The recently announced plan for DC Studios' reset is much more than a bunch of new movies. It's a philosophy for running a studio that could push Hollywood to change for the better.
This is a great piece! Detailed summary and lots of analysis. Good read.
I for one am super skeptical about DC. Gunn is great, this has nothing really to do with him. I just have a hard time buying in for another reboot of these characters. Say what you will about Marvel, there has only been 1 Iron Man in 15 years; we've had 3 different actors play Batman in the same timeframe.
I also think setting up an offshoot "universe" right out the gate is a horrible idea. Normal moviegoers who are now used to inner-connected movies are going to be confused if there's 2 different Batmen and 2 Supermen (one of them black, to boot.. why not just make the DCU Superman black?) starring in movies roughly at the same time.
I remain curious. Booster Gold and Lanterns sound the most interesting. Probably because they are the most unique.
Definitely agree with a lot of your points. As you said, we've had three Batmen in the last fifteen years, and will have a fourth when it's all said and done. Five if you count Michael Keaton in The Flash in a few months. That's just ridiculous. They've botched things so badly so far, to the point where they will never catch Marvel and anything they do will always be tainted by the 10/15 years of chaos and brand damage that came before.
At this point the best they could do is wipe the slate clean and start over the right way. They're mostly doing that, with the few notable exceptions that I agree will definitely add some confusion. I think that's where the business side factors in. With Joker making $1 billion and The Batman making close to that, practically it would be bad business if they threw those out. At least this way they can count on profits from those two sequels to get the DCU onto its feet.
My hope was that they found a way to integrate those stories into the larger DCU, with Battinson as our Batman, etc. but I know that it's unlikely he or Matt Reeves would want to commit to that. Absent that or cancelling the sequels, I'm glad they are at the very least clearly labelling them as "DC Elseworlds," which the previous leadership neglected to do. Hopefully some sharp messaging there can make things as clear as possible to audiences.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Ta-Nehisi Coates movie doesn't happen, though. I could definitely see them letting that one silently fade away or leaving it on the back-burner until the 2030's especially if Gunn's Superman movie performs well.
This is a great piece! Detailed summary and lots of analysis. Good read.
I for one am super skeptical about DC. Gunn is great, this has nothing really to do with him. I just have a hard time buying in for another reboot of these characters. Say what you will about Marvel, there has only been 1 Iron Man in 15 years; we've had 3 different actors play Batman in the same timeframe.
I also think setting up an offshoot "universe" right out the gate is a horrible idea. Normal moviegoers who are now used to inner-connected movies are going to be confused if there's 2 different Batmen and 2 Supermen (one of them black, to boot.. why not just make the DCU Superman black?) starring in movies roughly at the same time.
I remain curious. Booster Gold and Lanterns sound the most interesting. Probably because they are the most unique.
Definitely agree with a lot of your points. As you said, we've had three Batmen in the last fifteen years, and will have a fourth when it's all said and done. Five if you count Michael Keaton in The Flash in a few months. That's just ridiculous. They've botched things so badly so far, to the point where they will never catch Marvel and anything they do will always be tainted by the 10/15 years of chaos and brand damage that came before.
At this point the best they could do is wipe the slate clean and start over the right way. They're mostly doing that, with the few notable exceptions that I agree will definitely add some confusion. I think that's where the business side factors in. With Joker making $1 billion and The Batman making close to that, practically it would be bad business if they threw those out. At least this way they can count on profits from those two sequels to get the DCU onto its feet.
My hope was that they found a way to integrate those stories into the larger DCU, with Battinson as our Batman, etc. but I know that it's unlikely he or Matt Reeves would want to commit to that. Absent that or cancelling the sequels, I'm glad they are at the very least clearly labelling them as "DC Elseworlds," which the previous leadership neglected to do. Hopefully some sharp messaging there can make things as clear as possible to audiences.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Ta-Nehisi Coates movie doesn't happen, though. I could definitely see them letting that one silently fade away or leaving it on the back-burner until the 2030's especially if Gunn's Superman movie performs well.
Some of these projects are intriguing. I like the fact that they have diverse tones and premises.