DC is planning on ramping up their film franchises based on their comic books, and one of the projects on their radar has been Green Arrow. In fact, it appears that TWO Green Arrow projects were being considered simultaneously. An Origin story, and the proposed Supermax.
Fused Film quotes David Goyer about Supermax
“We’re working on that. We’re about to bring on another writer. Obviously, Warner Bros. is now heavily into mining all of the various DC properties.”
The writer mentioned is Justin Marks and he is leaving the project. Goyer also went on to discuss aspects of the Green Arrow character being behind bars:
“We came up with the idea and thought it could work in either the Marvel or the DC universe. It needed that type of character and there are analogues in both universes. Green Arrow seemed to make the most amount of sense.”
I am a looking forward to the Green Arrow on-screen, I like his character in the Smallville universe and think that he can have a similar look and feel that Batman got from Nolan. The SuperMax story also sounds pretty sweet and can’t wait to see what villians they use and when can start to hear more about a release date, etc.
David Goyer told Wizard Magazine last year that, “We’ve populated the prison with all sorts of B and C villains from the DC Universe. For the fans, there will be all sorts of characters the hardcore comic book junkies will know, but they’re all going to be there under their human names and no one is wearing a costume, but there will be a lot of characters with powers and things like that.”
Now don’t get me wrong. I like that they are digging up a metric pantload of D-List villains to make this superhero prison break badguy extravaganza into a film.
But why Green Arrow? Couldn’t they do this with just about any B-List super? The Supermax idea is a good one. Hero gets wrongly accused and locked away in a jail for superpowered criminals and has to break out and clear his name. That’s made of neato.
My problem with this is that Green Arrow, aside from being a master martial artist – is just a guy with an uncanny ability with a bow. Take away that Bow and he is still a non superpowered person. Why put him in a jail with other superpowers? There is nothing more than a steel cage needed to restrain him.
Furthermore, the thing that makes Green Arrow all sorts of cool is his bow. So why have a movie introducing the general masses to a character who is great with a bow and then having a good portion of the movie without it?
This thing is filled with plotholes before it even starts. Make an Iron Fist movie and put him in Supermax. Or any other POWERED superhero.
But this other Origin story for Green Arrow would be cool. He was always an Environmental Warrior crossed with Robin Hood (an obvious inspiration)
Other than that, I really look forward to seeing what they can do with Oliver Queen and hopefully keep him in line with the degree of the recent Batman films.
I’m not gonna bash it before I read a final draft of the plot, but it doesn’t sound like a horrible idea to me…other than the name “Supermax” might throw sm ppl off, there are a lot of loose ends to be tied up of course. Oliver Queen may not be Super-powered but I wouldn’t classify him as normal either, he is a grand martial artist & an expert MARKSMAN, not jst good with a bow…so take away his arrow & he still can do wonders with anything he can get his hands on, he’s also a diabolical thinker, so much like the Bats, he’s no mere mortal simply because he’s jst a man. I think it’ll be a great show of human will to put him in that environment & for us to anticipate how he’s gonna get out. I can’t wait till they get working on either an origin story, Supermax or a tantalizing mix of both.
They have to have some kind of a green arrow movie simply because he was included in the thor movie. The reason we like batman and the green arrow IS that they are mere mortals.
I think you’re confusing Green Arrow with Hawkeye from the Avengers. Different comic book companies…
Yo I like the green Arrow, supermax idea but they should definitely make an orgin story first. Something similar to Christopher Nolan’s Batman. They all exist in the same world but they all should influence one another in same way, contact, am encounter, etc. but related to the comics. All come to life at different events from the result of so and so. I don’t know I have ideas for green arrow.
Rodney kept saying that GA or Batman cannot bend bars. Why would he need to bend the bars to get out. There are other ways. He’s like MacGyver x 100. Bending bars is not the only way, you know? Although he can always do the Jackie Chan trick in Shanghai Noon by peeing on the shirt…….
Anyway, I’m sure the writers knows about comic books superheroes. I’m sure if he had written a GA script, he is well familiar with who GA is, the histories, interpretations, etc. I’m sure he’s probably much more knowledgeable about GA than most of us. Goyer co-wrote the Batman Begins & TDK for goodness sake. I don’t think we need to teach him about who GA is.
I’m going to shift gears here from most of the comments thus far, and it’s not going to be pretty.
No to both.
