Future of DC Films (DCEU)

[Dash]

The Flash seems to be banking on ringing whatever nostalgia feels (and accompanying dollars) it can from fans who grew up with the Keaton films. Nostalgia does not a good story make.
Couple that with their "multiverse" strategy, and this whole thing will to seem to the average movie goer like nothing but a weak rip-off of the Spiderman: No Way Home.
Every attempt the WB makes to appear more Marvel-esque to movie goers reminds me of the way every other sci-fi movie in the late seventies / early 80s tried (and failed) to be Star Wars. Audiences never bought into them. They were never fooled by weak imitations and the bulk of them were largely forgotten and studios never saw a return on their investments.

 

[Kebron]

Every attempt the WB makes to appear more Marvel-esque to movie goers reminds me of the way every other sci-fi movie in the late seventies / early 80s tried (and failed) to be Star Wars. Audiences never bought into them. They were never fooled by weak imitations and the bulk of them were largely forgotten and studios never saw a return on their investments.

Battlestar Galactica

Flash Gordon (1980) Which is kind of funny since Star Wars was inspired a lot from the original Flash Gordon serials

Battle Beyond the Stars

The Last Starfighter

These four stand out for me as being inspired by Star Wars but grew beyond their attempt to copy Star War's success. Of them I think only BSG has had true success.

 

[abake]

I wish Affleck and Cavill had a chance to complete the arcs of their characters, but it ZSJL is the end of their tenure as Batman and Superman, so be it. ZSJL was majestic as far as I'm concerned.
I hope Gadot's WW gets another good movie after the so-so WW84 (yeah, I didn't hate it that much), and I'll watch The Flash and Aquaman 2 just out of curiosity. The Batman- and Superman-less JL holds zero interest for me.

Having said that, with all the clues that Snyder is leaving, it seems fairly possible that there might be more DC Snyderverse...

 

[Dash]

Battlestar Galactica

Flash Gordon (1980) Which is kind of funny since Star Wars was inspired a lot from the original Flash Gordon serials

Battle Beyond the Stars

The Last Starfighter

These four stand out for me as being inspired by Star Wars but grew beyond their attempt to copy Star War's success. Of them I think only BSG has had true success.

All of them were chasing the dream of being the next Star Wars.
None of them realized that there would never be another Star Wars. With the exception of BSG, none of those lit the world on fire in their day. Battlestar burned brightly for a season, before production costs doused any chances of continuing.
Like all corporatist drones, the suits at WB are tasteless pencil pushers and money men who will NEVER understand that it takes more than a licensed IP, brand recognition, or nostalgia to generate long lasting, time tested stories that will endure for generations.
They don’t care about those things. The card about a quick buck. That’s why Josstice League was released in that state that it was in the timeframe it was. To make sure they got their year end bonuses. Story be damned. Creatives be Damned. Audience? Like they care.

 

[Kebron]

All of them were chasing the dream of being the next Star Wars.
None of them realized that there would never be another Star Wars. With the exception of BSG, none of those lit the world on fire in their day. Battlestar burned brightly for a season, before production costs doused any chances of continuing.
Like all corporatist drones, the suits at WB are tasteless pencil pushers and money men who will NEVER understand that it takes more than a licensed IP, brand recognition, or nostalgia to generate long lasting, time tested stories that will endure for generations.
They don’t care about those things. The card about a quick buck. That’s why Josstice League was released in that state that it was in the timeframe it was. To make sure they got their year end bonuses. Story be damned. Creatives be Damned. Audience? Like they care.

Actually they all have loyal fanbases, as big as Star Wars? No. However their legacy does live on and merch does get created, and there is always talk of remakes. As for lighting the world on fire, It's anecdotal, but when I was a kid and those movies came out, all the kids in the playground talked about them, and pretended to be characters. Star Wars was just a memory and not the in the 24/7 news cycle that it is now.

Battlestar had a very successful reboot so not sure why you said it only burned brightly for one season.

The point is that it does payoff to attempt to mimic the success of a big franchise. All my examples did earn a profit and/or continue to earn revenue, and in some cases that's all they were trying to do. All my examples are not "forgotten" as you said the bulk of them were.

 

[Dash]

Battlestar had a very successful reboot so not sure why you said it only burned brightly for one season.
I wasn't talking about the reboot. And even while that was moderately successful, it was (like the original) no Star Wars.
I'm referring to decades of proven staying power. Not merely in reruns or reboots, but an IP that remains in the cultural zeitgeist.
You could've said "Darth Vader" to anyone the world over from 1977 onward, and they'd no who you were talking about. The cylons? Count Baltar? Not so much.
I'm talking about a cultural sea change; Star Wars, Harry Potter, The MCU. The ones that spawned droves of would-bes and countless never weres. Star Wars (and the others listed) was lightning in a bottle that nobody was going to be able to replicate- especially by meddling execs.
The WB has been failing miserably to capture a "Marvel" flavor in characters and IP's that were never meant to have that flavor. Like pouring sugar on potatoes. It just doesn't work.
Here's an example outside of DC/WB; The Predator film from a couple years back. They brought in Shane Black and crammed this jokey, comedy MCU shtick into a film series that was never meant to be like that. Predator films are not Marvel. They're their own thing. Add sugar to potatoes and you've served up something that just doesn't taste right.

