More bad news for HBOmax/DC

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looks like they have a plan

Warner Bros. Reveals Ambitious 8-Year Plan for New DC Superhero Universe

Warner Bros' top executives shared the first hints about their plan for the DC Universe.

thedirect.com

 

[Paul Farquhar]

looks like they have a plan

Warner Bros. Reveals Ambitious 8-Year Plan for New DC Superhero Universe

Warner Bros' top executives shared the first hints about their plan for the DC Universe.

thedirect.com

What percent of a plan?

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

looks like they have a plan

Ugh. Initial reaction-

1. It's not a plan. It's an announcement that they're going to have a plan. I guess the first step to doing something is saying you're going to do it, but it's still not doing it.

2. I'm not sure that this is the best way to go. Look, I get the desire to chase after those sweet, sweet MCU dollars. Here's the thing, though- when synergy works, it's great! But when it doesn't (Snyderverse, Dark Universe, almost every attempt to copy the MCU) it kinda sucks. And this looks like it might kinda suck for two separate reasons-

a. The best stuff that DC has done for movies has been when they've had individual projects (Joker, The Batman) or not worried about the synergy (Shazaam). Putting all the movies into a single shared narrative risks that.

b. What's more concerning is the claim that the animation and games will also go into the "eight to ten year" plan. DC Animation is amazing! Don't fix what isn't broken- whether its Young Justice or Harley Quinn or the movies, its great because it isn't beholden to a shared universe, and can explore different themes. Same with the games.


I like Gunn. I hope that after they can reflect on this and start ... um ... actually writing their plan ... the reconsider certain aspects.

 

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b. What's more concerning is the claim that the animation and games will also go into the "eight to ten year" plan. DC Animation is amazing! Don't fix what isn't broken- whether its Young Justice or Harley Quinn or the movies, its great because it isn't beholden to a shared universe, and can explore different themes. Same with the games.

Do they mean the animated movies or animated series, the animated movies (other than a few) have all been in the same universe either the original DC animated movies(flashpoint to justice league dark apocalypse) or the tomrrowverse.

 

[Ryujin]

They do have a plan.

Step 1 - Get MCU guy.
Step 2 - Be Marvel.
Step 3 -
Step 4 - Profit!

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Do they mean the animated movies or animated series, the animated movies (other than a few) have all been in the same universe either the original DC animated movies(flashpoint to justice league dark apocalypse) or the tomrrowverse.

YES!

They don't mean anything. They made a feel-good announcement that is meaningless, a few weeks after being onboarded. Here's the full quote from THR:

“The opportunity to make DC as great as it can be and as it should be — that is the reason why I’m doing this job because I know that Peter and I can do that. We spent the past couple days with a group of some of the best thinkers in the industry, the best writers in the industry starting to map out that eight- to 10-year plan of what it’s going to look like in theater, in TV, in animation, across the board for these characters. I love Superman, and I love Batman. I love their interaction. I love the ways in which they’re the same and the ways in which they are completely different.”
-James Gunn


They spent two days talking about stuff. Which is good, in that it's better than no time.

This is the Safran bit that's a bit more interesting-
This was such a unique opportunity to tell one great overarching story. One beautiful big story across film, television gaming, live-action, and animation.”

In other words ... who knows? It's one thing to start the conversations. It's another to sit down and look through contractual relationships, look to signing talent, and so on.

 

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YES!

They don't mean anything. They made a feel-good announcement that is meaningless, a few weeks after being onboarded. Here's the full quote from THR:

I meant to type "Do you mean"

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I meant to type "Do you mean"

The DC Animated Universe consists not only of a continual run of excellent series (see, e.g., Harley Quinn and Young Justice) but also the movies.

When you write, " the animated movies (other than a few) have all been in the same universe" ... the "other than a few" is carrying a LOT of weight. Let's take ... Killing Joke ... as the arbitrary starting point in 2016.

Including that film, there have been twenty-one (21!) animated movies.
Eight were in the shared animated movie universe, that apparently ended with Apokalips War in 2020.
Five were in the Tomorrowverse that started with Man of Tomorrow (and the five is by counting Long Halloween as two movies).
Two were movie extensions of the DC TV animated universe.
And six were standalones. These are some of the most interesting- Gotham By Gaslight. Soul of the Dragon. Red Son.

None of these tied into the movie continuity.

If WB and Gunn want to make TV shows, like the MCU (and Peacemaker) that tie into the movies, then cool cool cool. But please don't mess with the animation. Don't force it to tie into the movies.