Should DC take a break for a few years, then reboot?

[semper]

The DCEU is a failed experiment. Not enough planning and too many bad decisions to count.

The stench of failure is there, and audiences are fully aware of it. I feel the only way to salvage a DCEU is to go scorched earth, and scrap the whole project. Let Wonder Woman survive as a solo thing with it's sequels, but announce no more projects that could fit into another take on the DC Universe. I know it's hard for these greedy mofos at Warners to resist, especially when they feel like Batman is a license to print money. Get JK Rowling to sign off on some new Harry Potter scripts, and make your billions through that.

A 5-6 year break....a complete plan in place. A Kevin Fiege level guy at the top. Maybe using the Timm/Dini animated universe as the template. Hire as many creators that know and respect the source material as possible. Not just because they are favored in-house directors at WB. Then recast everything. Maybe even start off in World War 2 with the orgins of the Justice Society, and move from a film that deals with silver age characters, the finally the modern age. Dropping easter eggs along the way.

It'll never happen. These execs have no patience, are greedy, still in denial and desperate to catch up to Marvel. No way they'll bench their superhero characters for a couple of years to regroup. But it's the only way to make a shared universe viable. The films are not as bad as Batman & Robin, but Batman vs Superman and Justice League have had the similar result of making the franchise toxic. People don't care for these versions of these characters, beyond Wonder Woman in her own films. Aquaman's future lies soley in how good James Wan can make a movie where Aquaman has been given the appearence and personality of Lobo.

 

[RomanticPenguin]

I feel like there's a thread for this already

 

[Matleo]

no. I think rather they should try more humor and more action.
More villians in movies too. 2-3
more mutated and strong ones also clever ones.

Better plot twists and comic and animated book scenarios.

 

[Thör-El]

I think the DCEU is past saving so yeah, I'd say so.

They won't want to wait a few years though so I think their best move is to switch Snyder for writers/director that love the source material, do a soft reboot and open with a new universe where the Justice League already exists and there's no need to retell their origin stories. They could keep Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman and any other good casting from earlier films but needn't treat the DCEU as canon.

Alternatively they can give up on trying to compete with the MCU on having a huge coherent shared universe. That wouldn't have to mean isolated solo films, they could do elseworlds style stories using the same cast across multiple universes.

 

[batfreakforever]

The DCEU is a failed experiment. Not enough planning and too many bad decisions to count.

The stench of failure is there, and audiences are fully aware of it. I feel the only way to salvage a DCEU is to go scorched earth, and scrap the whole project. Let Wonder Woman survive as a solo thing with it's sequels, but announce no more projects that could fit into another take on the DC Universe. I know it's hard for these greedy mofos at Warners to resist, especially when they feel like Batman is a license to print money. Get JK Rowling to sign off on some new Harry Potter scripts, and make your billions through that.

A 5-6 year break....a complete plan in place. A Kevin Fiege level guy at the top. Maybe using the Timm/Dini animated universe as the template. Hire as many creators that know and respect the source material as possible. Not just because they are favored in-house directors at WB. Then recast everything. Maybe even start off in World War 2 with the orgins of the Justice Society, and move from a film that deals with silver age characters, the finally the modern age. Dropping easter eggs along the way.

It'll never happen. These execs have no patience, are greedy, still in denial and desperate to catch up to Marvel. No way they'll bench their superhero characters for a couple of years to regroup. But it's the only way to make a shared universe viable. The films are not as bad as Batman & Robin, but Batman vs Superman and Justice League have had the similar result of making the franchise toxic. People don't care for these versions of these characters, beyond Wonder Woman in her own films. Aquaman's future lies soley in how good James Wan can make a movie where Aquaman has been given the appearence and personality of Lobo.

Wrong. For a movie universe thats made almost 4 billion at the box office with only 5 films is no way near the failed experiment you and some fans make it out to be. Thats almost 800 million per film. No way near what Marvel made until Avengers. This DC film universe isnt going to go away just because people @#$% on the internet or in reviews.

