Booster Gold (Greg Berlanti)

Our buddies over at Heroic Hollywood now report that Zak Penn is being courted to leave Marvel’s camp for DC’s playpen, circling to script the Blue Beetle/Booster Gold team-up film.

Booster Gold and Blue Beetle, two DC Comics superheros that have long been rumored to appear in either an upcoming film or TV show, are now being groomed for a team-up feature from Warner Bros. Sources exclusive to The Tracking Board can now confirm that Greg Berlanti, the force behind the successful DC comics TV series Arrow and The Flash, will be heavily involved with this one, set to direct and executive produce. Sarah Schechter will also executive produce, while Julia Spiro will oversee for the studio.

In a massively different approach from Warner’s current slate, the film will team the two heroes together in what’s being pitched as a superhero buddy cop movie. Comedy is the emphasis here, which is a stark contrast to the other titles in DC’s Cinematic Universe, breaking the mold of the uber serious and grounded Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

The Booster Gold/Blue Beetle team-up movie is only another in a long line from Warner, which is developing several crossover films for it’s DC characters, with Suicide Squad, Justice League, and Green Lantern Corps to name a few.

Consider Booster Gold the DC universe’s equivalent of Tony Stark, as he’s known for brandishing a similarly sized ego and even a trusty robot companion. Among DC readers, Booster is beloved for his snarky attitude, flashy nature, and reputation for being a showboat – in fact, the fan-favorite character even has corporate sponsors.

Booster Gold, AKA Michael Jon Carter, was a football hero and celebrity in the 25th Century who became publicly disgraced after he was caught gambling on his own games. With his reputation tarnished, Carter stole super-powered relics from the past and traveled back in time, with the plan to become a famous superhero. Though he began cocky, Booster eventually became a real hero.

While in college, tech-genius Ted Kord took a job working for his Uncle Jarvis, whom he eventually discovers is a mad scientist, bent on conquering the world with an army of androids. In order to try and stop this, he goes to one of his professors, the original Blue Beetle Dan Garret, and asks for his help. Jarvis and Dan die in the ensuing battle, but not before Garret reveals his identity to him and makes Ted promise to carry on his legacy. Without Garret’s superpowers, Kord uses his many inventions to carry on the Blue Beetle name and fight crime.

Booster and Blue Beetle frequently partner up in the comics and are close allies, often pulled into more comedic shenanigans. The dynamic duo are also members of the Justice League and are being planted now to appear in a future JL movie down the road.

Both characters have long been targeted for a screen adaptation, almost getting their own individual shows. Blue Beetle was even prepped to take the place of Smallville after that series ended, with test VFX footage shot, but the series never came to fruition. Speaking of Smallville, the characters appeared for the first time on screen on the series in an episode entitled “Booster.”

The superhero duo were long thought to appear on either The Flash or DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, though Legends showrunner Phil Klemmer recently hinted that something bigger could be in the pipeline, which we now know is the feature.

Berlanti’s a huge player in Warner’s DC realm, having nabbed a story credit on both the upcoming Flash and Green Lantern films, not to mention that he’s also behind the forthcoming Supergirl series. Though Supergirl, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Arrow are separate from the films, Berlanti is credited with provoking a renewed interest in DC characters and is the ideal choice to shepherd Booster Gold. The multi-faceted director, producer, and writer is a well-known fan of the character, having scripted the pilot for a potential Booster Gold series that was once being targeted by Syfy.

Berlanti has an established relationship the studio, as his Berlanti Productions has an overall deal with Warner Bros. TV. He also made his feature directorial debut with the studio’s comedy Life As We Know It and is next set to helm the Chris Pine drama Replay.

DC Entertainment is also producing.

UltimateMarvel wrote:I don't get it either. He should remain in the TV side or have Gustin play Flash in the actual movie. Universes are clashing right now. Not to mentioned a movie with these 2? They couldn't find other heroes. I would've gone after Nightwing since Batman is already setup but that's just me.

Tyger wrote:I hope DC just goes nuts and turns the TV and Film universes into a multiverse at some point, that'd be crazy.

