DC movies and the DC actors have to follow some ridiculously complicated rules, just like Marvel actors. Here are some bizarre rules all DC actors follow to this day.
Lead Actor Has No Say In Choosing Co-Workers
While people call Henry Cavill the best Superman, we all know that the greatest Man of Steel will always be Christopher Reeve. The later actor is the one that brought Superman to the forefront of Cinema and helped start the trend of superhero movies. But even someone as legendary as Reeve had no say in choosing who he gets to work with. In an interview, Christopher Reeve was very candid about his Superman co-star Marlon Brando. The actor claimed Brando, who played Jor-El, in the movie, was only in it for the money. The studio never paid heed to the very actor that they cats in two more Superman movies as the titular character.
Having To Put Up With Studio Interference
Every studio gives out a vision, a roadmap if you will, to the directors. The director makes the movie according to how he or she interprets that vision. But DC movies works a tad bit differently. It’s either the studio’s way or the highway. The studio interference problem persisted long before Zack Snyder’s Man Of Steel. Superman II got a Richard Donner directorial cut release in 2006 which had lots of “lost footage”. Most Superman fans now prefer the Dinner Cut over the theatrical version. The same goes for Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
Dedicated Actors Will Be Acknowledged (But Also End Up Dead)
Over the many DC movies that have come to pass, not many actors were as dedicated to their roles like Heath Ledger was to the role of Joker. He poured his heart and soul into the role and the world will always remember him for it. In fact, he got so into the character he ended up battling depression. Ledger later died of a combined drug intoxication. The same goes for another iconic DC actor. George Reeves played the first TV iteration of Superman in the 1952 series. People say he got so into his character that he ended his life trying to jump off of a building to see if he could actually fly. Many theories have tried explaining his suspicious death.
Mustaches – The Greatest DC Supervillain
Mustaches have been DC movies’ bane way before you thought they were. In 1978’s Superman, Gene Hackman – the award winning actor, refused to shave off his mustache and get a bald head to nail Luthor’s look. He only agreed to do so if Richard Donner shaved his mustache too (Fun fact: Donner had already shaved off his mustache and was wearing a fake at that time). Decades later, we got the Justice League Mustache-Gate fiasco.
The One Who Wears The Costume Never Gets To Complain
If a costume is being made for a certain actor, then the actor should have some say in it because he or she has to wear it on the sets. Unfortunately, that is never the case for DC actors. In 1989’s The Batman, Michael Keaton recalls how production routinely ignored his complains about how the cowl severely restricted his neck movement. The actor was forced to find a creative way to use the handicap and turn it into an iconic Batman posture.
Stick To The Formula At All Times
DC actors have a serious disadvantage in terms of creativity. Since DC movies have existed in the Box Office since a long time, fans have made an image of how iconic heroes must look and act like. Superman should be a Boy Scout like Reeves. Batman must never kill. Wonder Woman should conform to draconian beauty standards. If you try to stray away from these formulae, the fans blast the DC actors and the movies.
