that thing would really pop. It’s not really that bad, just odd choices yet again.

Superman is still the same costume. At least he has red boots, so that’s a step up from the comic costume right now. I don’t get the weird random lines or the strange straps on the forearms. I like that they try some gold for the “belt” to break it up, but why not just give him a belt and the red trunks? What’s so wrong with the costume millions, probably billions, of people around the world instantly recognize?

Wonder Woman’s costume isn’t that bad. It’s true to the comic and looks great. I’m not sure why the red is so dark (does WB just hate color?!?!), but compared to the others it looks fantastic. It would, yet again, make more sense if her tiara were actual gold, but again…look at the others.

Batman is by far the best of the bunch. Like I said, it’s a comic come to life. Maybe they just hate everyone but Batman. Maybe they just hate heroes. Maybe they just picked the wrong damn people to be in charge of basically everything. Having seen every DC movie ever, I’m pretty sure that’s the case.

In comparison, look at The Avengers. They mostly look like the comics. They found a way to make Captain America’s costume instantly recognizable, yet more than just spandex. Iron Man looks fantastic. Thor’s armor makes sense for the character. I blame Fox and X-Men for the costume hating of Hollywood. Though they are finally, 15 years later, coming around to what fans want.

There’s nothing wrong with taking a classic and updating it. Cap has had at least four costumes already. Iron Man has had like 15 armors. Marvel was smart enough to keep what you know. Cap has stripes, so they made them straps. Vision, Ant-Man, Black Widow, Black Panther, Hawkeye, even Scarlet Witch all got costumes more true to their comic counterparts than DC has done in over a decade.

DC has a chance to make the biggest movie in history. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman aren’t comic book characters, they’re gods. They’ve moved beyond being simple characters. They are American Mythology. There’s a reason Batman v Superman made a ton of money when it was a mostly terrible movie. It’s a shame WB hates their fans, their characters and their history, but it’s evident in what they do.