An Initial Roadmap Charted for the DC Universe

Exciting (and much needed) new developments are afoot at the DC Universe!

DC is heralding the overhaul of its Universe spanning movies, shows, animation, and games. Spearheading their efforts is Co-CEO James Gunn, a wunderkind producer, who has the resourceful Peter Safran by his side as the other Co-CEO. Together, they are working to breathe new life into what has mostly been moody, dark superhero films that have not found success at levels that Marvel Studios have (Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy should be considered a cut and a franchise in itself apart).

James is on a sort of Kevin Feige (Marvel’s head of Studios) journey over at DC – and given that he’s had a good run himself at Marvel with the Guardians movie franchise, he has learnt from and with the best, so this should be exciting to say the least and certainly intriguing. And he’s shown early signs of that at DC helming the show Peacemaker.

DC’s slate of awesome characters from the dark, moody Batman (and Bat family), the above-reproach overpowered hero that is Superman, the interesting Lanterns, the strong female hero Wonder Woman, the ever-witty Flash, and the rest – all need the storytelling prowess and overarching arcs that we have become accustomed to (even fatigued a little, perhaps) at Marvel.

Given that DC is owned by the Warner Brothers group, which also owns the HBO platform, so far DC’s forays have largely neglected and underutilized the platform that is admired for the quality of their content and the talent of their writers & makers. That seems about to change, and would surely be welcome.

We, as audience to the unfolding, competing superhero Universe shall truly be the beneficiary of these craftsmen’s machinations and imaginations.

Onwards!

And the Song (of Freedom) Plays On: Salud, Tareque Masud

Tareque Masud (তারেক মাসুদ), the brilliant Bangladeshi independent film director, is no more.

He died on 13 August, 2011 in a road accident on the Dhaka-Aricha highway, at Joka of Ghior upazilla in Manikganj district, while returning to Dhaka from Manikganj, having visited a shooting spot for his latest project “Kagojer Phool”. ATN News CEO, eminent media personality Ashfaque (Mishuk) Munier, son of 1971 martyred intellectual Munier Chowdhury, and teacher of video communication at the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism of the University of Dhaka, and three others also died in the fatal road accident as the microbus carrying them collided head-on with an oncoming bus.

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