 

[semper]

Wrong. For a movie universe thats made almost 4 billion at the box office with only 5 films is no way near the failed experiment you and some fans make it out to be. Thats almost 800 million per film. No way near what Marvel made until Avengers. This DC film universe isnt going to go away just because people @#$% on the internet or in reviews.

Considering how much they are spending on budgets and marketing for these mostly iconic A-list characters, the money they are making back is barely enough to break even. And audiences were giving these badly reviewed films a pass (Wonder Woman excepted) because of the iconic characters and the marketing. But that stuff catches up with you in the end. Keep on putting out an inferior product, and eventually audiences will turn their backs. The fact that Justice League, which is supposed to be DC's Avengers (but with more iconic characters) can't make as much money at the box office as Doctor Strange, a Marvel C-lister, is beyond shocking.

It's delusional to look at DCEU box office numbers in isolation and claim some sort of victory. The whole thing is a disaster. The failure of Justice League means Warners have to question how much they can really invest in these films, and maybe only stick to "sure thing" characters (ie Batman franchise like Joker, Harley Quinn and Batman himself).

 

[Flash525]

I'd say no. They've had a rocky start for sure, but they can still pull this back.

I feel as though they need to plan ahead though; there are so many projects in various stages of development at the moment, anyone would think they're just trying to release as much as possible in the hope they'll make enough money back from a few of them.

Think about all these spinoffs and solo films featuring, essentially, background characters.

• Deadshot
• Batgirl
• Nightwing
• Harley Quinn & The Joker

...to name a few - they're just totally unnecessary at the moment. DC/WB needs to focus on their main roster before jumping the gun with other characters. I'm sure the likes of Batgirl and Nightwing have a cult following, but for the love of god, lets get the Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg and Lantern films off the ground first.

We sure as **** don't need a Will Smith solo within the DCEU either - they can write that one off right now! And as lovely as Margot Robbie may be in the role as Harley Quinn, we don't need a film about her and Mr Leto.

 

[Chance Jackson]

They can't Wonder Woman was too successful for them to Jettison everything Just because the male lead and directed properties didn't work the Jezebel et al headlines would eat WB alive

 

[Mandon Knight]

Okay, enough with the 'we hate DC/WB, they are failing' threads already. This is one too many.

 

[MydnightPhoenix]

Wrong. For a movie universe thats made almost 4 billion at the box office with only 5 films is no way near the failed experiment you and some fans make it out to be. Thats almost 800 million per film. No way near what Marvel made until Avengers. This DC film universe isnt going to go away just because people @#$% on the internet or in reviews.

Stop with the logic, if it's not a runaway success with critics and audiences than it's a failure; don't you know.

 

[MydnightPhoenix]

Okay, enough with the 'we hate DC/WB, they are failing' threads already. This is one too many.

It sux because even if you put the person on ignore you still see their threads.

 

[NotNickFury]

Given the pessimistic take of the original message, I'm actually quite surprised the initial sentence wasn't "The DCEU is a failed experiment. Bury it. Consider this mercy." for irony's sake.

 

[Micromind]

A film that has severely under-performed like JL, will still make profit thanks to merchandise sales, which amount to 1 bil (estimates), so no..it is not barely breaking even.

 

[InfinityWar]

Wrong. For a movie universe thats made almost 4 billion at the box office with only 5 films is no way near the failed experiment you and some fans make it out to be. Thats almost 800 million per film. No way near what Marvel made until Avengers. This DC film universe isnt going to go away just because people @#$% on the internet or in reviews.

You are comparing apples to oranges..... MCU set up the entire superhero genre to where it went from comic book movies to an actual event. If it wasnt for MCU, DCEU wouldn't be half as successful. DCEU banked on the fact they copied MCU - and that created a lot of buzz with a DC shared universe. Box Office, they are successful, not nearly as today's MCU. Black Panther and Thor Ragnarok are super successful. But dont think DCEU would make that much money if they were before MCU. Just look at the crappy Superman Returns & Green Lantern box office numbers which was before MCU really took off.

