Ever since ‘The Avengers’ made a killing at the box office, people have been speculating on how DC could launch a counter attack on the House of Ideas and generate a movie just as profitable. The most common answer is a Justice League movie, but since the modern DC movies in existence aren’t interconnected (and aside from Chris Nolan’s Batman, they kind of suck), it would be difficult to pull off. Instead, I offer another solution: Go younger.
One thing that Marvel hasn’t tackled in their cinematic universe yet is a younger hero. They almost entered that realm when ‘The Runaways’ was in production, but that hasn’t seen the light of day yet, so now is DC’s chance to strike. They have a few pretty awesome teams of youngsters to work with like the Teen Titans or Young Justice. Both of which had success in the animated realm, and I think that there’s a foundation of a fandom strong enough that a live action adaptation of either team would be very well received.
Regardless of who DC would decide is included on the teams, I think that it would be wise to build the team around Robin. The character has been in movies already, so the public knows who he is, and since he has ties to Batman, even the fair-weather superhero fans will be drawn to the movie. Then, like ‘The Avengers’, they shouldn’t bog down the plot with a ton of exposition. Briefly introduce the members of the team, bring them together to work on the mission, and then get into the meat of whatever the plot is. You can even include some cameos from the bigger heroes of the DC Universe.
I have a lot of ideas for plot and characters and all that, but I wouldn’t want to reveal them all here for free. If Warner Bros. reads this and is curious about my ideas, they can hire me for the project. (For the record, I would happily take any position that WB/DC throws my way.) Until the day that my Teen Titans movie gets greenlit, all you’re getting out of me (in printed form anyway) is the little bit of advice that DC should start developing live action movies for their younger hero properties. At least they can beat Marvel to that punch.
What about you? What younger DC characters would you like to see on a big-screen team? Comment below and let us know!