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Warner Bros. Still Planning ‘Justice League Dark’ Adaptation

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Even though Warner Bros. and DC’s Justice League has topped $600M worldwide, it’s still only halfway to recoup. The film’s release is an absolute disaster, one that was completely avoidable. After the disappointing release of Batman V. Superman, as well as the poor critical response, we’re told the studio soured on Zack Snyder and had discussed shutting down the project just a week before filming was to kick off. Shareholder pressure pushed the film into production and Snyder was removed not too long after.

While Snyder was the biggest behind-the-scenes issue, the studio rushing their “universe” (in order to compete with Marvel) is what put them in this precarious position. Warner Bros. and DC have been moving so quickly that James Wan‘s Aquaman is already in post-production, while the studio attempts to figure out if they’re moving on without Ben Affleck as Batman (he’s 100% not directing or starring in the next standalone film, our sources tell us). The success of Wonder Woman has made it even harder to construct a new future because now they have an established franchise that’s begging for sequels. What do they do?

Since they can’t start from scratch, the best option is to both focus on adapting strong comic arcs (Flashpoint being one of them) and to make sure they’re truly, honestly director-driven.

Here’s the focus of the next wave of DC films:

  • Wonder Woman II
  • Aquaman
  • Flashpoint
  • Justice League Dark
  • Suicide Squad 2
  • Shazam
  • Batgirl
  • Green Lantern Corps
  • The Batman

Wonder Woman has become their tentpole franchise; Wan’s Aquaman is done filming and the next to be released; Shazam! is to be directed by Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation‘s David F. Sandberg (I hear the script is incredible); and then there’s the long-gestured Justice League Dark.

There’s a bit of weird irony in this story because of Guillermo del Toro. You see, Warners and DC really need to make these films director-driven, so it’s hysterical that del Toro is no longer attached to Justice League Dark. It’s even funnier when you take into account that he’s looking at potential Oscars for his The Shape of Water, which is making waves among the top critics. Del toro is exactly what the studio needed, but instead focused on Snyder’s obtuse and flatlining vision.

The irony is that this isn’t the second time this has happened to del Toro, who was developing The Creature From the Black Lagoon for years before Universal Pictures decided to take that “universe” in a different direction. Now, they’re going back to director-driven films and bailing on their universe, all the while del Toro’s Creature-inspired Shape fo Water wins awards. WILL THEY EVER LEARN?

I’m a huge comic fan (there’s no DC vs. Marvel in my house), and I feel burned by all these wasted years. I’m praying that Warners and DC have learned their lesson and can right this ship that’s so close to sinking. The aforementioned list suggests they’re heading in the right direction. If anything, they need to get over Batman and Superman and let both franchises breathe a bit before rushing more of those into production.

As for Justice League Dark, it needs the right director and del Toro was it. Hopefully, there’s someone else exciting to take the reigns (they had been discussing with IT director Andy Muschietti), but it’s nice to know that they’re still focused on getting their own R-rated franchise off the ground. We deserve to see Swap-Thing done right.

Horror movie fanatic who co-founded Bloody Disgusting in 2001. Producer on Southbound, V/H/S/2/3/94, SiREN, Under the Bed, and A Horrible Way to Die. Chicago-based. Horror, pizza and basketball connoisseur. Taco Bell daily. Franchise favs: Hellraiser, Child's Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Scream and Friday the 13th. Horror 365 days a year.

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[Review] Graphic Novel ‘Tender’ Is Brilliant Feminist Body Horror That Will Make You Squirm & Scream

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Tender Beth Hetland Graphic Novel

Beth Hetland’s debut graphic novel, ‘Tender,’ is a modern tale of love, validation, and self-destruction by way of brutal body horror with a feminist edge.

“I’ve wanted this more than anything.”

