Ben Affleck Is Batman for Man of Steel Sequel (dir. Zack Snyder)

They said on Carolla's podcast that Bryan Cranston is going to play Lex.

I wonder who else from Argo they're going to hire.

 

It's rumor city right now. A lot of rumors also have Cranston taking over as Jim Gordon.

 

He'd be great for either part.

 

I thought Cranston was confirmed in some role, at least, but perhaps not Luthor.

I think he would be better for Jim Gordon.

 

I think Michael Chiklis would be a great Luthor.

 

Some interesting choices here:

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/08/justice-league-tk/68833/

Charlize Theron as Wonder Woman, I think, could really work.

 

I read something interesting that said that we may see more A-list stars doing these kinds of roles these days because they're one of the only guaranteed paydays in Hollywood.

It said that even the biggest A-list stars are seeing their asking prices plummet and everybody is cutting wherever is necessary to make movies these days, but they point out that the exception is the Superhero movies.

 

Until the superhero trend fizzles, might as well cash in.

 

They're pretty much the only sure thing in Hollywood these days. After Lone Ranger, Oblivion and After Earth bombed, I doubt Hollywood is going to want to invest $200 million in a movie unless it has a recognizable superhero in the title.

Granted, all three of those movies did a lot better overseas than they did here, but The Avengers made $1.5 billion worldwide. Iron Man 3 made $1.2 billion. The Dark Knight Rises made over $1 billion. The latest Spider-Man made over $750 million and Man of Steel got near $650 million.

 

It's interesting that $200 million is so common a budget for a sci-fi flick these days when, I imagine, many could be made for far less if they used more practical moviemaking and less CGI. If you look at the special effects of Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi, they hold up remarkably well and they are mostly made with models.

I'm sure those techniques would be less costly than CGI and, let's be honest, they looked more realistic than the worlds created in Episodes I-III.

 

There's zero chance Empire Strikes Back's special effects are as good as The Avengers'.

 

There's zero chance that I said the Empire Strikes Back special effects are better than The Avengers.