 

[Johnglen]

A film that has severely under-performed like JL, will still make profit thanks to merchandise sales, which amount to 1 bil (estimates), so no..it is not barely breaking even.

Yep, Warner brothers is rushing to start filming the sequel to this hugely successful film.

 

[HR-PUFF&STUFF]

they need to take two things from Marvel; first one is use Phases. having an end point is a good thing. I would call MOS - Justice League Phase 1. yes its not the best in story telling but we now have our heroes and the world they are in.

and the second one is they need to have someone oversee the movies setting the movies for them. and make it clear that the director is playing with someone else's toys in someone else's sandbox. right now DC/WB isn't doing that they are still in the mindset of how they did the Dark Knight movies back in the day. letting Nolan just do what he wanted worked for those movies but not when you are building a universe.

 

[atomicbattery]

If Warner Brothers stopped making superhero films for, oh, five or six years, then their corporate board should be fired for malfeasance.
These are enormously valuable intellectual properties, and a five or six year break would mean that, in the public mind, Marvel characters would be the only superhero characters, and DC’s will have gone the way of, say, Ultra-Man, Bulletman, Air Wave, and dozens of other forgotten superheroes from the Golden Age.
So, no.
Despite the alleged concerns of those sympathetic to the failed DCEU, these characters will continue on the big screen for years to come.
Sorry.

 

[semper]

If Warner Brothers stopped making superhero films for, oh, five or six years, then their corporate board should be fired for malfeasance.
These are enormously valuable intellectual properties, and a five or six year break would mean that, in the public mind, Marvel characters would be the only superhero characters, and DC’s will have gone the way of, say, Ultra-Man, Bulletman, Air Wave, and dozens of other forgotten superheroes from the Golden Age.
So, no.
Despite the alleged concerns of those sympathetic to the failed DCEU, these characters will continue on the big screen for years to come.
Sorry.

That's ridiculous. Nobody is going to forget about Batman and Superman if you bench them for 5-6 years. If anything, it'll build excitement to see these new versions and what they'll be like. How excited can anyone be to see yet another Batman, 5 minutes after the latest one (Affleck) probably quits.

Marvel will dominate the market in the absence of DC heroes onscreen (though I expect Gadot's Wonder Woman to maintain a stand-alone presence). But they dominate anyway. DC is just facing diminishing returns, and these movies demand huge budgets. They can't afford more Justice Leagues. Corporate malfeasance in continually pouring money and investment into a failing product and tarnished brand, which the current DCEU is.

Planning a whole new structured DCEU. In phases. Casting great actors, the right fillmmakers. . The public will get excited and hyped for a DC film universe done correctly and with care. Even with Marvel still around. And 5-6 years is enough time for people to forget about debacles like Justice League.

 

[TheVileOne]

Just cancel everything else and just continue Wonder Woman

 

[Jonwo]

They can't take a break since Aquaman is in the can and in post production, Shazam is shooting now and WW2 and SS2 will shoot later in the year and truthfully, DC is WB's biggest box office sellers and that would hurt them if they had no DC films for 5-6 years.

My guess is that WB is using Wonder Woman as the template for future films and moved on from JL, they've already said future films will be loosely connected and going back to a more film maker driven approach. James Wan's

 

[Detective Conan]

Absolutely not. If WW never came out, then my answer would be entirely different but WW is now the exemplar to follow. Do more of that, and less of whatever else they were doing that wasn't quite clicking and they're golden.

 

[atomicbattery]

That's ridiculous. Nobody is going to forget about Batman and Superman if you bench them for 5-6 years.

Ummm, did the goalposts just get moved?
‘DC’ and ‘the DCEU’ from the original post is now ‘Batman and Superman’?

