Does DC Hate their Fans?

Probably one of the worst things any company, any agency can do is under-utilize it’s assets.  That is why I have dim predictions for Warner Bros./DC Comics future film ventures.

It starts with their announcement that they will be producing a Justice League film set to debut (in it’s first installment) in 2017.  Here is my concern; Since last year DC Comics, via the CW Network, has been producing rock solid live action adaptations for their characters, and while this practice started with Arrow, it really lifted off the ground and gained altitude with the Flash, starring Grant Gustin.  His portrayal of the Scarlet Speedster lends a level of credibility to the shared TV universe as well as a believability to the idea of a man who can run faster than the speed of sound.  Grant has quickly come raced (pun intended) forward as a fan favorite, and easily won the honor of being the definitive portrayal of Barry Allen.

Coupled with that, CW DC will be expanding its universe by including a third spin off series featuring Hawkgirl, standing alongside already established heroes as the Atom, Black Canary, Wild Cat, and Arsenal.  CBS, by way of Warner Bros. television has picked up Supergirl, who is being produced by many of the same people who already brought us the CW DC, so many that, while plans for a cross over aren’t set in stone, they are still open to the idea, so for arguments sake, let’s say they are in the same shared universe.

So to do a quick recap, we have: Arrow, Flash, Black Canary, Atom, Supergirl, Hawkgirl, Wild Cat, Firestorm, Arsenal, soon Vixen, and a slew of villains in the CW DC.

In the shared film universe we have Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Cyborg.

We already have a Justice League.  Yet WB is apparently going for a separation between the TV Universe and the Movie Universe with the diverging point being the Flash, who in the Movie Universe is slated to be played by Ezra Miller.

This is where my head hit the desk.  Why, why would you not cast the guy who brought a new generation of fans to the character?  These fans want to give you their money, let them see their familiar face on the big screen with a stupidly huge budget!

I can’t talk about DC’s movie ventures without at least addressing the ridiculous success of Marvel’s current projects.  Why are Marvel’s projects so successful while DC’s have been, shall we say less than fortuitous?  Because Marvel wants to bring the best possible product to the table, they want to bring a story that is engaging to fans of all ages.  Man of Steel caught a lot of flak because they went for a dark and grittier Superman origin.  While that was not necessary in the least, I can appreciate them trying to bring the Superman mythos into the 21^st century.  Who else did they try to make dark and gritty?  Green Arrow.  They called him “Arrow”, made him talk like he needed a cough drop something fierce, and let him kill people.  And the fans did not like this.  While there was enough support to keep the show going, they eventually had to change the tone of the show.  They did this by dropping the “he kills people angle” and with the introduction of the Flash allowed stories to get a little lighter.  Not too much lighter, but a little.  Shared character Felicity Smoak in the Flash episode “All Star Team Up” even commented that “Central City was the fun city, while Starling was the serious one.”

So where is this rant going?  Well, I can appreciate the desire to step things up for the block buster films WB is planning, I don’t think they should ignore what they are doing on the small screen.  Tone Superman down, make him a little lighter, let the colors of the character pop, visually and figuratively.  Batman can still be dark and gritty, and still share the same universe as Superman.  I think that will ease a lot of fans who honestly want to bring their kids to a Superman or Batman flick.

As for the divergent universes, this can be salvaged by DC’s own history.  In writing this I came to peace with the fact that TV and Movie were going to be separate.  However this can be a good thing, because every now and then DC has to have their core universe butt heads with an alternate one and call it “Crisis”.  You have established two Flashes, a character that can move so fast he can alter time or, in some cases, pop straight out of his own universe into another.  Play on that.  Let that be your big cinematic moment.  Marvel will ramp things up to Civil War, and that’s what Marvel does.  They keep you grounded in politics that happen to involve super heroes.  Let DC’s defining moment be when you rip a hole in your own continuity and their characters have to deal with the fall out of not some legislation, but their own counterparts from other universes.

I can respect DC wanting to be different from Marvel, but please follow their footsteps in one area…respect your fans.