 

[Kebron]

Battlestar had a very successful reboot so not sure why you said it only burned brightly for one season.
I wasn't talking about the reboot. And even while that was moderately successful, it was (like the original) no Star Wars.
I'm referring to decades of proven staying power. Not merely in reruns or reboots, but an IP that remains in the cultural zeitgeist.
You could've said "Darth Vader" to anyone the world over from 1977 onward, and they'd no who you were talking about. The cylons? Count Baltar? Not so much.
I'm talking about a cultural sea change; Star Wars, Harry Potter, The MCU. The ones that spawned droves of would-bes and countless never weres. Star Wars (and the others listed) was lightning in a bottle that nobody was going to be able to replicate- especially by meddling execs.
The WB has been failing miserably to capture a "Marvel" flavor in characters and IP's that were never meant to have that flavor. Like pouring sugar on potatoes. It just doesn't work.
Here's an example outside of DC/WB; The Predator film from a couple years back. They brought in Shane Black and crammed this jokey, comedy MCU shtick into a film series that was never meant to be like that. Predator films are not Marvel. They're their own thing. Add sugar to potatoes and you've served up something that just doesn't taste right.

Ok, sparky. I see that you are one of "those" stereotypical internet people that just keep moving goal posts once proven wrong, and keep shoehorning in their typical antio studio anti corp rhetoric that can literally be everywhere on the internet for decades now.

Here, this is your quote. Every attempt the WB makes to appear more Marvel-esque to movie goers reminds me of the way every other sci-fi movie in the late seventies / early 80s tried (and failed) to be Star Wars. Audiences never bought into them. They were never fooled by weak imitations and the bulk of them were largely forgotten and studios never saw a return on their investments.

If you actually read my posts and pull your head out of the rhetoric you are so obsessed with spewing, you will see I showed that your statement wasn't entirely true. You didn't say anything about cultural zeitgeists, or studios interfering with movies. That all came later after I showed you were wrong.
Similarly, my comments have nothing to do with WB, cultural zeitgeists, etc. My point was that some of the movies you claimed were forgotten, and never saw a return on investment, are actually remembered, and did earn a profit. You made a vague blanket statement and you were wrong. Just own it and move on. But you won't you'll comment again about zeitgeist and studio gobblygook that has nothing to do with my point.

 

[Dash]

Ok, sparky. I see that you are one of "those" stereotypical internet people that just keep moving goal posts once proven wrong, and keep shoehorning in their typical antio studio anti corp rhetoric that can literally be everywhere on the internet for decades now.

Here, this is your quote. Every attempt the WB makes to appear more Marvel-esque to movie goers reminds me of the way every other sci-fi movie in the late seventies / early 80s tried (and failed) to be Star Wars. Audiences never bought into them. They were never fooled by weak imitations and the bulk of them were largely forgotten and studios never saw a return on their investments.

If you actually read my posts and pull your head out of the rhetoric you are so obsessed with spewing, you will see I showed that your statement wasn't entirely true. You didn't say anything about cultural zeitgeists, or studios interfering with movies. That all came later after I showed you were wrong.
Similarly, my comments have nothing to do with WB, cultural zeitgeists, etc. My point was that some of the movies you claimed were forgotten, and never saw a return on investment, are actually remembered, and did earn a profit. You made a vague blanket statement and you were wrong. Just own it and move on. But you won't you'll comment again about zeitgeist and studio gobblygook that has nothing to do with my point.

I wasn't moving goal posts. I wasn't trying to win an argument. It was a conversation- based on my own observations.

 

[Kebron]

I wasn't moving goal posts. I wasn't trying to win an argument. It was a conversation- based on my own observations.

You adding quantifiers, and steering a conversation away from a point shows otherwise.

 

[Dash]

I bow to your perfect wisdom.
Moving on, Sparky.

 

[SilverStar17]

Ok, sparky. I see that you are one of "those" stereotypical internet people that just keep moving goal posts once proven wrong, and keep shoehorning in their typical antio studio anti corp rhetoric that can literally be everywhere on the internet for decades now.

Here, this is your quote. Every attempt the WB makes to appear more Marvel-esque to movie goers reminds me of the way every other sci-fi movie in the late seventies / early 80s tried (and failed) to be Star Wars. Audiences never bought into them. They were never fooled by weak imitations and the bulk of them were largely forgotten and studios never saw a return on their investments.