DC Entertainment Boss Committed To Keeping Films And TV Separate

If you were hoping that Grant Gustin's season-finale venture into the multiverse opened the door for the DC's film slate to mix with its television shows, think again.  Speaking to Variety, DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson confirmed that the films and TV shows will remain separate entities.  “We’re so talent driven.  [The focus on a single universe of characters with connected storylines] could end up handcuffing our creators into trying to work with the same storyline or force them to hold back characters or introduce certain characters. Ultimately it hinders the ability for someone like (showrunner) Bruno Heller to come in and create ‘Gotham.’ "

Nelson noted that the shared universe strategy has worked "beautifully" for Marvel but it doesn't make sense for WB with all of the irons it has in the fire.

Do you agree? Gotham is obviously a hard show to connect to the others but Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl could all become connected to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad and the rest of the other films coming down the pipeline.  The easy method, would be to use the multiverse, which was introduced on The Flash.  Then again, the tone, material and costumes on the TV shows are of another quality than what WB is poised to unleash this March with Dawn of Justice.

UltimateMarvel wrote:That said, Booster Gold can be hard to like sometimes.

Tyger wrote:Gotham is fucking terrible so that quote is like twisting the knife

Tyger wrote:I watched the first 4-6 episodes I think and it was just a fucking mess. If I start a show, I generally finish at least the season, if not the series even if I don't even like it anymore and this is Batman related and I still abandoned ship. That's bad.

Tyger wrote:It's a huge step backwards for comic book shows as far as I'm concerned.

A shared cinematic universe is, to use a cliche, like a big ass boat. It's hard to turn a big ass boat - you really have to swing that sucker around, and it can take some time. The DC Movieverse is, in this case, the big ass boat, and I keep hearing whispers that it's getting reoriented in the wake of Batman v Superman being what it is (ie, bad).

I don't know how that's going to shake out when it comes to Justice League - the captain who was already mis-steering that boat is still steering that one! - but I think we will see that shift happening in some of the DC solo movies that are coming up. While The Flash lost director Seth Grahame-Smith WB is sticking with his script (for now, there will be rewrites as there always are rewrites), and that script is lighter and poppier, focusing on the friendship of The Flash and Cyborg, who hit it off in Justice League. Wonder Woman, I hear, is a very hopeful movie, flying in the face of the cynicism of Batman v Superman. And Warner Bros is developing another movie that definitely doesn't fit into the tone of the DC Movieverse as established: Booster Gold.

Zack Stentz, who has credits on movies like Thor, the new Power Rangers and Agent Cody Banks, is working on the script right now. I had heard that Greg Berlanti, the guy who runs the (tonally correct) DC TVverse is producing, and a recent appearance by Stentz on the "Fatman on Batman" podcast bears this out. Thanks to Cleats and Capes for listening to the podcast and picking out a couple of facts that back up everything I've heard: Stentz is writing Booster Gold with Berlanti producing and possibly interested in directing.

Booster Gold is a great character. He's an ex-athelete turned security guard in the future who steals a time machine (and a couple of superheroic objects, like a Legion of Superheroes flight ring) and comes back to the modern day intending to use his future knowledge and tech to become rich and famous. Callow, selfish and more than a little dopey, Booster's journey is from buffoon to true hero. In the classic 80s run of Justice League International he became best friends with Blue Beetle, and the two hatched harebrained schemes and plans and shared many a hearty "Bwa-ha-ha!" over the years.

Booster is very, very different from what we've seen in the DC Movieverse so far, and the fact that this movie is even in development gives me hope and backs up the whispers I have heard that Warner Bros - and especially Ben Affleck - are very hip to what went wrong with BvS, and that the opportunity exists to fix the larger universe.

I don't know what the status of Booster Gold is right now (it seems to be on hold), and I think it's a solo movie - ie, not the Blue and Gold buddy movie many have wanted - but the fact that it's managed to be in development at all during the Reign of Snyder is really impressive. I think there's an opening at WB where Booster Gold could suddenly see its fortunes changing, and getting closer to being a real movie.