Are DC Movies Doomed? Warner Bros. Discovery CEO Holds Out for Marvel-Like Plans Ahead
By Movieguide® Staff
Despite the constant comparison to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), D.C. and Warner Bros. Discovery have yet to capture the scope or success of its superhero rivals, led by studio president Kevin Feige.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav did not instill hope into fans after they decided to scrap the completed BATGIRL movie.
However, Zaslav said that despite their misfires, he has hope for the future of DC Comic book movies.
“You look at Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman — these are brands that are known everywhere in the world,” Zaslav said. “We have done a reset. We’ve restructured the business where we are going to focus, where there is going to be a team with a 10-year plan focusing just on D.C.”
Unfortunately, Zaslav has yet to reveal who would lead the charge in the proposed 10-year plan, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
“At this point, it’s hard to think of any strong candidate to run a D.C. silo. And there are several reasons to wonder why anyone with a decent career would want the job,” THR wrote.
“Zaslav doesn’t know what he doesn’t know,” a leading talent rep said, according to THR. “That’s scary. And you’re always going to be compared to Marvel. It’s unfair. By the time they were being judged, it was working. It’s the exact opposite at Warner. It’s rough all around.”
Since 2008, the MCU has benefited because Feige is always at the helm. This ensured an immediate assessment of what doesn’t work for fans, and the means to push ahead with what does.
According to Movieguide®’s Annual Entertainment Industry Report, the MCU’s first three phases—which ended with 2019’s AVENGERS: ENDGAME—relied on uplifting, moral representations of the classic comic book characters, which opened the door for a decades-long fandom.
However, DC’s movies are noticeably darker, with some R-rated installations, and have suffered from a slew of franchise restarts over the years.
“D.C. is so fragmented,” a talent rep told THR. “J.J. [Abrams] had this one, Zack Snyder had that one, Todd Phillips had the other thing. And they’re all such huge egos.”
Movieguide® previously reported:
Several factors recently resulted in one of the most expensive movie cancellations in cinematic history—Warner Bros.’s $90 million project, BATGIRL—one of which was a woke ideology and inclusive representation.
The canceled D.C. comic book adaptation would have included the first transgender character in any superhero movie.
While Marvel Cinematic Universe has fared far better than D.C. over the past decades, Disney’s insistence on pushing an LGBTQ+ agenda in their content is already hurting the comic book movie’s latest installations.
A new survey by Morning Consult found that Marvel fans’ interest in superhero movies dropped from 87% in November 2021 to 82% by July 2022. While not a steep drop, the numbers reflect a growing trend downwards in an otherwise surefire box office formula for Disney.
However, since 2008, Marvel’s formula for a successful superhero movie has stayed relatively the same: moral, uplifting movies about heroes sacrificing themselves for humanity.
However, the most recent slate of MCU movies—after AVENGERS: ENDGAME, Marvel’s most successful movie of all time—have either included off-brand sexual content or woke idealogical sub-plots not found in the first 22 MCU movies.
Out of the list of recent Marvel movies, only one did not contain a “woke” message or LGBTQ+ agenda: SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME—which established itself as the second highest grossing MCU movie of all time with gross lifetime earnings of $804,793,477.
Other recent installations over the past two years include ETERNALS which earned $164,870,234, DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS, which earned $411,327,261, and THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER, which earned $316,170,072.
ETERNALS introduced fans to the MCU’s first gay character. DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS contained two lesbian “moms” and a central gay character, America Chavez. THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER also includes a character who mentions his “two dads.”
Disney’s motives are clear, but the box office numbers prove that woke superheroes do not spell long-term success for anyone—even Disney and Marvel.
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