Yeah, the two original superheroes, the most famous and iconic in history, could probably survive a five or six year break (and I say probably because Superman is in danger of becoming Mickey Mouse- a universally recognized and beloved character who appears on tons of t-shirts and merchandise but is problematic for a big screen project. I think Warner should prioritize MoS2, now. Not in five years).
Batman is the only comic book character, along with Spider-Man, who could support his own universe of films. And Robin, Batgirl, Joker and Catwoman are more recognizable than any of Spidey’s supporting cast. Sony would kill to have that kind of universal recognition as they prepare to sell Venom and the other Spideyverse projects (‘Black Cat? You mean Catwoman? Where’s Batman?’).
A Batman universe of films could be as successful as Harry Potter.

But the rest of the DC universe take a break? Nope. As the popularity of comic book characters explodes, but sales of actual comic books continues to shrink, it is imperative for these characters to have a presence on the big screen, which drives everything now in terms of relevance and ancillary profit (merchandise, video games). Warner should only scrap their failed dream of a shared universe and do what they’ve begun to do right now with Shazam- make each project individually with creators they’re excited about (and yeah, if you want to loosely connect things with a Supes cameo- sure, have fun).

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

I think they should dial things back at least. Certainly this isn't the time for the numerous somewhat sketchy productions that they have announced. Wonder Woman should obviously continue. Aquaman is made, so it is wait and see how it performs before they decide whether to continue that series or not. Shazam has the biggest movie star in the world, so I think it is worth going forward with it. Batman needs a complete revamp. Affleck needs to go, and the Matt Reeves film should be a total reboot. Reeves is talented enough that I'm hesitant to kick him to the curb and I think it might be better to let him try to revive the character sooner rather than later as long as he has the time he wants to do so. Cavill also needs to go and I definitely think they need to wait a few years to try Superman again. Unlike Batman where the popular Bale/Nolan version is still in recent memory, it has been decades since Superman has been done well. I think audiences need a break before they will give Superman another chance. Flashpoint should be scrapped and there should be a de-emphasis on the shared universe. Not so much a de-emphasis that you have multiple versions of the same character at the same time being played by different actors though. That's just dumb. At best audiences will choose the one they like best and reject the other(s). At worst they will be confused and reject the whole thing.

I think WB needs to look at these films on a case-by-case basis at this point, but the DCEU as we know it should be dead. There will and should be more DC films, but it should be very different from what we've seen during the disastrous Snyder Error.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

All the films going forward should be self contained until each solo character has built up enough goodwill and audience love to warrant another JL film. That’s how you build genuine excitement.

Hopefully Aquaman is a good standalone, same with Shazam and eventually WW2. Hit on those films and maybe you can reel people back in for Flashpoint, what I assume will be there next attempt at a quasi-team up film.

At this point I’d say my preference is to give the universe stuff a rest, let WW have her movies and maybe Aquaman gets a sequel if it hits, be done with this universe, wait about 5-10 years and fill those gaps with more Batman movies I guess, and then they can try the whole thing over with talent that not only is top notch, but wants to be there, and not just choose a guy who was like the second to last choice to direct a movie that wasn’t even supposed to spearhead a cinematic universe. Plan ahead, don’t just jump at the money, we’ve seen firsthand just how that worked.

 

[Yowza]

Success is focusing on 1 movie at a time. If choose to combine several of the movie franchises in a future event movie so be it. Don't simply stop and expect to have things together the next time. Adaptability and persistence is key to success.

Past few years, studio hasn't been able to properly oversee/develop these type of movies at this point. Films being announced were a joke 2 years ago and by this point hard to even pay attention to as they keep going back/forth on movies to be released and seguing all over the place in tumultuous development hell with no direction or commitment to a particular project or vision.

Fox has struggled too but WB really seems to rely on people closer to the project then step-in at last possible moment changing things and screwing the movie up to maybe broaden the appeal (it's called reaming).

Anyway, I've commented on this before... Just focus on solo projects and if few happen to be able to crossover into event movie so be it. I think a few mid-budget Vertigo movies could really take off letting WB develop some more expensive projects in the future if need be. Just need better top-level oversight as well as maybe 1 movie a year (maybe additional low budget one) until build more $$$ and recognition to be able to start taking more creative risks as Marvel is starting to do.