The Pitch: The DC Space Quartet

This one's a little bit different, rather than pitching a specific film, this one's about a few ideas I've had knocking around my head for a little while. For the most part, I continue to be disappointed with the direction of the love-action DC/WB films, even though I actually kind of enjoyed Aquaman and SHAZAM! was genuinely great. Going back and watching more of the DCAU stuff, the feeling that I'm getting is that WB have been neglecting the character of their, well, characters. The Bruce Timm Justice League cartoon series have plenty of room to breathe, and watching it, I really get a good feel for what the characters are like as people. That's the strength of the Marvel films, I can tell you who every character is without having to talk about their powers to identify them, just look; 

Earnest, guilt-driven, wunderkind seeking a father figure
Compassionate, heroic and loyal man out of time 
Shockingly well-rounded, yet acidic, Muppet 

And you can do the same with the DCAU versions of the Justice League, because they're treated as characters rather than icons or archetypes. I know the typical approach to the DC heroes is to treat them as, forgive the pun, "New Gods", but some of the best stories actually don't do this. 52 focuses on Renee Montoya's grief, Booster Gold's feelings of inferiority and Black Adam's attempt to be more human, and it's one of the best series DC has ever done. 
So my idea for WB to break back into the superhero film market as a force to be reckoned with is for them to focus on characters; building interesting characters, making single films about them, then moving on. Build trust in the brand before attempting another Batman or Superman film that no one's really interested in seeing because of how poor the last few were. The great thing about DC comics is that they have so many damn characters to choose from and there's so much potential for great cinema in there. Four films, not linked more than tangentially, with one big nerd drawcard to get that big box office and at least break even. 

Mister Miracle

Beer Mat Pitch: Mister Miracle and Big Barda have grown up on Apokolips being abused, degraded and trained to kill. The pair fall in love and plan their escape, having to best the Female Furies and break free of the influence of Granny Goodness. Darkseid has a cameo and the New Gods mythos gets introduced briefly, but it's mostly Escape from Alcatraz meets Flash Gordon. 

The Drawcard: Betty White plays Granny Goodness. The other actors need to be decent and a lot will hinge on the design department, but a lot of people will turn up to see Betty White torture and beat children in a major Hollywood release. 

Connections: As the first in the "Quartet", Mister Miracle will not have a great deal of connection to the other films (which don't yet exist), but there is room for some fun references to the broader DC universe. Darkseid should appear, but not be a major character and Highfather et al. need to be mentioned, but perhaps a line about the Green Lantern corps or Guardians of the Universe? We'll be coming back to this well though, so keep the New Gods in mind.

Lobo

I know that WB has a Lobo film "in development", but it's been "in development" since the late 1990s, so let's be adults and realise that it's never going to come out. 

Beer Mat Pitch: A mysterious figure hires legendary bounty hunter Lobo to track down Devilance the Pursuer, a renegade from Apokolips who has been attacking and killing Green Lanterns. Lobo travels across the DC universe, briefly encountering people and places like Rand, Daxam, less famous Lanterns and maybe even Mongul. Lobo fights a bunch of guys, maybe the film is rated R and then captures Devilance at the close of the 2nd act. The shadowy figure from the first act turns out to be Lady Styx (or someone in her employ) and there's one more big fight to round out the film. 

The Drawcard: Danny Trejo plays Lobo. Yeah, he's getting on a bit, but "Machete in Space" would get butts in seats and (technically) give us a Latino superhero in a major film. As mentioned above, maybe make it an R film? I'm not sold on the idea that more blood and swearing makes for a better film, but if you don't the fanboys will complain. 

Connections: As Lobo will spend most of the film running around space, there will be plenty of opportunities for cameos and references. Maybe Tomar Re or Kilowog are also tracking Devilance? We should see Rand at some point though, as well as a scene where Lobo talks to Mister Miracle and Big Barda about Apokolips.

Adam Strange

Beer Mat Pitch: Adam Strange is a lonely scientist with dreams of adventure when he is unexpectedly transported to the distant planet of Rand. On Rand, Strange finds that he has increased strength and agility and is far braver than the timid Randians. Strange starts to defend the planet from a series of "threats" that he can easily overcome thanks to his scientific knowledge and the people begin to worship him. Word gets out and soon Lobo turns up to collect on the bounty now on Strange's head and Strange has an actual fight on his hands for the first time. Forced into a corner, Strange finds his inner strength, overcomes Lobo with the help of the Randians, revealing his deception. The Randians forgive Strange for his actions and ask him to remain their hero. 

The Drawcard: Nathan Fillion is Adam Strange. Ok, so I'm about to make some enemies here, but give me a minute of your time. Fillion is not a good actor. No, really. He's a *competent* actor, especially in the pulpy television programmes he tends to be cast in, but he has never had a Hollywood career because he can't carry a full film, as Serenity demonstrated. I'll admit, I don't care for either Castle or Firefly, but Fillion has not had a stellar career, even if considered generously. What Fillion does well, is play people that you like in spite of yourself, and that's what the role needs. Adam Strange is a bit of a prick when you get down to it, and Fillion would be good in this kind of part. 

Connections: As well as the fight with Lobo, it would be cool for Strange to name-drop other DC heroes from Earth, like Superman and so on. We don't see any other heroes, but if they do exist in this setting, they would be obvious points of comparison for Strange.

Space Ghost

Yeah, if you didn't know, Space Ghost is now owned by WB and is canonical in the DC universe, pretty cool, huh? 

Beer Mat Pitch: This film will be a meta-textual examination of nostalgia, comic continuity, the history of superhero cinema and fanboy culture. Not even kidding. While investigating a mysterious portal in space, Space Ghost is sucked into the "Paradise Dimension" where he is met by Alex Luthor. Alex becomes Space Ghost's guide through the multiverse, touching on the original Hanna-Barbera programme, Coast-to-Coast, the Donner Superman films, the Fleischer cartoon, Bruce Timm DCAU, Adam West Batman, Teen Titans cartoons, the Nolan films, Michael Keaton, the Snyder DCU, Comicon and internet comics communities. Space Ghost tries to rationalise what he is seeing, but eventually accepts that every universe [incarnation] has it's own merits and flaws and travels home. 

The Drawcard: The film is kind of just batshit insane and the trailer will need to reflect this. The vibe will be Mystery Science Theater 3000, but with DC multimedia and Space Ghost and Alex Luthor as the hosts. Clips of all of these films and television programmes, as well as specifically-written crossover segments (I can see Kevin Conroy and Ben Affleck being up for this) will attract not only a fanboy audience, but also regular film-goers who want to see what the fuck is going on. 

Connections: As mentioned above, get Kevin Conroy in a do an animated segment where Space Ghost meets Batman, then a live-action one where he meets Batfleck. Have him meet Mister Miracle, Lobo and Adam Strange. Do a insert shot of Space Ghost flying alongside Christopher Reeve. This is a love-letter and deconstruction of the DC multimedia brands, so anything goes, throw it at the wall and see if it sticks.

Well there we go, those are my outsider pitches for the DC film series. Each is intended as a standalone picture, rather than part of an ongoing series, but it does leave room to do more if needs be. Hope you enjoyed it, and let's all hope that the next lot of DC films are better than the last lot.