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Some fans have been holding out hope that DC will turn things around, while others are calling for a full reboot. For now, I put myself in the first camp.
I always liked both Marvel and DC comics pretty much equally. So while it's been cool to see the MCU become a box office phenomenon in the last decade, DC has been another story. Part of the problem was rushing to play catch-up with Marvel without mapping out a cohesive plan and vision; part was not knowing what tone they wanted to take (the success of Nolan's Batman was a double edged sword); part was hiring Snyder and giving him too much control (he's a great visual director, but not so strong at narrative); and part was way too much studio meddling.
Man of Steel wasn't a home run, but it wasn't terrible. I'd call it a "double"--enough to kick off the universe but the studio should have seen from fan and critical reaction that the franchise would still need some tweaking and course correcting. However, instead of jumping right into BvS, I think Warner should have had a separate Batman movie, "The Dark Knight" or "Gotham Knight" to align with MoS. This would have allowed them to introduce and more fully develop the Affleck Batman, as well as differentiate from the Nolan Batman. Then they should have introduced Wonder Woman as the final piece of the "Trinity". That way, over a period of maybe 2 years, you've set up the key pillars of your cinematic universe.
Assuming "The Dark Knight" brought in $800M to $1B, when added to MoS's $660M and Wonder Woman's $820M, the DCEU would have already made around $2.5B. Next they should have done either BvS (conflict) or World's Finest (team-up), as a test run for Justice League rather than shoehorning in Doomsday, which probably would have brought in another $1B or so. The next year to 18 months, you introduce your B-team--Aquaman, Flash and Cyborg. While those movies would need to perform well, the pressure would have been off to be mega hits. This would have allowed the characters and their worlds to be developed. Then after laying the groundwork, you bring them together to form the Justice League, where they also introduce Hal Jordan as Green Lantern in the last 15 minutes. Instead of trying to immediately jump into Apokolips, Steppenwolf and Darkseid, I think a great story could have revolved around Starro. That could have mixed fantastic visuals, sci-fi and horror elements, and a high stakes storyline that would have give the team a reason to come together.
Instead of a clear, well organized and executed vision, DC became a muddled mess and is just looking more and more desperate.
It's too early to know, but to me their new strategy seems somewhat schizophrenic. On the one hand, they have Aquaman and Shazam, both of which look encouraging. And hopefully Wonder Woman 1984 will be good. But then you have the solo Joker movie, which seems like an inexplicable one-off, and Birds of Prey which is being done before Batman. Speaking of Batman, who knows what's going on with that, not to mention the previously announced Batgirl and Nightwing movies. Batman is one of DC's most important characters. Why that movie seems to be meandering is beyond me. Batman should be setting the tone, and all the Bat Family characters should be taking their cues from him.
I don't have a problem with Supergirl, but one would have thought it would have made sense to introduce her in an after credits tease in Superman 2 or Superman 3, and tie her into that aesthetic. If Warner makes a one-off Supergirl movie that's outside of MoS Superman, it will only further muck things up.
Right now, Warner/DC doesn't seem to have a coherent plan, a consistent vision or a captain at the wheel. No wonder they are trying to woo James Gunn. They come across more like theyre throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. I'm sure they're waiting to see how Aquaman and Shazam are received. The optimist in me hopes both movies are huge hits. However those characters are not Superman or Batman, which makes them much riskier. If one or both of those movies fail, even if WW2 is a hit, the chorus for a reboot is going to get a lot louder.
I think it would be a mistake to for Warner to reboot. It would set them back at least three or four years. They have one set of wheels off the rails, but it's still possible to course correct and get back on track. The way for Warner to do that would be to get out in front of the industry, fan base, and movie going public, and paint a clear, positive, and exciting vision for the DC cinematic universe going forward. And for god's sake give it a name (they haven't even been able to decide on that).
Here's what I would do:
BATMAN -- The Affleck drama could actually work in their favor. Assuming Ben is not going forward (which I think would be fine, even though I liked his portrayal) they could announce the new Batman actor and maybe the villain (if not Leto Joker/or a new Joker, Riddler might be good). Show off some concept art including costumes, Batcave, Batmobile and Gotham. When you need to win back fans, now is not the time to be coy or secretive. They should also announce that Batman is the centerpiece of an entire "Batverse" of heroes and villains including Robin, Batgirl, Nightwing, Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman, and Mr. Freeze. Imagine how excited fans would be. Warner could also start cranking up the merchandising and pull in tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars before the movie even debuts.
