Wow, IESB has been doing a ton of research and lead following to get to the bottom of the Justice League of America movie. The latest gossip is the movie will not be all CGI after all, but rather will incorporate motion capture where necessary.
The other big surprise ISEB’s reporters have dug up is that Smallville’s Tom Welling has been approached to don the supertights.
We contacted Tom Welling’s reps over at CAA and were quickly (and I mean quickly!) transferred to the PR department of theatrical releases for comment, we are waiting on an official comment at this time.
But what about the shooting schedule of Smallville that is supposed to go through around April you ask? Word is, the production of Smallville in Vancouver is even willing to work around whatever Welling’s schedule may be in order for their small screen superhero to make the jump to theaters. Or my thought is, maybe they will continue and completely turn the show over to the new girl in town, Kara, aka Supergirl.
As we updated in the Tom Welling article, Supermanhomepage.com is saying Al Gough says no, Welling is not involved in the JLA movie. But, I am telling you, we have triple checked this out and all indications are that Tom Welling in fact is a go on the WB side. I rechecked with my sources and they are all still saying yes, yes Tom Welling, yes Justice League, yes production starts early next year and yes Smallville will have to work around it. Believe me, the IESB will be the first to post a retraction on a story if we are proved wrong, but right now, this is what we are hearing. We have been sitting on the Tom Welling info for almost a week and finally felt we had gathered enough back-up to post it. Currently, we’ve got a lead on who is being looked at for Batman but we need some further info and confirmation before we announce it!
Well, if this is the truth, then why not take the Junior Lifeguard Association from Smallville and put them all in the movie?
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You know what, I liked “S” Returns well enough, but if they need to reboot and amp up the punching, that’s fine by me. We got at least two lyrical, introspective, dramatic film versions of the Man of Steel. Now can we please have a movie about the guy who truly put Action Comics on the map that actually has some ACTION? I’m talking Darkseid, Mongul, Doomsday, Brainiac, Bizarro, Superboy Prime punching action! Pow pow pow, with Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Flash, Batman, Hawkgirl, and the rest of the JLA throwing down in an intergalactic brouhaha that could make the fight at the end of X-Men 3 look about as action-packed as a pee wee soccer game.
If there’s one way to replace Routh without looking like the ultimate “yes, we f***ed up” switcheroo (coughHULKcough…though I liked HULK) it’s by putting Welling in there. It’s a safe bet that Welling realizes he’s never going to be the next Brad Pitt or George Clooney and might as well exploit his niche as best he can. Good for him, and Superman is so iconic I don’t want to see yet another new face muddying the waters. There shouldn’t be more than a small handful of actors playing a character per generation. It’s like James Bond. It’s also a (small) reason that the Burton/Schumacher Batman films give absolutely no sense of continuity. So go Tom Welling!
I wouldn’t mind seeing the Junior Lifeguard Assc. in the film, but the whole point of using those particular characters on Smallville was that all of the big guns were blackballed by DC for TV use. If you can use Wally West, you don’t need Bart Allen, etc…
I know actors hate being typecast and many of them have HUGE egos, but dammit, there’s nothing wrong with being typecast in a single role or genre as long as you’re getting paid well for it. Any actor who thinks being a “one-trick” pony is beneath them should try stepping into Average Joe’s shoes…don’t most of us regular slobs get paid for doing the same thing for 20-30 years and call it a career?
Tom Welling as the silver screen Superman? Could this spell doom for Brandon Routh?
Hell, I’m all for it. I mark out for Smallville anyway.
I think I watched the premiere episode of Smallville oh so many years ago, and was left with a ‘meh’ type feeling. I know there are hardcore fans of it, and many detractors as well. It’s obvious that WB has no faith in Brandon Routh. I thoroughly enjoyed SR, but it really did need Superman punching the shit out of some baddie. Now a JLA movie, I have a feeling the SFX would end up looking shitty like … Fantastic Four. Unless they’ll throw in some B-Leaguers to bring that budget down. Hey I figure if Welling has been hanging around long enough, throw him a bone and reward him for keeping that shitty network afloat.
Good call on the Supergirl idea.
I find Tom Welling a good fit when he played the young Clark Kent. Some actors just click for the look of a certain role. Tom fit as “superboy” much like Cristopher Reeves fit as Superman, at least to me (Dean Cain, not so much I must say). No one has yet to hit that sweet spot for Bruce Wayne but Bale at least fits him better than his predecessors. Anyway, as much as I’d like Tom to do this I just don’t think he looks “old” enough. I mean some people just look like a certain age, and have profiles that fit a certain age. Susan Sarandon, for instance, never really looked “young” even when she was in her thirties. I though she was either in her forties or fifties. Julia Stiles has an older woman look to her (not “old” old, it’s more of a presence of a lady as oppose to a teen girl). People like Michael J Fox looked to be twenty even around thirty. It’s the boyish look. Tom Welling has that “boyish” look but Reeves had a more adult look even in his twenties. My point is I don’t think Tom Welling looks “adult” to play Superman (not saying he can’t though).
You want to see Susan Sarandon look young?
Go watch Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Don’t rent. Go find a midnight showing somewhere.
It’s worth it.
She’s hot.
Tom Welling would make a good Superman, though.
Go for it.