Men so often dominate the body horror subgenre, which makes it so rare and insightful whenever women tackle this space. This makes Beth Hetland’s Tender such a refreshing change of pace. It’s earnest, honest, and impossibly exposed. Tender takes the body horror subgenre and brilliantly and subversively mixes it together with a narrative that’s steeped in the societal expectations that women face on a daily basis, whether it comes to empowerment, family, or sexuality. It single-handedly beats other 2023 and ‘24 feminine horror texts like American Horror Story: Delicate, Sick, Lisa Frankenstein, and Immaculate at their own game.

Hetland’s Tender is American Psycho meets Rosemary’s Baby meets Swallow. It’s also absolutely not for the faint of heart.

Right from the jump, Tender grabs hold of its audience and doesn’t let go. Carolanne’s quest for romantic fulfillment, validation, and a grander purpose is easy to empathize with and an effective framework for this woeful saga. Carolanne’s wounds cut so deep simply because they’re so incredibly commonplace. Everybody wants to feel wanted.

Tender is full of beautiful, gross, expressive artwork that makes the reader squirm in their seat and itch. Hetland’s drawings are simultaneously minimalist and comprehensively layered. They’re  reminiscent of Charles Burns’ Black Hole, in the best way possible. There’s consistently inspired and striking use of spot coloring that elevates Hetland’s story whenever it’s incorporated, invading Tender’s muted world.

Hetland employs effective, economical storytelling that makes clever use of panels and scene construction so that Tender can breeze through exposition and get to the story’s gooey, aching heart. There’s an excellent page that depicts Carolanne’s menial domestic tasks where the repetitive panels grow increasingly smaller to illustrate the formulaic rut that her life has become. It’s magical. Tender is full of creative devices like this that further let the reader into Carolanne’s mind without ever getting clunky or explicit on the matter. The graphic novel is bookended with a simple moment that shifts from sweet to suffocating.

Tender gives the audience a proper sense of who Carolanne is right away. Hetland adeptly defines her protagonist so that readers are immediately on her side, praying that she gets her “happily ever after,” and makes it out of this sick story alive…And then they’re rapidly wishing for the opposite and utterly aghast over this chameleon. There’s also some creative experimentation with non-linear storytelling that gets to the root of Carolanne and continually recontextualizes who she is and what she wants out of life so that the audience is kept on guard.

Tender casually transforms from a picture-perfect rom-com, right down to the visual style, into a haunting horror story. There’s such a natural quality to how Tender presents the melancholy manner in which a relationship — and life — can decay. Once the horror elements hit, they hit hard, like a jackhammer, and don’t relent. It’s hard not to wince and grimace through Tender’s terrifying images. They’re reminiscent of the nightmarish dadaist visuals from The Ring’s cursed videotape, distilled to blunt comic panels that the reader is forced to confront and digest, rather than something that simply flickers through their mind and is gone a moment later. Tender makes its audience marinate in its mania and incubates its horror as if it’s a gestating fetus in their womb.

Tender tells a powerful, emotional, disturbing story, but its secret weapon may be its sublime pacing. Hetland paces Tender in such an exceptional manner, so that it takes its time, sneaks up on the reader, and gets under their skin until they’re dreading where the story will go next. Tender pushes the audience right up to the edge so that they’re practically begging that Carolanne won’t do the things that she does, yet the other shoe always drops in the most devastating manner. Audiences will read Tender with clenched fists that make it a struggle to turn each page, although they won’t be able to stop. Tender isn’t a short story, at more than 160 pages, but readers will want to take their time and relish each page so that this macabre story lasts for as long as possible before it cascades to its tragic conclusion. 

Tender is an accomplished and uncomfortable debut graphic novel from Hetland that reveals a strong, unflinching voice that’s the perfect fit for horror. Tender indulges in heightened flights of fancy and toes the line with the supernatural. However, Tender is so successful at what it does because it’s so grounded in reality and presents a horror story that’s all too common in society. It’s a heartbreaking meditation on loneliness and codependency that’s one of 2024’s must-read horror graphic novels.

‘Tender,’ by Beth Hetland and published by Fantagraphics, is now available.

4 out of 5 skulls

Tender graphic novel review

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