SUPERMAN -- I think DC should stick with Cavill. However he needs to be restyled and his characterization needs to be reworked. Clark Kent has always been the nebbishy, bumbling, unassuming alter ego that no one expect is a superhero. Go back to that approach, and restyle his hair and wardrobe accordingly. Also, he should wear color contact lenses so Clark has brown eyes. Give Superman a "spit curl" and piercing blue eyes. Another way to show fans the franchise is getting a refresh and back on track would be to redesign the costume. Nothing radical, just pump up the colors, change the belt/waist design, and add a few color accents. Take it back in the direction of the classic without going full Chris Reeve. Keep the higher tech material and make it somewhat futuristic (Superman is the "Man of Tomorrow" after all). I wasn't a fan of Snyder's gritty, monochromatic Krypton design, so I would actually do a soft reboot to give Krypton more of that colorful, utopian, retro-futuristic aesthetic (look at how cool Xandar looked). Sure it upsets continuity, but again this is about getting on track. As with Batman, get out front and show off concept art of the new costume, villain (Brainiac is probably the logical choice), new Krypton and Kryptonian designs. They could even bring Crowe back as Jor-El in new costuming. Also, announce that Superman is the center of an entire "Superverse" including Supergirl, Kandor, Lex Luthor (possibly replacing Eisenberg), and Brainiac.
WONDER WOMAN -- I love Gal Gadot. The only issue I had with the first movie was keeping the same actor (along with his moustache) under the helmet once he went full Ares. Cheetah is a great villain, so hopefully Wiig pulls it off.
AQUAMAN -- Trailers look good. Atlantis looks amazing. Wan is a terrific director. Fingers are crossed that it's a great movie that makes a ton of money.
FLASH -- Personally, I would have preferred more of a Chris Evans type for Barry Allen Flash (Miller seems like more of a hipster Wally West Flash). That said, they should upgrade the costume first and foremost. The home made costume was serviceable and made sense scientifically, but for the solo movie it needs a major upgrade to look sleek, high tech, and futuristic. I think for the first 1/3 of the movie you're getting to know him, his friends/relationship, and his world. For the most part, he could be using his powers to take down small time crooks, help folks out, and have fun. It's rather light-hearted. He's basically this flashy local celebrity. Then suddenly you get the arrival, similar to the Terminator, of a man in a yellow Flash costume. But instead of being another hero, this "yellow" flash starts killing people as he demands to know where to find the Flash. Facing a crazed, homicidal "Reverse Flash" would force Allen to grow from a carefree speedy celebrity into a true superhero. Again, show the new Flash costume (Reverse Flash could be kept under wraps), concept art, and some footage of cool uses of super speed. Also, whoever plays Reverse Flash should have a look and build similar to Miller's.
CYBORG -- This movie would probably be the biggest risk, but I think it needs to be made. The cool thing about Cyborg is that he is super high tech, so one way to push that envelop would be to go Matrixy. He could have an adversary that starts off as a new AI that keeps evolving. It could be disrupting critical systems and taking over communications. That draws Cyborg into the cyber world. The AI fabricates a synthetic body (think Ultron), which brings their battle into the real world. One idea that I thought might be cool for Cyborg would be to have Star Labs develop a cloned techno-organic Victor Stone body. Cyborg could download into that body for 30 minutes or an hour at a time every 48 or 72 hours. Any longer and he runs the risk of burning out the body, and without a vessel to contain it, his consciousness would be lost forever. This would allow Vic to experience life as a human for brief periods. Not only does it allow the actor to have more range (between this and VR), but it can help a bit with the budget.
GREEN LANTERN -- GL is one of my favorites. Geoff Johns should announce the actors playing Hal and John and show off concept art. With Green Lanterns DC could go sort of Star Wars/Star Treky, with exotic worlds, thousands of alien species, futuristic technology, space vessels and starships. Apparently the plan is to introduce all the color lanterns, which should be great. However I think the first movie should be about Hal and John hunting down renegade lantern Sinestro, who has gone on a killing spree to impose his idea of order in the galaxy through fear. Hal and John could be going to different planets in the sector tracking their quarry. In the after credits Sinestro is sitting in a cell on Oa, when he is broken out by Arkillo and a few other yellow lanterns, who have killed the GLs guarding him. They give Sinestro his yellow ring, and he says something like "now, the war begins"
Assuming Warner/DC was able to do something like this over the next 3-4 years, then they might be ready for Justice League 2 or do a soft reboot and call it "The Justice League".
