The biggest mistake Warner Brothers and DC Films have made with their superhero movies is misjudging the tone that fans and mainstream audiences wanted to see. Now, Geoff Johns is ready to usher in a new era of optimistic, hopeful DC movies.
Speaking with the Wall Street Journal, the legendary comic book writer and recently named president of DC Entertainment admitted to media reporter Ben Fritz that Warner Brothers forced DC films to be gritty and dark. That’s proven to be a mistake.
Three films in and the DC Extended Universe blockbusters have been poorly received and largely forgettable. Man of Steel was a drab affair, attempting to tell a Superman story in the tone of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was Warner Brothers’ bloated attempt at forming an extended universe, which left the final product incoherent and sloppy. Suicide Squad was interfered with by the studio so badly that it led to a weirdly edited missed opportunity of a film.
Look how gritty we are!
Meanwhile, DC’s biggest competitors, Marvel Studios, is making hit after hit and having fun doing so.
Johns was promoted from an executive producer and consulting role, with the understanding that he knows what makes these characters and stories special. But in his executive role, he’s also spinning the tonal and studio mistakes, admitting Warner Brothers couldn’t have been more wrong in its approach at making these movies.
“Mistakenly in the past I think the studio has said, ‘Oh, DC films are gritty and dark and that’s what makes them different.’ That couldn’t be more wrong,” said Mr. Johns, who has written comic books featuring most of the company’s top superheroes. “It’s a hopeful and optimistic view of life. Even Batman has a glimmer of that in him. If he didn’t think he’d make tomorrow better, he’d stop.”
Damage control or not, Johns’ assessment is bang-on.
Johns will be co-running the show with WB executive Jon Berg, focused solely on these superhero properties, rather than also producing other tentpole movies. DC has a slate of iconic characters with compelling stories to tell. Making Batman a murderer and Superman a blank whiney emo were egregious shifts from the characters’ comic book counterparts. It’s a shame some audiences are solely familiar with the bleak desolate versions of the superheroes.
Taking a role similar to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, Johns has come in to redirect Warner Brothers’ off-key tone. The DC Comics universe expert is the right person to revive the limping state of the DC Extended Universe.
https://youtu.be/AgQrxGV7Brk
His promotion should result in a new wave of DC films, getting away from Zack Snyder’s murderverse with more nods to the fun, optimistic comic-book nature of the characters. There will still be grit and darkness, but not at the insane levels of previous films. Johns revealed that the upcoming Justice League will examine Batman’s murderous and torturous actions in BvS, and not try to gloss over them, attempting to course-correct the character into the detective most people know and love.
Johns now has his hands in multiple cookie jars for DC going forward. He co-wrote Wonder Woman, will co-write Ben Affleck’s Batman solo film and is set to co-write Aquaman with James Wan. The intention now is to take an opposite approach to Zack Snyder and, hopefully, make films which show off the best of each character and get audiences talking about what’s to come, instead of wondering if the studio can get their favorite superheroes right.
If anybody can save the DC Extended Universe, it’s Johns. Name a DC Comics character and he’s made a great comic book arc with them. Now that he’s a big-time player in the future of DC Films, fans should once again get excited about seeing Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman on the big screen, along with Aquaman, The Flash and Green Lantern. That seems like a lot to ask, considering what’s transpired over the last few years, but Warner Bros. might be able to turn the corner with Johns in charge of DC Films.
