Peter James Mann
We Continue our Coverage of The DC/Marvel Cinema War
The Hollywood Reporter released a nuclear bomb-level report that has radiated across my timeline with a fallout that cannot be contained.
We are literally resetting the DCEU at the very beginning, yet again. But this time, we’re also getting rid of casting that we thought were sure-fire successes in favor of a completely blank slate. New directors, actors, writers, and basically ignoring all that came before. Those, as of now, were “alternate realities.” Yay.
As a Witcher fan, this hurts me almost as it hurts Henry Cavill. Nor, might I add, as Gal Gadot, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, or Warner Brothers for that matter. Because as Cavill blew up his chances at starring in The Witcher season 3 for what seemed like a solid Man of Steel 2, all of Snynder’s castings were snapped away by Marvel’s (and maybe some diehard DCEU fans) new arch nemeses, James Gunn and Peter Safran.
The report linked above gives the picture of a complete nuclear response to the issues plaguing The WB since the inevitable clash between Christopher Nolan and Zak Snyder. Nolan, if you remember, created The Dark Knight Trilogy. That franchise gave the comic book genre gravitas and critical acclaim most have strived for and failed. Zak Snyder, if you recall, made shirtless men go real slow when they went real fast.
The juxtaposition of styles was…confusing. But still kind of worked for Man of Steel. Once Nolan walked away, however, and it was The Snyder Show, things started to go off-the-rails. Warner Brothers hired The Avengers and Firefly director Joss Whedon to course correct Justice League after The Snyder family suffered a terrible tragedy with the unfortunate death of Zak’s son, which resulted in more style changes.
And really awkward humor.
2016’s Suicide Squad was famously cut to match the tone of the trailer, by the company who made the trailer no less, with even more re-shoots. Even up to a few months ago, they were re-editing and re-shooting Aquaman 2. Which, after everything, is just dead in the water.
It’s a friggin’ mess, people.
This was the house Gunn and Safran walked into. It was a steal, because under all the muck and mess the squatters made in an attempt to make one room of this abandoned mansion of potential their own, there was something tying the place together. Their dream mansion. But sometimes when you’re remodeling, you need to knock down walls with a sledgehammer.
Do I think going full Apocolypse on DC films is the right thing to do? I don’t know. I have so many feelings about this report, and everything that has been said, that I’m torn in two. I love the castings of Gal Gadot and Hanry Cavill. But then Jason Mamoa being Lobo The Bounty Hunter instead of Aquaman makes way more sense. I mean, look at Lobo! It’s like they were trying to make Aquaman more like him to get Jason Mamoa to say yes.
Gunn recently revealed that the report has some truth, some falsehoods, and that we all need to take a breath and relax as the restructuring happens.
But there’s another piece of the puzzle in the report: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson changing the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe forever. He promised us that and got what he declared. There’s no way anything he thought was going to happen will come to pass. He will not fight Superman. He won’t even break even in this film until 600 million (although Warner Brothers states its 485 to break even, but they’re not counting all the marketing costs like others did). Black Adam changed the hierarchy behind-the-scenes to the point where everyone is gone and almost no one is safe.
I hope The Rock has extra bottles of his Teremana tequila. He’s going to need it. Maybe send Henry one as an “I’m sorry I convinced you to blow up your career for a cameo” gift.
Who will rule the DC’s Iron Throne? It’s Game of Thrones in these boardrooms at this point. These decisions are being made with the illusion that “it’s for the fans.” But it’s hard to say that when you’re defending yourself against a report like this.
Cavill isn’t Superman because fans don’t like him. He’s not Superman because the executives in the boardroom don’t like his demeanor or demanding behavior regarding the lore accuracy or direction of his characters (something Ryan Reynolds, Chris Helmsworth, and countless other Marvel actors have received). Gal Gadot is out because Patty Jenkins forced Wonder Woman into a parody of her own films and wouldn’t course correct. Margot Robbie and Jason Mamoa are sticking around because Gunn and Safran enjoy working with them professionally. And if Ezra survives all of their scandals and The Flash actually makes a profit, that’ll be a Christmas Miracle in July. But still, even with a massive profit, they could still be out because, well, kidnapping and assault.
Meanwhile, in Marvel Land, Feige and recently reinstalled Disney CEO Bob Iger are reeling over their own oversaturation from former CEO and fellow “Bob,” Bob Chapik. Disney+ and the Multiverse Strategy of shows, movies, streaming and gaming that maybe they were starting to do what they did to Star Wars not too long ago. It probably doesn’t help that Chapik was hiding massive losses within the streaming platform, which needed more “content” to shield the losses. Saul Goodman would call that “Money Laundering.” It’s also why Chapik was canned so quickly once it was found out.
Feige and company are stating they’re taking this step back to go back to a “quality over quantity” approach
and addressing fans’ concerns that there is no clear direction in this new Phase of Marvel. I think that is half true, spurred by financial woes hitting the Mouse House and reviews of new properties, outside of flagships like Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever, giving mixed results that were more akin to, well, DC properties. And if Gunn is course correcting, Feige has to as well. Just not as severely as Warner Brothers has to.
If Safran and Gunn are going to be pitching anything in the next quarter, I predict it will fall in line with Matt Reeves new The Batman Universe. It is, after all, very much based on Batman: Year One. In that arc, Batman is still trying to find his way between being the Caped Crusader and Bruce Wayne. He’s angry, angsty, and a little more brutal than we remember him being later on. He’s still learning the ropes of being a hero. And Year One stories are really, really, really great places for you to start as well with some of these other heroes. I wouldn’t be surprised if we went to that place.
In the end, I trust Gunn and Safran to make these decisions. Warner Brothers have needed someone to come in and do something like this for almost 15 years. It wouldn’t be as jarring if it happened, let’s say, a decade ago. But whenever it would have happened, it would have sent Shockwaves through Pop Culture. It’s a bold strategy, one Disney and Marvel would be unwilling to do.
For that reason alone, it just might work.
