DC And Warner Are Trying To Figure Out This Whole Superhero Thing

If you asked anyone in the late seventies which comic power house ruled the cinemas the answer would have been easy: DC. With the help of Warner Bros they released Superman, starring Christopher Reeves, to great critical and commercial success. This continued through to the late 80s and early 90s with Tim Burton’s Batman films.

Then something happened.

Warner and DC turned the Batman movies over to director Joel Schumacher and it all went to hell.

Marvel then released the first X-Men film, with 20th Century Fox, and more or less took over the comic-to-film market. Other than Christopher Nolan’s Batman films, can you think of any other financially successful, or critically acclaimed DC/Warner films? I know there may be one or two, but nothing that really made a dent.

Superman Returns, while not a bomb, wasn’t very well liked and The Green Lantern was an all around failure.

Marvel, on the other hand, has had nothing but success (okay, the Fantastic Four films are an exception, and the two Hulk movies kind of under-performed as well, among a few other missteps ) with X-Men, Wolverine, as well as the movies leading up to The Avengers.

DC and Warner have taken notice and are moving forward with films based on some of their better known characters.

I already mentioned The Green Lantern being a bomb, but Warner/DC is currently deciding whether to move forward with Ryan Reynolds in the lead or to re-boot with another Lantern. It’s not like there’s shortage of them.

Wonder Woman now has a writer in Lantern scribe Michael Goldenberg and they even have Will Beal (Gangster Squad) working a Justice League script.

Superman is making another attempt next summer in the Nolan produced/Zack Snyder directed Man of Steel, and you know there’s a Batman reboot around the corner.

Here’s some other things DC is working on:

• On TV, the company launched programming block DC Nation on Cartoon Network with new “Green Lantern” and “Young Justice” animated series. CW is bringing a live-action take on Green Arrow to primetime in the fall with “Arrow,” which is notably darker than the net’s previous DC staple, “Smallville.”

• Direct-to-homevid titles have sold well, with “Superman vs. The Elite” and “Flashpoint” forthcoming.

• Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has scored with its dark and gritty “Batman: Arkham Asylum” and “Batman: Arkham City” games, as well as its lighter, funnier “Lego: Batman” titles. WBIE used this week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo videogame confab to unveil fighting game “Injustice: Gods Among Us,” featuring DC’s heroes and villains, and a “Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition” for the new Nintendo Wii U console, out this fall.

• Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Consumer Products shelled out considerable coin to expand its rights to the classic 1960s “Batman” TV series to launch new lines of merchandise featuring the show’s characters, while brokering deals to unleash a slew of products around next summer’s Superman actioner, “Man of Steel,” which the studio hopes will launch a new franchise.

• And its comic book division relaunched all of its 52 books last year, with new storylines and art, to boost sales and attract a new readership, especially through digital platforms.

What’s this all mean? If you ask me it means DC/Warner have finally realized they need to get on the ball and give Marvel some competition. They have a lot of properties and really haven’t cashed in on anything other than Batman.

What do you think? Do you like DC’s new aggressive approach?

SOURCE: Variety

AICN_Douche

No, I do not.
Hodgepodge.
No clear synergy of mediums, platforms & brand lines.
Just horrid seeming these days (Armie Hammer!?!)…
Best thus far, was… 90′s… Early ’00′s…
Batman: TAS, Superman, Justice League…
Teen Titans, League of Superheroes, DC Animated…
Go Dini! Geoff, not as much.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002976909421 Robert Angier

nothing but success?!?! you’re shitting yourself with bull shit latino review, lets see..

Daredevil
Electra
The Punisher
The Punisher: Warzone
Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Blade: Trinity
X – Men Origins: Wolverine

ALL MARVEL FILMS, and if you want to argue marvel studios didn’t produce them and they make nothing but hits you’re equally full of shit, they said the same thing about Pixar (cars 2) the point of this article stands correct, Marvel is dominating in a time where DC is floundering, but “nothing but success” is a bold statement that Marvel content could NEVER back up as proved by the list of films i’ve provided. there’s more but you pointed out a few that i left out of this only further proving Marvel is only successful closer to half the time. No one has an edge on this market and no matter how much money or bull shit you throw at a “guaranteed success” you’ll still only be right half the time.
Downboy

I believe you sniff toilet seats !!!!!!!!!!!
http://profile.yahoo.com/BOOZH3UBYQ7L6J35YXLQTMDCPE chris

Everyone looks over The Watchmen which is by far the most overlooked, and underrated DC CBM. I have total faith in Zack Snyder when it comes to MOS. If WB keeps the Goyer, Nolan, and Snyder team and create a 3 part Justice League saga they can’t go wrong.
http://profiles.google.com/drawnder Tuerto Manco

Sigh and more sigh. I like DC more than Marvel, and the way DC has “managed” and “put their ducks in a row” this past 6 years is mostly sad. I hold no hopes for any movies withouth Batman and Superman. Especially Wonder Woman. You guys had 6 years. You gonna play catch up now?
rsixsmith

all of this comparison of marvel to dc properties is bogus. dc/warners hardly try, whereas someone’s making a marvel title movie pretty much every year. and i’m sorry, but 80% of it is anywhere from crap to pretty good, with the scales tipping in favor of crap.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1034709619 Dan Riedel

I bet Joss Whedon would be game to direct one of these films as well… provided Marvel doesn’t throw a half billion dollars in his lap.
beane2099

We can credit Blade, X1 and Spiderman with starting this era of CBM’s. True, not all of the movies based on Marvel properties have been good and/or successful, but I think we can agree that just about every CBM made by Marvel studios has been (even Incredible Hulk wasn’t horrible).

My biggest gripe is that WB had DC all this time and did next to nothing with those properties. In general DC has been more reactive (to Marvel) instead of being proactive. There’s a reason they weren’t releasing MOS till 2013. They were waiting to see how Avengers did so they could make changes in case it panned out. Well it did, and now all of a sudden here comes the litany of “under development”. The problem is there doesn’t seem to be any kind of plan or unifying creative force. IMO the folks at WB would be wise to let Bruce Timm and co. run this show. Bruce Timm’s run on the DCAU was phenomenal, and still is. But that’s my two cents.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1557734654 Andre Nieves

like i said. DC has the best animated movies. marvel has the best live action movies.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000550991750 Gavin Hanley

Just make DC universe into a live action movie, Nolan should direct,and it should be better then the Avengers.
http://twitter.com/keithallen798 Keith Allen

Marvel is beating Dc in all formats, except straight to video films. Marvel is also the motion comic leader.
Matt Shimon

Like everyone here, including LR, we all have opinions. While sometimes they coincide, others (like yours now) are so far apart. I’m only this in defense of the article above and the author behind it. Since Marvel started funding their properties themselves, and putting their full weight behind them in all areas of production, they have been very PIXARish in their success. While I will agree that even Pixar has fumbled the ball a time or two, they never dropped it. It’s about pushing the limits and moving forward your particular field. Comic to film adaptations have gotten stale, while using the same dried up faces we’ve seen for years. Marvel didn’t like what those films, even their own properties licensed out to other studios, were saying so they changed the conversation. I say good for them, but even better for us.
rsixsmith

absolutely agree. justice league and justice league unlimited, i think, are far and away the best, most entertaining and engaging dc adaptations to hit any screen. batman: the animated series, fantastic. those and the many other projects they’ve worked on are solid proof they can write good stories.