Beyond the economic impact that reshuffling the DCEU was always going to have for the newly founded Warner Bros. Discovery, the recent decisions made by the company that affect their DC brands could be the first building for Marvel-like levels of success or simply just another catastrophe.
However, judging from the outright brashness shown in the cancellation of Batgirl and Supergirl, the conglomerate’s DC brand starts to look more and more like a hostile place for the people that worked on these films. Meanwhile, on the opposite end, Warner still has an ongoing PR nightmare thanks to Ezra Miller’s erratic behavior over the last two years, which also shows the studio lacking that same decisiveness when making other hard calls. What is exactly going on in the DC universe, and why are thing the way they are right now?
Why DC’s Marvel Plan Is The Anti-Marvel Way
The MCU might get some shade thrown its way on how Marvel movies have become too formulaic, how scripts fail to seize on the individuality of most superheroes, or the apparent lack of a real plan throughout all of Phase Four. Yet for all its faults, Marvel Studios was making some high-risk bets in when Iron Man came out in 2008. Thor: Love and Thunder is far from the studio’s best movie, yet comparing the reception of this film, as well as the MCU’s worst revenue earners, reveals that executives were willing to accept less than stellar earnings. They knew it would all pay off big time when the big Avengers crossover manifested itself in movie theaters.
Perhaps it’s because DC has always been playing catch up to Marvel; nevertheless, Warner Bros. executives were never as patient with underwhelming productions as their rivals. Batman’s Ben Affleck and the Justice League fiasco are prime examples of that. These precedents say a lot about the studio’s fickle, trigger-happy nature when it comes to cancellations, a trend that has now been ratified by new CEO David Zaslav killing Batgirl and Supergirl.
The main argument coming from new management is essentially that it makes very little sense to spend tons of money on “streaming quality” movies, and that moving forward Warner Bros. will only support films that can release in movie theaters. This strategy makes a lot of sense considering how Top Gun: Maverick's long waiting time paid off. That is, until one remembers that Warner Bros. itself spent a whole year pushing first-day streaming drops on HBO Max. This may have helped the platform grow, but at the cost of irreparably damaging its relationship none other than Christopher Nolan, arguably its most recognized director.
The falling out with Nolan becomes relevant once more, due to the huge loss it means for the people behind Batgirl to see their year’s worth of effort shelved forever, as well as all the controversies regarding Zack Snyder’s departure. Even if it’s not the intended messaging, Warner Bros. no longer seems to care for creative endeavors. There’s little to no room for experimentation if the studio is not willing to eat up its own share of Incredible Hulks or bad Thor movies.
The Flash And The Elephant In the Room
One does not simply promote a film starring an actor that could be facing potential jail time. Amidst the controversies involving Ezra Miller, and for all the talk of a new 10-year plan for the DCEU, Warner has said very little about the film beyond the promise that it’s going to be good. The latest buzz surrounding Miller is that the actor filmed some scenes for The Flash even after all the allegations against them surfaced, which hardly helps from a reputational standpoint at the moment.
At a time when companies are adopting ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) practices at a faster rate, Warner has taken its time to put out any statements regarding what they’ll do with Miller. It's true that now is probably not the time to cast a new Flash, since that could even spoil the plot for a massive blockbuster. But at some point, fans will learn whether the timing for it was down to creative or business reasons.
To make matters worse, Affleck's return as Batman continues to prolong the actor’s tenure over the Caped Crusader, as does the constant wave of rumors regarding Michael Keaton cameos being spread out speaks of a lack of planning without it being clear when the new DCEU will take form.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s top brass may believe they have found a new blueprint for success, but fans should be cautious to fall for DC’s promises as the new plans look a lot like past failures. What the best DC movies have going for them is that they’re wildly different from their Marvel counterparts, and less experimentation could translate to less personality that deprives the audience of lower-budget masterpieces like Joker.