I always liked both Marvel and DC comics pretty much equally. So while it's been cool to see the MCU become a box office phenomenon in the last decade, DC has been another story. Part of the problem was rushing to play catch-up with Marvel without mapping out a cohesive plan and vision; part was not knowing what tone they wanted to take (the success of Nolan's Batman was a double edged sword); part was hiring Snyder and giving him too much control (he's a great visual director, but not so strong at narrative); and part was way too much studio meddling.
Man of Steel wasn't a home run, but it wasn't terrible. I'd call it a "double"--enough to kick off the universe but the studio should have seen from fan and critical reaction that the franchise would still need some tweaking and course correcting. However, instead of jumping right into BvS, I think Warner should have had a separate Batman movie, "The Dark Knight" or "Gotham Knight" to align with MoS. This would have allowed them to introduce and more fully develop the Affleck Batman, as well as differentiate from the Nolan Batman. Then they should have introduced Wonder Woman as the final piece of the "Trinity". That way, over a period of maybe 2 years, you've set up the key pillars of your cinematic universe.
Assuming "The Dark Knight" brought in $800M to $1B, when added to MoS's $660M and Wonder Woman's $820M, the DCEU would have already made around $2.5B. Next they should have done either BvS (conflict) or World's Finest (team-up), as a test run for Justice League rather than shoehorning in Doomsday, which probably would have brought in another $1B or so. The next year to 18 months, you introduce your B-team--Aquaman, Flash and Cyborg. While those movies would need to perform well, the pressure would have been off to be mega hits. This would have allowed the characters and their worlds to be developed. Then after laying the groundwork, you bring them together to form the Justice League, where they also introduce Hal Jordan as Green Lantern in the last 15 minutes. Instead of trying to immediately jump into Apokolips, Steppenwolf and Darkseid, I think a great story could have revolved around Starro. That could have mixed fantastic visuals, sci-fi and horror elements, and a high stakes storyline that would have give the team a reason to come together.
Instead of a clear, well organized and executed vision, DC became a muddled mess and is just looking more and more desperate.
It's too early to know, but to me their new strategy seems somewhat schizophrenic. On the one hand, they have Aquaman and Shazam, both of which look encouraging. And hopefully Wonder Woman 1984 will be good. But then you have the solo Joker movie, which seems like an inexplicable one-off, and Birds of Prey which is being done before Batman. Speaking of Batman, who knows what's going on with that, not to mention the previously announced Batgirl and Nightwing movies. Batman is one of DC's most important characters. Why that movie seems to be meandering is beyond me. Batman should be setting the tone, and all the Bat Family characters should be taking their cues from him.
I don't have a problem with Supergirl, but one would have thought it would have made sense to introduce her in an after credits tease in Superman 2 or Superman 3, and tie her into that aesthetic. If Warner makes a one-off Supergirl movie that's outside of MoS Superman, it will only further muck things up.
Right now, Warner/DC doesn't seem to have a coherent plan, a consistent vision or a captain at the wheel. No wonder they are trying to woo James Gunn. They come across more like theyre throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. I'm sure they're waiting to see how Aquaman and Shazam are received. The optimist in me hopes both movies are huge hits. However those characters are not Superman or Batman, which makes them much riskier. If one or both of those movies fail, even if WW2 is a hit, the chorus for a reboot is going to get a lot louder.
I think it would be a mistake to for Warner to reboot. It would set them back at least three or four years. They have one set of wheels off the rails, but it's still possible to course correct and get back on track. The way for Warner to do that would be to get out in front of the industry, fan base, and movie going public, and paint a clear, positive, and exciting vision for the DC cinematic universe going forward. And for god's sake give it a name (they haven't even been able to decide on that).
Here's what I would do:
BATMAN -- The Affleck drama could actually work in their favor. Assuming Ben is not going forward (which I think would be fine, even though I liked his portrayal) they could announce the new Batman actor and maybe the villain (if not Leto Joker/or a new Joker, Riddler might be good). Show off some concept art including costumes, Batcave, Batmobile and Gotham. When you need to win back fans, now is not the time to be coy or secretive. They should also announce that Batman is the centerpiece of an entire "Batverse" of heroes and villains including Robin, Batgirl, Nightwing, Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman, and Mr. Freeze. Imagine how excited fans would be. Warner could also start cranking up the merchandising and pull in tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars before the movie even debuts.
