DC Movie News: Teen Titans Movie, Superman in IMAX, and the Engineer Revealed

Movies

As James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU slowly begins to take shape, details come in fits and starts, and so far, there’s some good and some bad. Today, for me, ranges from bad to curious, although I may be in the minority on one or two points.

Starting with the biggest news, The Hollywood Reporter exclusively reveals that a Teen Titans movie is in the works, with Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow writer Ana Nogueira penning the script. Nogueira initially wrote a Supergirl movie that was a spin-off of The Flash and intended to star Sasha Calle, but when Gunn and Safran took over and scrapped the DCEU, they liked Nogueira and signed her to an overall writing deal that included the new Supergirl, which now stars Milly Alcock. I’m not sure what Nogueira’s writing is like because she’s only written a few plays and a short film, but Gunn and Safran seem to like her style. As for Teen Titans, it doesn’t interest me; when your pitch is “Robin gets his own sidekick team,” I zone out. I know that’s an oversimplification and Teen Titans has its fans, and maybe the eventual movie will be good. But for me, especially while we’re waiting for Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, the Authority, and everyone else, it’s hard to get excited about this.

Next is James Gunn’s announcement on Threads that Superman will be shot entirely in IMAX.

That’s cool; I’m sure the movie will look great, and there’s a chance to portray the majesty of Superman in flight with IMAX. The downside is that this will increase costs for what I’m sure is already an expensive movie; a few weeks ago, someone said that Superman had a budget of over $363 million, and while Gunn vehemently denied this, that figure was taken from a public filing for a tax credit in Ohio. So, either Gunn is lying (and honestly, I’ve begun to think he does that a lot), or there’s a mistake somewhere. But if the budget is that high, filming in IMAX from start to finish would explain it a bit. It wouldn’t explain what anyone is thinking in allowing the budget to get that huge; Superman will have to make around $1 billion just to break even, and this is happening at a time when the public is moving away from superhero movies, and a DC film hasn’t made that kind of money since Aquaman in 2018. (And look how it’s sequel did.) Superman may be a huge hit, but it’s a bigger gamble than a budget like that (if it’s real) suggests. I’m sure the IMAX stuff will look great, but it could be a burden even Superman can’t carry.

Finally, Just Jared has some exclusive pictures from the Superman set that show María Gabriela de Faría in costume as the Engineer, a member of The Authority and a villain in the movie. (Ugh!) You can see a couple below and the rest at Just Jared:

Okay… I really hope they’re using the term “in costume” loosely because that’s not how the Engineer is supposed to look when she’s suited up. This is:

She has a liquid metal costume that forms over her body due to the nanotech she injected into her bloodstream. Now, if these are images of her out of costume or before Angela Spica becomes the Engineer, that’s fine. (I’m going to take a shot in the dark and assume all mention of the previous Engineer, who was a man, will be expunged from the film.) But if this is her legit costume, they’re radically altering the character, and I don’t like it. On the one hand, her liquid metal suit would likely be all CGI anyway, so we wouldn’t be able to see it this early in filming. However, she is positioning her arms like she’s using those big guns the Engineer forms from her metal in the comics. We’ll see, I suppose, but I liked the early Authority comics, and if they’re going to be adapted, I’d like it to be as faithful as they can make it.

Thanks again to Just Jared for those images!