The ink is barely dry on Warner Bros. and Discovery officially completing their merger and already the newly-formed entertainment giant is looking to overhaul one of its biggest intellectual properties: DC Comics. Despite The Batman and Joker being recent hits that bucked the shared universe trend over at Marvel, Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly looking for a Kevin Feige-like hire who can bring all of the DC Films and TV series together into one unifying entity like… well, like Marvel.
Oh, and also, the new suits are kind of curious why Superman is sitting on the bench. Via Variety:
Discovery insiders believe that although DC has achieved cinematic success with recent films such as “Aquaman” and “The Batman,” it lacks a coherent creative and brand strategy. Discovery believes that several top-shelf characters such as Superman have been left to languish and need to be revitalized. They also believe that projects like Todd Phillips’ “Joker” are a shining example of how second-billed characters from the DC library can and should be exploited (Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn is another example).
Like a hastily fired-off tweet, Warner Bros. Discovery’s aims seem to be at odds with each other. Joker‘s success was built on crafting a film that was entirely free of connecting to other DC Comics’ films. Same with The Batman, which as of now, operates in its own separate Bat-universe that’s unburdened by whatever the heck is happening in the other DC Comics films, where Michael Keaton is taking over as the main Batman following Ben Affleck’s exit.
Complicating things even further, the Keaton/Batman overhaul is being anchored by Ezra Miller, whose future at Warner Bros. was reportedly put on pause after the actor’s recent legal troubles.
In short, good luck with all of that.
(Via Variety)