Either both will cancel each other out, or one will be made and not the other. Some folks will want “The Arrow” movie (I agree the ‘Green’ should be dropped, but not be remamed ‘Queen Arrow’) and have Oliver Queen champion the underclass and take on social issues (perhaps even being into…”green”) …
and the other half will want a version of Supermax, which is so interchangable, you don’t need Green Arrow. I suppose Goyer can make another Death Warrant if he could… (undercover officer in a corrupt prison etc.) where a “hero” could go in undercover and not need to escape, but rather get info or solve a mystery.
NOW
There is a case to be made. Anyone remember the “Fortress” flicks w/ Christopher Lambert? Or that section in “Face Off”?
Before you pat me on the back and say ‘yeah, way to go!’ keep in mind the non-powered protags of those films had help in escaping those high-high tech prisons, and there were characters who died during such escapes.
But again, I’m sticking to my overall impression here: neither project will take root. Unless one is a sequel/prequel. But that’s about it.
Why?
Is david goyer directing it? He’s a good writer, but awful director. The unborn was laughable and the invisible was the only movie to give me hepatitis, the more it continued, the weaker i got.
I am super excited about this if they do it right. I hope it happens. Daredevil would be the marvel charachter I’d choose for the same senario, they have kind of done it in the comics.
Actully I thing writing a non-superpowed person into triumph over those with could work well.
I agree with the idea that they should do a Green Arrow origin movie first and then the idea for the Supermax movie should be incorporated into a sequel. That would be a really unique take on a superhero movie.
Honestly, doesn’t this sound like Goyer was wanting to do this as a Batman movie? There is a great TPB collection of a Batman arc called Batman: The Last Arkham where he gets locked away in Arkham Asylum along with the baddies from his Rogue’s Gallery.
Either way, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this changed to a different hero or made into a sequel. If you have enough confidence that there should be two green arrow flicks, make them together as a sequel and release them in the summer and then at Christmas. The first being an origin where it ends with him getting busted, and the second with him in the clink.
ABSOLUTELY HE COULD ESCAPE! HE’S BATMAN, FOR PETE’S SAKES! Tell me you haven’t seen a Batman comic lately, Rodney! “Even if he could beat up a guard”?!? “He is still just a man”?!? You gotta be kidding, man! These guys are SUPERHEROES, and I hate to send like a fanatic or idealist, but what sets those guys apart isn’t “toys.” The powers are a plus, not the reason they’re heroes. You’re just jerking me around, right?
But not superpowered. They take precautions to keep people in jail, and Batman or not, escape is unlikely. If they captured Batman they wouldnt think twice about putting him in a normal jail. He is a man. Not Superman.
Even Batman cannot break bars. Yes, he could devise an escape because he is a supergenius. But you presume that he is a man and a man cannot bend bars.
A criminal gets thrown in jail for shooting someone, you take away his gun now he is not a threat. Bars still hold him.
Batman CANNOT bend bars nor does he require any additional considerations should they choose to lock him away. Yes, the plot demands that he does not rot in jail so he would escape, but he would escape the supermax too if that were the case so its a moot point.
He is still a man and doesnt belong in a prison designed to detail people who can throw cars.
I think of it this way: in reality I’ve heard of prison breaks before. They may be rare but they do happen. And these escapees are “normal men,” common criminals. Now take someone like Batman who by all accounts is just a man, but an extraordinary man. Someone who’s always thinking several moves ahead, master of several martial arts, a borderline genius. Now if such a person where to exist in the real world I can imagine him being jailed in a state-of-the-art maximum security prison, not a common pokey. I consider Supermax the comic book version of such a prison.
But you create a contradiction. “There are dozens of movies where people escape from prisons.” So if escaping is doable and common enough in average, ordinary prisons, and GA’s abilities(although not superhuman) are way above average, then who in their right mind would place him in a regular prison? Superprison might be overkill, but given the two choices, wouldn’t they have to go with Supermax as the only possible option? (but, like you said, not that it’ll matter, since he’ll escape either way!) And for the record, either Batman or GA would have no problem either busting out a set of bars or snapping a regular pair of handcuffs.
I create no contradiction. Normal prisons hold normal people. And regardless of how crafty you are, you still cant bend bars. This is why they have special prisons (in the comics) for superpowered types.
And Green Arrow is not “way above average” He is simply way above average with a bow and has some martial arts training.
Are you to suggest that if they put Chuck Norris in jail that they would have to build a new one more powerful and more capable to house his superhuman martial arts ability?
