With the recent news that Ava Duvernay (Selma, A Wrinkle In Time) has been hired to direct a DC film centring around Jack Kirby’s New Gods characters. I'm very happy that this is happening. As I've said before on this blog I think that a New Gods film is a good idea. Their lore has been alluded to quite a bit in the DCEU, but they haven’t been properly developed. So, here are my own 5 ideas for the film. Just to clarify, I’m not stating that these things must be in the film, but that they could work for the story.
New Gods was written by Jack Kirby back in the 1960s and is primarily about two feuding planets that call themselves the New Gods: There's New Genesis, which is home to High-Father and is basically like Olympus, except a planet. And then there's Apokalips, which is a Hellscape and is home to the ultimate DC bad guy, Darkseid, who was teased in Justice League (2017, Zack Snyder/Joss Whedon). So expect him to show up in this film!
New Gods was written by Jack Kirby back in the 1960s and is primarily about two feuding planets that call themselves the New Gods: There's New Genesis, which is home to High-Father and is basically like Olympus, except a planet. And then there's Apokalips, which is a Hellscape and is home to the ultimate DC bad guy, Darkseid, who was teased in Justice League (2017, Zack Snyder/Joss Whedon). So expect him to show up in this film!
1. Orion as the protagonist
Arguably the 3rd most well-known New God, after Darkseid and, now, Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds). Orion would make a pretty good main protagonist. His story is that in an attempt at peace, Darkseid and High-Father swapped sons (Of course). And so High-Father raised Darkseid’s son, Orion. Because of this, Orion is a very interesting character. Embodying the conflict between Nature and Nurture, as he tries to live by the morals of New Genesis, but he still has a couple of his father’s tendencies. So he would make a good protagonist for the film.
However, some fans may draw some parallels between him and Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) from Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014, James Gunn). In the sense that he's a space-trotting hero with serious father issues. But I believe Duvernay can make Orion his own character if she wishes to use him as her main protagonist.
Since I've talked about Orion, let’s talk about High-Father’s son who was raised on Apokalips. Scott Free, A.K.A: Mister Miracle. The best Escape-Artist in the DC universe. Who is also quite an interesting character. Enough that even he could fill the role of the main protagonist if Duvernay wished. Perhaps even having the story focus on how he escaped the X-Pit, where children are trained to fight for Darkseid.
At the moment Mister Miracle has a mini-series going on right now in the comics, written by Tom King, which is really good and has been very popular among comic book fans. So, because of this, it would make sense to have him as the main protagonist.
However, I would personally prefer Orion being the main protagonist. Mainly because he's the better known of the two. But, if Duvernay wanted to, she could make a good film with Mister Miracle as the main protagonist.
However, some fans may draw some parallels between him and Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) from Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014, James Gunn). In the sense that he's a space-trotting hero with serious father issues. But I believe Duvernay can make Orion his own character if she wishes to use him as her main protagonist.
2. Or Mister Miracle?
At the moment Mister Miracle has a mini-series going on right now in the comics, written by Tom King, which is really good and has been very popular among comic book fans. So, because of this, it would make sense to have him as the main protagonist.
However, I would personally prefer Orion being the main protagonist. Mainly because he's the better known of the two. But, if Duvernay wanted to, she could make a good film with Mister Miracle as the main protagonist.
3. The Forever People as the supporting cast
If Orion is going to be the main protagonist then I believe the Forever People would make a good supporting cast. These guys are like the Guardians Of The Galaxy meets if they were Gods. They appeared in an episode of Young Justice (2011-2013) where they had to find someone who's trafficking New God tech to Earth. I really liked that episode and was very intrigued by the Forever People in it. So I think they would make for interesting characters in the film.
Unfortunately, the team doesn’t really have a huge presence in the comics, I only know them because of Young Justice. But perhaps, if Duvernay wants them in the film, she could mould them into a bigger group, similar to what James Gunn did with Guardians Of The Galaxy.
Unfortunately, the team doesn’t really have a huge presence in the comics, I only know them because of Young Justice. But perhaps, if Duvernay wants them in the film, she could mould them into a bigger group, similar to what James Gunn did with Guardians Of The Galaxy.
4. Big Barda
A personal favourite of Ava Duvernay’s (She Mentioned it on Twitter). Big Barda has quite a sizable fan base. A member of Darkseid’s Furies, an elite fighting force made out of female warriors, who defected and became a hero. And since Duvernay has expressed admiration for the character, it's almost assured that she'll play a strong role in the film.
Big Barda is also considered one of the best fighters in the DC universe, rivalling even Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot). So maybe Duvernay might be able to direct a kick-ass fight scene with her, either against the Furies as a defector or against the Protagonists as a villain. Either way, it would be great to see her fighting skills, similar to what we saw in Wonder Woman (2017, Patty Jenkins) with the No Man's Land scene, or the warehouse fight in Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016, Zack Snyder).
Big Barda is also considered one of the best fighters in the DC universe, rivalling even Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot). So maybe Duvernay might be able to direct a kick-ass fight scene with her, either against the Furies as a defector or against the Protagonists as a villain. Either way, it would be great to see her fighting skills, similar to what we saw in Wonder Woman (2017, Patty Jenkins) with the No Man's Land scene, or the warehouse fight in Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016, Zack Snyder).
5. Desaad as the main villain/Darkseid as a puppet-master.
Much like how Justice League had Steppenwolf to allude to Darkseid, I think the New Gods film should do the same with Desaad. Whilst Steppenwolf was a general and was a physical threat, Desaad is more like an evil scientist. Creating weapons and creatures to derve Apokalips. Desaad has quite an interesting story, being originally from New Genesis and being corrupted into becoming Darkseid’s servant and chief torturer, taking pleasure out of inflicting pain. That's something that could work really well into his character. As many fans complained that Steppenwolf was 1-dimensional and had very little character. Duvernay could fix that by having a character like Desaad, making him more of a layered villain.
Of course, Duvernay doesn't have to use Desaad. If she wanted to focus more on Big Barda and Mister Miracle then she could have Granny Goodness (Trust me, that name is ironic!) as the main villain instead. Which could also work.
As for Darkseid, I'd say having him be the main antagonist would be jumping the gun a little. As Marvel waited to build up Thanos (Josh Brolin) for Avengers: Infinity War (2018, Joe Russo/Anthony Russo), I believe DC should do the same for Darkseid and save him for a Justice League sequel (If it ever happens). Maybe just have one scene with him where he's seen to be quite intimidating and menacing, but that's it.
So these are my top 5 story ideas for the New Gods film. Was there anything I missed? Or anything you disagree with? What would you like to see in a New Gods Movie? Please leave a comment down below. And, if you liked this post, you can follow Cinema_Stuff for more content. Thank you for reading. :)
Of course, Duvernay doesn't have to use Desaad. If she wanted to focus more on Big Barda and Mister Miracle then she could have Granny Goodness (Trust me, that name is ironic!) as the main villain instead. Which could also work.
As for Darkseid, I'd say having him be the main antagonist would be jumping the gun a little. As Marvel waited to build up Thanos (Josh Brolin) for Avengers: Infinity War (2018, Joe Russo/Anthony Russo), I believe DC should do the same for Darkseid and save him for a Justice League sequel (If it ever happens). Maybe just have one scene with him where he's seen to be quite intimidating and menacing, but that's it.
So these are my top 5 story ideas for the New Gods film. Was there anything I missed? Or anything you disagree with? What would you like to see in a New Gods Movie? Please leave a comment down below. And, if you liked this post, you can follow Cinema_Stuff for more content. Thank you for reading. :)
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