If you actually read my posts and pull your head out of the rhetoric you are so obsessed with spewing, you will see I showed that your statement wasn't entirely true. You didn't say anything about cultural zeitgeists, or studios interfering with movies. That all came later after I showed you were wrong.
Similarly, my comments have nothing to do with WB, cultural zeitgeists, etc. My point was that some of the movies you claimed were forgotten, and never saw a return on investment, are actually remembered, and did earn a profit. You made a vague blanket statement and you were wrong. Just own it and move on. But you won't you'll comment again about zeitgeist and studio gobblygook that has nothing to do with my point.

Do you happen to work for WB? Just asking.

 

[Kebron]

Do you happen to work for WB? Just asking.

LOL no.

 

[SilverStar17]

Oh okay lol.

 

[Turtle882]

Emo Gen Xer Batman though has my attention.

Damn, dude, how old you think R-Pat is? He's younger than me, and I'm a millennial.

 

[Victοr]

Damn, dude, how old you think R-Pat is? He's younger than me, and I'm a millennial.

I was mostly referring to the grunge aesthetic, not his actual age. It's not set in the 90s either, but that's the feel I'm getting. If we go by this being a Year Two of sorts Bruce would be around 26, and if it was set in the 90s (which it isn't, I know), that'd make him born around the 70s, ergo Gen X. I know, I didn't explain it well but that was my line of thinking. They did say they took inspiration from Cobain for the haircut and look, so that's where my mind goes when I'm pining down the aesthetic.

 

[hbhf]

Have no idea if it’s legit or not, but I’ve been telling y’all for months the Snyderverse stuff probably wasn’t on the table any longer and that anyone telling you otherwise was likely grifting.

 

[matticus]

 

[TheBatman]

Man..I thought DC's future was already decided like Steppenwolf...DEAD

 

[Alatar]

Worth noting that Grace Randolph has been all over the map with her coverage with this and wrong more of the time than right. My point was that in this case her report is perfectly consistent with how WB feels towards the Snyderverse, so not at all hard to imagine as true.

But the real question is sort of twofold: 1) will DC Films actually embrace the multiverse design that Jim Lee outlined at the first DC fandome? Which if they do means that there is no definitive central story world, i.e., all their different story worlds are all separate parallel universes. And 2) Does David Zaslav of Discovery see the benefits of bringing Snyder back to complete Jl 2 and 3, and then enthusiastically want to do this? Because if the latter is the case, Snyder will do it, and Ben Affleck will return to complete that arc. Or my gut is that they will, I should say. And Zack at least has said he would in no uncertain terms.

Everything Grace Randolph is saying 100% is WB–centric. We already know that WB hates Snyder, and wants to kill the Snyderverse and reboot. That’s been obvious even since 2016, frankly. The big question is how does Discovery view this and how much power and control do they have. David Zaslav has already said he intends for WBD to “give fans what they want” which many hope is a reference to the popularity of ZSJL. He has also said he is moving to LA to oversee the entertainment division in a hands-on manner.

In Grace’s most recent comments she seems to be suggesting that Zack is leading his fan base on. I think that’s unlikely. I doubt Snyder would be hinting to us as he has been that the saga can yet continue. Rather, I suspect Grace Randolph is currently serving as a mouthpiece for the existing WB regime.

Again, the core question here is how much power does David Zaslav have once the acquisition finalizes in May—and how does he see the situation.

We’ll find out in May or thereabouts. If Toby Emmerich stays on after Discovery is in full ownership then the Snyderverse is truly dead. That’s the true nail in the coffin. If he leaves then all bets are off, I would say.

 

[hbhf]

I don't mean this to be a jerk, but the fans currently pinning all their hopes on Zaslav saving the Snyderverse are reminding me of all the people who said the same thing about Jason Kilar, only to label him the devil incarnate once he lost all interest after the Snyder Cut was released.

As for Snyder, I wouldn't say he's leading on his fans, but the "Never give up hope" stuff seems more general in a "it could happen someday" way than him hinting that there's any concrete plan for his sequels to see the light of day as of now. As of right now, everything I can see concrete about it says the outlook ain't looking likely.

It's worth noting that even the lying grifters...I'm sorry, "insiders" who'd been saying for months that the Snyderverse was absolutely being restored, that Ben had signed a contract to star in an HBO Max Batman series, that Henry had signed on to return for a Man of Steel sequel, that the Rock was secretly fighting behind the scenes to restore the Snyderverse and that he merely had a gag order preventing him from saying so in public... most of them have either gone radio silent or have angrily embraced Grace's report as the truth. Which just tells me they were pulling stuff out of their you know whats and pretending they had privileged information the entire time.