Before it became popular in the current era, DC has been presenting its comic book adaptations in film form for a long time and some of these classics have been forgotten by fans. Comic book adaptations have become very popular in the last decade. The rise of the concept of a cinematic universe has made fans very excited about these movies.
Various production companies then competed to submit films with comic book adaptations, whether they were directly adapted or not. DC is an example of this. Before it became as popular as it is today, DC has been putting out movie adaptations of its comics since the 1980s. Unfortunately, this classic DC movie has been forgotten by many people. What are movies?
catwoman
The early 2000s were a less than stellar period for comic book film adaptations. Presenting a movie that connects one story to another in the same universe was a luxurious concept at the time. This is what later made DC adapt Catwoman’s story as a solo film, in which Halle Berry is the main lead.
Unfortunately, Catwoman flopped on the market. This is because the movie has almost no story elements from the comics. Therefore, this movie is considered as a separate movie that is different from the comic. There are no references to other characters, like Batman, which is another reason. Not to mention, the script, which was deemed inauspicious, made this movie a nightmare for Halle Berry.
swamp thing
Swamp Thing is a 1982 DC film directed by Wes Craven. The premise of the movie itself is not far from the comic story, namely how Swamp Thing, played by two actors, fights against his nemesis Anton Arcane. Swamp Thing is a movie with a modest production cost of $2.5 million.
With production costs that are considered too cheap, the results of this film are not optimal. In the film, it is shown how the figure of the Swamp Thing, aka Alec Holland, actually looks like a toy compared to the avatar figure of the green creature. The interesting thing is that DC presented a sequel to this movie in 1989 with the title The Return of Swamp Thing.
human goals
Real name Christopher Chance, he is a Human Target, a private detective and also a bodyguard who can be hired for his services. In DC Comics, Chance is a character that is not very popular. However, what is interesting is that he was adapted twice in the live action version. The first was in 1992 for ABC and 2010 for Fox.
In the 2010 series, Chance was said to be a former assassin who turned his profession into a bodyguard. He uses his spying skills to protect his clients. The inaugural season itself could be considered a great success, but the second season failed to follow up on the success of the inaugural season. It was maintained, finally the series was canceled at the end of the second season.
Powerless
Powerless is a series that airs on NBC and is called “DC’s First Comedy.” Powerless is a sitcom set in the DC universe and starring Vanessa Hudgens and Danny Pudi. Although in the first seasons the series seemed very convincing, in the end NBC decided to cancel this series.
NBC didn’t even air the last three episodes of the series. Although Powerless is finally available in a streaming format, there certainly won’t be a sequel to the series. The reactions of the people themselves varied regarding this series. There are those who enjoy humor, but there are also those who actually enjoy it less. There are many things that appear in the story that are not original and the story does not have a definite direction.
Steel
Shaquille O’Neil starred in a DC movie called Steel. The movie sees O’Neil as John Henry Irons aka Steel. The film does not present the origin story of the comic version of Steel and his connection to Superman. Steel actually features a story where Irons is a weapons engineer who later becomes a hero by the name of Steel to prevent his technology from being used for evil.
The Steel movie itself can still be enjoyed on a casual basis, even though the overall movie is very bad. O’Neil was pretty good at acting as John Henry Irons, which unfortunately failed to elicit the right emotions in a few moments. The quality of Steel’s battle armor also seems very poor, making it look more like a costume party than armor for fighting.
justice league of america
In 1997, the CBS television channel created a pilot series project for the Justice League of America. The series itself did not last long, but several episodes of the series managed to feature less popular characters. Examples are Fire, Ice, Atom, Green Lantern Guy Gardner, and even Barry Allen the Flash and Martian Manhunter.
Ridiculously, CBS tried to present the concept of the legendary “Friends” series that was applied to the Justice League of America, the result of which was not good and chaotic. The series also features a comedy element that does not match the character description of these superheroes.
Birds of prey
Warner Bros. once produced a series called Birds of Prey, which is a loose adaptation of the comic story. Set in Gotham, which is no longer protected by Batman, Barbara Gordon assumes the identity of Oracle. Along with Huntress, aka Helena Kyle, who is the daughter of Catwoman and Batman, and Dinah Lance, she makes up the Birds of Prey group.
The series, which consisted of 13 episodes, initially received a positive reception and response. However, as the story progresses, this series begins to be abandoned by the audience. Although the story is quite interesting, there are many things that have been changed from the original source. And many fans are not happy about it. They briefly appeared in the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover in the Arrowverse.
jon hex
In 2010, the WB production company and Legendary Pictures had produced a feature film adapted from the popular bounty hunter character, Jonah Hex. John Brollin was appointed to play the main character and John Malkovich as the main villain. However, Jonah Hex failed in the market, which received a lot of negative reviews and criticism from various parties.
Some of the reasons for the movie’s failure are because the plot is boring and lacks focus. The fans cannot understand what is the intention and the essence of the story presented in the film. Other than that, Josh Brolin’s performance as Hex was widely praised. And this makes Jonah Hex appear in many animated projects and appear in the Legend of Tomorrow series.
batman vs dracula
Batman vs. Dracula is an animated film that was released in 2005. This crossover film was adapted from The Batman animated series and the novel Dracula which was released in 1897. The film itself focuses on Batman’s efforts to stop the vampire king who is working with the Joker and the Penguin. What’s interesting is that this isn’t the first time Batman and Dracula have crossed paths. In the Elseworld story there is also another story, namely Batman & Dracula: Red Rain. Batman vs. Dracula himself is quite interesting to watch. Unfortunately, this has become one of DC’s forgotten classics.
supergirl
DC’s last forgotten classic is Supergirl. The Superman movie starring Christopher Reeves was one of the most successful movies of the 1980s. Unfortunately, however, many fans forget that the movie has a spin-off called Supergirl. This movie was released in 1984 and is the work of Tri-Star Pictures.
Helen Slater was cast to star in the lead role of the movie and Marc McClure was cast as Jimmy Olsen, the role he played in the Superman movie. What many fans regret about this movie is that even though Supergirl and Superman are in the same continuity, the two have never met. However, on yesterday’s The Flash, the two finally appeared together.
These forgotten DC classics should serve as a valuable lesson for WB Discovery and DC Studios, who are now building a new cinematic universe. They must not make the same mistakes as before. On the other hand, they can also draw some positive points from these forgotten projects.
