Comic-Con: DC characters will be meeting on screen

A trademark of Marvel Comics in the 1960s was “the crossover”— when one character would pop up in another hero's title (Spider-Man would meet the Fantastic Four, the Silver Surfer would fly into Thor’s book, etc.) and now they’re doing it with their movies with Nick Fury popping up in “Iron Man” and Tony Stark sauntering into “The Incredible Hulk.”

They are building toward a planned Avengers movie and their longtime rival, DC, has taken note.

We heard a few weeks ago that Warner Bros. executives had decided to look at second- and third-tier characters as movie prospects and for opportunities to have them cross paths on screen (although a previously announced Justice League movie has been put on hold after it lost momentum during the writers strike).

On Thursday, DC Comics President Paul Levitz smiled when asked if DC characters such as Superman and Batman might finally meet on screen. “Keep watching the movies,” Levitz said. “Keep watching.”

It’s a great season for DC with the massive opening of “The Dark Knight” and the critical reception for the trailer for “Watchmen.” “It’s amazing what Christopher Nolan has done with ‘Dark Knight,’ bringing the character into a realistic world, while Zack Snyder looked at ‘Watchmen’ and said, ‘I think I can create this world,’" he said.

In the past week, DC ordered up a new 200,000-copy print run of the "Watchmen" trade paperback because of a flurry of consumer interest after the trailer. “Its all very exciting,” Levitz said. “A graphic novel went to No. 2 on Amazon because of a movie trailer. That’s not something we’ve seen before.”

— Geoff Boucher

Superman drawn by Jim Lee, courtesy of DC Comics.

Comments

[Nave Hayder]

Alan Moore is probably still upset about WATCHMEN...
On the other hand, can any one please specify what the Green Arrow/Incarceration 'film' rumour has been popping around the net? It gets crazy, but apparently from what I heard, DC is making a Villains-United-ish film showcasing some of the 'third tier' characters Levitz mentions here.

[Geoff Boucher]

Nate, check out this post:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2008/07/news-on-the-fla.html