Bad Movie Fatigue
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 week DC Studios announced plans for the first “chapter” of the new DC cinematic universe. Co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran revealed several forthcoming movies and shows, but the most interesting part is less the projects in development and more the philosophy of running a studio that is being put into play at DC. Assuming they can stick to the promises they made on Tuesday, Gunn and Safran have laid the groundwork to give new life to the way comic-book/big-budget movies are made.
A writer himself, Gunn said that he sees the de-valuing of writers in the filmmaking process as a significant issue and key cause of what has been labeled as “superhero fatigue.” Directors and actors have been given more prominent voices in the development process in recent years, while writers have seen their role diminished. “They make these movies where they don’t have third acts written,” Gunn said. “And then they start writing them during [production], you know, making them up as they’re going along. And then you’re watching a bunch of people punch each other, and there’s no flow even to the action.”
Safran clarifies the real problem. It’s not
superhero fatigue, he says, “It’s bad movie fatigue.”
It has been well documented that this is the M.O. of Marvel Studios, with whom Gunn is intimately familiar as director of The Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy of movies. During the run-up to the release of last year’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, director Sam Raimi discussed the chaotic process of making that film with a script that was unfinished throughout filming: “I think the hardest part was the time deadlines, not having the story or the script [ready] … being halfway into it and not knowing what the ending was. Michael [Waldron, screenwriter on Multiverse]’s trying to stay a couple days ahead of us with the next page coming out of his computer printer, and it’s hard because you want to make sure that everything is supporting the whole — that the themes are running through the picture. But when you don’t quite know everything about the picture, it’s hard to do that job as effectively as possible.”
In response to Gunn’s comments about the cause of superhero fatigue, Safran clarifies the real problem. It’s not superhero fatigue, he says, “It’s bad movie fatigue.”
To address their concerns, the pair is pledging to follow several guidelines in running their newly formed studio:
As mentioned previously, they will prioritize writers and their place in the filmmaking process.
They will not green-light movies that are not ready, including not naming release dates until they are certain a film meets their standards.
They will not enter production on any movies that do not have a completed script. (This shouldn’t need to be stated, but as discussed above, it clearly does.)
Even when movies do have pre-announced release dates they will not hesitate to move them if it is necessary to make sure the movie is ready.
They will tell more complex stories than just, in Gunn’s words, “good guy, bad guy, giant thing in the sky, good guys win.”
They will allow for more diversified voices and styles. “It’s not the Gunn-verse,” Gunn said. “What makes it so fun is to see is to see stories that are completely different as the individual expression of the writers and the director that are making those projects … and not about me superimposing something on top of that.”
Each of these principles is reflected in the slate of movies and shows that was announced this week. Of the five movies and five DCU shows detailed, only Superman: Legacy has a release date. It appears to be the farthest along in production, with Gunn having previously announced he’d begun writing the script, so it’s likely they are confident in the film’s progress. There also appears to be a huge diversity of story types being told. Superman will lead into The Authority, described by DC as the “Anti-Justice League,” about a team of morally gray “heroes” who believe the ends justify the means. There’s a political drama about Wonder Woman’s home of Themiscyra, a comedy series about Booster Gold, and a horror-esque Swamp Thing movie.
The new DC team has identified what it sees as the key issues with its industry and competitors while specifying clear steps it will take to address them. They are many of the same issues that I would name, and it is the clearest admission I’ve seen from major studio executives that there is a problem in the way films are made. If it pays off, it will be a refreshing example of why putting a creator firmly in the driver’s seat can lead to better movies.
Obviously, whether or not it will pay off remains to be seen. As with everything announced on Tuesday, follow through is going to be crucial. DC parent company Warner Bros. Discovery has had a complicated last few years, and its CEO, David Zaslav, has shown himself to be a ruthless leader keen on streamlining the company’s finances at all costs. While Gunn and Safran enthusiastically say that they have the full support and confidence of WBD leadership, any sign of weakness could see Zaslav retreating on his promises.
Warner Bros. Discovery has tons of debt, and if DC doesn’t come out of the gate swinging with several major successes in a row, investors may put pressure on them to cut costs by streamlining operations and taking some of the shortcuts studios such as Marvel have taken. It is easy to make bold claims in the early stages of a project, before movies underperform and conflict arises. Their tune could change once they inevitably hit turbulence and need to make tough decisions.
