CinemaCon 2022 was last week. The event, normally meant to promote upcoming movies by different studios, ran smoothly overall.
Lots of announcements and trailers received a lot of positive feedback. Dwayne Johnson’s DC superhero movie “Black Adam” reportedly displayed an impressive new trailer, featuring an in-person appearance from The Rock himself. Meanwhile Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse” also received high praise after showing its first ten minutes of the film.
However, there were some questionable calls on some of the studio’s parts. Trailers and announcements that had people scratching their heads. Since it’s always more fun to talk about failures, let’s go over some of the biggest CinemaCon fumbles.
New trailer for “The Flash” revealed, Flash hardly main character
Warner Bros. had the chance to show off their DC content, providing superhero movies to rival Marvel’s. Among the roster is Ezra Miller’s 2023 movie, “The Flash.”
However, the panel was and announcement was reportedly very awkward. While in Hawaii, Miller was arrested twice with charges of physical assault and harassment. In turn, fans have banded together on social media, calling for Miller to be recast. So what did WB executives decide was the best plan of action at CinemaCon?
Not address the problem at all.
Instead, neither the director nor WB officials made any comments on Miller and then proceeded to release a trailer for the movie.
The trailer reportedly featured more of Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck, who will both be returning as Batman for this movie. So now we have a Flash movie about to be overshadowed by Batman. Two Batmen, at that. Looks like “The Flash” is running on thin ice.
Sony announces “El Muerto” movie, literally no one cares
Sony made a big splash at CinemaCon this year, taking pride in their co-produced Marvel movie, “Spidder-Man: No Way Home.” It was a well-deserved victory lap for the studio.
Sony then went on to announce “Across the Spiderverse” and the currently untitled “Venom 3,” which got fans and critics excited.
Then Bad Bunny walked on stage. Yes, the global superstar for singing reggaeton, Bad Bunny. At first, I thought he was here to promote “Bullet Train,” the upcoming July film he’ll be in with Brad Pitt.
But no! Sony announces that Bad Bunny will play El Muerto in a film of the same name. Ever heard of him? Don’t worry, neither has nearly all comic book readers. The story follows a process wrestler with super strength who eventually becomes a Spider-Man villain in Marvel comics.
I say “comics” lightly. El Muerto himself has only ever appeared in two comic books. Ever.
As a huge fan of Spider-Man, I was super confused. As a Latino, I understand the need for Latinx representation. However, I can also name over ten villains you could make a movie about before doing one about El Muerto.
And it seemed I’m not alone in this thinking. Fans quickly took to Twitter, TikTok and other social media to express their confusion. It’s not even really hate. This announcement has literally caused an entire fandom to scratch their heads in unison.
The movie is bound to make money. Bad Bunny is a massive star who’s going to sell tickets. That doesn’t mean the movie is going to be anything special, though.
Avatar 2 reveals new title, and I’m already over it
Disney announced the sequel to the 2009 hit “Avatar” will be titled “Avatar: The Way of Water.”
Much like other people, I don’t care.
The first Avatar movie made more money than any other film in history, and I can understand why. Its special effects were well ahead of its time. It was beautiful to look at.
From a storytelling standpoint, however, it’s nothing special. It’s incredibly predictable and not memorable in the slightest. The only thing people do remember is the message director James Cameron wanted to share: don’t hurt the trees, save the environment. Good on him for getting that message across, but that doesn’t save the movie.
So now we have “Avatar: The Way of Water” coming out in December of this year. Just going out on aimb here, but it sounds like the first movie. Instead of saving trees, however, this one will be about preventing water pollution.
The descriptions at CinemaCon promised the return of a “familiar threat” and “new worlds.” It sounds like they’re going to have great special effects to put all of these things on display, but from a story standpoint, we’re just going to watch the same movie…but with more water. Good try, Disney.
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