SUPERMAN -- I think DC should stick with Cavill. However he needs to be restyled and his characterization needs to be reworked. Clark Kent has always been the nebbishy, bumbling, unassuming alter ego that no one expect is a superhero. Go back to that approach, and restyle his hair and wardrobe accordingly. Also, he should wear color contact lenses so Clark has brown eyes. Give Superman a "spit curl" and piercing blue eyes. Another way to show fans the franchise is getting a refresh and back on track would be to redesign the costume. Nothing radical, just pump up the colors, change the belt/waist design, and add a few color accents. Take it back in the direction of the classic without going full Chris Reeve. Keep the higher tech material and make it somewhat futuristic (Superman is the "Man of Tomorrow" after all). I wasn't a fan of Snyder's gritty, monochromatic Krypton design, so I would actually do a soft reboot to give Krypton more of that colorful, utopian, retro-futuristic aesthetic (look at how cool Xandar looked). Sure it upsets continuity, but again this is about getting on track. As with Batman, get out front and show off concept art of the new costume, villain (Brainiac is probably the logical choice), new Krypton and Kryptonian designs. They could even bring Crowe back as Jor-El in new costuming. Also, announce that Superman is the center of an entire "Superverse" including Supergirl, Kandor, Lex Luthor (possibly replacing Eisenberg), and Brainiac.
WONDER WOMAN -- I love Gal Gadot. The only issue I had with the first movie was keeping the same actor (along with his moustache) under the helmet once he went full Ares. Cheetah is a great villain, so hopefully Wiig pulls it off.
AQUAMAN -- Trailers look good. Atlantis looks amazing. Wan is a terrific director. Fingers are crossed that it's a great movie that makes a ton of money.
FLASH -- Personally, I would have preferred more of a Chris Evans type for Barry Allen Flash (Miller seems like more of a hipster Wally West Flash). That said, they should upgrade the costume first and foremost. The home made costume was serviceable and made sense scientifically, but for the solo movie it needs a major upgrade to look sleek, high tech, and futuristic. I think for the first 1/3 of the movie you're getting to know him, his friends/relationship, and his world. For the most part, he could be using his powers to take down small time crooks, help folks out, and have fun. It's rather light-hearted. He's basically this flashy local celebrity. Then suddenly you get the arrival, similar to the Terminator, of a man in a yellow Flash costume. But instead of being another hero, this "yellow" flash starts killing people as he demands to know where to find the Flash. Facing a crazed, homicidal "Reverse Flash" would force Allen to grow from a carefree speedy celebrity into a true superhero. Again, show the new Flash costume (Reverse Flash could be kept under wraps), concept art, and some footage of cool uses of super speed. Also, whoever plays Reverse Flash should have a look and build similar to Miller's.
CYBORG -- This movie would probably be the biggest risk, but I think it needs to be made. The cool thing about Cyborg is that he is super high tech, so one way to push that envelop would be to go Matrixy. He could have an adversary that starts off as a new AI that keeps evolving. It could be disrupting critical systems and taking over communications. That draws Cyborg into the cyber world. The AI fabricates a synthetic body (think Ultron), which brings their battle into the real world. One idea that I thought might be cool for Cyborg would be to have Star Labs develop a cloned techno-organic Victor Stone body. Cyborg could download into that body for 30 minutes or an hour at a time every 48 or 72 hours. Any longer and he runs the risk of burning out the body, and without a vessel to contain it, his consciousness would be lost forever. This would allow Vic to experience life as a human for brief periods. Not only does it allow the actor to have more range (between this and VR), but it can help a bit with the budget.
GREEN LANTERN -- GL is one of my favorites. Geoff Johns should announce the actors playing Hal and John and show off concept art. With Green Lanterns DC could go sort of Star Wars/Star Treky, with exotic worlds, thousands of alien species, futuristic technology, space vessels and starships. Apparently the plan is to introduce all the color lanterns, which should be great. However I think the first movie should be about Hal and John hunting down renegade lantern Sinestro, who has gone on a killing spree to impose his idea of order in the galaxy through fear. Hal and John could be going to different planets in the sector tracking their quarry. In the after credits Sinestro is sitting in a cell on Oa, when he is broken out by Arkillo and a few other yellow lanterns, who have killed the GLs guarding him. They give Sinestro his yellow ring, and he says something like "now, the war begins"
Assuming Warner/DC was able to do something like this over the next 3-4 years, then they might be ready for Justice League 2 or do a soft reboot and call it "The Justice League".