On the other hand, despite a decade-plus of chaos, conflict, and critical flops, DC still possesses some of the most iconic and beloved characters in American pop culture. It has nearly unlimited resources and a deep bench of source material to draw from, now in the hands of a talented super-fan in James Gunn who loves the material and has proven repeatedly that he has the skills to harness it.
Safran, for his part, is an experienced industry leader who knows what it takes to get a movie made and is aware of the trade-offs involved when they say they will wait to green-light films, finish scripts, and move release dates if necessary. Both sides of the pair seem to have a deep understanding of the flaws in other studios’ attempts at building massive cinematic universes as well as what went wrong with previous iterations of DC’s. They can have an outsized influence on the direction of the industry if they can prove that films can still be massively successful while prioritizing creative integrity.
The result could be the creation of a cinematic universe that not only lives up to the full potential of DC comics, but changes Hollywood by proving big-budget movies can be made the right way and still be successful.
What was announced?
There are five movies and five TV shows which have been announced as part of “Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.” Each of these will be part of an interconnected universe where characters will frequently cross-over and one cohesive story will tie them all together.
On the TV side:
Creature Commandoes, an animated series written by Gunn and focusing on a team of military superhumans including Frankenstein’s Monster and Weasel from The Suicide Squad. One note here is that Gunn and Safran have said any actors playing certain characters in animation will also be cast as the same character when they cross into live-action.
Waller, a spinoff of James Gunn’s Peacemaker show and The Suicide Squad movie, starring Viola Davis as the titular Amanda Waller.
Booster Gold, an HBO series about a comics character described as “a loser from the future who uses his basic future technology to come back to today to pretend to be a superhero.”
Paradise Lost, a political drama taking place on Wonder Woman’s home island of Themyscira, exploring the origins of the all-female warrior society and taking place before the Wonder Woman movies. They’re describing it as Game of Thrones-esque.
Lanterns, a True Detective-style mystery starring two fan favorite Green Lanterns — Hal Jordan and John Stewart.
On the film side:
Superman: Legacy, written by James Gunn and labeled as the “true beginning of the DCU,” focusing on a younger Superman.
The Authority, which is directly tied to Superman and features a “morally gray” team of superheroes who is intent on saving the world but believes that the ends justify the means.
The Brave and the Bold, a Batman movie focusing on Batman and his recently discovered son, Damian Wayne, who becomes a ruthless and murderous Robin. This movie will introduce the DCU’s Bat-family.
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, a darker portrayal of a Supergirl who grew up on a broken-off chunk of the planet Krypton and saw everyone she knew tragically die by the time she was 14.
Swamp Thing, a horror-style origin story for the character which will be part of the universe’s exploration of different genres and styles.
Addressing casting of characters, previous actors “might” return to continue playing their characters (Wonder Woman, Aquaman) while others (Superman) will be recast. Regarding rumors that Jason Momoa might play Lobo as opposed to Aquaman, Gunn said that “Jason will not play two characters.”
Crucially, they have also said that while almost all movies and shows produced under the DCU banner will take place in the same universe, the DCU will be a multiverse allowing for alternate and unconnected stories to be told in separate universes under the banner of DC Elseworlds. This includes:
Joker: Folie à Deux, the sequel to 2019’s wildly successful R-rated Joker which told the origin story of the infamous Batman villain.
The Batman – Part II, the sequel to last year’s The Batman starring Robert Pattinson. Subsequent comments by Gunn and Safran made it seem as if the spin-off series based on the Penguin character is still happening, as well.
The previously announced movie being written by Ta-Nehisi Coates and produced by J.J. Abrams featuring a Black Superman.
There will be a “very high bar” for DC Elseworlds stories; higher than those set within the main DCU universe, as the studio wants to ensure that there is a meaningful reason for investing in stories outside of their main continuity.
My thoughts
First and foremost, what needs to be addressed is that this is just a plan. None of these films have a director attached, and only one has a release date at this time. Once directors are attached, castings are announced, scripts are finished, and more release dates are put on the calendar, it will become much more clear what shape all of this will take.
