While drafting this blog I had to resist titling it, DC Comics, mainly because the “C” in DC stands for Comics and the “D” stands for Detective. Detective Comics got its name from one of their best-selling issues relating to the World’s Greatest Detective, the Batman! Since then a lot has happened and a lot has changed, especially when it comes to the superhero genre. Unlike Marvel, there appears to be no plan with their cinematic universe, instead, it’s a bit more convoluted but before we get there let’s take a look back at the past.
Christopher Reeves and Adam West were some of the first people to bring a couple of DC characters to life with Superman and Batman. Both of these characters have opposite moral codes too. Superman provides hope to the people while Batman provides fear to his enemies. They are polar opposites but together they’re the most adapted characters from the DC repertoire so far. We’ve had half a dozen actors play the Dark Knight and a little less playing the Man of Steel, but only two actresses have played Wonder Woman and don’t get me started on the Green Lantern. So why are Batman and Superman so popular while other heroes don’t appear to be?
Batman and Superman were brought up in an age where the “alpha male” was taking over Hollywood. Every main character in a film or a television series in the 60’s and 70’s were mainly men and a particular type of man, a hero in someway shape or form. Aquaman was a joke character, The Flash just a teenager and Wonder Woman didn’t appear to “appeal” to the people running the industry back then. Nowadays we have a super cool Aquaman, the Flash who is important to the future of DC on screen and Wonder Woman who has become an icon within modern cinema.
When Man of Steel came out in 2013 the world had just been introduced to The Avengers and to the idea that superheroes can become interconnected with each other's film to the point that a big threat could take over an epic film bringing everyone together. DC’s attempt at the Justice League was a mess. The lead-up felt rushed with Aquaman and The Flash being introduced before their first solo films, and the titular Justice League film had conflicting tones and story beats with two filmmakers' voices mixing up the film. Last year we finally saw the Director’s Cut of Justice League which is the superior version, but sadly the film seems to have killed any attempt of bringing all these heroes back together again on the big screen.
Looking ahead we don’t have any new Superman or Wonder Woman films announced, as of yet anyway, but we have films coming out based on characters such as Blue Beetle, Black Adam and Batgirl. Not only that but we have a reboot of The Batman, which only just got released earlier this year, which doesn’t connect to any other DC films and one of their most commercially successful films in the last decade was Joker, which was made on such a small budget.
Warner Bros. has become a studio more focused on taking risks by telling stories based on character than world-building with their superhero catalogue. It’s a risk that is working with films such as Shazam! and The Suicide Squad proving to be big successes, but there is no clear vision of where all of this is heading. However with a recent shake-up in management at Warner Bros. that could all change again, but until then we can expect more superhero adventures on the big screen.
Thanks for reading today’s blog!
Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
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