“A murder has been reported from one of those great big houses in the ten thousand block. You’ll read about it, before you hear it all distorted and blown out of proportion, before those Hollywood columnists get their hands on it, maybe you’d like to hear the facts, the whole truth….”
So goes the opening monologue from the iconic film Sunset Boulevard, It is a tale of madness and delusion, of thrown-away chances and the consequences of someone not accepting the truth.
What does this have to do with DC and Warner Bros? Well let’s not get ahead of ourselves, we need a few facts first. So let’s journey back a few decades to the golden age of DC on film…
Warner Bro’s DC brand used to be the biggest game in town, it saw the biggest names and the largest stars all fighting to be cast in one of its many pictures. However now everything has changed, the brand is in tatters, its films are bombing at the box office, and the fans are angry and hurt at a studio they used to love.
It was not always like this though, at one time Warner Bros seemingly liked to take risks, casting comedy actor Michael Keaton in the role of The Dark Knight, and hiring Tim Burton to shepherd the picture to the silver screen. They even managed to get Jack Nicholson to play the insane killer clown The Joker, The risk was rewarded, and box office gold was found, and with it the adoration of millions of fans.
The films that followed were mixed and WB saw that the splashy toy commercial direction they had gone in was not fully working, even though the films were profitable. So they decided to take another risk, hiring a Director who few knew at the time named Christopher Nolan. His vision was to completely reinvent Batman for the silver screen, the results were nothing short of incredable, The first picture Batman Begins, was a modest hit, but swiftly picked up steam in the rental market and grew a huge fanbase. The next two entries in the trilogy made a combined two billion dollars and won an Oscar for acting, Warner Bros was riding high, despite a small dip with the release of Superman Returns, which was not a commercial hit, but was still relatively well received.
Riding this wave of unprecedented fan support WB hired 300 Director Zack Snyder to helm a new reboot of Superman which also saw Christopher Nolan producing. This new Superman was designed to start a new DC cinematic universe to compete with the MCU, which had just earned a billion and a half with its first Avengers film. The glint of greed was in WB’s eyes, after all, they had DC, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman! They should be earning those same box office numbers.
Man of Steel was released in 2013 and earned a very solid box office return, however, core fans of the Reeves era of Superman were very vocal about how much they disliked it. Critics also were mixed with most falling in the middle of “Good not great”
Zack Snyder had intended on making Man of Steel 2, however, Warner Bros wanting to taste the gold that The Avengers earned, ordered a team-up film that would pit Batman against Superman and tease a Justice League film.
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice released in 2016, was disemboweled by critics, and fans also tore into the picture for its dark tone and violent Batman. Despite this BvS earned almost 900m at the box office. It was later revealed that WB ordered a 30-minute cut from the movie, which was added to the Directors Cut release.
Now to make a long story short, Warner Bros panicked at the critical and fan reception, and instead of listening to its dedicated fan base it, listened to the small and toxic minority of fans on the internet. Ordering sweeping changes to the 2017 release of Justice League, which flopped upon release to being an abomination copycat of Marvel that no one liked.
Warner Bros then began to get increasingly bitter at its fans, lashing out at every turn, they were so desperate to copy Marvel, yet they forgot the core reason why the MCU is successful. It LISTENS to its fans and what they want. WB ignored the record-breaking success of Zack Snyder’s Justice League not only on streaming, but physical media and Acadamy win. Instead deciding to brand the fans as “Toxic” and “To be ignored”
What followed was a string of films that tried to please Marvel fans while ignoring the DC fans who had supported the brand for decades.
Then seemingly things began to change. Henry Cavill was told by WB to announce his return as Superman, and Deadline reported that Man of Steel 2 was in production. Ben Affleck filmed multiple cameos as Batman coming out of retirement, as well as whispers of a new Justice League. For the first time since 2013, the DC fandom seems united, happy to see the universe coming back together, and thrilled at Cavill’s return after 5 years in Black Adam.
This all culminated in David Zaslav taking over Warner Bros as CEO and hiring James Gunn (of Marvel fame) as the new head of DC Studios. To the shock of the fans, Cavill was fired, Wonder Woman 3 was canceled, and Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill’s cameos were removed from upcoming films. Gunn then announced that a new DC reboot was occurring, and he would be recasting most of the DC characters.
Needless to say, this announcement did not go over well with the fans, already disappointed by WB for years, They now had a case of whiplash, and the hope and joy they had felt was ripped away and what followed was a bloodbath at the theaters for DC. Which saw Shazam 2, The Flash, and Blue Beetle flop at the box office, losing WBD hundreds of millions.
Now don’t worry I have not forgotten my Sunset Boulevard comparison. It may seem an odd choice, however, the picture is the story of an old and forgotten film star Norma Desmond who pines for a silver screen comeback. She then meets up with a young screenwriter named Joe, who is a fan and tries to help her. Long story short, she is consumed by the past, and when she is faced with the truth she lashes out and murders Joe, the one man who had cared for her. She then falls into a delusion convinced she is filming a movie and that her comeback has arrived and she is loved and famous again, telling the police and reporters that she can’t wait to make many movies in the future. The picture ends with her saying “I’m ready for my close up”
WB and the DC Brand are very much like Norma Desmond, consumed by past glories and ignoring the present. Much like Norma, WB is stuck in a past that does not exist anymore and instead of moving forward to a new future they look at Phase 2 of the MCU and are desperate to replicate it.
Much like the screenwriter Joe, DC Fans and talent have tried to be involved in the DC brand and help it out with fan campaigns, watching films, and buying physical media. They keep letting WBD know what it needs to do to be successful, yet WBD is too focused on the grass on the other side of the fence.
Finally, WBD like Norma snapped and attacked its fanbase and talent, murdering it with the reboot and firing/cancelation of beloved actors and franchises. Now WBD like Norma Desmond is descending the staircase, convinced that its DC reboot and new films will be a hit, that they are finally loved and accepted by all, completely unaware that its fanbase has deserted it, and willfully ignoring the burning brand around it.
Mr. Gunn? DC is ready for its close-up.
