Award-winning director James Mangold has been tapped for two huge projects in the next few years. Between DC and Star Wars the filmmaker has plenty on his shoulders, but he’s handling the load with enthusiasm and grace. Indie filmmaker Vera Drew is still trying to get her parody movie — The People’s Joker — out of copyright limbo and into the public sphere. The task may prove too much, as Warner Bros. continues to ignore the director’s calls for her film to be released. Meanwhile one incredibly brave soul on Reddit has decided to have one of the worst hot takes we’ve seen in a minute. We definitely support people standing by whatever strikes their fancy, but when even the actors involved in a project pretend they don’t remember it, perhaps it’s time to pick a new underdog to root for.
James Manigold is splitting his time between the DCU and the Star Wars universe
James Mangold is not only making his foray into the world of Star Wars but has also been confirmed as the writer and director of the upcoming Swamp Thing adaptation. James Gunn took to Twitter after Mangold revealed the news to Collider, congratulating the award-winning Logan director on landing his passion projects publicly. Though the filmmaker’s slate appears to be packed to the brim with the two projects, he doesn’t seem overly worried. From the look on Manigold’s face during the interview, the director couldn’t be happier about his stacked workload. The era of Manigold is incoming and fans — as well as the filmmaker himself — could not be more ready for it.
Offbeat Joker movie may never see the light of day again
Parody film, The People’s Joker, director Vera Drew is vying for James Gunn to help push her movie to the mainstream. The film starred Drew alongside a slew of comedic actors from Tim Heidecker (Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job) to Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul). According to the movie’s blurb, the story centered around a transgender woman and aspiring comedian in Gotham City, and it featured several iconic Batman villains including Mr. Freeze, The Penguin, and The Riddler. The unofficial parody was glimpsed by the public only once before “…a media conglomerate that shall remain nameless” demanded the filmmaker cease and desist her distribution of the unlicensed property.
While the film had favorable reviews from critics, it doesn’t seem as though Drew will ever get her wish. Both the studio and Gunn have remained quiet about the potential of The People’s Joker making its way to a DC-adjacent position like Matt Reeves’ The Batman and Todd Phillips’ Joker. With James Gunn’s consistent online presence, his lack of response is most likely confirmation that the film will never see the light of day again.
Some people really have no taste
In one of the most controversial moves of the last year, one brave Redditor has taken it upon themselves to argue that 2011’s Green Lantern’s main baddie — Paralax — really wasn’t all that bad. The film was largely lambasted at the time of release with fans furious about the changes to Hal Jordan’s — aka the eponymous Green Lantern’s — backstory and casual viewers puzzled by the film’s reliance on terrible CGI. Green Lantern remains easily one of the worst superhero films of the last two decades with the film holding an abysmal 45% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Leading man Ryan Reynolds has even joined fans in ragging on the film, going so far as to live Tweet his first viewing of the movie while throwing back cocktails.
The lone Redditor seemed to be the only supporter of the action flick, with most commenters questioning their sanity and out right refusing to hear an argument in favor of the movie. While we admire their fortitude in fighting the flow of popular opinion it’s hard to take the argument seriously when Reynold’s co-star, director Taika Waititi has even joked that he has never heard of the film.