As mentioned previously, WBD has faced significant complications in its recent past and more is forecasted for the future including a potential sale or merger with another studio. DC, in particular, has shown a remarkable inability to be tamed and any further changes at its parent company could impact the team’s ability to tell the full story it has planned.
Still, this is entirely new leadership at every level of the company and judgements/predictions should not be made based off of past DC mistakes. David Zaslav has made DC — and particularly Superman — a priority since taking over the company last year. He hired Gunn and Safran specifically to do this job, and so far there is little evidence that he will not allow them to do so.
Taking this for what it is — a plan that is subject to change — it is a very good one. I have mixed feelings about some of the lesser-known characters, but Gunn has proven he has an ability to make lesser-known characters into well-known ones, and it seems they have a strategy in place for making it happen using more popular characters as launchpads.
A younger Superman movie written by Gunn, a new Batman, Robin on screen for the first time in almost thirty years, a unique-sounding darker Supergirl story serving as a foil to a more hopeful Superman — all of this sounds exactly like the kind of thing fans have been wanting for years. The Authority is a property I’m not familiar with but seems like the kind of comic-book story that could allow the studio to branch outside of the standard superhero movie formula. In particular, I am excited to see what the studio does with Superman, and Gunn’s involvement with that film as well as the announcement of a release date makes me hopeful that it feels confident in the direction it is going.
Some of the shows announced, such as Paradise Lost, I am less confident in. In the past when any studio has promised to make something “like Game of Thrones,” they have failed. A show set on Wonder Woman’s home but not featuring Wonder Woman seems like an interesting choice. That said, if done well, this is the kind of show that could elevate the DCU by reaching new kinds of audiences and expanding the possibilities of the universe. Similar to Andor, another political drama based off of pre-existing intellectual property but set in a different part of a well-known universe and starring unknown characters, it could prove that more adult and mature stories can exist alongside the more standard fare and thereby lift up the whole. I just think they need to be careful to create their own unique thing and not mimic something else.
On the other hand, Booster Gold sounds like a hilarious concept and a chance for the kind of comedy that Gunn excels at. The commitment to allowing creators to give stories their own unique fingerprint, with a diversity of voices and tones and styles, is an aspect of this plan I am particularly excited about. Previous DC universes, such as Zack Snyder’s DCEU, were dominated by one particular style and tone. This is something that Marvel has suffered from as well, and making an intentional effort to allow diversity here will greatly expand the quality of the stories told.
In this universe, we get the Booster Gold comedy show, next to a horror-style Swamp Thing movie potentially directed by James Mangold (The Wolverine, Logan, Ford vs. Ferrari, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), next to a political drama set on Wonder Woman’s home island, next to a father-son Batman/Robin story, next to a Green Lantern detective show. The fact that we are still getting the R-rated Joker: Folie à Deux, gritty and grounded The Batman – Part II, and a Black Superman movie from Ta-Nehisi Coates without compromising the integrity of the DCU storyline is icing on the cake.
Clarifying the difference between the DC Elseworlds stories and the main DCU storyline is a crucial step that was missing from the last attempt at a DC film universe, where it had become kind of a mess keeping track of what movies were connected to what shows and what was separate and so on.
Personally, I might prefer that they had taken the route of making one phenomenal Superman movie first prior to announcing additional movies or the expansion of the universe, as Marvel did with Iron Man. There is a risk in setting expectations too high before delivering anything of substance. However, I understand that over the last decade audiences have been trained to expect more and this is not what Gunn or Safran were hired to do. There would be a number of highly disappointed people, including their boss, if they only announced or developed one film for the next two years.
Last, I do have questions about the plan to keep some actors playing the same role and continue those characters’ storylines (see: Waller) while at the same time recasting others. Will these be alternate-universe versions of those characters? The same version but moved into a new universe? I would prefer that they wiped the slate entirely clean as opposed to maintaining some awkward ties to the DC that came before, but I understand there are reasons why they may want to take this route. It sounds like June’s The Flash will play a key part in the reset.
Many questions remain, not least of which is DC and its parent company’s ability to follow through on its plan. For now, though, the new stewards of the DC universe have laid out the clearest path forward for these characters in a long time, if ever.
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.
Some of these projects are intriguing. I like the fact that they have diverse tones and premises.