Oliver is just a man. So is Bruce.
I also didn’t say that escaping from prisons is common and doable. Just that there are movies that have that as the plot. But remember, those movies do that FOR the plot. If it was a real life prison break movie it would go a little something like this:
Door Closes, key turns. Role Credits.
If the premise included putting a superhuman in superhuman jail, then I could see that. But accepting that they made this special jail to hold special powered people, it makes no sense that they would put a non powered human in there.
We have jails for those sort of people in the real world and its very rare for people to get out of there without paperwork.
Y’know, part of GA’s abilities include improvising make shift weapons.
You’ve actually the point of the entire super hero genre Rodney. It’s not “super” that make the hero, it’s the “man”.
I agree with Rodney. The formula for Supermax could work for just about any hero. Hell, it could be the next Batman movie. But why Green Arrow take away his arrows and you got nothing. Unless they turn him into McGuyver or he finds a way to smuggle a bow and quiver up his ass I dont see how this movie would work.
I agree about the great idea of Supermax and it being a risk as a way to introduce him to the public, so I would hope that of the two, the origin story would come first. So as a sequel, it would be awesome. The only lousy part is us knowing we would have to wait for an idea that we already can’t wait to see.
“There is nothing more than a steel cage needed to restrain him.” Sorry, Rodney, gotta give you a big disagree on that one. How many non-superpowered villains and heroes are out there that could no way be contained in just a plain old cell? I think the spirit of the phrase “super-powered criminals” is more intended to mean “supercriminals,” covering ALL supers, with or without superpowers. Supermax would be the only way to go for guys like Green Arrow.
I think it’s generally accepted that every superhero has superstrength by default.
Apparently!
Robb, are you suggesting that Batman (without his toys) could escape a locked jail cell? Sorry. Not buying that at all. Even if he could beat up a guard, there are still dozens of safeguards and backups that make sure that an inmate cannot escape. He is still just a man.
Green Arrow is just a man and therefore has the same limitations as any other man who can’t bend bars with his bare hands.
Didn’t Bruce Wayne/Batman escape from jail during “Bruce Wayne: Murder?” story arch? I’m fairly certain he did, but my memory is a tad fuzzy. He also escaped from Arkham Asylum in Shadow of the Bat. That Batman is a slippery one.
I apologize for the typos. :-)
There are dozens of movies where people escape from prisons. My point is that they are designed for people.
A prison designed for super powers is overkill for someone who is a normal man. There is no reason to think that Oliver Queen would require additional considerations when no matter HOW hard he pulls on them normal everyday handcuffs could thwart his escape.
@Rodney
(Still with your Batman example) Considering Bats broke out of Blackgate Penitentiary and Arkham, Supermax may be the only way to successfully contain the guy. Even then, being the master strategist he is, I imagine him finding a flaw in the security and busting out.
Now back to Ollie, he may not have superpowers but I wouldn’t consider him a “normal man,” who could be incarcerated in a regular prison. His martial arts mastery alone would make him a handful in regular clinks.
“We’re about to bring on another writer.”
I’d get used to that quote. I have a feeling we’ll be hearing it for a good few years to come.
Too many ‘Green’ hero movies coming out. It’s gonna get confusing.
There’s only two.
Green Hornet, Green Lantern, now Green Arrow. Any others that could get a movie?
Ah, totally forgot about Green Hornet (go figure). Now there’s only three.
Hopefully they don’t all come out around the same time.
There’s an early draft of the Supermax script out there that I’ve read, and he uses his bow and arrow for a great portion of the film. Way to judge it before you know anything about it. To say its filled with plotholes, when there is no possible way for you to know that, is quite silly.
How do you know the script you read hasn’t changed drastically? Way to judge him before you know anything about what he knows. To say you know what script they will use and how this will pan out, when there is no possible way for you to know that, is quite silly.
I am not judging the FILM’s plotholes, I am simply pointing out that the premise is already in danger of not making sense.
The Supermax is a prison for SUPERpowered criminals. Even if Arrow was convicted of a crime, he wouldnt be sent to THAT prison.
In the draft I read, its not for superpowered villains alone, just super-villains in general that can’t be held in regular jails because they keep managing to escape. Think almost like Arkum Asylum, just for criminals of all kinds, not just the insane ones, and with much better security measures.
I hope DC finally gets moving on their film franchises. I’m dying to see Green Arrow, The Flash and Superman make it to the big screen.