Recently, after a leadership change at Warner Bros., the new chairman of Warner Bros. Discovery, David Zaslav, made major strategic decisions regarding the studio’s most important intellectual property, DC Extended Universe. Zaslav announced that the DCEU will adopt a plan to launch future projects with a ten-year perspective to revitalize the creatively struggling franchise. Zaslav said the plan would be similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, explicitly mentioning Kevin Feige while appreciating his work.
The plan makes sense because it worked well with Marvel Studios and made the MCU the highest-grossing franchise of all time. This shared continuity rose to fame and acclaim over the course of a decade and successfully launched twenty-nine films. On the other hand, DC and Warner Bros. struggled to find definitive continuity after ten years and ten films.
But then there’s a whole slew of movies slated for release until at least the following year. And the continued confusion with the current timeline of events in the DCEU. Shared cinematic continuity shaped DC Comics stories began in 2013 with Steel man with director Zack Snyder as the creative visionary. Since then, the studio, which has gone through three changes in executive control of DC Films, has failed to keep the crossover story going in any particular direction, leaving fans disappointed and without a clear layout for their comic book adaptations. favourites.
This 10-year plan to follow Marvel Studios creates both potential and confusion for fans and their expectations.
The cancellation of Batgirl
First of all, before initiating this ten-year plan, the current DCEU was rocked by a surprising cancellation. Citing quality issues and lower audience reception during test screenings, the studio canceled bat girl. Now, bat girl was not a big blockbuster DC event. In fact, Warner Bros. and DC Films didn’t even consider bat girl for a theatrical release and saved it for a direct streaming release for HBO Max. But with bat girl down the pipeline, it looked like the DCEU had finally moved past the lingering Snyderverse disarray for a while. It’s been a while since there’s been an origin story from DC’s fantastic library of characters, which Warner Bros. was clearly underutilized. bat girl I felt like the franchise was bringing new, relatively unknown characters to the forefront and actually “expanding” the shared universe. But the studio decided to dump it after spending $90 million on production.
The cancellation does not further clarify Warner Bros.’ rationale. Discovery behind the new plans. bat girl was shelved after a single scouting test that did not complete VFX. That alone couldn’t be a reason to consider a vital film a failure, especially when it featured Michael Keaton’s original Batman. However, blue beetle, another original story set within the DCEU, continues to move forward with a 2023 release. This only confuses the whole idea of reworking the DCEU. Suppose Warner Bros. doesn’t want to invest in low-stakes IPs and stick with previous adaptations featuring characters like Superman and Batman. How will he even steer towards a Marvel-inspired plan? And suppose blue beetle is still under construction. In this case, bat girlwhich had a promising cast and a potentially soothing storyline, had to be attempted.
Marvel has always wanted to try out new characters and help them grow through subsequent films. Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff was featured as a supporting character in Age of Ultron and eventually spearheaded two phase four main projects – Wanda Vision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. If DC is considering building an online franchise with the MCU, it needs to be more strategic and creative with its sanctioned project in mind.
DC and WB must find a definitive path
And it’s not just bat girl. Earlier, CC-movies canceled projects such as new gods and The trench, in which the latter was a Black Manta movie in disguise. After Batgirl cancellation, there are no updates on other projects apparently in development at Warner Bros. These include Static Shock, Booster Gold, Black Canary, Plastic Manetc
DC Films also can’t figure out where they want the DCEU to go. Zaslav says they’ve reset their focus on DC projects. It has been reported that the upcoming movie the flash would play a pivotal role in bringing about this rewrite. Michael Keaton played Batman alongside Ben Affleck. Everyone assumed that his later return for bat girl would mean Ben Affleck’s iteration of Batman would be replaced, marking the end of Snyder’s arc and the start of a new one at DCEU. But now Ben Affleck is returning as Batman, and the latest reports suggest the studio may have to cancel. the flash. However, the latter is to blame for Ezra Miller, whose recent criminal antics have taken a toll on his reputation.
If so, then the confusion only adds to the new 10-year plan. Cancelation the flash would mean that a meaningful multiversal event wouldn’t officially happen in the franchise. And that means there would be no resetting in the scenario. From there, it would be difficult for DC to continue the same storyline that started with Steel man and include it in its multi-annual strategy. If Warner Bros. wants to keep Snyder’s first two films, so cancel films like bat girl won’t help either.
The DCEU needs long-term vision and leadership
Currently, it’s unclear what definitive timeline of DCEU events will follow as it heads to Marvel. There are no big decisions on what comes next, but it could be plausible for Warner Bros. to reset the DCEU and truly begin a new franchise. It’s something that can’t be thrown away, and Warner Bros. has strong evidence to support this idea. When DC attempted to form a cinematic universe with Snyder, it failed, leading to several rushed creative calls to the studio, damaging subsequent films. For a short time, DC Films focused more on solo projects, which clearly worked. The Batman and Joker really had an impact on the public. It won’t be a surprise if Warner Bros. decides to reset franchise and start over.
But for that to work, Warner Bros. must be patient. Previously, they tried to match Marvel Studios without laying out a master plan for the shared universe to expand. There won’t be a solid story expansion if Warner Bros. doesn’t give supporting characters from DC’s library a worthy chance at live-action. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman alone won’t create a live-action movie franchise.
Warner Bros. Discovery clearly needs singular leadership to lay out plans for the future and stop rushing through stories to continue the DC Extended Universe. It is essential to have a long-term vision and an open mind where all the characters in the DC catalog can have a place to consider. Only then will the fantastical stories of DC Comics become cultural phenomena like those of Marvel.
Batgirl cancellation is a silent gesture. The studio needs to understand that there won’t be a first-run billion dollar movie. It’s the expansive narrative of this shared continuity that intensifies their popularity and commercial potential. Hopefully the following DCEU announcements will be uplifting.
Comments are closed.